NYC's Foreign Investment Rush

Mody Kidon (Hebrew: מודי כידון) is an Israeli businessman, with interests in real estate both in Israel and abroad. He is co-owner of Gitam/BBDO, the premier advertising agency in Israel, and was the chairman of the Israel Advertising Federation. Kidon is the founder and chairman of ALTO Real Estate Funds. ALTO is a series of closed end equity funds specializing in the acquisition of income-producing real estate assets located in the U.S. ALTO’s funds provide a stabilizing component to portfolios, combining low-risk profiles with a value-add approach to yield attractive returns. ALTO recently completed fundraising for its second fund, ALTO Fund II, for a total of $138 million from institutional and private investors. ALTO to date has invested in 53 properties in 20 States, with a value of approx. $1 billion representing a total area of 10.5 million square feet and 14 successful Exits. ALTO’s headquarters are in New York City, NY with regional offices in Dallas, TX and Tel-Aviv, Israel. For more information, please visit www.alto-investments.com Mody is also one of the founders and owners of Vitania, a real estate public company which was established in 1995. Vitania engages in the initiation, development, construction, rental, and operation of real estate properties in Israel and abroad. Its properties include offices, residential properties, commercial centers and retail. Mody served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force and continued to fly until age 45 in the military reserves, finishing with the rank of major. Kidon achieved a Baccalaureate in Economics from Tel Aviv University, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program (AMP). He is married to Sharon Kidon (Hebrew: שרון כידון), a journalist and television personality. They are the parents of four children.

Mr. Lively is the executive Vice President of the Real Estate Division and is responsible for determining the policies and strategic direction of the Real Estate Division. Mr. Lively’s experience in the real estate industry spans over 35 years. During his career, Mr. Lively has directed investments in and dispositions of assets with an aggregate value in excess of $2 billion. Mr. Lively joined Helmsley Spear Inc. in 1976 where he was active in all aspects of real estate operations and finance, as well as real estate acquisitions. In 1980, Mr. Lively joined Pannell Kerr Forster, an international CPA firm. Subsequently in 1982, Mr. Lively joined Stephen W. Brener & Associates as Senior Vice President, responsible for all aspects of the brokerage and management divisions, as well as management advisory services. Following his tenure at Brener & Associates, Mr. Lively became President of Lively & Associates, a full service real estate firm. Mr. Lively joined Wafra in 1997.

Helen Hwang is Senior Executive Managing Director at Meridian Investment Sales, LLC and is head of the Institutional Investment Sales Group. Ms. Hwang has executed over 85 institutional sales and recapitalization transactions exceeding $26 billion in value. Prior to joining Meridian, Ms. Hwang spent 16 years at Cushman & Wakefield as an Executive Vice President, as the head of NYC Investment Sales. Ms. Hwang has worked on numerous prestigious sales assignments throughout her career, including 1865 Broadway, 220 East 72nd Street, 22 River Terrace, 101 Murray Street, 400 Madison Avenue, One Court Square, 60 East 12th Street, 510 Madison Avenue, 511 Fifth Avenue, Glenn Gardens, the MetLife Building at 200 Park Avenue, 666 Fifth Avenue, the portfolio sale of Park Avenue and 850 Third Avenue, and the ground leases under 625 Madison Avenue, 2 Herald Square and 75 Rockefeller Center. For the sale of 88 Leonard Street, Ms. Hwang was honored with the Real Estate Board of New York’s highest achievement, the 2012 Most Ingenious Sales Deal of the Year (Robert T. Lawrence Memorial Award). Ms. Hwang has marketed significant New York assets for clients such as Africa Israel Investments, Ashkenazy Acquisitions, Capmark Financial, Daishin Securities, Dermot Company, Epic UK, Five Mile Capital, Istithmar, J.E. Robert Companies, Paramount Group, Park Tower Group, Rockrose Development Corp, SL Green, Spitzer Enterprises, Vornado Realty Trust, and Macklowe Properties. She has been a trusted strategic advisor to numerous domestic and international family offices, institutions and not-for-profits, including American Bible Society, Archdiocese of New York, Children’s Aid Society, MTA, New York University, St. John’s University, and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, and Fortune 50 Corporations such as Bank of America and Verizon. Ms. Hwang has been presented with numerous awards over her career for both her professional achievements and charitable contributions, including the Top Broker of the Year by Real Estate Forum Magazine, a leading trade publication, CoStar’s prestigious Power Broker of the Year award, Bisnow’s New York Power Women award, Rebuilding Together NYC ‘s Patty Johnson Outstanding Leadership Award, and Friendship Circle’s Humanitarian Award. She was also named one of the 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center. Ms. Hwang serves as Chair of the Membership Committee and member of the Executive and Advisory Committees for the Urban Land Institute’s New York City Chapter and as an industry expert guest speaker for numerous conferences and some of the top REIT equity research teams in the nation, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ISI Group, FBR Capital Markets & Co, JMP Securities, and UBS. Ms. Hwang received her Bachelor of Science degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (Real Estate Finance), where she graduated “With Distinction.” She also holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Investment and Development from New York University. Ms. Hwang is a New York State Certified Real Estate Appraiser and is a New York and New Jersey Licensed Salesperson.

