IRVINE, Calif. – Nov. 30, 2022 – Sabal Investment Holdings (SIH), a real estate investment management firm that serves institutional investors, today announced the expansion of its leadership team with the aim of driving the company’s long-term strategy through distinct market expertise. Drake Ayres has been promoted to Managing Director of Structured Credit, Michael Cook has been named Managing Director of Lending Solutions, Tal Seder and Jonathan Mirkin are the new Managing Directors of Opportunistic investments, and Barton Vaughan is now Director of Structured Credit. SIH Founder Pat Jackson will continue at the helm of the company as Chief Investment Strategist.
“The ongoing, strategic development of our leadership team enables SIH to continue delivering expertise and focus on commercial real estate investing as we broaden our reach into the market,” said Jackson. “These leaders bring the experience and subject matter expertise to identify, underwrite, structure and close strategic investment opportunities in structured credit, lending solutions and opportunistic equity, ensuring we know our focus markets better than anyone, and can respond quickly to emerging opportunities.”
As Managing Director of Structured Credit at SIH, Ayres is responsible for structured credit investments, capital markets and portfolio management. Formerly with Sabal Financial Group (SFG) for more than a decade, Ayres has played a key role in the evolution of SIH into a leading investor of primary and secondary agency and CMBS credit opportunities throughout the capital stack. He led the acquisition of a diversified portfolio for SIH comprising over $1 billion in agency national structured positions, including FRESB, K-Series and Interest Only, and $400 million in CMBS national, including investment grade and non-investment grade bonds. Ayres originated approximately $100 million in bridge loans and executed over $100 million in preferred equity and one-off joint venture equity investments; and he sourced, negotiated, closed and manages over $1 billion in financing facilities, broadening SIH’s capital markets capabilities.
In his previous role as senior associate at SFG, Ayres acquired and managed a portfolio of more than $5 billion in commercial debt throughout the U.S.; acquired, structured and modeled more than $65 billion in commercial assets; headed $1.2 billion in CMBS and bank financings; and supported the portfolio management platform. Ayres received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in economics from the Terry College of Business, University of Georgia.
Cook is responsible for leading SIH’s lending solutions. Prior to joining SIH, Cook served as Chief Portfolio Manager at AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust where he led and managed nearly $7 billion in various credit investments, HUD securities and GSE conventional MBS securities. He also has broad experience in REMIC and private label CMBS structures. In addition to receiving a degree in both economics and finance from the University of Kentucky, where he graduated magna cum laude, Cook holds the CFA Institute’s Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM), the most widely respected and globally recognized certification for financial risk management.
Seder and Mirkin are responsible for leading opportunistic investment strategies. Prior to joining SIH, they co-founded MLN Partners (MLN), a private investment firm focused on acquiring, repositioning and developing real estate nationally alongside leading local operating partners. MLN’s investment focus included investments in real estate technology companies.
Before co-founding MLN Partners, Seder was a managing director at Lone Star Funds (LS), spending five years in its London and New York offices. He began his career at the J.E. Robert Companies in Washington D.C. and London as one of the first members of its dedicated commercial real estate team. His responsibilities included sourcing, structuring and executing deals across a spectrum of product types and geographies, including the U.S. and Europe, leading the acquisitions of over $20 billion in real estate assets, loans and companies. Seder received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University with a double major in finance and accounting, which included business studies at Trinity College at Oxford University. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Before joining SIH and co-founding MLN, Mirkin worked as a managing director at Kennedy Wilson focused on CRE equity investments, and prior to that spent 10 years working for Walton Street Capital, ascending to principal of the fund’s acquisition group. Over the course of his career, Mirkin has led the acquisition and financing of over $2 billion of transactions in primary markets around the U.S. He received a bachelor’s degree in real estate and urban land economics, with honors, from the University of Wisconsin.
Vaughan is responsible for overseeing structured credit investments at SIH. Previously, Vaughn served as senior vice president at CWCapital Asset Management where he led the underwriting of more than 100 CMBS and Freddie Mac B-Pieces totaling over $175 billion. Vaughn also was responsible for bond surveillance, asset management and defaulted loan workouts. Before CWCapital, he worked as an associate with Landmark Land Company. Based in Hong Kong, and later the Caribbean and Washington, D.C., his responsibilities included sourcing and underwriting distressed real estate assets, investor relations and asset management. Vaughan received his bachelor’s degree in history from Davidson College.
About Sabal Investment Holdings
Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Sabal Investment Holdings (SIH) is a real estate investment management firm with $ 1 billion AUM under management, providing advisory and investment management services to institutional investors. Led by a team of experienced professionals with backgrounds in real estate, banking and capital markets, the company aims to provide investors with industry intelligence that helps them stay on top of market trends. SIH’s investments primarily fall into one of three categories: structured credit, credit strategies and special situations. To learn more, visit www.sabalinvestmentholdings.com.
