Managing Principals & Directors

Michael R. Sears

Mr. Sears has over 35 years experience in all facets of real estate development and finance. He is the founder and Managing Principal of Global Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, Fund Manager to CARc sponsored JOB Funds.  Mr. Sears has operated or been a senior executive of a number of companies providing financial advisory, investment management, banking and development services to domestic and international investors and corporations; as well as governments and government sponsored enterprises.  His investment, finance, development experience and focus include urban mixed use real estate, hospitality, sports and entertainment facilities.

Until January of 2006, when he and Mr. Tung founded their investment management and advisory business, Mr. Sears was the Managing Director for GMAC Commercial Holding Capital Markets’ New York City and Washington, DC offices.  There he initiated and/or managed billions of commercial loans and equity investments in a wide variety of real estate backed transactions.  At GMAC he worked closely with high net private investors, institutional investors and lenders; as well as with domestic and foreign governments.  His commercial finance projects in Washington, DC included the Washington DC National’s professional baseball stadium and Gallery Place; as well as the financing of the Time Warner Center and origination of the first commercial mortgage issued after 9/11/2001 in New York City.

Prior to joining GMAC in 1998, Mr. Sears was the Manager of the Bear Stearns investment banking offices in Washington, DC.  He began his career at Bear Stearns in 1992, during which time he was integrally involved in structuring and selling commercial mortgage backed securities and municipal bonds nationwide; as well as providing asset management services to commercial mortgage bankers throughout the US.  While at Bear Stearns, Mr. Sears administered development and growth of the company’s first commercial mortgage conduit; the creation of the first government sponsored enterprise mortgage backed security; and other innovations in tracking and analyzing the performance of commercial mortgaged assets.

From 1982 and until 1992, Mr. Sears was an independent financial adviser to high net worth private individuals, public and private corporations and commercial banks.  During this period he structured and arranged debt and equity for investment in the real estate, agribusiness and natural resources industries.  Projects Mr. Sears managed included the sale and purchase of a Castle and Cook (now Dole Foods) business unit; and a variety of residential, commercial and industrial developments throughout the states of California, Colorado and New York.

Mr. Sears began his real estate development and finance career in 1973 as a public servant.  Initially, Sears served as an Assistant to the President of the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC), which was founded by then Governor Nelson Rockefeller.  While at the UDC, Mr. Sears worked on complex real estate development and finance projects including Battery Park City, Roosevelt Island, industrial condominiums, and mixed income housing developments in New York City and throughout the state of New York.  These projects comprised in excess of 15,000 housing units, and over 2 million square feet of retail, commercial and civic development.

In 1975, Mr. Sears continued his career in government as the founder and President of the Denver Housing Corporation (DHC), a special purpose public benefit corporation.  While at the DHC, Sears managed the City of Denver’s Olympic Housing Development program.  During his tenure in Denver, he built over 3,000 residential for sale and rental units and several mixed use projects, and established the framework for the development of mixed use housing in downtown Denver.

 A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mr. Sears attended Columbia University, McGill University and graduated in 1975 from the University of Denver with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics.  Over his career, Mr. Sears has been a frequent lecturer on real estate development and finance at business symposiums and universities.   These include the Institute of Real Estate Management, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Multifamily Housing Conference, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, National Leased Housing Association, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, New York Law Journal Continuing Legal Education Seminars, New York University, University of Colorado and Harvard Graduate School of Design. Mr. Sears has also served on several industry trade associations, privately and publicly held boards of directors.

Michael L. Kolodner

Mr. Kolodner is a Founder and Principal of GCMA.  He is also the Managing Member of Goose Hill Capital, LLC (GHC), a private consulting and advisory firm he founded. He has over 35 years of experience in real estate development finance, securities, structured finance, investment management, private equity and investment banking. His career began in the affordable housing finance industry in 1975, when he was the senior Multi-Family underwriter for the Maryland Housing Fund, the first state mortgage insurance fund ever approved by FNMA. Since that time, Mr. Kolodner has played key roles as lead investment banker in structuring literally billions of dollars in bond transactions to finance housing for state and local housing agencies across the U.S., including state or local agencies in Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Carolinas.  He pioneered the creation and use of tender option bonds to lower the cost of municipal capital, and is a recognized expert in the use of innovative structured finance transactions to achieve enhanced marketability and low cost funding for public and private sector clients in both the primary and secondary bond markets. During his career, Mr. Kolodner has advised such diverse companies as, AMBAC, CAPREIT, Castle Harlan, CIGNA, Fidelity, First Interstate Bank, Ford Credit, FGIC, Marine Midland Bank ( a US subsidiary of HSBC Bank USA, N.A.), MBIA, Northwood Ventures, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS), Susquehanna International Group and the USTA.

