Executive Chairman
Robert Rackind is our Executive Chairman.
Mr. Rackind is a global real estate investment, management, and development professional with over 30 years of top-down investment and finance experience, combined with bottom-up development and asset management expertise. He has managed and invested over €50 billion across various jurisdictions, including the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, the Nordics, Asia-Pacific, and North America.
His expertise spans a wide range of asset classes, such as office, logistics, industrial, residential, care homes, student accommodation, build-to-rent, and hotels. Mr. Rackind recently served in Zurich as the Global Head of Real Estate at Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) from June 2022 to November 2023, managing approximately CHF 43 billion in assets under management (AUM). His responsibilities included investments through direct, indirect, close-ended, open-ended, co-investment, joint ventures, and listed vehicles. Notably, Mr. Rackind identified and helped close the $830 million acquisition of the Diplomat Hotel and Convention Centre in Hollywood Beach, Florida.
Prior to his tenure at CSAM, Mr. Rackind founded and grew the EQT AB Real Estate platform to €11.5 billion AUM from January 2015 to December 2021. This growth was achieved through a mix of organic close-ended pan-European funds and inorganic corporate M&A, including the $1.8 billion acquisition of Exeter Property Group, a leading North American logistics real estate investment management platform.
Mr. Rackind’s career also includes senior roles at Wainbridge from December 2009 to December 2014 as founding partner, Cambridge Place Investment Management from April 2006 to August 2009, Meyer Bergman from November 2004 to March 2006, Hines from June 1999 to November 2004, HRO from July 1998 to June 1999, Baltic Plc from August 1996 to July 1998, and Weatherall Green & Smith from January 1994 to July 1996. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Valuation & Estate Management from the University of the West of England, Bristol.
Adam Gishen
Adam Gishen is our Chief Executive Officer and a director.
Mr. Gishen previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. from December 2020 to July 2023, prior to its business combination with Complete Solaria, Inc., a leading solar technology, services and installation company, and has since served as a director of Complete Solaria, Inc.
Mr. Gishen has over 20 years of experience in financial services. Mr. Gishen served in several senior roles at Credit Suisse from 2015 to 2020, including Head of Investor Relations, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Branding from 2019 to 2020 and Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications from 2017 to 2019.
Prior to 2015, Mr. Gishen was a Partner at Ondra Partners, a financial advisory firm, and prior to that, a Managing Director at Nomura in London and Lehman Brothers from 1999 to 2008 where he specialized in Equity Capital Markets. He graduated from University of Leeds.
Nell Cady-Kruse serves on our board of directors. Since April 2022, Ms. Cady-Kruse has served as an independent director for Varagon Capital Corp., a BDC, and has chaired the governance committee. Since 2020, she has also served on the Senior Advisory Board for No One Left Behind, a charitable organization focusing on supporting former interpreters and U.S. government employees eligible for the Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa.
From May 2022 to July 2023, Nell served as an independent director on the board of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. She also served on the board and chaired the board risk committees for Barclays US from September 2017 to December 2023 and Barclays Bank Delaware from September 2016 to December 2023.
Prior to board service, Ms. Cady-Kruse was a senior global executive at Standard Chartered Bank, as global Chief Risk Officer, Wholesale Banking, retiring in 2014.
Over her career, Ms. Cady-Kruse specialized in leveraged finance, corporate credit and structured finance, portfolio management, private equity, and risk management & strategy, and worked at Bankers Trust (August 1985 to December 2000), Credit Suisse (February 2022 to December 2010), and Standard Chartered Bank (January 2011 to August 2014), in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Ms. Cady-Kruse is a CFA Charterholder and holds a CIPM (Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement). She is a Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors and holds a Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight from Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute. Ms. Cady-Kruse has served on numerous boards, including Futurebank, Bankers Trust of California, the Risk Management Institute of the National University of Singapore and Young Enterprise London.
