Ralph Rosenberg (New York) joined KKR in 2011 and is a Partner and the Global Head of KKR’s Real Estate Platform. Mr. Rosenberg is Chairman of the Board of Directors of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc., Chairman of the Board of Directors of KKR Real Estate Select Trust, and a member of the Board of Directors of KKR Realty Japan Management. Prior to joining KKR, he was a partner at Eton Park Capital Management and managed his own firm, R6 Capital Management, which later merged into Eton Park. Previously, Mr. Rosenberg was a partner at Goldman Sachs. He holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude, and holds an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Mr. Rosenberg is a member of the Board of AFIRE, a Governor of the Urban Land Institute Foundation, and serves on the Brown University Investment Committee and the Investment Committee of the Urban Land Institute. He is a former Global and US Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, former Chair of the board of directors of the Pension Real Estate Association (“PREA”) and a former member of the board of directors of the PREA Foundation. He is an Emeriti Member of the Brown University Corporation and is an Honorary Trustee of the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Illinois. He is also a former trustee of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Trust and a former trustee and former vice-chair of the board of directors of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Julia Butler (New York) joined KKR in 2017 and is a Managing Director in the firm’s Real Estate group. She serves as Chief Executive Officer of KKR Real Estate Select Trust Inc. (KREST). Prior to moving to the Equity side, Ms. Butler was actively involved in the growth of KKR’s Real Estate Credit business, including sourcing, underwriting, and structuring real estate credit investment opportunities as well as capital formation. Prior to joining KKR, Ms. Butler spent thirteen years at iStar where she was an executive vice president, responsible for sourcing, negotiating and managing debt and equity investments in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to iStar, Ms. Butler worked in the treasury department of The Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles, CA. She co-leads the Women’s Network at KKR and is actively involved with several non-profits and currently serves on the Board of Directors for WIN (Women in Need), NYC’s largest homeless organization for women and children. Ms. Butler is also a member of several real estate organizations, including the Urban Land Institute where she serves as a national multifamily council leader, the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, and WX. Ms. Butler graduated cum laude from Harvard College with a B.A. in Government.
Michael Whyte (New York) joined KKR in 2010 and is a member of KKR’s Real Estate business and is the Chief Operating Officer of KKR Real Estate Select Trust Inc. Previously, he was a member of the firm’s Principal Activities and Corporate Development team where he was involved in the formation of the firm’s public BDC platform, KKR’s Core Investments business and the development of several of the firm’s largest strategic partnerships. He was also involved in several of the firm’s key principal transactions including the firm’s merger with KKR Financial Holdings and the execution of several structured financing transactions. He joined KKR as a member of firm’s corporate private equity business in Asia before relocating to New York in 2014. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Whyte was with Credit Suisse where he was involved in a variety of merger, acquisition and financing transactions. He holds a B. of Engineering, with first class honors, and a B. Commerce from the University of Melbourne.
Megan B. Gaul (New York) joined KKR in 2020 and is a Managing Director in the Finance group. Prior to joining KKR, Ms. Gaul was Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Willow Tree Credit Partners. Prior to joining Willow Tree, she worked at Apollo Global Management, LLC, serving as Chief Financial Officer, treasurer and secretary of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. Previously, Ms. Gaul held various financial and accounting positions, including director, at BlackRock, Inc. Ms. Gaul began her career at Arthur Andersen LLP and holds a BS from Georgetown University in Business Administration.
Doug Krupa (New York) joined KKR in 2019 and is a Managing Director and Head of Global Wealth Solutions in the Americas. He leads a team focused on distributing KKR strategies to advisors and clients of leading wealth platforms and registered investment advisors and led the development of KKR’s evergreen solutions across asset classes. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Krupa spent eight years at Blackstone as a managing director and global head of product strategy for the private wealth solutions group. Previously, he worked at Legg Mason and Citigroup in product development and sales roles. Mr. Krupa holds a B.S. in Management from the State University of New York at Geneseo and is a CFA Charterholder.