Between 2001 and the present, Mr. Kolodner has also provided legal, private investment and advisory services to several private start-up companies, two of which he helped found. Since 2003 he has served as a Director and strategic advisor to these two manufacturing companies, both of which provide direct mail printing and mailing services to Fortune 500 clients and their advertising agencies, and which in 2007 had combined revenues in excess of $40 million. Mr. Kolodner is also the founder of Goose Hill Energy Partners, LLC (Goose Hill), a private company managed by GHC that was formed to make investments in emerging renewable energy technologies. In 2006, Mr. Kolodner was a strategic advisor to and led the restructuring and leveraged recapitalization of a private early-stage company developing a patented zero emission technology to produce and market commercial quantities of electrical energy from the gasification of municipal and other waste streams. 

From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Kolodner was a Senior Investment Banker (New York) and Member of the Credit Committee of BOSC, Inc., the wholly owned investment banking subsidiary of Bank Oklahoma Corp., and an affiliate of the Bank of Oklahoma. At BOSC, Mr. Kolodner was responsible for coordinating investment banking transactions for rural rental housing, waste-to-energy and other projects. Prior to joining BOSC as an officer, Mr. Kolodner was a special consultant to another financial services firm responsible for developing new products, including a novel bond finance program for rural rental housing, and a series of closed end equity and bond funds.

Between 2000 and 2001, Mr. Kolodner was Chief Financial Officer at Carret Holdings, Inc., New York, a portfolio company of Castle Harlan, Inc., and the parent of a registered investment advisory firm serving high net worth individuals, foundations and pension funds. Reporting directly to the Chairman, he was responsible for overseeing the legal and operational reorganization of the operating unit, for establishing and negotiating revolving bank credit lines and for implementing its growth through acquisition strategy. While at Carret, Mr. Kolodner expanded the company from a single office to a fully integrated firm having 5 offices in 4 states, thereby doubling assets under management to nearly $2 billion.

Before his work at Carret, Mr. Kolodner was a Senior Banker at Susquehanna Investment Group (now Susquehanna International Group), one of the largest proprietary equity and derivative trading firms in the world. Originally hired as a consultant, Susquehanna hired Mr. Kolodner to create a novel structured derivative finance program for one of its proprietary trading operations, and to negotiate and structure commercial bank trading lines to support its leveraged trading activities. While at Susquehanna, he successfully implemented a revolving structured finance program, managed the activities of Susquehanna Structured Products, LLC, its special purpose finance subsidiary, and also assisted in sourcing and closing private equity investments in public companies on behalf of Susquehanna.

Prior to joining Susquehanna in 1998, Mr. Kolodner spent more than 16 years in municipal investment banking, most recently as a Managing Director at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc in New York, where for six years he was responsible for new product development, structuring and pricing, and for establishing and running its Municipal Capital Markets Desk. Prior to his work at Bear Stearns, Mr. Kolodner was 1^st Vice President and a Director of Matthews & Wright Group, Inc. and its brokerage subsidiaries, where he was responsible for new product development and municipal investment banking on behalf of many of the firm’s major state housing agency clients. He was also CEO of Merritt Forbes & Company, Inc., a specialized broker-dealer subsidiary he founded in order to issue the first over-the-counter options on municipal bonds, and managed the successful IPO of the parent firm and its listing on the American Stock Exchange.

Mr. Kolodner is a member of the NYS Bar Association, is admitted to the practice of law in New York, and has been licensed as both a General and Municipal Securities Principal by the NASD and various states and securities exchanges in the US. He has been active in various securities industry and housing professional and trade organizations, including the Cashiers Association of New York; The Bond Market Association and the National Leased Housing Association, and has served on the Boards of numerous not-for-profit civic, social and educational organizations. Mr. Kolodner received his Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Atif Harden

Mr. Atif Harden joined GCMA late in 2008 after completing public service for the Democratic National Committee and the Barack Obama campaign for the United States Presidency. Mr. Harden brings over 25 years of experience in advisory, consulting and development of businesses and governmental programs in the communications, public works and real estate industries. His focus at GCMA is on real estate joint ventures with private industry and governments, as well as in conjunction with public and private colleges and universities.

Since 2003, Mr. Harden was a Managing Director of Citiworks, an advisory and consulting service company representing governments, public agencies, associations, private industry, colleges and universities. During this period, among his range and scope of services and clients, he advised local and state governments in the implementation of Enterprise Zone programs for business development, job training, housing, education, information technology training and acquisition, community development banks, and social services. His most recent responsibilities included serving as the Co-Director of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Subsequent to the DNC convention, he continued to advise and serve the Obama campaign.

