Blazing new paths in institutional investing and helping women succeed come naturally to Vicky Schiff, who this year started her sixth investment company, Avrio Real Estate Credit.
It all started with her father, a real estate developer who often took her on construction sites. “He never had this attitude about my gender. That gave me the ability to take chances, stand up for myself, and keep going in difficult times,” said Ms. Schiff, who is based in Los Angeles.
Those are messages she now imparts to the next generation of women investors, on several fronts. Mentoring young women in private equity, real estate development and finance on a monthly basis, she enjoys being a business coach for “people I see a spark in,” she said.
She also teaches real estate finance at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School and is a faculty adviser at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Her commitment extends far beyond Los Angeles, to YPO, a global organization of chief executives where she is the first woman to co-lead its real estate network, and as a founder of the Women in Real Estate Network.
The passion and energy for real estate investment led her to co-found six firms since 1996, including a real estate fund of funds with a substrategy of supporting women and minority emerging real estate firms in the U.S., and a boutique investment banking firm raising capital for middle-market real estate and private equity firms.
The former co-founder of Mosaic Real Estate Investors and managing director of Mosaic Real Estate Credit until 2021 is enjoying her latest challenge at Avrio Management, which provides private credit with an overlay of sustainability tools. She works with the head of originations on a daily basis and has “the privilege of talking to a lot of investors,” she said.
The message that has guided her through all her many activities is simple, Ms. Schiff said: “Discipline is freedom.”
