Whitman Peterson actively seeks out Great Human Beings looking to make a Big Contribution on a Close-Knit Team.

We have been fortunate to attract a diverse and truly outstanding team of great human beings from all over the world. Our team members and their families are from Australia, Indonesia, India, China, Brazil, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Korea, the Philippines and across the United States. They have come with great experience from prominent investment and other institutions, such as Morgan Stanley, Marriott International, the Stanford Endowment, Barings, EY, Wells Fargo, Oaktree, Fortress, JP Morgan, THQ, Duff & Phelps, PWC, KPMG, and MacQuarie — and from top educational institutions, such as UCLA, USC, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, University of Washington, Michigan State, Cal State Northridge, Texas A&M, University of Texas, TCU, University of Sydney (AU), Cornell, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), and Harvard.

BOB WHITMAN

Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner

Bob is a Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Whitman and Peterson. Bob also serves as the Executive Chair and Chairman of the Board of Directors of FranklinCovey. Prior to joining FranklinCovey, Whitman served as President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Hampstead Group, LLC, a private equity investment firm, which made significant investments in companies in the hotel, retirement housing, restaurant, and theme park industries with the goal of helping these companies achieve significant growth. Hampstead helped to build up Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Felcor Lodging Trust, Forum Group Inc., and a number of other public and private companies. Mr. Whitman served on the Board of Directors of these companies and served as Chairman and acting Chief Executive Officer of Forum Group, Inc. Prior to that time, Mr. Whitman was a Managing Partner and member of both the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the Trammell Crow Group. He graduated with honors from the University of Utah in 1976 with a B.S. in Finance and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1978.

Wes WHITMAN

Co-Founder & Co-Managing Partner

Wes is a Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Whitman Peterson. Since the firm’s inception in late 2010, Wes and Bob have overseen the firm’s investment in more than 100 transactions involving 150+ assets, representing more than $20 billion of total capitalization. They have sourced and structured highly strategic partnerships with some of nation’s prominent companies in their target sectors. Prior to the formation of Whitman Peterson, Wes was a Managing Director and Principal at Greystar, the largest multifamily investment, development and management company globally (with $35B+ of assets and more than 600,000+ apartments under management), where his responsibilities included acquisitions of assets and operating companies, asset management, land entitlements, and leading a 200+ member operating team on the West Coast. Wes graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in Finance and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 2005.

Joel Peterson

Co-Founder

Joel is a Co-Founder of Whitman Peterson. He founded Peterson Partners Inc., a Salt Lake City-based private equity group with approximately $500mm under management as of date. Mr. Peterson has been on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University since 1992 where he has taught courses in real estate investment, entrepreneurship and leadership. Between 1973 and 1991, he was Treasurer, CFO, Board member and CEO of Trammell Crow Company. Mr. Peterson is currently Chairman of the Board at JetBlue Airways, and on the boards of Franklin Covey and Ladder Capital Finance, a billion-dollar real estate investment company, and Bonobos, a New York based apparel start-up. Over the past 35 years, he has served on dozens of public and private boards including Asurion, the Dallas Market Center, Texas Commerce Bank (Dallas), the Advisory Board at the GSB at Stanford, and on the President’s Council at his alma mater. He was valedictorian at his undergraduate institution, Brigham Young University, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1973.

Paul Novak

Partner

Paul is one of the premier development and acquisition executives within the hotel industry. He has acquired or developed over $4 billion in hotel assets over the past 40 years, through his leadership roles at companies such as: Marriott, where he participated in the creation of the Courtyard by Marriott product and oversaw development of the first 225 Courtyard assets and the Hampstead Group, under the entity known as Bedrock Partners, where he led acquisitions and redevelopment efforts for several of Hampstead’s large portfolio investments including a large program with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, the consolidation of Harvey Hotels and United Inns into Bristol Hotels, and the acquisition of 100+ Holiday Inn assets from Bass PLC, which were ultimately sold to FelCor Lodging Trust. Mr. Novak has a BA degree from one of the country’s premier hotel schools, Michigan State University. He is very active in the real estate development and hospitality industries, having served as Chairman of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and President of the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA). He is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and is an original member of ULI’s Hotel Development Council (HDC).

Jason johnson

Partner

Jason is a Partner at Whitman Peterson. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, Jason worked at Highridge Partners in Los Angeles, CA and Morgan Stanley in New York, NY. At Highridge Partners, Jason analyzed commercial real estate acquisitions & dispositions, secured debt financing, and managed a portfolio of real estate assets. At Morgan Stanley he worked in the Private Equity Real Estate Fund group (MSREF) where he was part of portfolio and asset management. Jason earned his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business with concentrations in finance and real estate and has both a MAcc and BS in Accountancy from Brigham Young University. Jason Johnson is a CFA® charterholder and is also a licensed CPA.

gina lewis

Director Corporate Administration

Gina is a Director Corporate Administration at Whitman Peterson. She joined in September of 2011. Gina provides administrative support to the investment team. Gina has supported executive staff members for the past 20 years in various fields, including publishing, sales and marketing, and finance.

