Institutional Investor & Private Equity Forum

lobal head of Credit & Asset Finance and head of Global Acquisition Finance ,Goldman Sachs

Christina is global head of Credit & Asset Finance and head of Global Acquisition Finance within the Capital Solutions Group. She is co-chair of the Global Banking & Markets Inclusion and Diversity Committee (IDC) and serves as a member of the Firmwide Capital Committee, Global IDC, Investment Banking Operating Committee, Investment Banking Executive Committee and Investment Banking Risk Committee.

Christina joined Goldman Sachs in 1998 as a vice president in the Investment Banking Division, where she focused on leveraged finance deals primarily for the Financial Sponsors Group. She joined the Fixed Income Division in 2001 as part of Capital Markets and focused on industrials followed by healthcare. Christina served as co-head of Leveraged Finance in the Americas and as co-head of the Healthcare Group in the Americas from 2013 to 2014 and as head of Corporate Finance for the Consumer Retail and Healthcare Group from 2014 to 2015. She was named managing director in 2004 and partner in 2008.

Prior to joining the firm, Christina was with BT Alex Brown from 1987 to 1998, where her last position was managing director in Corporate Finance.

Christina is a member of the Yale Development Council and Yale School of Management Advisory Board. She is also a member on the Board of Directors of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and The Child Mind Institute.

Christina earned a BA in Economics from Yale University in 1987 and an MM from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1991.

Nicholas Baccile

Director, Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC

Nicholas Baccile is a Director within the Real Estate Investment team at Canyon. Mr. Baccile joined Canyon in 2018 and primarily focuses on sourcing, underwriting, due diligence, structuring and executing equity investments, structured products, and secondary note acquisitions across the U.S. Prior to joining Canyon, Mr. Baccile worked at RXR Realty, where he was responsible for asset management of equity and debt investments. Previously, Mr. Baccile worked at Ares Management, where he was responsible for underwriting, due diligence and ongoing asset management of new equity investments. Mr. Baccile is a graduate of Cornell University (B.S., Applied Economics and Management with a minor in Real Estate).

Grant Cardone

Founder & CEO, Cardone Capital

Grant Cardone is a globally recognized entrepreneur, investor, and Bitcoin advocate. As Founder & CEO of Cardone Capital, he oversees $5B+ in assets, including 14,200 multifamily units and 500,000 SF of office space across top U.S. markets.

With over 35 years of experience, Cardone is known for conservative underwriting, consistent cash flow, and a track record of zero investor principal losses. The firm has raised $1.65B+ from nearly 20,000 investors and distributed over $411M in returns.

After meeting with Michael Saylor, Cardone launched the first real estate/Bitcoin hybrid fund, combining institutional-quality real estate with BTC.

A NYT bestselling author, he’s committed to building and democratizing generational wealth through real estate and innovation.

CardoneCapital.com/bitcoin

Michael Hyun

Chief Investment Officer, Crow Holdings

Michael Hyun is Chief Investment Officer of Crow Holdings, where he is responsible for business development and strategic investment initiatives.

Prior to joining Crow Holdings in 2019, Michael founded Graphene Group, an investment advisory platform partnering with a range of institutions and operators on investments, corporate strategy, and capital raising. Prior to founding Graphene, Michael was the Chief Investment Officer, Executive Vice President at Brixmor Property Group (NYSE: BRX), the largest owner of grocery-anchored retail centers in the United States where he led investment strategy and portfolio management. Before joining Brixmor, Michael was an Executive Director on the investments team at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing executing on investments across all real estate sectors and return strategies. Michael began his real estate career at Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, a boutique real estate private equity firm.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, where he graduated with honors. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and member of the Horace Mann School Alumni Council and the New York CFA Society.

Chad Lavender

President of Capital Markets for North America

Chad Lavender serves as President of Capital Markets for North
America at Newmark. In this role, Lavender brings together all
aspects of Newmark’s world-class capital markets. He works
closely with brokers to identify and leverage cross-platform
synergies, improve efficiency, assist Newmark’s revenue growth
and recruit and retain the best talent in the industry. Lavender has
completed investment sales, recapitalizations, debt and joint
venture equity transactions totaling more than $37 billion in value
throughout the U.S.

Lavender previously served as Co-Head and Vice Chairman for the
company’s Healthcare and Alternative Real Estate Assets platform.
In this capacity, he was responsible for healthcare and seniors housing-related investment advisory
and equity transactions throughout the United States. He also focused on medical office buildings,
hospitals, life sciences and biotech practices as well as other alternative real estate asset classes.

Stella Pappas

Senior Managing Director, Head of Investor Relations,TruAmerica Multifamily

Ms. Stella Pappas serves as Senior Managing Director, Head of Investor relations for TruAmerica. With two decades of real estate investment experience, she joined TruAmerica in April 2022. Pappas is responsible for all facets of the firm’s fundraising efforts and investor relations program globally. She institutionalized the investor relations platform, which spans capital formation, marketing, due diligence, social media and all client-related aspects of the business. In addition, she launched the firm’s ESG policy and is on the ESG committee as well as a voting member of the firm’s investment committee.


