Who We Are
Our story thus far
Focused on investment, backed by experience
CanFirst Capital Management was founded in 2002 and is an industry leader investing in commercial real estate. CanFirst forms real estate Funds that contain a portfolio of properties to provide diversification for its partners. The CanFirst team is focused on investing in assets that offer consistent and stable returns, while concurrently ensuring capital preservation and providing value add opportunities.
CanFirst employs a disciplined investment strategy that ensures investments are focused on specifically targeted properties. We co-invest with both institutional and private high net worth partners. Each Fund's structure ensures an alignment of interest between the fund advisor and our partners.
While the focus is on investment, the CanFirst Capital Management team has many years of experience in the real estate business including development, redevelopment, asset and property management, financing, leasing and construction. Utilizing all of these disciplines enables CanFirst to identify and analyze investment opportunities more effectively. Property management functions are outsourced to “best in class” companies in each of their respective markets.
Goal-driven
Founded in 2002, CanFirst has deep local market intelligence, extensive industry contacts and relationships in our target markets, all of which are leveraged to source opportunities.
A track record of performance
CanFirst’s goal is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns by capturing value in the commercial real estate segment.
Market-specific expertise
CanFirst has raised $1.1B in equity and has completed over 18M square feet of real estate transactions.
A quick introduction to the CanFirst team
Our Team
Chairman
Paul Braun is a co-founder of CanFirst Capital Management. Paul Braun's real estate career spans more than 40 years. It includes senior executive positions with Cadillac Fairview and the Dundee Realty Corporation. In addition, Mr. Braun was a founding shareholder of V&A Properties. V&A Properties successfully developed, acquired, and managed commercial and residential properties both for its own account as well as for financial institutions, pension funds and private investors. V&A Properties was subsequently sold to Dundee Realty Corporation.
Paul Braun
Chief Executive Officer
Allan Perez is a co-founder of CanFirst Capital Management. Allan Perez's real estate career encompasses over 40 years of senior executive positions with real estate organizations including The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Canderel Ltd. and Dundee Realty Corporation. Mr. Perez was a senior officer and shareholder of V&A Properties. His responsibilities included acquisition and disposition, development, marketing, financing, leasing, e-commerce and asset management.
Allan Perez
Executive Vice-President, Investments and Business Development
Mark Braun is responsible for investments, financing, and business development for CanFirst. Prior to joining CanFirst, Mr. Braun was a portfolio analyst in the specialty funds group at Bentall. Mr. Braun received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto where he was elected a governor of the university and received a Bachelor of Engineering Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario.
Mark Braun
Controller
Russell Raghavan is responsible for consolidation of property financial reports, fund level financial reporting, cash management, and liaising with the property managers. He is involved in all aspects of corporate and property management accounting, office administration, and coordination with auditors. Prior to joining CanFirst Mr. Raghavan was an accounting manager at Starlight Investments Ltd. He has more than 15 years of accounting experience in various industries. For the past 15 years, he has been working as accounting manager/controller in in the real estate industry in Canada. Mr. Raghavan is a chartered accountant from India and a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA) in Canada. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Russel Raghavan
Vice President, Acquisitions
Minh Nguyen is responsible for all aspects of the acquisition process and oversees underwriting and due diligence of investment opportunities. Prior to joining CanFirst, Mr. Nguyen was a mechanical engineer at Integral Group. Mr. Nguyen received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto where he was named a Bregman Scholar and received a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of British Columbia where he was the top graduating student in the Thermofluids option. He is a CFA® charterholder.
Minh Nguyen
Manager, Investments
Sebastian Fiszman is responsible for the underwriting and due diligence of acquisitions and supporting asset and fund management. Prior to joining CanFirst, Mr. Fiszman worked at the Bank of Nova Scotia in the international credit risk division. Mr. Fiszman received a Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure from the Schulich School of Business, York University.
Sebastian Fiszman
Manager, Investments
Mirette Zaky is responsible for the underwriting and due diligence of acquisitions and supporting asset and fund management. Prior to joining CanFirst Ms. Zaky worked in the real estate sales, investment, and development industry completing low-density residential developments within the GTA. Ms. Zaky is a licensed Real Estate Broker and has received a Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure from the Schulich School of Business, York University.
Mirette Zaky
Senior Analyst
Aaron Fuss is responsible for existing property modelling and assists with portfolio management, leasing, and acquisitions. Prior to joining CanFirst Mr. Fuss received an Honours Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business.
