Real Estate
Investing & Analysis Certificate Program

Todd Sinai has been with Wharton since 1997 and is the David B. Ford Professor; professor of Real Estate and Business Economics and Public Policy; and chair of the Real Estate Department at the Wharton School. Sinai has also served as a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Sinai’s research interests include commercial real estate, real estate investment trusts, risk and pricing in housing markets, and taxation of real estate. Sinai is the recipient of several teaching and other awards, including the Post-Doctoral Fellow Award from the Homer Hoyt Institute, the Ballard Teaching Award, and the HUD/AREUEA Best Paper Award. Sinai received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his BA from Yale University.

Benjamin J. Keys is a professor in the Real Estate and Finance Departments at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Keys is also a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, an associate editor of the Review of Financial Studies and Management Science, a member of the Academic Research Council at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, and a fellow at the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Previously, Keys was an assistant professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and an economist in the Division of Research and Statistics at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Keys’s research interests include household finance, mortgage finance, real estate, applied econometrics, and urban economics. Keys received his BA from Swarthmore College and his MA and PhD from the University of Michigan.

Jessie Handbury is an assistant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where Handbury teaches real estate investments. Handbury’s research interests lie at the intersection of urban economics, intranational trade, and industrial organization. Handbury’s research has been published in the Review of Economic Studies, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Urban Economics. Handbury is an NBER faculty research fellow and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Housing Economics and the Journal of Economic Geography. Handbury attended Columbia University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics and a PhD in economics.

Aaron Hancock has nearly a decade of experience in financial services and commercial real estate. Hancock is a vice president at Artemis Real Estate Partners, a commercial real estate investment manager. Hancock has also held roles at JBG Smith, where he focused on digital infrastructure investments as part of the firm’s Smart Cities team, and at a family office, where he focused on master-planned luxury development projects in the Pacific Northwest United States. Hancock began his career as a member of the real estate investment banking group at Morgan Stanley, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings, and strategic advisory. Hancock earned a BS in applied economics and management from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Daniel Mann is a seasoned real estate investor and entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in commercial real estate investing and business startups. Mann is the founder and owner of Rockwest Real Estate, where he directs an investment and management company specializing in commercial real estate across the tri-state area. Mann also serves as the CEO of First Cut Barrel Co., a boutique distillery focused on crafting limited-release and personalized single-barrel spirits for private clients. Before Rockwest and First Cut, Mann worked for various premier real estate investment companies and owner-operators, including Madison International Realty, RXR Realty, and the Silverfern Group. Mann holds a BS in hotel administration and a minor in real estate from Cornell University.

Aaliyah Ameer has 13 years of investment banking and private equity transaction experience, having worked at Macquarie and Ernst & Young. Ameer held key roles at Macquarie Group, where she served as vice president in the Asset Management and Investment Banking divisions. Ameer has subsector expertise in real estate and infrastructure, with significant cross-border and international deal experience. Prior to Macquarie, Ameer was a manager in Transaction Advisory, focusing on valuations and due diligence. Ameer holds a postgraduate diploma in accounting, a Bachelor of Business Science with majors in finance, economics, and marketing from the University of Cape Town, and is a chartered accountant.

Karine Blanc is an experienced real estate executive and thought leader focused on building stronger, more inclusive communities. Blanc is the founder and CEO of Avenue Fouchard Advisors, a real estate development advisory firm based in Philadelphia. Blanc’s areas of expertise include real estate development, capital markets, housing, and social impact. Blanc has more than a decade of experience in investment management, private equity, and real estate. Prior to launching her own firm, Blanc worked at PGIM Real Estate, Lincoln Financial Group, and Fidelity Investments. Blanc holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Rutgers University. Blanc currently serves on the Urban Land Institute’s advisory board in Philadelphia and serves as chair of the Small Scale and Impact Development Council.

