Fledgling real estate backer hires head of hospitality investments

US-headquartered real estate investment manager Palladius Capital Management has appointed a new head of hospitality investments and chief financial officer.

Experienced real estate and finance executive Afshin Kateb will join based out of Palladius’ Los Angeles office, just 18 months after the company was launched.

He will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s finance, accounting and risk management departments as well as its multifamily asset management team. He will also serve as a member of the firm’s investment committee and heads the hospitality investment arm of Palladius and its sister funds.

Established track record

Kateb brings 25 years of real estate investing, operating and finance experience to Palladius. Over the course of his career, he has led or co-led over $2 billion in hotel, multifamily, office, retail and mixed-use transactions, and established a track record of generating strong risk-adjusted returns.

Prior to joining Palladius, he served as the founding CFO of Nimes Real Estate, where he worked closely with members of Palladius’ executive leadership team.

At Nimes, he managed the finance department, including accounting, tax, internal and external reporting, treasury and cash management, risk management, asset and project management, and financial planning and analysis. He was also a senior member of the firm’s investment committee and was instrumental in overseeing a portfolio of multifamily, student housing and hospitality assets.

Storied career

Kateb was previously CFO and principal at SBE Entertainment Group, providing strategic financial and operational oversight for the expansion of the firm’s hospitality portfolio into markets such as Miami, New York and Las Vegas.

Earlier in his career, he served as senior vice president and fund portfolio manager at Lowe Enterprises Investors, holding responsibility for the operational and financial asset management of the Lowe Hospitality Investment Partners hotel-focused discretionary commingled fund.

Kateb also formerly worked as founding CFO and executive member of The KOR Group, an institutional commercial real estate platform concentrating on hotel, multifamily, and mixed-use development investments. He also had a stint as senior management consultant at Ernst & Young, where he worked on national and international commercial real estate projects, and corporate controller at Maruko Inc, where he oversaw a large portfolio of multifamily, hotel, office and retail properties.

Pivotal time

Palladius’ CEO, Nitin Chexal, said: “Having collaborated with Afshin for nearly a decade, I have no doubt his deep understanding of commercial real estate, informed perspectives in finance and accounting and diverse skillset will help create immense value for Palladius and our investors. Afshin joins Palladius at a pivotal time as we prepare to accelerate our rapid growth through the introduction of new products and investment strategies. We see significant opportunity to capitalise on the dislocation in the market and have assembled a best-in-class team to ensure we are able to execute with precision.”

Kateb himself added: “Palladius has achieved remarkable growth since launching less than a year and a half ago. This success is a direct result of the talented people behind the platform and their innovative approach to investing. The team has built a differentiated platform that is poised for long-term growth, and I could not be more excited to help shape the firm’s next chapter of success. The opportunity to join close friends who I have worked with for years and share the same values with was something I could not pass up.”