California + Finance | September 1, 2016

Capital Markets Leader Joins Ethika from Starwood

Los Angeles-based Ethika Investments named Marisa Lizak to lead its Capital Markets team. During her CRE career, she has closed more than $10 billion of debt-related investments.

Lizak will be responsible for implementing strategic thought leadership for debt and equity capital market activities for the firm’s private equity real estate funds. She will also play a role in Ethika’s capital raising, investor relations and investment strategy initiatives.

Prior to joining Ethika, Lizak served as SVP and Head of Underwriting at Starwood Property Trust, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group. She developed credit infrastructure and managed underwriting practices for the platform’s lending segment. She was also responsible for assessing credit risk and analyzing financing opportunities for complex, value-add investments.

The addition enables Ethika and its affiliate, Laurus Corporation, to focus on value-add investment opportunities, and bring continued momentum to its capital sourcing efforts.

Connect with Ethika’s Lizak

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser

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About Dennis Kaiser

Dennis Kaiser is Vice President of Content and Public Relations for Connect Commercial Real Estate. Dennis is a communications leader with more than 30 years of experience including as a journalist and in corporate and agency marketing communications roles. He is responsible for Connect’s client content operations and is involved in a range of initiatives ranging from content strategy, message development, copywriting, media relations, social media and content marketing services. In his most recent corporate communications roles, he led a regional public relations effort across Southern California for CBRE, played a key marketing role on JLL’s national retail team, and was responsible for directing the global public relations effort at ValleyCrest, the nation’s largest commercial landscape services company. In addition to his vast commercial real estate experience, Dennis has worked on communications and launch strategies for a number of residential projects such as Disney’s Celebration in Florida, Ritter Ranch in Palmdale California (7,200 homes, 22,000 acres), WaterColor in Florida and PremierGarage in Phoenix. Dennis’s agency background included firms such as Idea Hall and Macy + Associates. He has earned an outstanding reputation with organization leaders as a trusted advisor, strategic program implementer, consensus builder and exceptional collaborator. Dennis has developed and managed national communications programs for Fortune 500 companies to start-ups, both public and private. He’s successfully worked with journalists across the globe representing clients involved in major-breaking news stories, product launches, media tours, and company news announcements. Dennis has been involved in a host of charitable and community organizations including the American Cancer Society, Easter Seals, BoyScouts, Chrysalis Foundation, Freedom For Life, HOLA, L.A.’s BEST, Reach Out and Read, Super Bowl Host Committee, and Thunderbirds Charities.

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