Team

James R. Worms is a co-founder and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paladin Realty, where he oversees the firm’s investment strategy and execution. He serves on the firm’s investment committee. Prior to forming Paladin Realty in 1995, Mr. Worms was a Managing Director of Salomon Brothers, where he co-managed the firm’s worldwide real estate investment banking activities. In this capacity, he was involved in real estate investment and advisory transactions totaling billions of dollars, including extensive experience in all types of commercial and residential real estate. Prior to joining Salomon Brothers in 1987, Mr. Worms was a Principal at Eastdil Realty, Inc. where he directed Eastdil’s Western Region partnership investment operations. Before joining Eastdil in 1980, Mr. Worms worked as a Certified Public Accountant at Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Worms has been a member of various industry organizations including the Pension Real Estate Association, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Urban Land Institute, where he serves on the Recreation Development Council.

Mr. Worms graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and from The Anderson School of Management at UCLA with a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Mr. Worms also graduated from Hastings College of Law with a Juris Doctor degree.

Frederick Gortner is a co-founder, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Paladin Realty, where he leads the firm’s U.S. investment strategies, including its value-added apartment platforms. Mr. Gortner is also involved in many aspects of the firm’s investment activities, management and operations. He serves on the firm’s investment committee. Prior to joining the predecessor of Paladin Realty in 1994, Mr. Gortner was a Principal with the Tucker Investment Group, Inc., a Los Angeles based real estate investment and development firm, as well as a co-founder of Enterprise Management, Inc., a real estate property management company. He began his career at Chemical Bank (now JP Morgan Chase) in New York working on real estate related transactions. He has been a member of various industry organizations including the Pension Real Estate Association, the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles, the Inter-American Dialogue and the Urban Land Institute. He has served on the boards of several civic organizations and led various public-private initiatives including business improvement district formation and zoning code reforms. He is a licensed California real estate broker.

Mr. Gortner graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Liberal Arts. He also graduated from The Anderson School of Management at UCLA with a Master’s degree in Business Administration, where he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma national scholastic honor society and awarded the Wittenberg-Livingston Academic Fellowship for real estate studies.

Randall Loker is a Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Paladin Realty, where he aids in defining and implementing Paladin’s investment strategy throughout Latin America. He serves on the firm’s investment and ESG committees. Prior to joining Paladin Realty in 2007, Mr. Loker was a Project Manager for public homebuilder Toll Brothers, where he oversaw a number of condominium projects in Northern California. Mr. Loker began his career as a Civil Engineer for international consultant Camp Dresser & McKee in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mr. Loker graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and has a Master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Evan Pickering is a Vice President at Paladin Realty, where he focuses on supporting Paladin’s U.S. value-add apartment acquisitions and asset management as well as all client relations and reporting. Additionally, Mr. Pickering serves on the firm’s ESG Committee. Prior to joining the firm in 2017, he worked at BFSG as an institutional investment consultant where he served both corporate and public sector clients. He consulted on more than $2.5 billion of client assets in defined contribution and defined benefit pension plans. He began his career working in the operations department at Mercer Advisors, where he was primarily responsible for trading, conducting investment analysis, and maintaining accounts. Mr. Pickering is a CFA® charterholder and is an active member in his local CFA society. He graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor’s of Finance with a concentration in investments. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Student Managed Investment Fund for his alma mater.

Gisele Narisawa is the Vice President of Finance at Paladin Realty. Prior to joining the firm in 2009, Ms. Narisawa was an Accounting Supervisor at Hearthstone, Inc., a Los Angeles-based real estate private equity firm, where she was responsible for all aspects of corporate accounting and financial reporting. Ms. Narisawa graduated from the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

She also completed finance and accounting certificates at UCLA, and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in California.

Since 2018, Bill Krauch has been a Senior Advisor to the firm regarding various strategic initiatives. Mr. Krauch is one of the most highly respected figures in the real estate investment management industry, with over 35 years of experience in senior-level executive positions spanning acquisitions, asset and portfolio management, marketing, client relations, product development, investment committees, and operating/management committees. He joined TCW Realty Advisors as a startup company and held the positions of National Director of Acquisitions, General Manager of the Asset Management Group and was Vice Chairman and Executive Managing Director/Chairman of the Equity Investment Committee when the company was sold to CBRE Investors. At ING Clarion, Krauch was Global Head of Marketing and Client Relations, Member of Global Executive Board, Chairman of Global Product Committee and member of the Clarion Investment Committee. Most recently, he held the position of EVP/Senior Advisor for Client Relations and Product Development at Bentall Kennedy.

