Team
Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer
Starwood Capital Group
Daniel Jackson is a Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he directs Starwood Capital’s technology strategy, and has global responsibility for all IT initiatives and platforms for the Firm and its affiliates.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2012, Mr. Jackson served as SVP of Technology Services for Highbridge Capital Management, JP Morgan’s alternative investment manager. Before that, he led the engineering, market data and trading floor technologies teams at SAC Capital Advisors. Mr. Jackson began his career in technology while serving as a tactical electronic warfare analyst/cryptanalyst and Korean linguist within the Military Intelligence branch of the U.S. Army.
Mr. Jackson holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Data Analytics with a concentration on Business Data Science, both from the University of Connecticut.
Managing Director and CFO of Funds
Starwood Capital Group
Chris Lowthert is a Managing Director and CFO of Funds at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he is responsible for all fund level financial accounting and reporting.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2016, Mr. Lowthert held various senior financial roles with GE Capital Real Estate including CFO of Global Investment Management, Controller of North America and CFO of US Equity. Before that, Mr. Lowthert was a Director of Corporate Audit at MassMutual Financial Group. Mr. Lowthert began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was an audit manager in the firm’s New York financial services office, focusing on public and private real estate clients.
Mr. Lowthert received a B.S. degree in accounting from Saint Michael’s College, where he graduated cum laude. He also has a CPA designation.
Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer
Starwood Capital Group
Lindy Smiley is a Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer at Starwood Capital Group and Starwood Property Trust. In this role, she is responsible for the global human resources function for the Firm, including overseeing performance management, recruitment, compensation and employee benefits.
Prior to joining Starwood in 2010, Lindy held positions as a Director of Human Resources for Morgan Stanley and an HR Generalist for Moody’s.
Ms. Smiley received a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Syracuse University and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Managing Director and Chief Accounting Officer
Starwood Capital Group
David Staub is a Managing Director and Chief Accounting Officer of Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he is responsible for financial reporting, compliance, and partner administration. Mr. Staub previously served as the Company’s Management Company Controller.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2011, Mr. Staub worked at a regional public accounting firm in Boston that specialized in servicing the compliance needs for privately held real estate companies.
David received an MS/MBA in Accounting from Northeastern University and has been a registered CPA since 2011.
Managing Director and Management Company Controller
Starwood Capital Group
Chuck Boulier is a Managing Director and Management Company Controller, for the Management Company of Starwood Capital Group. Mr. Boulier is responsible for the preparation of corporate budgets and forecasts, as well as the management of corporate accounting, reporting, and financial operations. He also serves as the Finance Director of Starwood’s broker dealer.
Prior to Starwood, Mr. Boulier served as Auditor at KPMG, Senior Corporate Accountant at Tudor Investments, Corporate Accounting Manager at SAC Capital, and Senior Manager of International Finance at the National Basketball Association.
Mr. Boulier received a BA in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross, and he is a Certified Public Accountant.
Managing Director, Accounting
Starwood Capital Group
James Allen is a Managing Director at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he is responsible for assisting on fund financial operations and reporting for the Firm.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2010, Mr. Allen was the Director and CFO of the DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners Group. In this role, he was responsible for all finance, accounting, investor reporting, tax, treasury and compliance activities for the firm’s funds. Before that, Mr. Allen was the Director and Controller for UBS Real Estate Asset Management Group. Mr. Allen began his career at Ernst & Young, where he was an audit manager in the firm’s New York financial services office, with a specialization in real estate.
Mr. Allen received a B.S. degree in business from Fordham University. He is a CPA, and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and New York State Society of CPAs.
Managing Director, Fund Accounting
Starwood Capital Group
Janine Bevilacqua is a Managing Director and Head of Fund Accounting Operations at Starwood Capital Group. She has over 20 years of experience in accounting and at Starwood where she plays a key role in financial reporting for the funds. Her expertise spans strategic financial planning, compliance, and ensuring accurate financial statements.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital Ms. Bevilacqua worked in tax at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Ms. Bevilacqua received her BBA in Accounting from Pace University.
Senior Vice President, Head of Internal Audit and Fund Controller
Starwood Capital Group
Elizabeth Jones is a Senior Vice President in Fund Accounting at Starwood Capital Group. Ms. Jones is responsible for oversight of the Internal Audit program for the Firm’s private real estate funds as well as fund level financial accounting and reporting.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2005, Ms. Jones was a Global Finance Manager with Avon Products, Inc., where she worked in various departments including financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting. Ms. Jones began her career at Arthur Andersen & Co., where she was an audit senior, focusing on public and private clients.
Ms. Jones received a BBA degree in accounting from Iona College, where she graduated magna cum laude. She also has a CPA designation.
Senior Vice President, Technology
Starwood Capital Group
Betsy Reed is a Senior Vice President of technology at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, she is responsible for the strategy, planning, delivery and ongoing development of our core business applications. Ms. Reed is also leading the firm’s enterprise-wide data initiative SCG360, focused on transforming Starwood’s data infrastructure and building one unified data platform.
Prior to joining Starwood, Ms. Reed worked at Brookfield Properties as the Vice President of Business Technology. Before that, she worked as a consultant in the real estate technology space for over a decade, advising global real estate companies, helping to build their technology strategies and improve their operational efficiency. She also helped build a startup.
Ms. Reed received a Master’s degree from Dallas Baptist University and studied Computer Information Systems.
Senior Vice President, Treasury
Starwood Capital Group
Joseph Rizzo is a Senior Vice President in Treasury at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he is responsible for global money movement and oversight of key banking relationships for the Firm.
Prior to joining Starwood in 2014, Mr. Rizzo had extensive experience and expertise in the areas of treasury operations, systems, and control processes surrounding funds movements. Before that, Mr. Rizzo was Senior Director, Treasury Operations & Systems at ADP. Mr. Rizzo also held several senior level Corporate Treasurer roles at TMP Directional Marketing and Take Two Interactive Games, both in New York and Arthur Schuman Inc. in Fairfield, NJ.
Mr. Rizzo received his B.S. and M.B.A. at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is a member of the Association of Financial Professionals.
Senior Vice President, Head of ESG
Starwood Capital Group
Mauricio Serna is a Senior Vice President and Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) at Starwood Capital Group. In his role, Mr. Serna oversees the integration of ESG initiatives across our corporate operations and throughout the lifecycle of our investments with the goal of enhancing our firmwide risk-management and long-term value creation strategy. Mr. Serna is also a member and lead coordinator of Starwood Capital Group’s Firmwide ESG Steering Committee and is a participating member to the UNPRI’s Real Estate Advisory Committee.
Mr. Serna brings more than a decade of professional experience to Starwood. He began his career as an analyst within Goldman Sachs’ Sovereign Credit Risk Management and Advisory Group and later joined the bank’s Natural Resources Investment Banking Group as an associate focusing on renewable energy and infrastructure mergers & acquisitions advisory.
After his time at Goldman, Mr. Serna joined LA-based commercial real estate marketplace—CREXi as VP of Finance. At CREXi, Mr. Serna helped develop the company’s product monetization strategy and established the company’s finance, accounting, and investor relations functions. CREXi raised +$40M in Series A and Series B capital from venture capital investors during Mr. Serna’s tenure.
Mr. Serna is a proud first-generation college graduate and first-generation immigrant to the U.S. from Colombia. He earned a B.A. with a double major in Economics & Government from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.