Investment Matters: Answering the Call of Opportunity

It’s fitting that Kairos Investment Management gets its name from the Greek word for “opportunity.” Carl Chang, the firm’s co-founder & CEO, has decades of experience creating opportunity and then making the most of it. In his current role he oversees a diversified multibillion-dollar portfolio of commercial and multifamily assets. Yet few commercial real estate executives have achieved such a high level of success in such varied fields.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Chang had a distinguished career in professional tennis well before launching his business career. He was named coach of the year by Tennis magazine for, among other contributions, coaching his brother Michael, the tennis Hall of Famer and Grand Slam tournament champion. The rigors of that experience, among other factors, provided a strong foundation for his business success. Alongside his real estate career, Chang has also founded a thriving national restaurant franchise.

In this conversation, Chang reveals how these eclectic experiences continue to inform his approach to running his investment company. He discusses key industry issues as what’s ahead for the real estate capital markets, adjusting strategy post-pandemic and the challenge of bringing workers back to the market. And he even offers a few words about playing such tennis legends as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras (and winning matches with them).

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• The value of early experience in pro tennis (1:37)
• Building a career in commercial real estate investment (5:44)
• The importance of being “Kairos” (7:35)
• CRE insights: bringing back office workers, 2023 investment and other trends (9:11)
• Takeaways from creating a successful restaurant franchise (14:44)
• What regional advisory boards contribute to the Fed (18:23)
• Where the economy and real estate capital markets are headed (21:31)
• Pivoting on investment strategy post-pandemic (24:57)