
Clerestory is led by Joanne Douvas and Thomas B. Brown, with a combined 48 years of real estate experience. In the course of their careers, the Principals have bought, sold, financed and managed a wide range of real estate investments and have played significant roles in the real estate private equity market: advising and raising capital for real estate private equity funds and creating products for high-net-worth individuals to access these funds. Additionally, Ms. Douvas has invested or committed to invest more than US$2.4 billion on behalf of a major U.S. corporate pension plan on a fully-discretionary basis, including investments in 38 private equity funds, Co-Investments and Secondary Interests totaling more than US$1.52 billion. In addition to the Principals, the team includes personnel with a range of real estate and fund-management industry experience. The Clerestory Principals respect individual perspectives and styles and recognize both individual and collective accomplishments in a supportive work environment. The entire team is familiar with all aspects of executing the business, from tracking and underwriting new investment opportunities to reporting to limited partners. For the purposes of certain industry and investor classifications, Clerestory is considered a "woman-controlled" business.
Ms. Douvas is a Managing Director and Founding Principal of Clerestory and serves on the Investment Committee of the Fund. She has more than 29 years of real estate experience, most recently as head of JPMorgan Asset Management's Real Estate Fiduciary Services Group. Ms. Douvas has considerable direct property experience in acquisitions, asset management, workouts and mortgage lending. Prior to joining JPMorgan, Ms. Douvas was a senior asset manager for the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds. Prior to that, she worked at Clarion Partners, The Galbreath Company, and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management. A licensed architect, Ms. Douvas holds a B.A. and M.Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an M.B.A. in finance from Wharton. She is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and a past board member of leading Mexican public real estate company G. Acción until it was privatized in 2005. She is the author of the Wharton Real Estate Review articles "Reining in Opportunity Fund Fees" (Spring 2004) and "Adjusting Opportunity Fund Fees" (Fall 2006), as well as a chapter on fees in the German textbook Handbuch Real Estate Private Equity (Rudolf Muller GmbH & Co. KG).
Mr. Brown is a Managing Director and Founding Principal of Clerestory and serves on the Investment Committee of the Fund. He has more than 19 years of real estate experience, most recently as Global Head of Real Estate for Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, based in London. The majority of his career was spent with JPMorgan Real Estate Investment Banking in London, New York and Frankfurt. Mr. Brown has considerable experience in advisory and capital-raising transactions, including mergers and acquisitions; the sale of real estate companies and property portfolios; corporate restructurings; and public debt and equity offerings. Mr. Brown holds a B.A. from the University of Mississippi and is an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. In the past Mr. Brown also has worked with INREV, the European association for institutional investors in non-listed real estate vehicles, helping to formulate corporate governance principles and guidelines. He currently serves on the INREV Due Diligence committee. He is conversant in German.
The advisory board of Clerestory comprises respected global industry leaders that provide guidance to Clerestory on matters relating to the management of both the firm and the Fund. The breadth and depth of their capabilities are affirmed by their many industry accomplishments, and their experience, insights and advice make them valued members of the Clerestory team.
While the Advisory Board is not involved in evaluating investments, it will: