Advisor

Rebel Cole, PhD

Dr. Cole is a Lynn Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Finance at the College of Business of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. He received his PhD in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina in 1988, after which he spent ten years working in the Federal Reserve System, primarily at the Board of Governors in Washington, DC where he oversaw design, development and implementation of the System for Estimating Examination Ratings (SEER)–the Fed’s primary system for offsite monitoring of banks and bank holding companies–and the 1993 iteration of the Fed’s Survey of Small Business Finances. Since leaving the Board of Governors in 1997, Dr. Cole has served as a special advisor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other non-governmental organizations, providing training and technical assistance to central banks in developing countries that include Antigua, the Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Cape Verde, China, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montserrat, Morocco, Palestine, the Philippines, Russia, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen. Dr. Cole has participated in more than 60 international missions to these countries to assist in the development of stress tests, financial stability indicators, and off-site monitoring systems for commercial banks and other financial institutions. Dr. Cole has published peer-reviewed articles in top academic journals that include the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Banking & Finance, the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics and Real Estate Economics. His primary areas of research are commercial banking, corporate governance, financial institutions, real estate and small-business finance. According to Google Scholar, his works have been cited by other scholars more than 11,000 times. According to Scopus, his works have been cited more than 2,500 times. Most of his research papers are available for download from his website at www.rebelcole.com. Dr. Cole is a frequent commentator in the financial press. During the past few years, he has been quoted in, or appeared on: Accounting Today, the American Banker, the Bloomberg Businessweek, CNN Money, Fox Business News, the Huffington Post, the New York Times, National Public Radio, the PBS Nightly Business Report, the Street.com, the Voice of America, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, and Yahoo Finance.

Biography

Dr. Cole is a Lynn Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Finance at the College of Business of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. He received his PhD in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina in 1988, after which he spent ten years working in the Federal Reserve System, primarily at the Board of Governors in Washington, DC where he oversaw design, development and implementation of the System for Estimating Examination Ratings (SEER)–the Fed’s primary system for offsite monitoring of banks and bank holding companies–and the 1993 iteration of the Fed’s Survey of Small Business Finances. Since leaving the Board of Governors in 1997, Dr. Cole has served as a special advisor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other non-governmental organizations, providing training and technical assistance to central banks in developing countries that include Antigua, the Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Cape Verde, China, Ghana, Guyana, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montserrat, Morocco, Palestine, the Philippines, Russia, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Sudan, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen. Dr. Cole has participated in more than 60 international missions to these countries to assist in the development of stress tests, financial stability indicators, and off-site monitoring systems for commercial banks and other financial institutions. Dr. Cole has published peer-reviewed articles in top academic journals that include the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Banking & Finance, the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics and Real Estate Economics. His primary areas of research are commercial banking, corporate governance, financial institutions, real estate and small-business finance. According to Google Scholar, his works have been cited by other scholars more than 11,000 times. According to Scopus, his works have been cited more than 2,500 times. Most of his research papers are available for download from his website at www.rebelcole.com. Dr. Cole is a frequent commentator in the financial press. During the past few years, he has been quoted in, or appeared on: Accounting Today, the American Banker, the Bloomberg Businessweek, CNN Money, Fox Business News, the Huffington Post, the New York Times, National Public Radio, the PBS Nightly Business Report, the Street.com, the Voice of America, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, and Yahoo Finance.

Education

• PhD (1988) Finance, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• BA (1981) Economics and Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Intellectual Contributions

