Mr. Jason Ader
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hayground Cove Asset Management
Jason Ader is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hayground Cove Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New York. The fund has holdings in such companies as Isle of Capri Casinos, Harrah’s Entertainment, CKE Restaurants and Great Wolf Resort. Jason Ader is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of India Hospitality Corporation, which is a special purpose acquisition company. As the head of IHC, Mr. Ader oversaw the 110 million dollar acquisition of Mars Restaurants and airline catering firm SkyGourmet. Jason Ader was previously a top ranked gaming and lodging industry analyst for Bear Stearns, where he became well known for his hands-on research style. Mr. Ader received a B.S. in economics from New York University and an M.B.A. in finance from the Stern School of Business at NYU. Jason N. Ader is also recently featured on the Hamptons Power List.
Mr. Jonathan Chen
Director, UBS Investment Bank
Jonathan Chen is a senior member in the Real Estate, Lodging & Leisure Group at UBS Investment Bank. He is a strategic advisor and focuses on financial assignments for real estate and lodging companies. While there, he has been involved in the 5.7 billion dollar acquisition of Hilton Group plc’s lodging assets by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the 195 million dollar acquisition of Place Properties by Education Realty Trust, the 350 million dollar IPO of Education Realty Trust, the 416 million dollar IPO of Sunstone Hotel Investors, the 1.6 billion dollar IPO of Douglas Emmett, the 220 million dollar IPO of LPS Brazil, and the 225 million dollar exchangeable note offering by Essex Properties Trust. Prior to joining UBS in 2004, Mr. Chen was an Associate at Merrill Lynch in their Investment Banking Group. He studied Chemical Engineering at Tufts University and received his M.B.A. with a focus on finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Scott Crowe
Senior Vice President, Cohen & Steers
Scott Crowe is a co-portfolio manager for Cohen and Steers’ global and international portfolios as well as the global research strategist. With headquarters in New York, Mr. Crowe has over ten years of experience in the industry. Mr. Crowe joined Cohen and Steers in 2007. Prior to joining the firm, he was an executive director at UBS. Mr. Crowe was also an analyst at UBS Warburg. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of New South Wales and completed a year in Finance Honors at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Mr. Larry Finger
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Federal Realty Investment Trust
Larry Finger oversees Federal Realty’s strategic and financial planning and is responsible for the Trust’s accounting, capital markets, and investor relations functions. Mr. Finger is also a member of the Trust’s Investment Committee. He previously served as a senior vice president and chief financial officer for Washington Real Estate Trust in the Washington D.C. area. Over his eight years with Washington REIT, Mr. Finger was responsible for the capital markets, financial reporting, public relations, and investor relations functions. Prior to this position, Mr. Finger was employed by Savage/Fogarty Companies, Inc. for thirteen years. He held various positions including chief operating officer. Mr. Finger received a B.S. in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Additionally, Mr. Finger received his Certified Public Accountant designation in 1976, and was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar Association in 1981.
Mr. David Loeb
Senior Research Analyst and Managing Director, Robert W. Baird & Co.
David Loeb is a Senior Research Analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. covering real estate. He specializes in Lodging and Office companies and has been focusing on real estate related companies for over 20 years. Mr. Loeb has been publishing research on the lodging industry since 1994. He joined Baird in 2006 and previously was a Managing Director in Real Estate Research at Friedman Billings Ramsey. He was also a research analyst with Credit Lyonnais Securities, CIBC World Markets, and Bank of America. Mr. Loeb holds an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and received a B.A. in psychology and sociology from Brandeis University.
Jake Fuller
Thomas Weisel Analyst
Jake Fuller follows the Gaming & Lodging and Interactive Market Services industries at Thomas Weisel Partners. Previously, he followed the Hospitality sector at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Before that, Mr. Fuller was a reporter with Dow Jones, where he covered the Gaming industry. Mr. Fuller received a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Albany.
Michaela Papenhoff
PCWI Europe Managing Director and Hotel Analyst
Michaela Papenhoff is managing director, Europe for PhoCusWright. Her expertise in electronic booking systems and performance optimization for multi-channel distribution networks has gained her considerable recognition among European-based hotel chains. She has significant experience in numerous hospitality functions over a 20 year career with a focus over the last decade on electronic marketing, e-distribution solutions, revenue management, implementation effectiveness and strategy development.
