Best Minds: Alliance Global Advisors

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Partners with a Problem to Solve: What happens when two long-time friends and colleagues with 20 years of industry experience find a void in the marketplace?

In this episode of Conversations with the Best Minds in Real Estate, Taylor Mammen, CEO of RCLCO Fund Advisors, sits down with Heather Fernstrom Border and Jennifer Stevens, Co-Founders and Managing Partners at Alliance Global Advisors – a women-owned consulting firm focused on developing strategic growth solutions for real asset investment managers. Heather and Jennifer began Alliance in 2020, seeking to be an independent voice for the investment management community.

“What we were witnessing was that the investors and the consultants and the advisors had a very deep perspective, understanding, and amount of resources available to them at all times. But, when those managers needed to solicit advice, there wasn’t a true independent third party team that they could go to for those types of questions.”

– Heather Fernstrom Border on the birth of Alliance Global Advisors

Heather and Jennifer also discuss how their 20 years of industry experience laid the foundation for this new venture, the challenges of launching a new business in April 2020, the power of their partnership in this entrepreneurial venture, and the mentors that have inspired them throughout their careers.

“For me, those were the people who would sit me in front of a boardroom and sit at the back of the boardroom and let me fail or let me just get grilled by a CIO or a board member on public record and then say ‘I have a lot of confidence in how you just handled that situation, here’s what I might have done differently.’”

– Jennifer Stevens on the importance of mentors in her career

About Heather Fernstrom Border, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Global Advisors

Heather Fernstrom Border is a versatile, performance-driven, real asset professional building deep Limited Partner and Consultant networks over nearly two decades.

Prior to forming Alliance, Heather was Managing Director for National Real Estate Advisors and held positions with Hunt Investment Management and The Townsend Group. At those firms, she was responsible for assisting institutional clients in developing investment objectives, strategic planning, underwriting investments and capital raising. Heather’s professional experience also includes seventeen years within the private and public real estate sector, where she developed, implemented and led Investor Relations platforms.

Throughout her career, she held memberships at the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties (NAIOP), Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and Institutional Real Estate, Inc. (IREI) among others.   Heather continues to speak and moderate various panels on industry-wide topics and was recently asked to participate on PREA’s Governance Committee.  In 2022, Heather received the GlobeSt. Women of Influence award and the GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum’s 50 under 40 award.

About Jennifer Stevens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Global Advisors

Jennifer Stevens is an executive-level professional with real asset expertise and extensive knowledge of the General Partner & Limited Partner Universe.

Prior to forming Alliance Global Advisors, Jennifer spent sixteen years with The Townsend Group where she gained experience in institutional portfolio management and consulting, strategic and investment planning, real asset investment underwriting and a specialization in areas including ESG and industry best practice.  Jen was the lead Portfolio Manager for Townsend’s West Coast client base and ran Townsend’s San Francisco office, including certain growth initiatives. She has experience in both portfolio management and underwriting and was responsible for developing and leading Townsend’s ESG efforts.

Jennifer has served as a representative member of the UN PRI, GRESB, PREA, PREA Foundation Diversity Working Group, IREI, WIIN and NCREIF in addition to speaking at numerous educational and industry events. In 2016, Jennifer Stevens received the inaugural GRESB Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council to recognize her efforts in establishing and growing Townsend’s ESG Program.  In 2019, Ms. Stevens was included on Chief Investment Officer’s annual list of the world’s most influential investment consultants. In 2021, Jennifer received the GlobeSt. Women of Influence award. In 2022, Jennifer was elected to the PREA Board of Directors and joined PREA’s Social Impact Committee.

About Taylor Mammen, CEO, RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA)

Taylor Mammen is Chief Executive Officer of RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA), which advises institutional investors on all aspects of their complex real estate investment portfolios, from strategy development to underwriting and asset management. Taylor helped pioneer this business beginning in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, when several prominent pension funds turned to RFA with the goal to construct better performing and more resilient real estate portfolios, and has grown it to become a highly respected institutional real estate advisor, working with some of the largest and most dynamic institutional investors in the world. In the process, Taylor and RFA have sourced, underwritten, and overseen investments on behalf of clients well in excess of $10 billion. Taylor leads the firm’s institutional investor client relationships and is responsible for the firm’s growth and development, in addition to serving on the boards of clients’ portfolio companies.

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