Mr. Krauch has been active in several industry organizations including the Urban Land Institute as a member and former Chairman of the Commercial Retail Council and Assistant Chair to the Urban Development Mixed Use Council; a member of Pension Real Estate Association; member and former Board Member of the Association of Foreign Investors; UCLA Real Estate Alumni Group – former Advisory Board Member; and former trustee of Common Fund Realty. He graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business.

Joseph Forman is the Chief Executive Officer of The Bond Street Capital Companies, Inc. a commercial mortgage brokerage firm. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to Paladin Realty. Forman, educated as an Attorney, was admitted to the California Bar in 1979. Shortly thereafter he elected to pursue a career in business landing a job at one of the premier commercial real estate investment banking firms in the Los Angeles area. He spent the next several years representing Borrowers placing debt and equity on a wide variety of commercial property types.
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In the early 1980’s Forman moved over to the capital side of the business joining a Los Angeles financial institution in what would be called today “the Structured Finance Group.” In the five years as the senior executive, he developed a team of forty professionals managing investments with the best in breed developers in Southern California with total assets in the group exceeding one billion dollars.

In the late eighties he left the institutional world and formed a company to purchase and operate a wide variety of properties with financial partners. In the early nineties the company began to represent financial institutions and borrowers originating debt and equity for properties located throughout the United States.

Since 2001 he has focused his efforts on developing The Bond Street Capital Companies, Inc. The company initially began as a direct lender with a CMBS program and ultimately grew to represent multiple sources providing capital for a wide variety of property types. Bond Street originated loans through its 28 affiliated offices located throughout the US. In 2008, Bond Street began to exclusively represent Borrowers sourcing debt and equity on all property types. Forman continues to represent a select group of clients in his capacity as an advisor to these firms. His current clients owns assets in excess of two billion dollars representing property types from hospitality, multi-family, self-storage, industrial and retail among others. Forman has originated over three billion dollars in financings during thirty plus years in the commercial real estate finance business.

Andrew H. Cummins has been a longtime Senior Advisor to Paladin Realty. Mr. Cummins has lived, worked and traveled extensively throughout Latin America for 30 years. He is also the founder and managing partner of Explorador Capital Management, which operates a long/short hedge fund targeting Latin America, taking positions in equity and fixed income securities of publicly-traded and private companies in the region. Prior to starting Explorador, he worked at Emerging Markets Investors Corporation in Washington, DC. Mr. Cummins also previously worked in the acquisitions group of JMB Realty Corporation in Chicago, where his transaction experience included corporate and real estate acquisitions and financings.

Mr. Cummins graduated from Harvard Business School with a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on corporate strategy and finance. He also graduated from The Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. At Berkeley, he was selected commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies, elected senator of the student body government and was awarded a Nikko Securities Fellowship to Tokyo, Japan.

Ricardo Raoul is a Managing Director, Brazil Country Head based in São Paulo. He serves on the firm’s investment committee and has over 60 projects under his management in Brazil. A native of Brazil, Mr. Raoul has two decades of senior-level experience in commercial real estate investment and development in Brazil. For the past decade, Mr. Raoul was a Managing Partner at Muriqui Investmentos, a private São Paulo-based real estate investment, venture capital and growth equity firm. In that role, he worked closely with Paladin Realty in a successful office building joint venture from 2007 to 2012. He was previously Executive Vice President for Business Development at Cushman & Wakefield, where he helped establish and grow the firm’s operations in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Mr. Raoul graduated from Mackenzie University in Brazil with a Bachelor’s degree in engineering and from Stanford University with a Masters of Science degree (MSc) in Business Administration. He also has business degrees from Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV (CEAG) and Harvard Business School (PMD72).

Fernanda Rosalem is a Partner, Head of Investments based in São Paulo, Brazil. She has over 20 years of experience in real estate and private equity markets, primarily responsible for business origination, fundraising and investor relations.

Before joining Paladin, Fernanda was a Real Estate Director at Patria Investments, responsible for real estate investment funds managed by the company, including fund structuring, investment origination, allocation, and institutional investor relations. Previously, Fernanda was a Managing Partner of RBR Asset Management, an independent asset management firm fully focused on the real estate market. In that role, she was portfolio manager of the income producing fund focused on commercial and logistics properties and served as a member of the Investment Committee for all funds managed by RBR. Prior to this experience, Fernanda acted as Capital Markets Director at Cushman & Wakefield in Brazil.

