Holden Leder Week 7 - First Speaker of the Year for the RHS Business Program - Oren Hon
Holden Leder
Week 7
First Speaker of the Year for the RHS Business Program - Oren Hon
As our first speaker of the year for my business program, I brought in an old friend of my dad who works in the real estate sector: Oren Hon of Blue Arch Capital. Born in the United States, but raised in Israel, Oren would attend NYU's Stern School of Business and then complete his MBA at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Oren then went on to work at Merril Lynch's mergers and acquisitions arm where he would focus on real estate transactions. After a few years working at a series of different firms, still focusing on real estate, Oren decided with his future partner to create his current firm, Blue Arch Capital. Blue Arch Capital is a private equity firm focused on the residential real estate sector, primarily on multi-family housing. Since the founding of Blue Arch in 2013, his firm with its partners has transacted a total sum of eight billion dollars. The key to the firm's success was its niche partner for capital, Israeli insurance companies, and pension funds. Both he and his partner are native Hebrew speakers, so they had a competitive edge in pitching Israeli firms that had little to no exposure to the residential real estate sector in the United States. The firm is currently exploring raising more funds, not just with Israeli investors. Just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, Oren and his partner went on a roadshow (a term in finance where capital seekers run around and speak with capital allocators) in Europe to raise money for an industrial real estate fund. However, because the pandemic hit shortly after the roadshow started, they had to stop their European tour and focus on protecting their existing assets. My favorite part of the meeting was Oren explaining a quote I learned about before the actual meeting from my dad: "If you work 24/7, you run into luck a little more often." The comment was from his mentor when an analyst called one of his successful deals "lucky," but his mentor responded that this "luck" was the direct result of his hard work paying off.
Are there any speakers you would like to see my Business program host in the future, and what do they do?
I would like to see Bill Gates speak for you Business program. I think he would make a very interesting presenter.
ReplyDeleteI will do my best Eva! However, last I checked, you're not even a part of the business program.
DeleteWow Mr. Leder, that is so cool! I really like that quote as well it really resonates with me. I think for your next speaker you should bring in Elon Musk.
ReplyDelete