RE #107: Sean Dalfen - President & CIO of Dalfen Industrial

Sean Dalfen is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Dalfen Industrial and is responsible for the firm’s investment activities, the origination of new business, and implementation of the last mile investment strategy. Sean is also a member of the firm’s Executive Advisory Committee and the General Partner’s Fund IV Investment Committee.

On this episode, Sean and Chris discuss his journey into the real estate world with his father, his decision to launch a fund business within the organization, why he's bullish on Industrial, Dalfen's Last Mile analysis, and more. Enjoy! 

Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris

Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com

Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/

Check out Dalfen Industrial: www.dalfen.com

Find Sean on LinkedIn

(03:15) - Sean’s Story Growing Up and Leading to His Role Today

(05:44) - Is there anything that stands out that your father did with you at a young age to keep you hungry and motivated?

(07:18) - What did the company look like when you first joined?

(08:52) - Why did you decide to launch a fund business?

(11:26) - How large was your first fund?

(12:17) - Can you paint a picture of the benefits of working with institutional capital vs. private capital?

(14:02) - Do you raise institutional funds in-house?

(15:02) - What’s a Top-Up?

(15:23) - What is your role today as President and CIO?

(16:21) - What are the big fundamentals that are appealing to you in looking at the future of Industrial?

(20:58) - Last Mile Analysis

(24:29) - How do you use the analysis to create deals?

(26:02) -  Dalfen’s 4 Buckets (Value-Add, Core, Core-Plus & Development)

(27:27) - What are the fundamentals of a Core vs. Value-Add deal?

(29:03) - How do you think about development?

(31:57) - Do you do any forwards with development?

(33:02) - Do you still participate in Co-GP or JV deals?

(33:47) - Is there a situation that comes to mind where you would get into a JV deal?

(35:02) - Is there a data point that you look for when folks say that Industrial will become over-built?

(38:50) - Is there anything interesting about working with Amazon?

(40:53) - Do you have any insight on the border trade-market?

(43:07) - How are your offices set up across different markets? How do you manage them?

(45:10) - How do you describe a full-team setup?

(46:00) - Are there different rules and guidelines when it comes to ownership in Canada vs. the USA?

(48:01) - Capital Markets for Industrial: where do they sit today vs. pre-COVID?

(49:48) - Do you have a childhood experience that helped shape the trajectory of your life?

(51:01) - What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

(51:31) - What’s your favorite book?

Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink

The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts