Greg Papazian’s 33-year private capital journey: real estate, timing, investor trust, and building retail-operating scale with Brookwood.
In this episode of The People of Private Capital, Greg Papazian, recently retired Managing Partner at Brookwood Financial Partners, recounts a 3 Decade long journey from the post-S&L crisis to leading billions in real-estate transactions and building an operating business in convenience retail.
We cover early fundraising without a track record, why Brookwood became net sellers before the GFC, how the team stood up Yesway and integrated Allsup’s, and where he sees “essential,” consumer-driven assets outperforming today. Greg also shares his approach to investor relations, culture, and what’s next in impact-oriented work.
Key Topics
Origins of Brookwood and early HNW fundraising post tax-shelter era Opportunistic thesis across asset types and geographies (not sector-bound) A tough early development lesson (Jupiter, FL) and why Brookwood avoided ground-up thereafter Pre-GFC discipline: selling most pre-2005 assets by 2007; sitting out ~22 months before buying again Standing up an operating company: launching Yesway (2015), acquiring Allsup’s (2019), and expanding to ~440 stores across ~9 states Why convenience retail is resilient (merchandising margins, Amazon-proof missions, location) Today’s market: caution on office demand; preference for “essential,” consumer-driven real estate (grocery-anchored, medical, services) and Sun Belt migration dynamics Investor relations philosophy: transparency, quarterly reporting/webinars, frictionless digital onboarding/portal experience Culture that scales: entrepreneurial, operator-led, “work hard, support people” What’s next for Greg: applying private-markets tools to impact themes (sustainability, social/economic justice, child & animal welfare)
What You’ll Learn
How to earn trust and momentum when you don’t yet have a track record Practical signals that said “sell now” pre-GFC and why dry powder matters The operator edge: why having more levers to pull matters more than just owning real estate Why consumer-driven, location-critical uses can be more cycle-resilient Ways to professionalize investor experience without creating friction How an opportunistic firm stays nimble while scaling to billions in AUM
Links mentioned in this episode:
LinkedIn: Greg Papazian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregmpapazian/ LinkedIn: Ferdi Roberts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferdiroberts/
Podcast Producers: Des McGouran Sam Roberts
CEO & Founder of Asset Class, a leading asoftware company serving the Private Equity, Venture Capital and broader Private Capital sectors.
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