Meet the Team

Menfis Villaman is the Corporate Senior Accountant at CGI, bringing more than 10 years of accounting and business management experience within the real estate and hospitality industry to the firm. Her multifaceted accounting responsibilities include accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoicing, investor reporting, financial reporting, and ad hoc projects as required.

Prior to joining CGI, Ms. Villaman worked Marriott International and TPG Hospitality, Resorts and Marinas, where she earned numerous awards and distinctions recognizing her constant pursuit of excellence.

Ms. Villaman earned a bachelor of science in hospitality from Universidad UAPA in Santiago.

Ileana Rabassa is the financial controller, responsible for day-to-day accounting, record keeping, and treasury management activities for the Firm and oversees the Firm’s Liquidity Committee.

During her career, Ms. Rabassa held a senior position in the real estate division for a global corporation, with $5.5 billion in annual revenue and over 20,000 employees. Thereafter, she worked for a firm focused on acquisitions and development, specifically within their hospitality department. Ms. Rabassa also oversaw the accounting for the development of a casino and a $300 million hotel for a resort-focused firm with over 700 acres of property. Prior to joining CGI, she was a corporate controller for a large development firm that specialized in multifamily and commercial projects.

Alain Decade is the Director of Accounting and Finance at CGI. For more than 20 years, he has been heavily involved in the accounting and financial management processes for a variety of organizations, including real estate enterprises and municipalities.

Mr. Decade has been instrumental in improving accounting functions and delivering high levels of productivity, accuracy, and attention to detail. With sound knowledge of various accounting functions along with his professional experience dealing with a diverse client base, he brings a unique blend of financial and accounting capabilities coupled with strong leadership and analytical problem-solving skills.

Prior to joining CGI, Mr. Decade was the Controller at Terra Group Miami where he oversaw numerous multimillion-dollar commercial and residential development projects in the tri-county region of South Florida.

Mr. Decade graduated magna cum laude from Nova Southeastern University with a bachelor of science in accounting and a master of business administration. He also holds an active Florida Real Estate Broker License.

Isabella Gomez is an Associate on the Marketing and Investor Relations Team at CGI. In this role, her duties include researching market trends, customer behavior, and the competitive landscape, and preparing reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing data. Additionally, Ms. Gomez’s experience in various internships and roles prior to CGI has given her a strong background in developing, implementing, and managing the firm’s various brands’ social media strategies with consideration of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles in their programming.

Ms. Gomez earned a bachelor of arts in political science with a minor in business administration from St. John’s University.

Jonathon Pavlov is the Director of Asset Management at CGI. In this role, his key duties include initiating revenue-enhancing and cost-savings concepts to maximize investment return, identifying practical and financial feasibility of potential capital expenditures and new lease transactions, reviewing property performance and market conditions, operating and driving growth in the Nexus Workspaces business, and structuring third-party property management agreements, amongst other areas. Prior to joining CGI, Mr. Pavlov worked with NAI Miami in commercial brokerage and the asset management division, where he was responsible for financial analysis, investment underwriting, asset management, lease structuring, property management oversight, commercial brokerage in office and retail, and landlord and tenant representation. Mr. Pavlov’s experience has built a strong background in distressed assets and owner representation for large institutions and high-net-worth individuals. His portfolio currently includes eight assets comprising 670,195 square feet of Class A office and mixed-use properties.

Mr. Pavlov is a real estate professional. He earned a bachelor of business administration in finance and real estate from Florida International University (FIU) and a master of science in international real estate focused on real estate investment and private equity from the FIU College of Business.

Reinaldo Moleiro is an Associate on the Investment Funds team at CGI. In this role, he provides support to the critical operational areas of the business, including acquisitions, financial reporting and analytics, fundraising, and marketing. Before joining CGI, Mr. Moleiro worked as a Private Equity Intern on the Investor Services Team at H.I.G. Capital and a Client Services Associate at broker-dealer Portfolio Resources Group, both in Miami.

