Aboria Capital, the real estate investment manager and partner focused on European living sectors co-founded by leading property group Bay Downing and Jessica Hardman, the highly experienced global real estate investment specialist, has announced a trio of key hires as it makes rapid progress following its launch in July 2024.
Supporting Jessica, CEO of Aboria and Co-Founding Director Bay Downing, will be Rob Tyson, who is joining as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). His knowledge and hands-on experience in the real estate investment industry provides a strong foundation for the future growth of Aboria Capital.
With over 20 years’ experience in the real estate sector, Rob has developed a diverse skill set in managing a range of investment vehicles, including funds, co-investments, joint ventures, and operating platforms across Europe.
Rob joins Aboria from MARK Capital Management, where he spent 15 years playing a key role in its growth and evolution. Joining in 2009 as part of a small team that invested the firm’s first fund in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, he helped grow the team from under 15 employees to over 100 by 2024.
His expertise was key in overseeing finance and structuring, investor relations, transaction management and debt financing, and he was involved in raising over €4bn in capital for MARK.
Rob began his career at Big 4 business advisory firm Deloitte, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, before joining JER Partners in 2002, where he spent six years.
Also joining from MARK Capital Management is Investment Manager Will Lucas, who has over 13 years’ experience in finance and real estate. A qualified Chartered Accountant, Will began his career at PwC spending five years in its Real Estate Assurance and Transactions Services departments.
He joined MARK Capital Management in 2017, where he gained broad experience across the Finance and Portfolio Management teams with a wide range of responsibilities including transactional work, financial analysis, and investor management across multiple asset classes in Europe.
With a degree in European languages – he speaks French, Spanish and Italian – and a deep understanding of operational strategies within the urban environment, he is keen to develop the next stage of his career with Aboria Capital as it establishes a presence in the European living sectors.
“We are thrilled to welcome Rob, Will and Nick to the team. All bring experience, bags of enthusiasm and complementary skills to Aboria. As a small team, it’s helpful that Nick and I, and Rob and Will have worked together previously, and I am looking forward to welcoming them when they join us in the next month.
“Since unveiling the new business in the summer, we have been delighted by the reaction to Aboria – we’ve received so much interest and support, while investors from every key global market have been in touch to learn more about our investment approach.
“These important first hires will allow us to move at pace from our initial phase to execution phase – raising our first club investment vehicle.”
Jessica Hardman, co-founder and CEO, Aboria Capital
Aboria Capital’s third key new hire is Senior Associate Nick Cochrane, who was previously at DWS, where he was a member of the UK and Ireland Real Estate team and gained broad experience across both asset management and transactions.
At DWS, where he worked with Jessica Hardman, he was involved in key projects including redevelopment and forward funding schemes across both residential and commercial assets, and the management of trophy assets on behalf of a global institutional client base.
Latterly, he was responsible for DWS’s UK & Ireland residential portfolio, contributing to its rapid growth and strong investment performance.
Nick joins Aboria Capital after completing an MSc in Environmental Economics at the University of Amsterdam. He will use his MSc to shape the company’s ESG strategy with Jessica and Bay.
“We have hit the ground running, with an exciting brand, a new office and great team, whose entrepreneurial mindset, financial skills and deep industry experience will be invaluable to Aboria.
“As we said from the outset, Aboria unites outstanding European investment management credentials with Downing’s 35-year development and operational track record in the UK living sector, and we see this as a being a winning combination and compelling proposition for investors.
“Our development portfolio consisting of over 4,000 beds across seven prime Russell Group locations is ready to go. We have started preliminary conversations with investors and will look to develop these conversations over the first half of next year.”
Bay Downing, co-founder, Aboria Capital,