• Cole, Rebel; Davidson, Travis; Wang, Hongxia. (2021). Why do bank holding companies purchase bank-owned life insurance?, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 57(1), 29-59
• Cole, Rebel; Johan, Sofia; Schweizer, Denis. (2021). Corporate failures: declines, collapses, and scandals, Journal of Corporate Finance, 67, 101872
• Cole, Rebel; Damm, Jason. (2020). Do Banks Lend Where They Borrow? Local Small-Business Lending in the U.S., U.S. Small Business Administration Research Study
• Cole, Rebel; Damm, Jason. (2020). How did the financial crisis affect small-business lending in the U.S.?, Journal of Financial Research, 43, 767-820
• Cole, Rebel; Floros, Iannos; Ivanov, Vladamir. (2019). Reducing uncertainty through a two-stage IPO, Journal of Financial Intermediation, 38, 45-57
• Cole, Rebel; Sokolyk, Tatyana. (2018). Debt financing, survival and growth of start-up firms, Journal of Corporate Finance, 50, 609-625
• Cole, Rebel. (2018). How Did Bank Lending to Small Business in the United States Fare After the Financial Crisis?, U.S. Small Business Administration Research Study 439, 78 pages
• Dai, Na; Ivanov, Vladamir; Cole, Rebel. (2017). Entrepreneurial Optimism, Credit Availability, and Cost of Financing: Evidence from U.S. Small Businesses, Journal of Corporate Finance, 44, 289-307
• Cole, Rebel; White, Lawrence. (2017). When time is not on our side: The costs of regulatory forbearance in the closure of insolvent banks, Journal of Banking and Finance, 80, 235-249
• Cole, Rebel; Cumming, Douglas; Li, Dan. (2016). Do banks or VCs spur growth?, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions, and Money, 41, 60-72
• Cole, Rebel; Mehran, Hamid. (2016). What do we know about executive compensation at small privately held firms?, Small Business Economics, 46, 215-237
• Cole, Rebel; Sokolyk, Tatyana. (2016). Who needs credit and who gets credit? Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances, Journal of Financial Stability, 24, 40-60
• Chernykh, Lucy; Cole, Rebel. (2015). How should we measure bank capital adequacy? A simple proposal, Journal of Financial Stability, 20, 131-143
• Berkman, Henk; Cole, Rebel; Fu, Lawrence. (2014). Improving corporate governance where the State is the controlling block holder: Evidence from China, European Journal of Finance, 20, 752-777
• Roddewig, Richard; Cole, Rebel. (2014). Real estate value impacts from fracking: Industry response and proper analytical techniques, Real Estate Issues, 39(3), 6-20
• Cole, Rebel. (2013). What do we know about the capital structure of privately held firms? Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finances, Financial Management, 45, 777-813
• Cole, Rebel; White, Lawrence. (2012). Deja Vu all over again: The causes of U.S. commerical bank failures this time around, Journal of Financial Services Research, 42, 5-29
• Cannon, Susanne; Cole, Rebel. (2011). Changes in REIT liquidity: Evidence from daily data 1988-2007, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 43, 258-280
• Chernykh, Lucy; Cole, Rebel. (2011). Does deposit insurance improve financial intermediation? Evidence from the Russian experiment, Journal of Banking & Finance, 35, 388-402
• Cannon, Susanne; Cole, Rebel. (2011). How accurate are commerical real-estate appraisal? Evidence from 25 years of NCREIF data, Journal of Portfolio Management, 35(5), 68-88
• Berkman, Henk; Cole, Rebel; Fu, Lawrence. (2010). Political connections and minority-shareholder protection: Evidence from securities-market regulation in China, Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, 45, 1391-1417
• Ang, James; Cole, Rebel; Lawson, Dan. (2010). The role of owner in capital structure decisions: An analysis of single-owner corporations, Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 14, 1-36
• Berkman, Henk; Cole, Rebel; Fu, Lawrence. (2009). Expropriation through loan guarantees to related parties: Evidence from China, Journal of Banking & Finance, 33, 141-156