Mr. Moleiro earned a master of science in finance from the University of Miami and a bachelor of science in economics from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Vita Anes is an Associate on the Investment Funds team at CGI. In this role, she provides support to the critical operational areas of the business, including acquisitions, fundraising, and marketing. Prior to joining CGI, Ms. Anes was an Analyst at Citi in Miami, where she was part of the Treasury and Trade Solutions department. Before Citi, she worked as a Spring Analyst at AGC Partners, a TMT-focused investment bank in Boston.

Ms. Anes earned a master of science in finance with academic distinction from the University of Miami and a bachelor of science in finance, cum laude, from Northeastern University. She is also a CFA Exam Level II Candidate.

Michael Patterson is an Associate on the Investment Funds team at CGI. He provides support to key operational areas of the business including acquisitions, fundraising, and portfolio management. Prior to joining CGI, Mr. Patterson worked as an analyst with Marcus & Millichap’s National Hospitality Division in Miami. His other experience includes Merrill Lynch, Wilmington Trust, and various organizations within the National Football League.

Mr. Patterson earned a bachelor of science in finance from Loyola University Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business and Management and graduated from Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, MD.

Carl Burton is a Senior Director of Fundraising at CGI’s Toronto office. He has more than 15 years of corporate finance and capital markets experience in Canada and the U.S. At CGI, Mr. Burton works closely with the Investment Funds and Fundraising teams to provide intelligence and expand capital-raising efforts for the firm across the Canadian markets. His prior experience includes Industrial Alliance Securities, Firm Capital, Haywood Securities, and TD Bank Group. As a former equity research analyst at Industrial Alliance Securities, Mr. Burton gained extensive real estate experience while covering real estate investment trusts and real estate equities. He was also a portfolio manager of a debt and equity real estate fund and served on the investor relations team for Firm Capital, a non-bank lender providing residential and commercial real estate financing.

Mr. Burton earned a master of business administration in finance from Columbia Business School and a bachelor of arts from Bishop’s University. He is a CFA charterholder and a founding member of the Black Opportunity Fund, a dynamic partnership between businesses, philanthropists, foundations, and the Black community geared towards Black Canadian economic empowerment.

Adriana Cooper is the Vice President of Strategic Planning and Human Resources at CGI. She has more than 25 years of expertise in successfully driving and leading human capital strategies for a diverse range of corporations, including domestic and international organizations. Prior to joining CGI, Ms. Cooper launched Destinations HR, a boutique human resources firm specializing in executive search and HR implementation strategies for startup and mid-sized companies. Prior to Destinations HR, she served as a member of the executive team for SSP American. In this role, she was the architect that implemented an aggressive growth strategy that supported the company’s impressive transformation from 2,700 to 7,000 employees in only four years.

Ms. Cooper has extensive experience in hospitality, having previously led the human resources department for Hilton’s corporate office in Dallas. In this assignment, she executed important strategies supporting Hilton’s goal of becoming an employer of choice. Hilton secured the #1 best place to work in the US in 2019.

Ms. Cooper earned an MBA from Texas Woman’s University and a bachelor of arts from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua in Mexico.

Beth Cohn is the Vice President of Accounting at CGI. She has more than 20 years of valuable experience managing financial functions and establishing financial controls and accounting systems in accordance with GAAP guidelines for a diverse range of corporations, professionals, and high net worth individuals. Prior to joining CGI, Ms. Cohn served as the Vice President of Accounting / Controller of Meyers Group, managing all aspects of financial operations for this privately held multifamily and mixed-use real estate firm with more than $150 million in assets. Her previous experience also includes roles as Controller for Steelbridge Real Estate Services and Euroatlantic, both based in Miami, as well as public accounting firms and insurance companies.

Ms. Cohn earned her bachelor of business administration in finance, magna cum laude, and her master of science in taxation, magna cum laude, from Florida International University. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (Member of AICPA).

Jonathan Fetherolf is the Vice President of Marketing and Investor Relations at CGI. He oversees the marketing and branding initiatives for the firm and its subsidiaries, as well as communications with the firm’s investors and the public. With a foundation in the creative and marketing technology industries, he brings nearly 20 years of experience to investment managers in building their brands and creating enriching customer experiences.