Mrs. Rosalem holds a degree in business administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (EAESP-FGV) and an MBA from Fundação Dom Cabral focused on finance and business strategies.

Andy Gruber is the Head and Partner in charge of Design & Construction in Brazil. Mr Gruber real estate development expertise spans over three decades of senior management experience, having lived and worked in Brazil, USA and participated in projects in France and Luxembourg. Mr Gruber has participated in the following Business Groups: Arquitectonica International Corp (USA), Grupo Servlease (Brazil & USA), Tishman Speyer Properties (Brazil & USA), Tauari Gestão Imobiliaria and VR Assessoria de Investmentos (both in Brazil). Projects he participated in the development include the Banque de Luxembourg Headquarters (G.D Luxembourg), World Trade Center São Paulo, North Tower (CENU Complex), Rochavera Plaza (phase 1) and Faria Lima Plaza in the city of São Paulo.

Mr Gruber has a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from Mackenzie University School of Architecture and Urbanism, member of the Conselho de Arquitetos e Urbanismo (São Paulo Chapter), Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors – MRICS (Brazil Chapter) and a former member of the CMPU (City of São Paulo Urban Policies Council) for two terms (2016/2017 – 2018/2019) representing the FECONMERCIO (Federation of Commerce of São Paulo) and the CTLU (City of São Paulo Urban Legislation Technical Council ) for one term (2020 -2022) representing the SECOVI (Developers Association of São Paulo).

Over the past 25 years, Ms. Vaz Guimaraes has been working in the private equity market, most of it in the real estate sector. Prior to joining Paladin, Ms Vaz Guimarães was a partner and Head of Investor Relations at BlueMacaw, coordinating fundraising activities for publicly listed real estate funds and coordinating all communications with investors and the market at large. Prior to that Ms. Vaz Guimarães was partner and Head of Fund Operations and Investor Relations at Hemisfério Sul Investimentos (HSI) where she was responsible for supervising fundraising activities, including the structuring and operations of six real estate private equity funds, as well as three private equity funds focused on high-yield opportunities in Brazil, totaling US$3.5 billion in commitments. Prior to HSI, she spent seven years at GP Investimentos.

Ms. Vaz Guimarães has a undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Universidade Paulista, a business degree from Harvard Extension School of Business and an M.B.A. from Universidade de São Paulo, where she graduated with distinction.

Fabiana Tomaz serves as a Partner, Head of New Business at Paladin Realty’s office in Brazil. Ms. Fabiana has over two decades of senior management experience, working in the real estate development and investment industry.

She started her career at Schahin Cury. Then, at Cyrela, she helped establish and grow Living, Cyrela’s low income unit. More recently, she served as New Business Director at You Inc, where she played a major role identifying and developing more than 35 mid-income residential and mixed-use projects.

Throughout her professional career, Fabiana has participated in several residential and commercial projects, including redevelopment/master planning, land use, adaptive reuse, zoning and project management, in addition to being a pioneer in processes of Potential Constructive Transfers in the city of São Paulo.

Ms. Fabiana has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineer, and has taken a Graduate course in Occupational and Safety Engineering, both from Mackenzie University. She has specialization and business management courses, including Financial Management and Decisions – ISE Business School, CEO/FGV – FGV Business Education and Innovation and Technologies/Media X – Stanford University.

Eduardo Netto is an Investment Manager based in Paladin Realty’s Brazil Office. Prior to joining Paladin, Eduardo worked for Carrefour Properties, where he was responsible for structuring and executing real estate projects in the residential and commercial segments. Eduardo also worked for Tishman Speyer, where he worked on acquisitions and development of office and residential projects.

A native of Brazil, Eduardo has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ.

Danilo Coenca is responsible for Compliance, Risks and Controls at Paladin Brazil. Prior to joining Paladin, Mr. Coenca worked at CPFL Renewable Energy, where he gained more than 15 years of administrative and financial experience. He also worked on Highline Telecom one of the largest developers of Telecom Solutions in Brazil.

Mr. Coenca holds a Bachelor’s degree and a post-graduate degree from FECAP (Fundação Escola Alvares Penteado) in Business Administration.

Fernando Souza serves as a Senior Advisor at Paladin Realty Partners. Fernando has more than 17 years of experience leading investments and managing Real Estate projects in Brazil, with proven ability to evaluate and execute multi segment opportunities such as residential, office, hospitality, multi-family, and mixed-use projects. Notable assignments include fund raising, investor relations, cash flow management, business plan, valuation, due diligence, debt renegotiation, turnaround, corporate restructuring, performance & strategic improvement in addition to a solid background in legal matters.

