Ethan Penner

Chairman
Hill Street Realty

Ethan is an innovator, philosopher, and change agent who has always been drawn to bringing solutions to large voids. He has been a leader in the US real estate finance industry for more than three decades and is broadly credited with being the primary driver in the creation of the Commercial Mortgage- Backed Securities market in the early 1990’s while at Nomura Securities, where he built the then largest real estate financier in U.S. history from a standing start in response to that period’s historic dislocation. Ethan has received broad industry recognition, including being named in 2011 by Real Estate Forum, in their 65th anniversary issue, as one of the industry’s 65 living legends. Ethan has continued to be at the forefront of the real estate industry, having built and led a number of real estate investment management companies including CBRE Capital Partners in partnership with CB Richard Ellis in 2008 in response to the GFC and Mosaic Real Estate Investors. Ethan is currently the Chairman of Hill Street Realty; an investment manager focused on owning and operating U.S. multifamily. He has been an adjunct professor for the past decade teaching first at USC’s graduate business school and next at Pepperdine University, is the author of Greatness is a Choice which was published and released by Wiley in November 2023 and publishes his bi-weekly Friday Five wherein he shares his top societal observations with his audience. Ethan’s next book entitled Awareness in Prayer is scheduled to be released mid-2025.