Gorman of Procida describes greatest professional achievement

Name: James Gorman Title: Asset Manager Company/firm: 100 Mile Fund - Procida Funding & Advisors Years with company/firm: 2.5 years Years in field: 2.5 years Years in real estate industry: 2.5 years Address: 456 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ Telephone: 201-871-1177 Email: [email protected] URL: www.Procida.com Which professional accomplishment, honor or achievement has meant the most to you and why? Throughout my short time within the real estate industry, I have worked on both the originations side and asset management side. While both sides of the business have their hurdles, asset management is very labor intensive, especially when your fund invests in distressed assets. Dealing with monitoring construction loans (which never go as planned), constant changes in the market, and adapting accordingly to protect the fund's investment is a balancing act. My greatest achievement is that within only 18 months as asset manager at the firm, I have managed over 750 units and collected over $45 million of the fund's investments without losing principal. In fact, with returns in the double digits. What advice would you give to those just starting out in commercial real estate? There are many professions within the commercial real estate industry, lender, broker, developer, appraiser, etc. One general piece of advice I would give is that you have to absolutely love the industry. I work every day of the year, whether it's accommodating clients, networking, researching, or reading about current events. If you don't love the industry, you won't want to learn, thus you won't be successful. Oh yea, and you must love the characters too. If I were to give advice to a PE/IB RE analyst, I would say join a distressed group. Although you learn a lot with performing real estate, if you really want to learn how complex real estate can get, join a distressed fund. Once you learn the intricacies of distressed real estate, you will be able to manage any performance level of an investment.