Women in Real Estate: Jennifer McGuinness
Co-founder & Managing Partner, Strategic Venture Partners; Co-founder, Head of Aggregation & Structured Finance, Mortgage Venture Partners
jennifer@strategicventurepartners.org | 914.330.4031
My start in the housing, structured finance and real estate industries was by accident. While I was in college and planning to become an M&A lawyer, I worked for a lender as a mortgage loan processor and underwriter. After graduation, I worked for a law firm as a paralegal and ended up managing a group of real estate, foreclosure, bankruptcy and litigation paralegals. This, coupled with my origination experience, was the foundation for my career.
Although I was accepted, I never did make it to law school. Almost 24 years later, I’ve been blessed to have had roles in the full life cycle of the business. As an entrepreneurial executive, among other accomplishments, I’ve brought to the mortgage industry both lending products and securities structures that had never been done, as well as enhanced asset management strategies and investments to drive optimized outcomes.
I have also sat in the seat of each stakeholder. While most people have generally solely touched a “silo” of the business, I have always risen to the challenge of taking on new things and bringing creativity to each challenge. Drawing upon the experience of sitting in the seat of the lender, bank, hedge fund, REIT and asset manager allows me to bring a multifaceted viewpoint to the strategies I have managed and the products we have created. Today, through our strategy firm Strategic Venture Partners (SVP) and our operating company Mortgage Venture Partners (MVP), we draw from this experience and strive to bring the market to the next level.
SVP and MVP are a natural next step for me and my business partner Ditrick Dunn. Both companies provide us with the opportunity to leverage our combined experience in origination, asset management, structured finance and operations. They give us a seat at the table as the lending, housing, real estate and bond markets adopt the necessary technologies for optimizing operations and business models in this highly regulated and complex environment. Away from the technology space, we are also designing and investing in products and projects that provide enhanced returns to our partners.
The largest obstacle I’ve had is that I am a woman in a male-dominated field. This quote is how I think about it: “Diversity is the engine of invention. It generates creativity that enriches the world.” As it pertains to the industry, although women have begun to make significant strides, I believe other minorities and minority women have only begun to scratch the surface. As the percentages of women and minorities have increased, so too have the returns of a vast array of businesses and initiatives. Today, unlike when I began my career, you see more female and minority CEOs and investors—and this is just the beginning.
Personally, I have been very lucky. Although I am regularly one of the only women in a meeting or around a table, I have generally been treated as an equal. But I will tell you that you need to earn it. I got my first “shot” because a trader was told the model he wanted could not be built by five senior analysts. I volunteered to build it in a meeting with the five analysts, because I knew it could be done.
That was a calculated risk that paid off. I spent three days working 20 hours a day building the model. The trader used it successfully, and it became part of our trading business at the bank where I was working at the time. I became a valued and consistent resource to the trading desk.
I am excited that we own the first woman-owned, minority-owned and veteran-owned mortgage aggregation business and that we have designed or refined products and programs we believe will be market changing. In the coming months, we will share more publicly what we are working on—this is an exciting time for us.
What advice would you give to other women beginning a career in the predominantly male real estate investment industry?
Prove your worth and value to an organization and you will thrive. There are no excuses for not being successful. Just believe that you can, surround yourself with intelligent people and you will succeed. When people try to push you back, do not take a step back. Walk toward them—never falter.
What is the biggest challenge facing women?
Many women from a young age are conditioned to view other women as competition instead of collaborators. If women could learn to align with other powerful women, this would be a game changer. Don’t be afraid to share your knowledge. It is the only way for you to get to the next level. No woman—or man, for that matter—who is successful has gotten there alone.
What changes would you like to see made in the industry to promote women professionals?
I believe there is a lack of diversity optically in this industry and many others. It is time for all people to be considered for panels and publications and for organizations to choose the best person with the best skills and not the one who looks right or has the right logo associated to them.