Lori Hoffman (New York) joined KKR in 2020 and is a Director on the Legal team. Prior to joining KKR, Ms. Hoffman was an attorney at Dechert LLP where she advised registered investment companies (including closed-end funds and business development companies), as well as their investment advisers and boards of directors, on a variety of regulatory, compliance and business matters. Ms. Hoffman holds a B.A. from Emory University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Lew Breckenridge (New York) joined KKR in 2010 and is a Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer of KKR Private Markets. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Breckenridge was a compliance officer at Barclays Wealth and Bank of America where he focused on a wide range of compliance matters including alternative investments distribution, capital markets and information barriers and sales and trading, among other areas. Mr. Breckenridge started his career at NASD (now FINRA) as an examiner. Mr. Breckenridge holds a B.S. from Kansas State University. He is a former member of the New York District Committee for FINRA and serves as a panelist for FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers.
Chris Lee (New York) joined KKR in 2012 and is President of KKR’s global real estate business. Mr. Lee serves as Portfolio Manager for KKR Property Partners Americas. He is currently Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE: KREF) where he previously served as Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President since October 2015 and March 2016, respectively, through March 2020. Mr. Lee sits on KKR’s Operating Committee, KKR’s Real Estate Equity and Credit Investment Committees in the Americas, KKR’s Real Estate Equity and Credit Portfolio Management Committees in the Americas, KKR’s ESG Committee, KKR’s Global Inclusion and Diversity Council, co-chairs KKR’s Americas Inclusion and Diversity Council and chairs KKR’s Real Estate Valuation Committee. Previously, he served as Head of Real Estate in the Americas, overseeing both equity and credit investing platforms in the region. Prior to joining KKR, he spent three years at Apollo Global Management on their global real estate team where he focused on real estate acquisitions. Mr. Lee also worked at Goldman Sachs in the merchant banking division’s real estate principal investment area (REPIA) for over five years after spending two years in the investment banking division. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Emory University. Mr. Lee currently serves as a trustee of St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas, Texas, as a member of the Board of Directors of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) in New York, New York, as a member of the Board of Directors of the PREA Foundation in Hartford, Connecticut, as a trustee of Collegiate School in New York, New York and as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Emory College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of the CRE Finance Council, Pension Real Estate Association, Real Estate Capital Policy Advisory Committee for the Real Estate Roundtable, Real Estate Executive Council, Manhattan Chapter of YPO and Urban Land Institute where he sits on one of its Urban Development and Mixed-Use Councils.
Justin Pattner (San Francisco) joined KKR in 2011 to help found the Global Real Estate business. He is a Partner of the firm and is responsible for KKR’s Real Estate Private Equity business in the Americas, overseeing all aspects of the business including investment strategy, asset management and fundraising. Mr. Pattner sits on KKR’s Real Estate Equity and Credit Investment Committees in the Americas and on KKR’s Real Estate Equity and Credit Portfolio Management Committees in the Americas. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Pattner was at Eton Park Capital Management where he focused on real estate and real estate related opportunities. Prior to Eton Park, he worked at Lehman Brothers in the real estate private equity group (LBREP) as well as at Lubert Adler Partners. Mr. Pattner graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania where he received a B.A. in Economics. Mr. Pattner sits on the Americas Executive Committee of ULI and is member of the Executive Committee for the Fisher Center Policy Advisory Board.
Roger Morales (New York) joined KKR in 2011 as part of the founding team that formed KKR’s Real Estate Platform. He is the Head of Commercial Real Estate Acquisitions and is jointly responsible for all aspects of the business including acquisitions, portfolio management and fundraising. He sits on KKR’s Real Estate Equity Investment Committee, Credit Investment Committee and Portfolio Management Committee in the Americas. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Morales worked with Eton Park Capital Management and with Vornado Realty Trust where he focused on real estate and real estate related investment opportunities. Before attending business school, he worked with JP Morgan Partners where he focused on middle market corporate private equity, and with Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s leveraged finance group. He received a B.A. from the University of Miami and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Morales is a member of the Urban Land Institute and is a member of one of its Industrial and Office Park Development Councils. He is also a member of the University of Miami Real Estate Advisory Board. Mr. Morales is an alumni and a former board member of Sponsors for Educational Opportunities (SEO).