Dan Erb brings several years of M&A experience, excelling in sell-side transactions across diverse industries. Erb contributed to the Healthcare & Lifesciences sector at Brown Gibbons Lang as an investment banking associate. Erb’s experience spans wealth management, deal advisory, and strategic consulting in cities including San Francisco, New York, and Hanoi. Erb is a graduate of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, where he earned his MBA, completed his undergraduate degree with distinction, and passed all four CPA exams. Erb currently serves as managing partner of EM Capital, where he leads the acquisitions, syndications, and management of an approximately $5 million portfolio of single-family rentals.

Matan Feldman is Wall Street Prep’s founder and managing partner. Feldman’s responsibilities include business development, development of courses, and overseeing training programs. Feldman has overseen training programs for clients including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Raymond James, Stifel Nicolaus, FBR Capital Markets, Sagent Advisors, Giuliani Capital Advisors, J.P. Morgan, Cerberus, Wharton Business School, London Business School, Kellogg, Booth, Stern (NYU), and Cornell. Prior to founding Wall Street Prep, Feldman served in several capacities on Wall Street—first as an analyst in Chase Manhattan Bank’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group in New York, and subsequently as an associate within J.P. Morgan’s Equity Research Group, covering Food & Drug Retail equities.

JB Gough has several years of experience in commercial real estate, technology, and financial services. Gough is co-founder and managing partner of the Pinebrook Group, a private equity firm specializing in value-add and opportunistic investments across commercial real estate asset classes. Prior to founding Pinebrook, Gough worked at Juniper Square, where he focused on investment management and fund administration services for general partners managing more than $40 billion of investor equity. Prior to Juniper Square, Gough worked in investment banking at Jefferies and helped execute M&A, debt, and equity transactions totaling more than $2.5 billion across the consumer and retail industries. Gough earned a BA in economics from Davidson College and holds a master’s degree in real estate from Georgetown University.

Lindsay Tsumpes is a California real estate broker and investor with eight years of real estate transaction experience. Tsumpes most recently served as vice president of Capital Markets at Jones Lang LaSalle, where she specialized in shopping center investment sales. Prior to Jones Lang LaSalle, Tsumpes began her real estate career as an analyst and transaction manager at Colliers International and later served as associate vice president and director of the shopping center division at Matthews Real Estate Investment Services. Tsumpes holds an MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and a BS in business administration with an emphasis in cinematic arts from the University of Southern California.

Eric Bergin has more than 23 years of experience in the finance and real estate industry. Bergin provides institutional-quality consulting services and analysis through 3E Management to both private equity companies and family offices. Prior to forming 3E, Eric worked as a director at Rockpoint Group, leading the finance group, as well as managing certain acquisitions, asset management, and investor reporting activities. Prior to Rockpoint, Bergin was an associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he had responsibilities in the financial advisory services group. Bergin has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School on private equity distributions and portfolio modeling and has lectured at Stanford Graduate School of Business on portfolio waterfall calculations.

Dean Adler is the CEO and founder of Lubert-Adler Partner, L.P., a real estate equity firm with more than $7 billion in equity and $17 billion of assets under management. Adler serves as head of the investment committee and is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the firm. Adler began his career at Ernst & Young, Baker and Hostetler, and CMS. Adler is an executive committee member and research sponsor for the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School. Adler has been a keynote speaker for national real estate organizations such as the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Adler has served on numerous community boards and has participated in the City of Philadelphia’s Economic Development Summit. Prior to founding Lubert-Adler, Adler graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Adler holds a JD with honors from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and was an instructor at the Wharton School.

