John Carrafiell

John Carrafiell is the Co-Chief Executive Officer and a Board member of BGO, a leading, global investment management and advisory firm with over $83 billion in AUM and 27 offices in 13 countries. John has oversight responsibility for BGO’s global business activity with particular responsibilities for the firm’s US, European and UK businesses and is a member of the firm’s Investment Committees globally. John was a Founder of GreenOak Real Estate in 2010 and, together with the team, built the business organically to $12 billion (USD) of AUM in 10 countries prior to its 2019 merger with Bentall Kennedy.

John is a 35-year private equity, corporate finance, and real estate veteran. He became Head of European Real Estate for Morgan Stanley in 1994 and rose during a 22-year career to be Global co-Head of Real Estate and to serve as a member of the six-person Global Operating Committee of Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division in 2005.

John is Chairman of the board of BGO IREIT, a $1 billion gross asset value, Logistics and Industrial REIT, launched in July 2023. He is a member of the board of Sandow Lakes Ranch Venture, LLC, formed in 2022, a 32,000-acre (50 square miles) development project outside Austin, Texas, where BGO owns a majority equity stake. John currently serves as a member of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Klepierre, one of Europe’s largest REITs. He is a member of the board and Compensation Committee of privately held Lineage, the world’s largest temperature-controlled logistics company, where BGO holds a minority stake in the company. John is a Member of the Board as an Observer of Bulk Infrastructure, a leading provider of green data centers and logistics in the Nordics, where BGO holds a 60% stake.

From 2011, John advised the New York State Common Retirement Fund and then acted as the Fund’s appointed board director and Audit Committee member of Shugard, Europe’s largest self-storage company, from its IPO until February 2019. From 2004-2010, he was a member of the board, Chairman of the Audit Committee, and Chairman of the Operating Committee of Canary Wharf, the leading developer and owner of the London office district, where John led the $10 billion (GAV) LBO in the largest-ever real estate transaction of its type at the time.

John is a former Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and member of its Finance and Endowment Committee. John is the co-Chairman of the Yale School of Architecture Dean’s Council and co-Chairman of the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust Development Board.