Fly fishing is one of Doug Kinney‘s favorite leisure pursuits. When he gets a tug on his line, he feels a rush of exhilaration that comes from knowing his careful preparation and patience have paid off. He gets the same feeling on a larger scale (no fishing pun intended) when an investor bites on a real estate investment opportunity he has presented.
“Nothing is more exciting than when an investor reviews the analysis you’ve done, buys into your vision, and partners with you,” he admits.
Kinney recently joined Bentall Kennedy, an investment advisory firm serving 550 institutions and funds throughout the U.S. and Canada, as Executive Vice President of Client Relations and Product Development. Working from the firm’s Chicago office, he manages the client marketing team and oversees new product initiatives across the firm’s growing family of commingled U.S. investment funds.
Doug came to the position prepared. With more than 30 years in real estate, he has worked with hundreds of global institutional investors in over 90 different investment vehicles. He has served in key positions at The Carlyle Group, Greenhill and Co., Credit Suisse’s Real Estate Private Fund Group and Heitman/JMB Realty Corp. He also maintains client relationships through his participation in the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).
As the son of a real estate developer, his first love in the business was architecture. However, by the time he graduated from the University of Tennessee, his major had changed from architecture to economics, with a focus was on the financial side of commercial real estate.
“At some point I realized that I could have a greater impact on big decisions as a real estate executive than as an architect,” Kinney said.
The first nine years of his career were focused the regional mall business.
“I started as the assistant manager of Fox Valley Mall in 1985, and eventually became general manager of several other properties, but that first job still holds a lot of meaning for me,” he said. “Working for JMB and Heitman was a great learning experience but I really felt like I’d arrived in real estate when I became a founding member of Credit Suisse’s Real Estate Private Fund Group.”
The opportunity to make an even bigger impact is part of what drew Kinney to Bentall Kennedy. Based in Toronto, the firm has grown its U.S. operations to five offices and approximately $23 billion in U.S. assets under management.
“As they’ve grown, they’ve attracted a lot of very talented people in our industry, which leads to greater success with clients,” he said.
Kinney hopes to accelerate that growth by bringing to the team his experience with a broader range of investment structures and vehicles. In addition, he serves on the Bentall Kennedy Group Management Committee and the company’s U.S. Management Committee.
Although Kinney lives and works in Chicago, he will spend considerable time in the company’s Bethesda office, working closely with the investor relations team who serve the clients of Bentall Kennedy’s MEPT and MEPT Edgemoor Funds. But he’s no stranger to air travel, as a passenger and otherwise: he held a private pilot’s license and flew frequently for enjoyment until an eye injury grounded him a few years ago.
In addition to aviation and fly fishing, Kinney likes to enjoy the outdoors by golfing and spending time with his wife and four children.
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