Seaforth Land: 'We’re lean, we’re hungry, we’re young'

Two months in and Seaforth’s chief investment officer has her first deal under her belt. EG catches up with Lesley Davison, the woman tasked with growing the business to £1bn of AUM

Seaforth Land founder and chief executive Tyler Goodwin spent a long time looking for a chief investment officer to take his business through to its next stage of growth.

He searched high and low. The CVs of numerous men crossed his desk. But he didn’t want another male face on his already very male board. He knew that the business needed a woman, so he made the public, and some may say controversial, statement that the right “man” for the job was only going to be female. He would not consider appointing a man in the role.

It was a bold move. A move that could be interpreted as positive discrimination. Would women even go for the role? Could they think that they were being hired just because they were female? Maybe, but Goodwin knew there were women out there who had the knowledge and skills his business needed if it was to take itself from circa £400m of assets under management to its goal of £1bn of AUM within the next five years.

Different perspective

To grow, Goodwin knew it could not have a testosterone-fuelled investment committee.

“It’s easy to stereotype, and I don’t want to say that a woman doesn’t get caught up in the competitive dynamic because it is exhilarating working on a transaction,” Goodwin told EG late last year. “But I do believe that at the investment community level it brings in a different perspective and more balance.

“It is really important for the long-term profitability, the long-term balance, the long-term culture and for us to achieve our goal of being a legacy business, that we’ve got a senior woman on the management team,” he said. “There are lots of great, talented men out there and we’ve got a bunch of talented men already. But I think what our organisation needs to achieve our goals is a woman.”

And Seaforth finally found the perfect person. Lesley Davison took up the position of chief investment officer in September, joining from Delancey where she had been for 14 years. Just over two months in, she has completed her first deal for the company, working with BC Partners Real Estate to buy the 70,000 sq ft Wingate House, a ripe-for-refurbishment block in Soho.

It is really important for the long-term profitability, the long-term balance, the long-term culture and for us to achieve our goal of being a legacy business, that we’ve got a senior woman on the management team

– Tyler Goodwin, founder and chief executive, Seaforth Land

So the appointment was clearly worth the wait.

Now, firmly with her feet under the table, EG caught up with Davison to find out more about her role at Seaforth, investing in the current climate and how she is the woman to grow the business to £1bn of AUM.

Davison began her career in real estate in New York, working at Deutsche Bank, which is where she first crossed paths with Goodwin and Seaforth chairman Kurt Roeloffs.

A six-month stint working in London soon became a year and a half, then she never went back, finding a home at Jamie Ritblat’s Delancey, a business she never thought she would leave.

“I owe them so much for giving me my grounding and my foundation in UK property,” says Davison. “It is through my time at Delancey that I believe I’ve matured into an experienced investment professional. It’s been a great journey.”

Seizing opportunity

But when the opportunity came about at Seaforth, Davison knew it had to be seized.

“I think institutional investors, opportunistic investors like BC Partners, are looking for somebody different,” says Davison. “I think they value the niche that Seaforth Land is in. I think they value the creativity we take in our approach to property. We’re lean, we’re hungry, we’re young. We’ve a lot to prove. And I think people like that.”

She adds: “We get a lot of interest from people who like what we’ve done, they like the assets that we’re doing. We are focusing on a strategy that really speaks to people. We – and they – believe we’re pursuing a strategy that is resilient in a time of uncertainty. We are focusing on assets that will be strong in any market. And we have a number of strategic partners, but we’re not beholden to any one of them. We don’t have a particular fund mandate that we must deliver.

“Flexibility and dynamism in this market is going to really pay off. It means that we can deliver value up and down the risk spectrum for a range of investors. Having that dynamism and that flexibility will be very valuable to Seaforth for this upcoming period of time when people don’t really know what will happen.”

Flexibility and dynamism, creativity, hunger. All traits that Goodwin was desperate to bring to his board. He, like the partners Seaforth attracts, was looking for someone different to bring something new to the business. And in Davison he has found it.

LISTEN Lean, young and hungry: The key to investment success?

EG catches up with Davison to find out more about her role at Seaforth, investing in the current climate and how she is the woman to grow the business to £1bn of AUM.