Pappas has built her career as a fiduciary, aligning the interests of shareholders and stakeholders through various roles across debt, equity, loan workouts, acquisitions, asset management, dispositions and brokerage. She spent most of her career with Allstate Investments, the private equity real estate acquisitions and asset management arm of the largest publicly held insurance company in the United States. There she co-launched the national direct real estate equity platform and sourced, structured, underwrote and managed $3 billion of fund investments and joint venture partnerships across hospitality, industrial and primarily value add multifamily sectors.

Prior to joining TruAmerica, Pappas was Vice President, Investor Relations at Waterton, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm and was responsible for the firm’s capital raising efforts across the eastern U.S. and select markets abroad. Additionally, she was a Director of Capital Markets in the Chicago office Jones Lange LaSalle, arranging asset level financing and joint venture equity with a focus on multifamily. Pappas began her career in real estate in structured finance at Tremont Realty Capital, now part of the RMR Group.

Pappas earned her M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s, Kellogg School of Management and a B.A degree from DePaul University. She is an active member of the National Multifamily Housing Council, the Pension Real Estate Association, where she serves on the Membership Committee and the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. Pappas also serves as a long-time mentor for the scholars of the Goldie Initiative and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. In 2023, Pappas was named by GlobeSt as a Women of Influence and received the national Women In Real Estate Award from ConnectCRE for her professional contributions and achievements.

Steven Parrinello

Managing Director, Fortress Investment Group

Steven Parrinello has been active in the commercial real estate market since 2003 and has a long track record of successfully executing on a number of differentiated strategies and financing products. During his career, he has originated, underwritten and managed over $3.00B of real estate transactions.

Beginning in 2024, Mr. Parrinello has been the Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group in the Real Estate Credit Group focused on originating and buying commercial real estate senior and subordinate debt.

Beginning in 2020, Mr. Parrinello has been the Managing Director of Investments at Pennybacker Capital, a real estate private equity manager which is active across the United States in both equity and credit real asset strategies. He is responsible for investments in senior loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and distressed note acquisitions and financing.

Previously, from 2014 to 2020, Mr. Parrinello was a Managing Director, Originations at Guggenheim Partners. In that position, he originated life company CRE loans, CMBS, bridge loans as well as construction and agency financing on commercial real estate assets on a nationwide basis. Transaction sizes typically ranged from $10.00MM to $120.00MM.

Prior thereto, from 2011 to 2014, Mr. Parrinello served as a Director of Originations at Hudson Realty Capital, an integrated commercial real estate investment management firm which provides financial solutions to mid-market sponsors across the United
States. While specific parameters were employed on a loan-by-loan basis, generally loan sizes ranged from $20.00MM – $100.00MM.

Steven holds a BBA from Pace University and an M.S. from New York University.

Brian Pieracci

Managing Director, Head of Private Equity – North America, Heitman

Brian is a Managing Director and Head of Heitman’s North American Private Real Estate Equity group. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s investment activities and the portfolio and asset management operations of the region’s funds and separate accounts. He is an equity owner of the firm and sits on the firm’s Global Management Committee, North American Private Equity Investment Committee and North American Valuation Committee. Brian is the executive sponsor of iLEAD, Heitman’s Employee Resource Network (ERN) focused on supporting women within Heitman and the real estate industry. Brian has been involved in $18 billion of investment activity over his career with respect to a variety of property types and investment structures. Brian began his career at Heitman, originally starting as an Investment Analyst in the Acquisitions group.

Brian received a BS in Finance and Real Estate from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He is a member of the Self-Storage Association and the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).

Tim Richards

Co-head of the Conduit Originations, Goldman Sachs

Tim is co-head of the Conduit Originations team within the Real Estate Financing Group in Investment Banking. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2015 as an associate in the Real Estate Financing Group and was named managing director in 2023.

Prior to joining the firm, Tim worked in the Capital Markets Group at General Growth Properties. Earlier in his career, he worked in the Real Estate Group within the Northern Trust Company.

Tim earned his undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of Chicago, where he graduated with honors. He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Robert Rothschild

SVP, Investment, InterVest Capital Partners

Robert is a Senior Vice President and a member of InterVest’s investment committee. Rob leads the firm’s real estate debt and equity investment programs. Prior to joining InterVest in 2014, Rob worked at Pensam Capital, LLC. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance with a minor in Psychology from the University of Miami.

Natalia Sosnina

Head of Acquisitions, Terra Strategies

Natalia Sosnina is a structured finance expert with a specialty in distressed assets. Currently, Head of Acquisitions at Terra Strategies focusing on the acquisition of distressed debt and securities, Natalia previously held roles at rating agencies, assessing the issuance of new CMBS as well as NPL Acquisitions for PE fund.

Natalia started in real estate following the GFC as an analyst representing distressed borrowers in the restructuring of their loans on commercial real estate properties. After immigrating to the United States in with no real estate connections, Natalia has attained a professional excellence as well as having amassed a real estate investment portfolio.

She holds an undergraduate degree in engineering from Moscow State University of Technology and Masters in Real Estate Investment and Finance from NYU.