Fernando holds a position of Partner at Alaska Boutique Advisory and REVE DSG, a Real Estate development company focused on high end products. He also serves as a Staff Consultant at IFC – International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.

A native of Brazil, Fernando graduated from Mackenzie University in São Paulo with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. He holds a Master’s in business administration (CEAG) from Fundação Getúlio Vargas – FGV and a Professional Certification for Real Estate, Finance & Development from MIT.

Valter Rabotzke serves as Senior Advisor to Paladin Realty’s local team in Sao Paulo. Prior to joining Paladin, Mr. Rabotzke worked at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, where he gained more than 10 years of audit and consulting experience on clients in the financial services, manufacturing and real estate industries. He also worked as Senior Internal Auditor at Itaú Bank, the largest private bank in Brazil.

Mr. Rabotzke graduated from FEI with a Bachelor’s degree in Electric Engineering.

Andrés Bautista es Gerente Director y Co-Lider de la Región Andina, desde la sede de Paladin en Bogotá, donde dirige la operación en la Región Andina (excluyendo Brasil). Es miembro del Comité de Inversiones y del Comité ASG de la compañía. Nativo de Colombia, el señor Bautista cuenta con 15 años de experiencia en la inversión y desarrollo de proyectos inmobiliarios. Antes de entrar a Paladin Realty en 2015, se desempeñó como Director de Proyectos en Constructora Conconcreto, una de las constructoras y desarrolladoras inmobiliarias más grandes de Colombia, donde fue responsable de la estructuración y desarrollo de múltiples proyectos de vivienda, centros comerciales y oficinas en Colombia.

El señor Bautista se graduó de Ingeniero Civil de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. También se graduó con distinción de la Maestría en Gerencia de Construcción de la Universidad de Birmingham en el Reino Unido. El señor Bautista cuenta con certificación PMP del PMI.

Catalina Rodriguez es Gerente Director y Co-Lider de la Región Andina, desde la sede de Paladin en Bogotá. Es miembro del Comité de Inversiones de la compañía. La Sra. Rodríguez tiene 16 años de experiencia desempeñando puestos clave de liderazgo en funciones financieras y de gestión de proyectos internacionales. Anteriormente trabajó en Arias Serna Saravia como CFO y luego en Newland International Properties, Corp. como CEO, para el proyecto de 262.000 metros cuadrados de uso mixto en el edificio de Panamá donde actualmente opera el JW Marriot. Anteriormente, la Sra. Rodríguez se desempeñó como Directora de Tesorería en Prodesa, uno de los desarrolladores más grandes de Colombia. Tiene una licenciatura en Economía de la Universidad Externado de Colombia y un posgrado en Finanzas de la Universidad de los Andes.

Iván Araque is based in Paladin´s Colombia office where he serves as an Investment Director. Mr. Araque is responsible for the asset management and new project underwriting of the firm’s investments throughout Colombia. Prior to joining Paladin, he was a Structuring Director – Enabling Lands & Master Plans for Constructora Colpatria, one of the largest construction and real estate development companies in Colombia, where he was responsible for structuring projects and negotiating acquisitions to ensure future pipeline for the company of more than US$500 million representing 19,000 units social interest (VIS) and middle-income housing.

Mr. Araque holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a postgraduate degree in Corporate Finance from Universidad de la Sabana. He also holds a Master’s degree in Planning and Management in Civil Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain.

Paola Nieto is based in Paladin’s Bogotá office where she serves as a Financial Analyst for Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Uruguay. Ms. Nieto was an international ambassador for Rotary in Germany, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Business School- CESA, where she graduated with honors. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Corporate Finance at the same institution.

Santiago Gil is a Senior Advisor to Paladin Realty and its former Mexico Country Head. Before joining Paladin in 2022, Santiago also worked as a Project Manager for Constructora Capital, one of the largest construction and real estate development companies. Prior to that, he was a Project Administrator for Arquitectura y Concreto, another important construction company in the country, where he was also responsible for managing sustainable certifications such as EDGE and CASA COLOMBIA.

Mr. Zarate holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, and a postgraduate degree in Project Management from Universidad EAN. Currently, he is pursuing a postgraduate degree in Finance from Universidad de Los Andes.

Sthefania Monroy trabaja desde la oficina de Paladin en Bogotá como Analista Financiera para Colombia y Perú. La Srita. Monroy es Economista y tiene un postgrado en Finanzas y Administración Pública, títulos que le otorga la Universidad Militar Nueva Granada.