Prior to joining CGI, Mr. Fetherolf was the Director of Marketing at GQG Partners, where he developed the brand and client relations activities for star manager Rajiv Jain’s long-only equity boutique startup. Five years later, he led the rebranding of the firm, built out an enterprise-level marketing team, and launched its investor relations program in preparation for a successful public listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. Mr. Fetherolf’s previous experience includes senior marketing positions with world-class financial institutions including Pacific Current Group, WHV Investments, and Transamerica, as well as omnichannel creative agencies including Epsilon and JT Clark.

Mr. Fetherolf graduated with honors from Lake Forest College in Chicago, where he earned a bachelor of arts in communication studies. He is a DMA Certified Marketing Professional (DCMP) by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Sherina Hosein is a results-driven, experienced executive motivated to create successes for businesses and help clients achieve the same. At CGI, she combines conventional and forward-thinking approaches and utilizes world-class technology to enhance investor engagement to lead novel ways of fundraising and investor relations. With extensive cross-sectional experience, Ms. Hosein knows how to articulate and execute on differing strategies customized to a wide-ranging investor base.

Before joining CGI, she held leadership roles in private placements of bonds and securitized notes and bank syndicates up to $1 billion. In addition, Ms. Hosein worked with RBC (former RBTT Merchant Bank) and was a vice president with the financial group owned by billionaire Michael Lee-Chin. She also was a business consultant to an international project development group, where Ms. Hosein advised on new investments, business and financial models, and strategic planning for diversifying the real estate portfolio into other indigenous branded businesses such as a five-star hotel, mixed-use commercial and retail investment, and vehicle leasing. She also executed some of these business plans by holding executive positions for various companies established by the group in the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Hosein earned a master of business administration in finance from Lincoln University in the United Kingdom and a bachelor of science in analytical chemistry with a minor in mathematics from the University of Toronto. Her past board positions include the State National Board (Regulatory Industries Commission) of Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association, and the School Board of Dunross Preparatory.

Robert Festinger is the Vice President of Hospitality Asset Management at CGI. In this role, he leverages his three decades of industry experience across Chicago, New York, and South Florida markets to oversee the day-to-day hospitality operations and play an active role in the firm’s funds. Prior to joining CGI, Mr. Festinger served as vice president of hotel operations for Menin Hospitality, managing all day-to-day operations for the hospitality management and development company’s portfolio of hotels, including the Mondrian South Beach, Shelborne South Beach, Gale South Beach, Gale Boutique Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale, and Raffaello Chicago (now Gale Chicago). Going beyond his role, he also served as a mentor to property general managers and their management teams.

Mr. Festinger graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor of arts in political science and economics and then held prominent management positions with notable hospitality brands, such as Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and The Newport Beachside Hotel and Resort.

Andres Albino is the Vice President of the Investment Funds Team, which comprises the analyst- and associate-level resources across the organization for portfolio and investment management, financial engineering of closed-end funds, reporting, and analytics. His role primarily is focused on sourcing and underwriting potential investments, managing the successful execution of acquisitions and capital transactions, and tracking fund-level financial performance. Mr. Albino also focuses on optimizing investment strategies and capital structures to achieve established return hurdles, overseeing the integration of market data into the investment strategy, and providing financial guidance on investment decision making based on short- and long-term objectives.

Mr. Albino graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami with a bachelor of science in finance and economics and earned his master of science from the University of Miami, specializing in financial mathematics. He holds a certification in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society and the Rotary Club of Coral Gables, where he has served on the board of the Rotaract Club of Coral Gables. Mr. Albino passed Level I in the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® (CAIA) program.

Suzanne Wilder is the General Counsel and Vice President at CGI, bringing more than ten years of commercial real estate experience to the firm. She has handled more than $100 million of transactions pertaining to the acquisition, disposition, leasing and financing of office, retail, condominium, and multifamily assets. Additionally, Ms. Wilder has comprehensive experience in legal matters regarding fund formation, real property, contracts, joint ventures, corporate governance, and human resources.