vaib Vijayakumar

Partner

Vaib is a Partner at Whitman Peterson. Prior to joining the investment team in 2013, Vaib was an Associate at Stanford University, helping manage the endowment’s multi-billion dollar commercial real estate portfolio consisting of office, hotel, agricultural, multifamily, and single-family assets. At Stanford, he prepared financial analysis, supported due diligence, and participated in negotiations for acquisition, disposition, and development efforts. Prior to Stanford, Vaib was an Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he worked on the structuring and origination of equity investments for transactions involving historic, low income, and new markets tax credits across various property types. Vaib holds a BSc. with concentrations in Real Estate Finance and Information Systems from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

steve nunez

Senior Managing Director

Steve is a Managing Director at Whitman Peterson and is responsible for oversight of the multifamily development, self-storage, and outdoor lodging sectors. Prior to joining Whitman Peterson in 2017, Steve worked at Barings Real Estate Advisers where he led the acquisition, underwriting, due diligence, and closing of over $2.0 billion in new investments. Prior to Barings, Steve was an analyst at Center Square Investment Management. Steve earned his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and has a B.S. in Public Policy, Management, and Planning from the University of Southern California where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Jerome nonato

Managing Director

Jerome is a Managing Director at Whitman Peterson, where he leads the Corporate Finance team. Prior to joining the team, Jerome was a Vice President at True Investments, an ultra-high net-worth family office based in Newport Beach, CA, where he led the capital markets and business strategy of the real estate group. Prior to True, Jerome spent 10+ years in New York, most recently as an Associate with the with real estate private equity team at Fortress Investment Group, where he focused on real estate investments within the leisure & entertainment and seniors housing asset classes. Additionally, Jerome held roles within the M&A advisory and accounting teams at Morgan Stanley and Deloitte.

Jerome holds a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

andrea delfanti

Director

Andrea is a Director at Whitman Peterson, in the Corporate Finance Team. Prior to join the team, Andrea was a Manager in the Asset Management and Real Estate group at PwC in the Los Angeles office. At PwC, Andrea served as lead manager on the audits of various private and public companies in the Southern California market.  Andrea was also part of the Real Estate leading group which provided quarterly accounting and auditing real estate updates to the broader market and involved in organizing and teaching various real estate training. Andrea holds a B.S. in Finance (Summa cum Laude) from California State University, Northridge and he is licensed CPA.

alyssa kennedy

Director

Alyssa Kennedy joined Whitman Peterson over six years ago and is a Director on the investment team. She focuses on Whitman Peterson’s short-term rental housing program and traditional hotel asset management. Prior to joining Whitman Peterson in June 2017, Alyssa was a Financial Analyst in Wells Fargo Bank’s Hospitality Finance Group, where she assisted in the underwriting of hotel debt financings. Alyssa is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a BS in Hotel Administration with a Minor in Real Estate.

Arthur santos

Director

Arthur is a Director at Whitman Peterson. Prior to joining the investment team in 2018, Arthur was an Analyst at Duff & Phelps’ Real Estate Advisory Group in New York where he advised institutional clients on asset and portfolio valuations. Arthur holds a BS from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University with Minors in Real Estate and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies.

jack jolliffe

Director

Jack is a Director at Whitman Peterson, overseeing the firm’s student housing program and working on the industrial platform. Prior to joining the investment team in 2019, Jack began his career in 2016 as an investment analyst at J.P. Morgan in its Outsourced Chief Investment Office (OCIO) group where he worked with institutional clients including endowments and foundations. Jack earned his BBA in finance, accounting, and mathematics from Texas Christian University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Jack is a CFA® charterholder.

lucas liu

Senior Associate

Lucas is a Senior Associate at Whitman Peterson. Lucas joined Whitman Peterson after graduating with distinction from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with a minor in Real Estate. While studying at Cornell, Lucas completed internships with Intercontinental Hotel Group, Marriott International, and Jones Land Lasalle. At Jones Lang Lasalle (Singapore), Lucas performed hotel valuations, feasibility studies, and actively participated in asset management efforts.

seth Nickolaisen

Director

Seth is a Director at Whitman Peterson. Seth joined Whitman Peterson after graduating magna cum laude from Brigham Young University with both a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Science degree of Accountancy. During his time at Brigham Young University, Seth completed an internship with Deloitte (New York City) in their Financial Services Industry group.

Barbara Gasgonia

Senior Associate

Barbara is a Senior Associate at Whitman Peterson. Prior to joining the Corporate Finance team in 2020, Barbara was an Audit Associate in KPMG’s Los Angeles Asset Management practice, where she focused on the audits of private hedge funds. Barbara is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Master of Financial Management.

Austin Saunders

Associate

Austin is an Associate at Whitman Peterson. Prior to joining the investment team in March 2021, Austin graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics. While studying at UCLA, Austin completed internships at AEW Capital Management, James Capital Advisors, and Maher Commercial Realty, where he performed property valuations, data analytics, and asset management services

Piers Clark

Associate

Piers is an Associate at Whitman Peterson. Piers joined the Whitman Peterson team in summer of 2021 after graduating magna cum laude from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU, where he earned a BA focusing on urban design and geography. While in school, Piers interned at Hines, working on seniors housing developments in New York City.

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