• Cole, Rebel; Moshirian, Fariborz; Wu, Qionbing. (2008). Bank stock returns and economic growth, Journal of Banking & Finance, 32, 996-1007
• Cole, Rebel. (2007). Henderson Global Investors: Institutional investments in real estate, Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education, 10, 107-122
• Cole, Rebel; Goldberg, Lawrence; White, Lawrence. (2004). Cookie-cutter versus character: The micro structure of small-busines lending by large and small banks, Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, 39, 227-251
• Ang, James; Cole, Rebel; Lin, James. (2000). Agency costs and ownership structure, Journal of Finance, 55, 81-106
• Cole, Rebel; Gunther, Jeffery. (1998). Predicting bank failures: A comparison of on- and off-site monitoring systems, Journal of Financial Services Research, 13, 103-117
• Cole, Rebel; Mehran, Hamid. (1998). The effect of changes in ownership structure on performance: Evidence from the thrift industry, Journal of Financial Economics, 50, 291-317
• Cole, Rebel. (1998). The importance of relationships to the availability of credit, Journal of Banking & Finance, 22, 959-997
• Bhasin, Vijay; Cole, Rebel; Kiely, Joseph. (1997). Changes in REIT liquidity 1990-94: Evidence from intra-day transactions, Real Estate Economics, 25, 615-630
• Eisenbeis, Robert; Horvitz, Paul; Cole, Rebel. (1996). Commerical banks and real estate lending: The Texas experience, Journal of Regulatory Economics, 10, 275-290
• Cole, Rebel; Eisenbeis, Robert. (1996). The role of principal-agent problems in the 1980s thrift crisis, Real Estate Economics, 24, 195-218
• Cole, Rebel; Gunther, Jeffery. (1995). Separating the likelihood and timing of bank failure, Journal of Banking & Finance, 19, 1073-1089
• Fenn, George; Cole, Rebel. (1994). Announcements of asset-quality problems and contagion effects in the life insurance industry, Journal of Financial Economics, 35, 181-198
• Cole, Rebel; Eisenbeis, Robert; McKenzie, Joseph. (1994). Asymmetric-information and principal-agent problems as sources of value in FSLIC-assisted acquisitions of thrift institutions, Journal of Financial Services Research, 8, 5-28
• Cole, Rebel; McKenzie, Joseph. (1994). Thrift asset-class returns and efficient diversification of thrift institution portfolios, Real Estate Economics (formerly Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association), 22, 95-116
• Cole, Rebel. (1993). When are thrift institutions closed? An agency-theoretic model, Journal of Financial Services Research, 7, 283-307
• McKenzie, Joseph; Cole, Rebel; Brown, Richard. (1992). Moral hazard, portfolio allocation, and asset returns for thrift institutions, Journal of Financial Services Research, 5, 315-339
• Curry, Timothy; Blalock, Joseph; Cole, Rebel. (1991). Recoveries on distressed real estate and the relative efficiency of public versus private management, Real Estate Economics (formerly Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association), 19, 495-515
• Miles, Mike; Cole, Rebel; Guillkey, David. (1990). A different look at commercial real estate returns, Real Estate Economics (formerly Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association), 18, 403-430
• Cole, Rebel; Guillkey, David; Miles, Mike; Webb, Brian. (1989). More scientific diversification categories in commerical real estate, Real Estate Review(Spring), 59-66
• Guillkey, David; Miles, Mike; Cole, Rebel. (1989). The motivations for institutional real estate sales and implications for generalizing from specific property sales to asset class returns, Real Estate Economics (formerly Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association), 17, 70-86
• Cole, Rebel; Guillkey, David; Miles, Mike. (1987). Pension fund investment managers’ unit values deserve confidence, Real Estate Review(Spring), 84-89
• Cole, Rebel; Guillkey, David; Miles, Mike. (1986). Towards an assessment of the reliability of commercial appraisals, The Appraisal Journal(July), 422-432

