Wafra Investment Advisory Group
Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc. (“WIAG”), beneficially owned by the Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait (“PIFSS”), and its affiliate, Wafra Capital Partners Inc. (“WCP”) are registered investment advisory firms. WIAG, together with its affiliates (jointly “Wafra”) offer an extensive range of investment services including portfolio securities, direct equity, real estate and structured products. Wafra also manages several fund of funds and alternative investment products, and provides other various investment services. Since its founding, Wafra has steadily added clients and expanded its services. Currently, Wafra has committed and under management assets of over $15 billion^. As Wafra has expanded its services and client base and increased its assets under management, its staff has grown to over 100 people, including over 60 senior and other investment professionals. Wafra’s principal office is in New York. Wafra also has an associated office in Kuwait. WCP is a global real estate asset manager. Since 2004, the group has managed several international real estate products with targeted investments in Asia, Europe, and Turkey, Middle East and North Africa. The real estate products target a diverse array of potential investments, varying in their investment strategies and geographic allocations in an effort to capture an effective risk/return profile. Strategies include investing in high quality, income oriented, value added assets in a range of properties, including office, warehouse, retail and residential, as well as ground-up development projects in both developed and emerging markets. Our experienced team, in conjunction with our local partners, has managed or co-managed complex co-investments and direct investments in property funds and underlying properties as well as mezzanine financing deals.
Real Estate Specialization
| Multifamily |
| Office |
| Industrial |
| Retail |
| Residential Income |
| Mixed-use |
Investment Type
| Pref/Mezz equity |
| JV partnership |
| Multi-property portfolios |
Investment Style
| Core |
| Core+ |
| Value-add |
| Opportunistic |
| Development |
Anthony Barbuto
Mr. Barbuto, a Director and the Chief Financial Officer of Wafra, is responsible for its finances including its operating and capital funds, and financial reporting. As the CFO, Mr. Barbuto manages the company’s financial operations, which includes managing multiple corporate functions including controller, budgeting, investment product financial reporting and the corporate staff, and together with the Chief Executive Officer, long-range planning and corporate and strategic development, and policies design and implementation. He works closely with the Chief Executive Officer and the firm’s shareholder and also regularly interacts with the firm’s financial counterparties and service providers. As CFO, in addition to overseeing each Divisions’ and their respective investment products’ financial operations, Mr. Barbuto sits on the board of and or serves as an officer to other asset management firms in which Wafra has strategically invested, and a variety of investment funds and similar entities. Combined with his past experience and his over 20 years of service at Wafra, Mr. Barbuto has extensive experience overseeing business performance and strategic growth initiatives.
Frank Lively
Mr. Lively is the executive Vice President of the Real Estate Division and is responsible for determining the policies and strategic direction of the Real Estate Division. Mr. Lively’s experience in the real estate industry spans over 35 years. During his career, Mr. Lively has directed investments in and dispositions of assets with an aggregate value in excess of $2 billion. Mr. Lively joined Helmsley Spear Inc. in 1976 where he was active in all aspects of real estate operations and finance, as well as real estate acquisitions. In 1980, Mr. Lively joined Pannell Kerr Forster, an international CPA firm. Subsequently in 1982, Mr. Lively joined Stephen W. Brener & Associates as Senior Vice President, responsible for all aspects of the brokerage and management divisions, as well as management advisory services. Following his tenure at Brener & Associates, Mr. Lively became President of Lively & Associates, a full service real estate firm. Mr. Lively joined Wafra in 1997.
Mohamad Khouja
Dr. Khouja is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Wafra. He oversees the strategic direction of the company. Dr. Khouja is responsible for Wafra’s mission, vision and values. He has developed and expanded the Wafra investment products and client base over his tenure and orchestrated over his many years at Wafra a significant increase in the firm’s assets under management and profitability. Dr. Khouja has continually emphasized throughout the firm that this steady and responsible increase in assets under management, be correlated to an increasing vigilance and adherence to professional investment standards and conduct, and a continuous dedication of resources and controls and compliance initiatives in the management of such assets. He has an ongoing dialogue with current and prospective clients and works with the senior management of Wafra in communicating to employees and clients the firm’s strategic goals and in their implementation. He conducts global economic assessments and positions Wafra and its investment products with the goal of best capitalizing on current domestic and international environments. Dr. Khouja was previously senior advisor to the Kuwait Real Estate Investment Consortium from 1982 to 1987. Dr. Khouja was also an economic advisor to Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development from 1969 to 1982, Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University from 1966 to 1971 and member of the IMF-World Bank Task Force on Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries from 1978 to 1980 and member of the IMF-World Bank Task Force on Non-Concessional Flows to Emerging Countries from 1980 to 1981. Dr. Khouja holds a B.S. in Business Administration, a M.S. in Economics from Indiana University, and a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Fawaz Al-Mubaraki
Mr. Al-Mubaraki is the Chief Investment Officer of Wafra and an Executive Vice President and Head of the Alternative Investments Division. Mr. Al-Mubaraki works closely with Wafra’s executive management in developing the strategic vision and overseeing key aspects of the firm. He is also charged with assessing firm-wide investment activities. Mr. Al-Mubaraki is a member of the board of directors of Wafra Capital Partners Inc. He joined Wafra in 1991, founded the Alternative Investments Division in 1994, and chairs the Investment Committee of the Alternative Investments Division. From 1992 until 2012, Mr. Al-Mubaraki also served as a Portfolio Manager specializing in European markets in Wafra’s Securities Division. He began his career as an analyst in the Managed Portfolio Department of the Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait. Mr. Al-Mubaraki earned a B.S. in Economics from Kuwait University.
Michael Gontar
Eric Norfleet
Peter Petrillo
Michael Goodman
- +1 917 399 0192
- m.goodman@wafra.com
Jeffrey Gerson
Chris Leary
- +1 212 515 7677
- c.leary@wafra.com