Jeff T. Blau is chief executive officer and a partner of Related Companies. For more than 25 years, Blau has been responsible for directing and overseeing new developments worth more than $60 billion across virtually every sector of the real estate industry. As CEO, Blau is responsible for the strategic direction of the company, overall management of the firm, the pursuit of new development opportunities, and corporate acquisitions and financing activities across all business platforms. Blau serves on the board of directors of Equinox Holdings, Inc., the Central Park Conservancy, the New York City Partnership Fund, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Real Estate Roundtable, the Wharton Graduate School, the University of Michigan, Lincoln Center, and the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Blau has received numerous honors for his business, civic, and philanthropic activities and was named to Crain’s New York list of 25 leaders reshaping New York. Blau completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Anar Chudgar is co-president at Artemis Real Estate Partners and is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing both equity and credit investing platforms. Chudgar sits on the firm’s investment committee and serves as portfolio manager for the Income and Growth Fund. Chudgar spent nine years as a partner at GCM Grosvenor, co-leading the creation and growth of a $5.0 billion real estate platform. Chudgar’s background includes roles at Credit Suisse Group AG, Onex Real Estate Partners, iStar Financial, Inc., and J.P. Morgan Chase. Chudgar also serves as vice chair of the board of the Pension Real Estate Association and as committee chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee at Spark Youth. Chudgar is an executive council member of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at the University of Texas at Austin, New York Women Executives in Real Estate, and the Urban Land Institute’s UDMUC Green Council.

Matan Feldman is founder and CEO of Wall Street Prep. Feldman founded Wall Street Prep in 2004 with a simple goal: To accelerate the learning curve for professionals entering the most competitive careers in finance through engaging training content. Since then, Feldman has steered Wall Street Prep to become the trusted destination for financial training to individuals, as well as to the world’s leading investment banks, private equity firms and other financial institutions. Wall Street Prep trains over 50,000 professionals annually and is a global full-service financial training firm, providing self-study programs as well as instructor-led training and e-learning services. The company counts Goldman Sachs, KKR, Evercore, HSBC, and Barclays among its clients who partner with Wall Street Prep to train their employees. Prior to Wall Street Prep, Matan worked as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan’s M&A Group and later as an equity research associate. Feldman graduated with a masters degree in economics from Boston University.

Hal Fetner is president and CEO of New York City–based Fetner Properties. Fetner serves on Syracuse University’s board of trustees, is chair of the facilities committee at the university, and is a member of the university’s Whitman School of Management Advisory Council and the Whitman Real Estate Advisory Board. Fetner established the Fetner Program Fund, a scholarship at the Whitman School for students pursuing sustainability, and created the Fetner Sustainability Series as well as the Fetner Prize in Sustainable Enterprise. Fetner sits on the board of governors and the executive board of the Real Estate Board of New York and is on the board of trustees of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit organization focused on improving the finances and services of New York City and State. Fetner graduated from the Whitman School of Management and subsequently earned a Juris Doctor from New York Law School. In 1988, Fetner assumed the role of CEO at Fetner Properties as the third generation to lead the firm. Prior to joining the firm, Fetner served as a law clerk for the Honorable Joe Hynes, special prosecutor of the State of New York.

Deborah Harmon has more than 30 years of experience in real estate. Harmon co-founded Artemis Real Estate Partners in 2009. Prior to co-founding Artemis, Harmon spent 17 years establishing and leading the principal investing business at J.E. Robert Companies, Inc., a global real estate investment firm where she was president and chief investment officer. Harmon currently serves as chairperson of the Pension Real Estate Association Foundation and as a member of the board of directors of Starwood Property Trust, Urban Alliance, and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. Harmon was recognized in 2020 by Barron’s on its inaugural list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance and was recognized by EY as an Entrepreneur of the Year® 2019 Mid-Atlantic Award winner and national finalist. Harmon was included in Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence Hall of Fame in 2018. Harmon holds a Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Joshua Kahr is the principal of Kahr Real Estate, a training and consulting company that he founded in 2002 and that serves the commercial real estate industry. In 2009, Kahr founded real estate investment company Metropolitan America. Prior to this, Kahr held positions in investment sales at a regional brokerage firm and in acquisitions at a fund that focused on environmentally contaminated real estate. Kahr also served for five years on the board of directors for Monmouth Real Estate. Kahr has taught real estate finance and real estate capital markets for Columbia University’s MS in Real Estate Development program since 2005. For corporations, Kahr has taught more than 200 two-day seminars on Excel modeling and Argus. Kahr holds a Master of Science in real estate from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Reed College.

