Chris Smith from Ohana Real Estate Investors on why operating complexity is a feature, not a bug
Chris Smith is the founder and CEO of Ohana Real Estate Investors, an investment firm dedicated to the hospitality and residential sectors, where he has invested more than $4B since inception.
He started the firm in 2009 around a contrarian idea: that the operational complexity of higher-end hotels is not a risk to avoid but the opportunity itself.
Katie and Chris talk about why he treats hospitality as real estate first with an operating business on top, what the demand and supply data say about the luxury segment, why he favours resorts over cities, and how Ohana underwrites its exit before it buys.
He also explains what a set of car keys at 16 taught him about earning a re-up.
About Our Guest
Chris Smith is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ohana, an investment firm dedicated to the hospitality and residential sectors. He is responsible for all of the firm's business activities and its strategic direction. Under his leadership, Ohana has invested more than $4B across hospitality and residential real estate since inception.
Before founding Ohana, Chris was an Investment Officer at Comprehensive Financial Management (CFM), a leading family office, where he was responsible for the real estate portfolio. He is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and previously served on the board of directors of Montage International and on several advisory boards for Special Olympics International. Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College.
About The Re-Up:
The Re-Up is a podcast about the business of raising and allocating capital in private markets — and how that work can be done better. In private markets, a re-up is the decision to recommit to a manager's next fund: the ultimate signal of trust. Each episode is a candid conversation with the LPs, GPs, and advisors who have built exceptional track records — the conversations that usually happen over dinner after the conference, not the ones on stage. Hosted by Katie Fasken, founder of August Advisors, a Toronto-based placement firm connecting exceptional private investment managers with institutional capital.