Real estate manager Timbercreek hires Bay Street, Wall Street veterans

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One of Canada's fastest-growing real estate investors is adding some heft to its senior ranks, tapping well-known people on Bay Street and Wall Street to fill key roles.

In New York, Timbercreek Asset Mangement Ltd. has hired Brad Trotter as managing director for U.S. and European debt, where he will focus on expanding the company's real estate portfolios outside Canada. Mr. Trotter last served as the president of GE Capital's North American operations.

In Toronto, the firm also hired Cameron Goodnough as managing director for corporate development. Mr. Goodnough previously worked for TD Securities, where he was a managing director for financial institutions. He left the bank in 2015.

Timbercreek is also beefing up its board of directors by adding investment banker Mark Wellings. Mr. Wellings made his name at GMP Capital, but recently joined Infor Financial.

Most references to Timbercreek in the news media are to its retail-oriented publicly traded fund. However, the company has three lines of business: real estate private equity, mortgage origination, and investing in global real estate stocks.

The goal, according to chief executive officer Blair Tamblyn, is to build a Canadian-headquartered, globally focused alternative asset manager. Founded in 2000, Timbercreek currently manages $5.5-billion and its investor base is 65-per-cent institutional, 35-per-cent retail.

Earlier this year, the company merged its two publicly traded mortgage investment corporations. Before the combination, the two MICs had different strategies – one catered to low loan-to-value mortgages, while the other underwrote riskier loans.

However, the funds mostly drew retail investors and Mr. Tamblyn said institutions never quite embraced these funds, which taught him a lesson. "Regardless of how good your returns are, if you're not out and trying to explain to the market what you're doing … you're not necessarily going to win [investors]," he said.