Real estate marketplace lending platform RealtyShares announced on Thursday that Edward Forst, former president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, was named the newest member of the company’s board of directors.
According to RealtyShares, Forst oversaw 16,000 real estate professionals in 60 countries at Cushman & Wakefield. He joined the firm after 16 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co., Where he held multiple leadership roles included global chief administrative officer, global co-head of the Investment Management Division and membership on the firm’s Global Management Committee. Speaking about his appointment to the board, Forst stated:
“After leading capital markets and investing businesses empowered by the finest tech teams, it was a shock to see how starved real estate has been for technology advancement. People didn’t think technology could penetrate real estate, but more and more it is finding its way into key markets and RealtyShares is at the forefront of that infiltration. With a sophisticated team of professionals at the helm, both CEO Nav Athwal and Chief Credit Officer and former Head of Risk at Citi Mortgage Arash Sotoodehnia understand that our company is going to be measured by the marriage of sourcing power, underwriting expertise and technology-powered execution.”
Athwal also commented:
“Ed has a perfect mix of operating experience, as CEO at Cushman & Wakefield, and tremendous connections in the capital markets world owing to his time at Goldman Sachs. Not to mention he is a great mentor and strong believer of what we’re doing here at RealtyShares. Our company sits at the intersection of technology, real estate and capital markets, so Ed is going to be a pivotal board member and can help strengthen the legitimacy of our business model with lenders, institutions and other high-powered real estate incumbents.”
Forst then added:
“Capital markets have been at the core of my career and what small and medium-sized institutional investors have lacked is a trusted, highly-selective sourcing and execution engine for real estate. It has been very cumbersome to identify two or three primary originators and toggle a spotlight onto the best opportunities for you. That is one of the powerful aspects of RealtyShares. We are about helping you target and efficiently mine the right real estate opportunities pre-screened with a high caliber underwriting process.”
Forst will also be a member of the RealtyShares advisory board.