Chris Lee is co-president of KKR’s global real estate business and joined the firm in 2012. Lee serves as portfolio manager for KKR Property Partners Americas and is vice chairman of the board of directors for KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE: KREF). Lee is also a member of KKR’s Operating Committee, ESG Committee, and Global Inclusion and Diversity Council. Formerly head of real estate in the Americas, Lee’s background includes roles at Apollo Global Management and Goldman Sachs. Lee serves on various boards, including St. Mark’s School of Texas and Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, and is affiliated with industry organizations such as the CRE Finance Council and Urban Land Institute. Lee holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Emory University.

Evan Levy is vice chairman of the Amherst Group and is based in New York. Levy was previously co-head of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s real estate practice. Levy’s practice focuses on complex real estate private equity transactions, joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, development projects, financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and workouts and restructurings. Levy has broad experience in all aspects of real estate transactions, representing fund sponsors and investors; public and private companies; borrowers and lenders; purchasers and sellers; debtors and creditors; developers and equity investors; and issuers and investors across all real estate asset classes. Levy has advised some of the largest national and international real estate companies on their most significant and complex transactions and regularly represents owners, equity investors, and lenders in structuring, capitalizing, and financing real estate transactions throughout the United States and globally. Prior to joining Weil, Levy was a partner and head of Real Estate Capital Markets at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Christopher S. Méndez is a managing director of Pearlmark based in New York, with responsibility for overseeing the firm’s equity investment activities, including sourcing, underwriting, and executing transactions for Pearlmark’s investment vehicles. Prior to joining Pearlmark, Méndez served as director and co-head of U.S. investments at Madison International Realty. Méndez also worked for Morgan Stanley Real Estate, where he engaged in both investment banking and principal investing transactions. Méndez earned his BS from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Méndez is a CFA charterholder, CIPM certificant, CCIM, and a member of the CFA Society New York.

Alan Ratner is a managing director at Zelman & Associates. Ratner and his team are responsible for producing all research and financial models for the publicly traded homebuilding and land development companies under coverage, thematic reports covering the single-family for-sale market, and the firm’s proprietary homebuilding and land development surveys. Ratner is a CFA charterholder, a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts, and holds Series 7, 24, 63, 86, and 87 licenses. Prior to the founding of Zelman & Associates, Ratner was an associate analyst from 2005 to 2007 at Credit Suisse Group, serving as part of Ivy Zelman’s Equity Research team, which has been recognized by Institutional Investor, Greenwich Associates, StarMine, and The Wall Street Journal for its analysis.

Michael Vu is responsible for developing and implementing the acquisition and asset management activities of Artemis. Previously, Vu was an associate at the Carlyle Group, where he served in the transactions group within U.S. real estate and focused on property and portfolio acquisitions, dispositions, financings, and workouts across major property types. Prior to the Carlyle Group, Vu was an analyst at Lazard Frères & Co., where he focused on mergers and acquisitions within the U.S. real estate group in New York. Vu earned his BS in politics and finance from Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude. Vu is the treasurer on the board of Horton’s Kids, a nonprofit focused on providing support through healthcare, academics, and job assistance to underprivileged Washington, D.C., communities, and is also an active council member with the Urban Land Institute.

Simon Ziff is president of Ackman-Ziff, a real estate intermediary headquartered in New York City. Since joining the firm as an analyst in 1989, Ziff has structured more than $30 billion of debt and equity financings for leading real estate developers and owners while strengthening the firm’s relationships with key capital sources. Prior to joining the firm, Ziff was employed by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company as an analyst. Ziff has been recognized multiple times by the Real Estate Board of New York, including as its first recipient of the Most Promising Commercial Salesperson of the Year Award and as a six-time recipient of the Most Ingenious Deal of the Year Award. In 2002, New York University awarded Ziff its distinguished Real Estate Alumni Recognition Award. The Penn State Smeal College of Business awarded Ziff the 1999 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. Ziff is co-chair of the Smeal College of Business Real Estate Advisory Board and a member of New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.