Samira Pineda es Coordinadora administrativa y financiera en la oficina de Paladin en Bogotá. La Sra. Pineda tiene 10 años de experiencia en el sector real trabajando en roles administrativos, de RRHH y relacionados con la Calidad. Anteriormente trabajó en Indubosa Ltda, empresa fabricante de compuestos de PVC y en Socialab como asesora comercial y administrativa.

La Sra. Pineda tiene títulos como Administradora de Empresas y Especialista en Gestión de Integral de la Calidad, ambos de la Universidad Sergio Arboleda, y un EMBA En Dirección General del IEP- Instituto Europeo de Posgrado.

Miguel Estévez trabaja en la oficina de Paladin en Colombia, donde se desempeña como Gerente de Inversiones. Antes de unirse a Paladin en 2023, Miguel fue director de Estructuración Financiera en IC Constructora, una firma colombiana con más de cincuenta años de experiencia en construcción y desarrollo inmobiliario. Anteriormente, había trabajado en equipos de gestión de proyectos en promotoras inmobiliarias como Deco de la Fundación Grupo Social y Pijao. De igual manera, trabajó en cargos técnicos, de I+D y como ingeniero de obra en empresas constructoras como Soletanche Bachy Cimas y Cumbrera.

El Sr. Estévez es ingeniero civil de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia y tiene un posgrado en Evaluación y Desarrollo de Proyectos de la Universidad del Rosario.

María Paula Restrepo trabaja en la oficina de Paladin en Bogotá como Analista de Negocio para Colombia. La srta. Restrepo tiene un pregrado en arquitectura de la Universidad Católica de Colombia y realizó un diplomado en Desarrollo de Proyectos BIM con énfasis en Revit de la Universidad Piloto de Colombia. La Sra. Restrepo trabajó anteriormente en la Alcaldía Municipal de Soacha donde se desempeñó como profesional estructurando proyectos de contratación estatal y apoyo a la supervisión de obras.

Santiago Gil is a Senior Advisor to Paladin Realty and a former Managing Director and Mexico Country Head based in Mexico. Mr. Gil has worked closely with Paladin Realty since 2010, originally as a consultant to some of its ventures in Mexico. Previously, Mr. Gil structured real estate portfolio divestments for a variety of Mexican financial institutions in excess of $90 million in value at the Los Angeles based investment bank, Lucent Capital. Prior to this experience, Mr. Gil spent over seven years in several different capacities with Mexico City based Integra, to develop over 2000 housing units in projects over different market segments and locations across Mexico. Mr. Gil started his career underwriting international credit risk with Citi Bank’s Banamex in Mexico City. He is an active member of Urban Land Institute and has participated in the formation of different Urban Land Institute associations for the Los Angeles and Mexico chapters.

Mr. Gil holds a dual degree in Business Administration and International Relations from ITAM in Mexico City, and a Masters of Business Administration from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Mrs Karen Sanvicente has forged a professional career in the Mexico Real Estate Industry. Industrial Engineer by Ibero University and with a master’s degree in economics and business from Anahuac University, Mrs. Sanvicente has more than 20 years of proven track record. She has participated with several key real estate players such as: Abilia (former BCBA) , Prologis (former G Accion), Hines, The Carlyle Group, RLH Properties, MRP, Advance Real Estate and several medium companies. Mrs. Sanvicente has had the opportunity to collaborate in various phases of the real estate development and investment processes for different types of assets. Her personal interests include traveling, movies and enjoying her family.

Mr. Quesada, a native of Costa Rica, is responsible for Paladin’s investments in Central America. He has over two decades of experience managing large mixed-used development projects and luxury branded hospitality projects in Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico. Some of the projects recently developed under his leadership include the Landmark Guadalajara, Town Square Metepec, the Four Seasons Caye Chapel, Belize, the Ritz Carlton, Mexico City, the Montage los Cabos, Mexico. Previously he was involved with the development of the Four Seasons Tropicalia, Samana Bay, Dominican Republic, the Four Seasons La Reunion, Guatemala, the Hyatt Andaz Papagayo, Costa Rica, and the Hyatt Place Pinares, Costa Rica, among others. Mr. Quesada earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Costa Rica with emphasis in Banking and Finance. He also received Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Costa Rica, where he was awarded graduate honors. Lastly, he took part of a post-graduate study as Expert in Directing Financial Entities, sponsored by the Carolina Foundation and Confederacion Española de Cajas de Ahorros in Madrid, Spain.