Ms. Cady-Kruse holds a B.Sc. with Honors in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University and an MBA from Cornell University. Given her extensive experience in finance and her numerous directorships across various entities, we believe Ms. Cady-Kruse will provide valuable perspectives to executing our strategy, driving profitability and enhancing value for our shareholders.
Mr. Rallo has over 33 years of financial experience assisting public and privately held companies to grow worldwide. He has worked with global enterprises in technology, healthcare, retail and government agencies to strategically increase their corporate value, to identify and manage risks, and to communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders on topics of cross functional business transformation.
Most recently, between 2020 and 2024, Mr. Rallo served as Chief Financial Officer of Xometry (Nasdaq: XMTR), a leading technology company in the advanced manufacturing industry. As Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Rallo played a key role in Xometry’s initial public offering and was responsible for driving investments, global expansion and acquisitions.
Prior to joining Xometry, between 2005 and 2019, Mr. Rallo served in various capacities, most recently as Chief Financial Officer and President of Liquidity Services, at Liquidity Services (Nasdaq: LQDT), a large provider of reverse logistics infrastructure for government entities and Fortune 500 retailers, where he played a key role in the company’s initial public offering.
Prior to Liquidity Services, Mr. Rallo served as the Chief Financial Officer of Sleep Service of America, a nationwide outsourcer of sleep labs to the largest hospital chains in the country. Prior to that, Mr. Rallo was an investment banker for five years focused on IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity fundraising.
Mr. Rallo started his career at Deloitte and spent 5 years as a public accountant.
Mr. Rallo holds an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Business and Accounting from Washington and Lee University. Given his financial expertise and successful career as a Chief Financial Officer, we believe Mr. Rallo will provide valuable perspectives to executing our strategy and evaluating potential merger candidates.
Ms. Alashkar has 20 years of experience in underwriting, negotiating, and structuring private transactions across various sectors. She has built and led high-growth investment platforms for global asset managers, universal banking groups, and boutique investment houses.
She has demonstrable expertise in navigating large-scale, capital-intensive growth propositions; and, more recently, she has focused on investments in high-impact companies catalyzing transformative change in hard-to-abate industries, such as Northvolt, H2 Green Steel, and Solar Mosaic. As Head of Direct Private Investments at J. Safra Sarasin since July 2021, she created a buy-side platform for private capital investors, leading origination, due diligence, and active management of investments in several private companies.
Previously, Ms. Alashkar worked in various roles at Deutsche Bank starting on July 2013. Most recently she served as the Global Head of Private Markets for institutional wealth clients at Deutsche Bank from January 2018 to June 2021. In 2013, Ms. Alashkar co-founded the Swiss-based private equity firm, 1648 Capital, serving as a Partner of Direct Investments. At Deutsche Bank, she spearheaded the private placements business, combining origination with distribution, primarily focusing on pre-IPO equity rounds and private credit syndication. She held a leadership role in capital raising, marketing complex investment stories, and negotiating sophisticated financing structures.
At 1648 Capital, Ms. Alashkar led campaigns to raise and manage capital for strategic investments and transformative initiatives, and she oversaw investor relations to ensure continuity for the firm’s family office clients and institutional investors, which helped to enhance the reputation of 1648 Capital for innovation in private markets and strategic growth.
Ms. Alashkar is a Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder. She holds a Master of Finance from London Business School and a Bachelor of Laws from King’s College London. Committed to the energy transition, Ms. Alashkar recently engaged in Cambridge University’s program on Climate Change for Decision-Makers. Ms. Alashkar has board experience and a strong background in corporate governance and risk management.
Recognized for her leadership, she has received numerous industry awards, including Deutsche Bank’s Global Leadership Award for Innovative Investment Solutions in 2019 and Women in Finance Investment Banking Director of the Year (Europe) in 2017. Her insights are regularly featured in industry discussions, reflecting her commitment to advancing private markets and sustainable investments. Given her extensive experience in investment and finance and leadership positions, we believe Ms. Alashkar will provide valuable advice as we consider potential merger candidates.