Advisor

Geoffrey Hirt, PhD

Geoffrey Hirt is a Professor Emeritus of Finance at DePaul University where he taught investments and financial management.  He was Chairman of the Finance Department at DePaul University and before that he was Chairman of the Finance and Law Department at Illinois State University. Dr. Hirt is a past President of the Midwest Finance Association and former editor of the Journal of Financial Education. He served on the board of the CFA Institute of Chicago and on the editorial board of the Journal of Investment Consulting.  He is currently a director of the Midwest Financial Education Foundation. Dr. Hirt was Senior Vice President for Strategy and Planning at Mesirow Financial and also the Director of Equity Research. Given his international background, he represented Mesirow Financial at the Pacific Pension Institute (PPI) and he remains a member of that organization today.

Dr. Hirt is the author and co-author of Fundamentals of Investment Management 10th edition, published by McGraw–Hill with a 2012 copyright and the co-author of Foundations of Financial Management 16th edition published by McGraw–Hill with a 2017 copyright. Foundations of Financial Management has been translated into 14 languages. He received his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, his MBA in finance from Miami of Ohio and his bachelor’s degree in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University.  Dr. Hirt directed the Chartered Financial Analysts study program for the CFA Institute of Chicago.

Advisor

Paul Schulman

Paul joined AREP in June 2018 as Principal and Chief Operating Officer for the Company and brings over 30 years of commercial real estate experience. In this capacity, he is responsible for all day-to-day activities of the firm’s 10 million square foot portfolio. Prior to joining AREP, Paul was the President and COO of Brookfield Property Partners’ U.S. Office division and had responsibility for the company’s $27 billion, 60 million square foot portfolio. During his tenure at Brookfield and predecessor companies, he oversaw the leasing of over 30 million square feet across all markets. He managed over 700 employees and an annual operating budget in excess of $1 billion in NOI.

Prior to Brookfield’s acquisition of Trizec in 2006, Paul held numerous leadership positions with The JBG Companies and Trizec.

Paul holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The American University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing from the University of Maryland. He was named “Executive of the Year” in 2014 by the University of Maryland Alumni Association and is on the Advisory Board of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Paul is a member of The Economic Club of Washington and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Paul also serves as an Emeritus Trustee of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and recently joined the Advisory Boards of HqO, AMP Technologies, Inc. and Megalytics, Inc. In 2006, he was named by Commercial Property News as a “Star to Watch”.

Advisor

Steve Weikal

Advisor

Lynn J. Jerath

Lynn Jerath, Founder Citrine Investment Group

Lynn is the President of Citrine Investment Group, and has 25 years of experience in real estate institutional investment.  Recently, Lynn raised a $50M opportunity zone fund, previously ran a real estate hedge fund and operated and sold a hotel.  Prior to founding Citrine, Lynn spent seven years as a Senior Vice President and partner at GEM Realty Capital, a real estate securities and private equity firm.

Over her career, Lynn has completed $10 billion in transactions of various forms, including complex joint ventures with operating partners, direct purchases and sales of real estate, public market transactions and mezzanine investments.  Lynn has worked with virtually all property types across numerous geographies, including the US, Canada and India.  Prior to GEM, Lynn was a Vice President at The Carlyle Group and worked at Goldman Sachs.

Lynn often speaks at industry events and supports students and women in finance.  She has spoken at a Wharton Smart Women in Securities event, various Penn events in Chicago and on campus, the Grosvenor Emerging Managers Conference, the University of Wisconsin Real Estate Trends Conference, the GenHERation Summer Leadership Series as well as on Wharton Sirius XM Radio.

Lynn is an advisor to Megalytics, a data analytics company and previously served on the board of Lotus Bancorp for ten years until its sale in 2015.  She is the Chair of the Urban Development and Mixed Use – Purple council and a member of the ULI Health Leaders Initiative within the Urban Land Institute, member of the Economic Club of Chicago, advisor to the Chicago Furniture Bank and on the boards of EMBARC and Soham Dance Space.

She is a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, Overseer of the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, a member of the Trustees Council of Penn Women, and has endowed an undergraduate scholarship.  She graduated magna cum laude graduate from Wharton.

Lynn resides in Chicago with her husband, Kunal, two sons Amar and Avinash, and dog Riley.