Ms. Papenhoff started her professional career in 1985 at Accor Hotels in Bonn, Germany. Subsequently, she expanded her knowledge with several years of experience at Ramada Renaissance and Hilton International. She joined TOP International Hotels in Duesseldorf, a voluntary European hotel chain with 220 member hotels, in 1991 as a sales manager. In 1992 she was appointed director GDS and reservations which subsequently led to the position of director, electronic marketing.
Founding h2c in January 2001 represented a culmination of hotel and hospitality experience during a critical time of change in the marketplace.
Bjorn Hanson
Veteran Hotel Analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers
Bjorn Hanson is the Global Hospitality Industry Managing Partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is well known for his consulting and econometric and statistical research. He holds Certified Real Estate Counselor (CRE), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Food Service Consultants International (FSCI) professional designations. Dr. Hanson is an author and frequent speaker who has been quoted in almost every major business periodical and industry journal including: Financial Times, Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Fortune, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal (US, European and Asian editions), Barron's, and The New York Times and has appeared numerous times on CNN, CNNfn, CNBC, FOXfn, WCBS, PBS and other television and radio systems. He has served as International President of the Cornell Society of Hotelmen and was the Cornell Hotelie of the Year in 1994. He has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Cornell and in addition to having been an adjunct faculty member at NYU for 16 years, he has been the Chair of the Executive Board for New York University's Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management and The Center for Hospitality Research Advisory Board. Dr. Hanson holds a bachelor's from Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration, an MBA from Fordham University, and a Ph.D. from New York University.
Kristin Knox
Director of Hotel Asset Value Enhancement, LCC
Kristin Knox, Director, has more than seven years of hospitality industry experience, spending the last five years in hotel/casino development and feasibility. Ms. Knox is responsible for monitoring portfolio performance to budget and identifying value enhancement opportunities through market research.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Ms. Knox worked for Edge-Star Partners LLC, a joint venture with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, created to develop the 4,000-room West Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Residences. There, Ms. Knox participated in all aspects of the development with a focus in strategic planning, market research, financial analysis and condo-hotel rental program structuring. Ms. Knox also served with Hilton Hotels Corporation in their Feasibility and Investment Analysis department conducting project feasibility analysis and market research for their owned and managed hotels. Previously, Ms. Knox held operational positions with Hilton Hotels in Finance and Front Office.
John Arabia
Principal Lodging Analyst at Green Street Advisors
John Arabia John manages Green Street's analytical research team covering the lodging sector, including hotel owners, managers and franchisors. He has served as a Senior REIT analyst since 1997. John is a member of the Hotel Development Council or the Urban Land Institute and is the Co-Author of Hotel Investments: Issues & Perspectives (editions 2-4). His 18 years of industry experience also includes hospitality consulting at EY Kenneth Leventhal. John earned his M.B.A. in Real Estate/Accounting from University of Southern California and B.S. in Hotel Administration from Cornell University.
Jonathan Litt
Real Estate and Lodging Analyst
After working as a real estate analyst for Salomon Brothers from 1993 to 1996, Jonathan Litt recently rejoined Salomon Smith Barney as their senior real estate analyst. In the interim, he followed real estate and lodging at PaineWebber. Prior to 1993, he worked on the buy side for European Investors, a money management firm specializing in REITs.
Jonathan Litt's outlook for real estate investment trusts is bright, both in the near and the long term. Although the group is up 20% this year, the analyst notes that REIT stocks remain roughly 20% below the peak prices they reached in 1997.
He believes there is still plenty of room for these stocks to appreciate. REITs consistently grew earnings throughout the sector's bear market of 1998-1999, asserts Litt. The Salomon analyst expects earnings to continue to grow in the 8%-10% range over the next three to five years. Factoring in their dividend yields, which average 7%, REITs will soon consistently generate total returns in the midteens, he contends.
Viewing supply and demand conditions as the keys to evaluating the real estate market, Litt was concerned about overbuilding in the first half of 1998. Since then, however, he sees evidence that construction is moderating or declining, while demand remains strong. But he believes the U.S. economy will cool down and with it, the demand for new buildings. "The fact that we're seeing construction slow in advance of the decline in demand is positive for the sector," he says. "Historically, we've been accelerating building as we go into a recession."
In January 1999, Salomon Smith Barney established a list of companies that the firm believes to be the top plays in the group. Companies that make the firm's so-called blue-chip list must meet several criteria, Litt explains. First, they must operate in markets with high barrier to entry -- areas where it's hard to build, thus making an oversupply of buildings unlikely. In addition, companies must have a large capitalization, be conservatively leveraged and have consistent earnings growth and highly regarded management teams.