Matt Salem (New York) joined KKR in 2015 and is a Partner and Head of Real Estate Credit. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc (NYSE: KREF) and Vice Chairman of KKR Real Estate Select Trust Inc. (KREST). Mr. Salem sits on KKR’s Real Estate Investment Committees. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Salem was a managing director at Rialto Capital Management. Before joining Rialto in 2012, he was a managing director and head of CMBS trading at Goldman Sachs. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2006, Mr. Salem held positions at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Alternative Investments where he invested in mezzanine debt and other high yield CRE credit on behalf of the Travelers Insurance Companies. He began his career in 1996 at Midland Loan Services in Kansas City. Mr. Salem has a B.A. in Economics from Bates College. He has served on the Board of Governors of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council and as Chair of the B-Piece Buyer Forum.
Guillaume Cassou (London) joined KKR in 2012 and is responsible for the European Real Estate team. Prior to KKR, Mr. Cassou was an executive director at Goldman Sachs real estate principal investment area in London since 2007 focusing on real estate and real estate-related investments across Europe. Previously, Mr. Cassou worked in Goldman Sachs investment banking group from 2001 to 2007, where he was involved in a number of mergers, acquisitions, and capital market transactions. He holds an M.Sc. from Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
John Pattar (Hong Kong) joined KKR in 2018 and is a Partner and Head of KKR’s Real Estate business in Asia Pacific. Mr. Pattar played a key role in the fundraise of KKR Asia Real Estate Partners (AREP), KKR’s inaugural Pan-Asian real estate investment fund. AREP has a US$1.7 billion corpus and takes a flexible investment approach across assets and platforms in sectors including mixed use, commercial, industrial, hotel, office and retail properties. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Pattar was the CEO of CLSA Real Estate since 2004. At CLSA, Mr. Pattar built a Pan-Asian real estate platform for the firm, consisting of a value added fund, Fudo Capital with equity raised of US$2.2 billion and a Core Fund mandate with MEC (Mitsubishi Estates Corporation) managing US$600m gross AUM. He managed the day-to-day operation of Fudo Capital, property funds specifically targeting direct investment in real estate in Asia Pacific. On behalf of funds and principals of CLSA Capital Partners, Mr. Pattar sourced and completed property deals in Asia of approximately US$5 billion. Mr. Pattar has worked in Asian real estate markets for over 27 years; including South East Asia from 1992-1997, and in Hong Kong since 1998 covering principally North Asia. His extensive real estate experience covers property investment, development, capital transactions and asset management in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia. Mr. Pattar holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from King’s College London, University of London (LLB) and is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (F.R.I.C.S.).
Fran was previously Deputy General Counsel of Goldman Sachs from 1998 until 2019, where she was responsible for the Firm’s trading, investment banking, merchant banking and commercial banking activity. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Ms. Bermanzohn was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Public Securities Association. Ms. Bermanzohn currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Brandeis. Fran received her B.A. from Brandeis University and her J.D. from the Boston University School of Law.
Susan was previously a Managing Director at Makena Capital Management from 2006 through 2019. She was a member of the firm’s Management Committee, and one of the firm’s founding partners. Ms. Meaney was responsible for managing the firm’s real estate investments as well as overseeing the real assets portfolio. Prior to joining Makena Capital, Ms. Meaney was the Director of Real Estate and Real Assets Investments for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation from 2002-2006. She served as a Managing Director at the Stanford Management Company from 1993-2001. Ms. Meaney graduated from Stanford University in 1982 with an A.B. in Economics, with Honors, and earned her MBA from The Tuck School at Dartmouth in 1986.
Jim was previously the CFO of U.S. Restaurant Properties (Net-lease focused REIT) and Chief Investment Officer of family office SLKW Investments. Mr. Kropp currently serves on the boards of PS Business Parks, American Homes 4 Rent, and FS KKR Capital Corp. Jim graduated from St. Francis College and has spent more than 40 years in real estate accounting and finance.
Joan was previously a Partner at Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC from 2000 to April 2017, where she served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Ms. Binstock was the Chief Operating Officer at Morgan Grenfell Asset Management. Ms. Binstock currently serves as an Advisor at Lovell Minnick Partners, LLC, since June 2018. In addition, she has been a Director of SimCorp A/S since March 2018 and the Brown Brother Harriman US Mutual Funds since September 2019. Ms. Binstock is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. She holds a M.B.A. from New York University and a B.A. from SUNY Binghamton.