Advisor

Hiren Thakar

Hiren Thakar, Avison Young, Principal, Chief Strategy Officer, Corporate Executive

Strategy and operations professional with experience in public and private corporations, serving on executive committees, advising and reporting to Boards’ of Directors, CEOs, and CFOs. Hiren has written and executed strategies for firms ranging from $100 million service firms to $30 billion product firms. He has directly executed over $2 billion in capital market transactions including IPOs, acquisitions, private sales, mergers, spin-offs, capital raises, refinancing, and debt restructuring. He has led teams in over 40 acquisitions from identification, through negotiation, diligence, documentation, and transition planning. The team has also recruited over 400 key professional services teams responsible for $400 million. His skill sets include strategy, M&A, financial analysis & reporting, operational improvement and international operations. His background includes executive level officer at service companies, management consulting, and education from top tier business and engineering schools.

Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University); Master of Engineering Management (MEM) from the McCormick School of Engineering (Northwestern University); Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois; Board Advisor for North-South Foundation (NSF)’ Board Advisor for Megalytics; Alumni Advisor for MMM program at Kellogg School of Management

Advisor

Eliot Schreiber

With a background reflecting client side, global consulting and senior management experience, Eliot is an industry-recognized leader in the world of brands, strategy, design and innovation. His award-winning work for Fortune 500 clients has contributed to their achieving game-changing market performance; his senior leadership of firms helped propel them to global prominence.

A 30+ year veteran in the profession, his diverse experience has included direct line responsibility across a broad range of corporate functions, including strategic planning, global acquisitions, sales & marketing, knowledge management and legal affairs.

Eliot is a published writer and industry authority in the U.S. media, and has been a featured speaker at business conferences in the Americas, Europe and Australia. He received his J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, and graduated with special honors from Brown University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  

Advisor

David R. Brown

David is founder and president of Harrington Brown LLC formed in 2009.

Company Overview

Harrington Brown, LLC ( www.harrington-brown.com ) is a boutique commercial real estate company, focused on investing and developing projects in our community on the north side of Chicago and Evanston.  The company also provides advisory and brokerage services to a wide variety of clients.

Mr. Brown is a commercial real estate veteran with 40 years of experience generating property value through asset management, development, redevelopment and leasing, as well as creatively positioning assets for sale.   He combines his extensive institutional real estate knowledge, experience and relationships with a passion for community building and responsible land use.  David has completed billions of dollars of transactions both as advisor and principal, involving office, retail, industrial and multifamily assets.

The company’s principal development and investment activities have focused on developing and renovating multi-family, retail and mixed-use properties.  We have focused on opportunities to provide attractive rental housing and community-supported retail in the Chicago neighborhoods of North Center, Ravenswood, Roscoe Village and Lincoln Square.

On the advisory side, Harrington Brown has assisted institutional and entrepreneurial owners with asset management, property management, leasing property acquisitions and investment sales throughout the country.  Mr. Brown is also a Managing Director at The Peakstone Group The Peakstone Group focusing on mergers and acquisitions and advisory for real estate operating companies.

David R. Brown Experience

Over his professional real estate career, David R. Brown has been in a leadership position with some of the top real estate companies in the world including Jones Lang Wootton, Jones Lang LaSalle, Lehman Brothers and ORIX Real Estate Capital. Prior to forming Harrington Brown LLC in 2009, he was president and CEO of ORIX Real Estate Capital, Inc. headquartered in Chicago where he oversaw more than $1 billion in property development, acquisition and financing transactions.

He has property experience throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, and his career has involved the following:

David received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, majoring in Urban Studies and Political Science. He also received a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, with a concentration in Housing and Community Development. David has long been active in his community on the north side of Chicago, serving as a volunteer and board member with several community groups and non-profit organizations.

Mr. Brown is a long-time resident of Chicago’s north side and has been actively involved in the community as a volunteer and Board member of various organizations.

Clients and partners over the years have included regional and national real estate development and operating companies, real estate investment trusts, pension fund advisors, private equity firms and banks. He has experience throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. David received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, majoring in Urban Studies and Political Science. He also received a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, with a concentration in Housing and Community Development. David has long been active in his community on the north side of Chicago, serving as a volunteer and board member with several community groups and non-profit organizations.