Emerging Markets: Expanding the Horizons of Real Estate

Moderator

Nicolas Retsinas
Director,
Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies

Nicolas P. Retsinas was appointed Director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies in 1998.  The Joint Center is a collaborative venture of the Graduate School of Design and the Kennedy School of Government.  The Center conducts research to examine and address the most critical housing and community development issues in America. 

Prior to his Harvard appointment,  Retsinas served as Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and as Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision.  Mr. Retsinas also served on the Board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,  the Federal Housing Finance Board and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

Mr. Retsinas also served the State of Rhode Island as the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation from 1987 to 1993. He received his master’s degree in city planning from Harvard University and his AB in economics from New York University.

Roberto Ordorica
CEO,
Prudential Real Estate Investors, Latin America

Mr. Ordorica is Head of PREI-Latin America. In this capacity, Mr. Ordorica’s duties include developing and implementing PREI-Latin America’s strategy, as well as overseeing PREI-Latin America’s operations, including but not limited to property acquisitions, asset management, property sales, portfolio accounting and research. Mr. Ordorica has extensive experience in providing clients with strategic advisory services (including both mergers and acquisitions as well as asset dispositions) and in assisting clients in raising both private and public debt and equity.

Mr. Ordorica has participated in some of the most significant real estate transactions in Latin America. Prior to joining PREI, Mr. Ordorica was head of the Latin America team at JPMorgan’s Global Real Estate Investment Banking group. In 1989, Mr. Ordorica served in the administration of Mexican President, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, as an investment associate focusing on infrastructure projects.

Mr. Ordorica graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor’s degree in Planning, a Master’s degree in City Planning and a Master’s degree in Real Estate. Mr. Ordorica’s academic achievements have been recognized by his appointed membership to the Mexican Society for Geography and Statistics. The Society, founded in 1833, is the oldest and one of the most important Mexican academic institutions. Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt were once members of this institution. Membership is exclusive and comes only from internal nomination to the board of directors for notable contributions in the field.

Sid Yog
Founder and Managing Partner,
Xander Real Estate Partners

Siddharth Yog is the Managing Partner of The Xander Group Inc. and co founded the firm with Arthur Segel in 2005. He also serves as the Chief Investment Officer for Xander Real Estate Partners I & II, the firm's two India focused funds and has been responsible for investments in that market in large township developments, mixed use city center projects, hotels & resorts and a large public-private partnership.

Sid has 13 years of global experience in real estate spanning 15 countries across Asia/Pacific. His clients have included Fortune 500 companies, Governments, Private and Public development companies and leading Institutional investors. He has been responsible for structuring and implementing some of the largest public-private partnerships and privatization programs in Indian real estate.

From 1999 to 2002, Sid was based in Singapore and Hong Kong as Founder Director of CB Richard Elli's Asia/Pacific strategic consulting practice. Earlier from 1994 to 1998, he helped set up CB Richard Ellis' (CBRE) India operations and led the consulting, valuation and research groups. He has also worked at Bain & Company in New York, Deutsche Bank Real Estate Investment Management GmbH in Frankfurt and Feedback Ventures in New Delhi.

Sid received an MBA from the Harvard Business School with highest distinction and was elected a Baker Scholar. He was also elected President of his Harvard Business School Class. Earlier he earned an Honors degree in Economics from the University of Delhi.

He has served on the board of directors of the Harvard Business School alumni association from 2003-2004; and helped found the India Brand Equity Foundation's "Experience India" program for global students of business. He currently serves on the boards of the Indian Film Combine Ltd., Eldeco City Pvt. Ltd., Omega Shelters Pvt. Ltd., Shrachi Burdwan Pvt. Ltd., and Boutique Hotels (India) Limited.

Sid has written extensively in financial dailies and magazines; especially on issues relating to structural reform in real estate, alternative models for profitable development of mass housing, and increasing viability of infrastructure projects by cross subsidization through real estate development. From 1996 to 1999, he authored, edited and published India's first real estate market journal. He is a frequent guest on TV and was most recently profiled by CNBC.

Passionate about ancient history, global politics and Indian mythology, he has traveled to 36 countries and recently retraced the ancient Jewish and Christian kingdoms on an 8 country journey through the Middle East.

Sid splits his time equally between New York, USA and New Delhi, India.

Burak Oymen
Co-founder,
Capital Partners

Burak Oymen is the co-founder of Capital Partners. A graduate of the Temple University Business School, Burak holds a BA and an MBA in international business, marketing, and strategic management. Burak Oymen's professional experience includes 12 years in the real estate markets of Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.

Burak Oymen was based in Moscow from 1994 to 1998. He initially worked for Mosenka, the leading real estate development company in Moscow at the time, where he served in a number of roles including as the company's deputy general director. He later worked for DTZ, the multinational real estate advisory firm, where he was responsible for corporate services.

In 1998 he co-founded Resco A.S., which in 2000 became became the representative of Colliers International in Turkey and the leading commercial real estate advisory firm in Istanbul. In 2001 Burak moved to Kazakhstan and teamed up with Serzhan Zhumashov to establish Capital Partners. From 2001 to 2003 Burak Oymen was based in Almaty and focused on developing the commercial real estate portfolio of the company. In 2003, he moved to Moscow to focus on the international expansion of Capital Partners. Since early 2006, Burak has been based in Istanbul and spends most of his time managing Capital Partners' operations in Turkey, Russia and the Ukraine.

Burak Oymen speaks Turkish, English, Russian, and Spanish.

Curt Greer
Managing Director,
RECAP Investments

Curt Greer co-founded and co-heads RECAP Investments, a private equity program focused on real estate and real-estate related interests in Asia markets. Prior to RECAP, Curt was a managing principal and counsel at Westbrook Partners, a multi-fund private equity real estate investment program, and before that was a lawyer in private practice in New York with an emphasis on capital markets and institutional private equity real estate finance. RECAP has affiliate offices in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, in addition to Boston, Massachusetts, where Curt resides.