Previous to his work at Citiworks, Harden served in a number of roles as an advisor or public servant in several capacities of former President Clinton’s administration, including the Federal Communications Commission and General Services Administration. In addition to his public service at the national level, Harden served in several key advisory positions of Virginia’s past Governor Mark Warner’s administration.

Harden has also held senior executive positions at the American Muslim Council and DCTV.DCTV is a not-for-profit, nationally acclaimed, award winning telecommunications network that offered information technology to individuals and community organizations; provided television and radio production training and equipment; and televised local, national and internationally produced programs for residents of Washington, D.C.

A graduate of Amherst College, Harden also attended George Washington University and the University of Southern California.

Mohammed M. Morgan, M.D.

Dr. Morgan is licensed physician and accomplished business sales and marketing executive.  A resident of Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. Morgan began his career as a sophisticated real estate investment manager in 2004.  His investments included both commercial and residential properties principally in the New England states of the US.  His clients include accredited investors and institutions domiciled in the US, China and from the Middle East and North Africa.  He joins GCMA as a Principal working in collaboration with Atif Harden, a GCMA Managing Principal since 2009

A native of Egypt, Dr. Morgan is a 1998 graduate of Alexandria University School of Medicine.  He followed his internship as a Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Endocrine Unit during 2000 and 2001.  Subsequently, during 2001-2004, he served as a Post Doctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School’s Cardiology Division.

Dr. Morgan intends to concentrate his activities in conjunction with GCMA’s multiple funds through his extensive network of colleagues and clients from the MENA region.

 Mr. Kattan joined GCMA as a Managing Principal in early 2008 to launch a nationwide real estate opportunity fund.  He has over 22 years of experience in the real estate development industry. During this period, Mr. Kattan has held a number of senior manger positions domestically and internationally. His professional experience spans all facets of real estate development.         

In 1996, Mr. Kattan established Basim Kattan and Associates Inc. (BK&A Inc.) a real estate development company to assist clients in construction/project management, asset stabilization and identification of real estate investment opportunities.   BK&A Inc.’s portfolio includes the development and management of a US$100 million active adult community project located in Winchester, Virginia.  The company has also developed and managed Braemar, a   US$100 Million mixed use project   in Gainesville, Virginia for Brookfield Homes LLC.   Other projects include: Jefferson Park, a US $35 Million project in Falls Church Virginia and a number of other projects. From 1997 through 1998, Mr. Kattan managed and completed Milestone (US$50 million), one of the largest Bank of America Projects in Montgomery County Maryland. Other projects for Bank of America include the development of a US$20 million office park in Memphis. Other clients include Pulte Homes, JPI, Dress Homes, KSI, EYA, Belfour Development, Patriot Homes and Lennar Corporation.           

Prior to 1996, Mr. Kattan was a land development consultant providing technical assistance to a number of domestic and international clients on project development. Mr. Kattan also worked for The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD (A United Nations Agency), on infrastructure related issues in Southeast Asia. During this period, Mr. Kattan was responsible for establishing the first IFAD a $5 Million privatization project in Indonesia for a coffee cooperative in 1996.         

From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Kattan served as general manger of operations for   K & M properties in Washington DC. Mr. Kattan was responsible for the management of the real estate holdings of the group with a value close to $40 million. During his tenure at K&M, Mr. Kattan was responsible for the development of the largest orange grove in Central America. The project in Costa Rica (US$15 million) consisted of the planting of a million orange tree plants and building of an entire grove village.        

From 1986 to 1990, Mr. Kattan held various commercial land development positions at Sequoia Building Corporation in Fairfax Virginia. During his tenure at Sequoia, Mr. Kattan held the position of land development manager from 1996 to 1988 or the company’s entire real estate portfolio at the time (a value of US50 million dollars). In 1989, Mr. Kattan served as an assistant finance project manager for a US$75million commercial mixed use project (Dulles Corner located next to Dulles International airport). His responsibilities included all financial projections for the project. Prior to his departure in 1990, Mr. Kattan served as the General Manager for Land Development Commercial Division.

Mr. Kattan completed a BS in Civil Engineering from George Washington University in 1983 and received a Master’s of Science in Finance from American University in 1985. Mr. Kattan is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a founding member of Prime Equities International, a venture capital fund for alternative energy and next generation of high speed telecommunication chips.

Guan Wenjing

Born in China, educated in Shanghai and the United States, Ms.Guan is the Managing Director and Legal Director of GCMA's China and Global Operations.  Her business and finance education preceded her job experience with both United States,European and Chinese companies.  She is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese,French and English facilitated cross border trade and acquisition opportunities.

Her focus in China and globally is to facilitate investors, underwriters, consultants and advisers supporting private, high net worth individual's investment objectives.  She is experienced with underwriting and investing in projects that qualify for the United States EB5 immigrant investor program.