Capital Markets Advisor Formerly Held Roles at Crescent Wealth Advisory, Georgia Tech Foundation, UNC Management Co., and the UPS Retirement & Pension Plans
June 8, 2022 – Michigan-based Oak Real Estate Partners, a national fund manager focused on the institutional investment sector, announced a veteran institutional investment industry advisor, Brook Scardina, has joined as Managing Partner, Director, Capital Markets & Investments. The firm manages a vertically integrated small-balance sheet credit strategy that targets short duration commercial mortgage assets secured in a first lien position by income-producing commercial real estate properties.
Scardina’s role is acutely focused on delivering strategic advice and custom-tailored financial solutions geared to meet the needs of institutional investors as they make capital allocations into the alternative investment space. He will lead the implementation of Oak Real Estate Partners’ external Capital Markets strategy focused on solving and delivering alternative investment solutions that support the institutional return objectives of Foundations and Endowments, Family Offices, Corporate and Public Pension Plans, and Sovereign Wealth Funds.
Brook Scardina
“An architect of leveraged institutional investment strategies, Scardina is focused on producing alternative return streams uncorrelated to broader markets,” said Oak Real Estate Partners’ Gary Bechtel, Managing Principal, Chief Executive Officer. “His investment theses and bespoke solutions help solve complex investment issues from an optimization standpoint, while building long-term value for institutional investors.”
Last month, Oak Real Estate Partners launched Oak Institutional Credit Solutions, LLC, a $500-million private real estate financing investment fund. The newly formed investment vehicle is the company’s first fund created specifically to serve the foundation and endowment investor class. The latest fund is formed as a nonpublic offering under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D, which only permits investment from accredited investors.
Scardina adds, “Oak Real Estate Partners is one of only a few firms in the small-balance sheet lower lending market that employs an institutional approach to credit underwriting utilizing CMBS quality standards, a standard employed by large insurance and financial institutions. Its national lending platform, market presence and network of deep broker relationships provides it access to a significant volume of high-quality transactional deal flow.”
Scardina’s career has involved guiding and managing roughly $15 billion in institutional capital allocations for organizations ranging from foundations, endowments, pension funds, and corporate investment plans to single or family offices. He will lead Oak Real Estate Partners’ investment team that sources, underwrites and originates small-balance bridge loans on a portfolio of income producing commercial real estate assets.
Prior to joining Oak Real Estate Partners, Scardina served as a Managing Director at Crescent Wealth Advisory and was responsible for leading and directing the financial and investment risk complexities for well-known organizations such as Georgia Tech Foundation, UNC Management Company, and the UPS Retirement & Pension plans. He was responsible for advancing the institutionalization of the investment program and optimizing portfolio performance in support of long-term return objectives and has been involved in the investment and deployment of billions in institutional capital across multiple asset classes and complex financial strategies.
Scardina holds a Series 65 certification from North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), an exam administered by FINRA. He serves as a client advisory board member of the Bank of New York Mellon. Scardina earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree with a Finance concentration from Georgia Southern University.
About Oak Real Estate Partners
Oak Real Estate Partners is a vertically integrated small- to mid-balance sheet commercial real estate lender that provides short-term, senior secured stabilization loans on high-quality income-producing commercial real estate properties located in major geographic markets. The Michigan-based fund manager is the institutional investment arm affiliated with Red Oak Capital Holdings, a group of commercial real estate capital entities that lends and invests on commercial real estate, raising capital through retail and institutional channels.
Oak Real Estate Partners complements the existing Red Oak lending and investment-based business, handling the high-quality institutional-caliber transactions. The senior leadership team is comprised of backgrounds from the insurance, banking, commercial real estate, family office, and institutional asset management industry. Collectively, the team has established a proven track record of executing and delivering value-added investment solutions within the lower lending market.
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