James A. Fetgatter is Chief Executive of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), a position he has held since 1992. AFIRE is a nonprofit association formed in 1988 whose members are foreign institutions with a common interest in international real estate investing. AFIRE members have $1 trillion in real estate investments worldwide. He has guided the growth of the association from a small group of Dutch pension funds to an organization of over 190 investors from 21 countries. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive, Mr. Fetgatter spent 15 years in various aspects of the real estate industry. His last two positions before joining AFIRE were with Dutch and UK investment and development companies. Mr. Fetgatter served as an officer in the United States Navy and holds a Master in Business Administration from Harvard University and a BS from Oklahoma State University.

Chairman, Founder & CEO at China First Capital, (中国首创） a Greater China-focused specialist international investment banking and advisory firm for private capital markets，cross-border technology, M&A and real estate transactions. We help clients and partners look around the corner, to discern where China is heading -- and capitalize. Founding China First Capital fulfills a deeply-held ambition nurtured for 30 years. I was among first intake of American graduate students in China during early reform years. Before returning to China, I lived and worked in senior operating and investment positions the US, Europe and Asia. Me and my firm appear rather often in leading media, including The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, China Daily. I'm also a frequent speaker at global conferences on PE, VC and M&A. I spent 10 years working for Forbes Magazine, becoming head of Forbes' European editorial operations and then happily left journalism in 1995. I returned to the US in 2001 and became CEO of a California venture capital company with investments in growth companies in Europe, US and Israel. I transitioned from VC to become an operating executive in high growth venture-backed companies, including running a finance business through its IPO preparation process, then founding and serving as CEO for Awareness Technologies, a California enterprise software company. During my years, it became one of Deloitte’s “500 Fastest Growing Companies”, and we exited in a successful M&A transaction. That allowed me to start a business in China. My passion is helping entrepreneurs realize their ambitions. There are many bankers and advisers in China. I’m one of the few that’s invested in and run successful companies, with experience across geographies and on all sides of M&A and financing transactions.

Will Silverman is Managing Director/Group Head of Investment Sales in Hodges Ward Elliott’s New York Office. He was hired in 2015 to expand the company’s offerings to office, retail, multifamily in land, specializing in New York City. Prior to joining HWE, Will was an Executive Managing Director in the Capital Transactions Group at Savills Studley, where he worked on nearly $6B of transactions since joining the firm in 2003. Since joining HWE, Will has transacted on office, retail and multifamily deals for clients including Westbrook, Rockpoint, Carlyle Group, Savanna and Normandy. Will has consistently succeeded at bringing an institutional investor audience to new locations, property types and strategies through a pioneering strategy that emphasizes quantitative research and data analytics. Will graduated cum laude from Tufts University with a degree in International Relations. He is a father of three sons and a native New Yorker.

Mark Van Zandt is a Partner based in New York and is responsible for the Firm’s investment activities on the East Coast. Mark has been with GreenOak since its founding in 2010 and is involved in the sourcing, structuring and management of GreenOak investments on the East Coast. Prior to GreenOak, Mark was a Vice President of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and a member of the team responsible for new investments in the US on behalf of the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and MSRE Special Situations Fund III. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2004, Mark worked in the real estate group of LaSalle Bank, based in Chicago.