Prior to joining CGI, Ms. Wilder was corporate counsel and executive board member of Lloyd Jones LLC, where she advised on legal and strategic matters involving the investment, management, and development of multifamily and senior properties. Before Lloyd Jones LLC, she was an associate attorney at Beighley, Myrick, Udell & Lynne, P.A., where she represented clients in commercial and residential real estate matters, including commercial leasing, landlord-tenant disputes, the creation and conversion of condominiums, and representing national lenders in multimillion dollar commercial loan transactions.

Ms. Wilder earned her Juris Doctor from St. Thomas University School of Law, where she was on the Dean’s List and awarded a CALI Book Award in Remedies. She earned a bachelor of science in business and professional management from Nova Southeastern University.

Euclid Walker has over 26 years of investment and advisory experience with Institutional & family office clients for private equity, real estate and technology opportunities. Mr. Walker is Managing Partner of Parkway Investment Management, LLC, an Investment and Advisory firm focused on alternative investment management and restructuring and capital structure advisory services headquartered in Palm Beach, Florida. He is also Senior Partner and head of Private Markets for Global Oak Capital Markets, LLC a registered broker dealer and investment banking firm and founder of Opportunity Zone Advisors, LLC. He is an author and lecturer on direct alternative investing for family offices and institutional investors. Prior to founding Parkway he was a founding member of an SBIC licensed middle market investment firm with AUM of $400 million, where his responsibilities included marketing new funds and sourcing, analyzing, structuring, executing and monitoring investments from 2010-2013. He also founded Renascent Capital group in 2004 to provide strategic and capital raising advice to corporate clients and family offices. Prior to forming Renascent, Mr. Walker was an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division in the Corporate Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions Departments. 

He was with Morgan Stanley for over 10 years in various capacities. From 1993 until 1996, Mr. Walker worked in Morgan Stanley’s Private Equity group in New York where he focused on evaluating acquisitions for a $1.8 billion Real Estate Private Equity Fund. During this time he also advised Real Estate and lodging and leisure companies on capital raisings and Mergers and Acquisitions. He became one of two professionals in Johannesburg South Africa in 1996, where he focused on business development and the execution of complicated cross-border financings, mergers and acquisitions. While managing the Johannesburg office in 2001, Mr. Walker was asked to move to London to become the Operations Officer for Morgan Stanley’s Corporate Finance and Banking Departments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He worked in London overseeing a major restructuring of Morgan Stanley’s Corporate Finance and M&A departments. He moved to Chicago in 2003 to focus on corporate finance business development and execution for important clients in the Midwest region.  

Mr. Walker is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia with a BA in Business Administration with dual concentrations in Banking Finance and Real Estate and a minor in Economics where he currently serves as chair of the  

Trusteeship committee of Morehouse’s Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Palm Beach County Investment Policy Committee, United Way of Palm Beach Finance Committee and has served on the boards of the Benjamin School, Francis W. Parker School, LEAP Africa and Africare.  

With over 25 years of investment and banking experience, Raoul Thomas knows the industry is about more than meets the eye. His approach to alternative investments is finding value where others can’t and putting capital back into the source of his success: the community.

Since founding CGI in 2006, Mr. Thomas has led the firm in applying strategic and effective management and financing to increase the value of its commercial real estate and infrastructure investments and turn assets into Class-A, fully operational ones.

He began his career as a banking regulator supervising international financial institutions licensed in the U.S., a position that enabled him to develop and nurture strong relationships worldwide. He was then recruited to undergo a “Management Development Program” at a global bulge bracket investment bank, where he worked structuring and executing large debt transactions in the global capital markets on behalf of sovereigns, public, and private corporations.

Mr. Thomas then went on to work overseas as an expatriate running the capital markets distribution platform for another global bulge bracket bank, where he spearheaded and executed successful high-profile regional transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Two years later, he transitioned to the buy-side as an executive for one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, where he was involved in overseeing investments in both the private and public sectors in the Caribbean and Latin America. This experience was the catalyst behind the formation of CGI Merchant Group in 2006.

Mr. Thomas sits on the Advisor Board of a U.S. bank and is an active member of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, New America Alliance, and Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. He founded the Isabella Alycia Foundation (IA Foundation), an organization run by his daughter, Isabella Alycia Thomas. The IA Foundation makes a social impact in underprivileged neighborhoods and individuals through the provision of tools and capital resources.