Financial Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 7, 2013

Interview with the Chairman and CEO & the President and COO: American Residential Properties, Inc. (ARPI)

Schmitz, Stephen G.
Stephen G. Schmitz is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Residential Properties, Inc., a Scottsdale-based single-family rental REIT. Mr. Schmitz and Chief Operating Officer Laurie A. Hawkes founded the company in May 2012 to invest in the single-family housing sector throughout the United States. In 2008, he and Ms. Hawkes founded ARP, LLC, which was one of the first companies in the country to employ a single-family buy-and-hold rental strategy on an institutional scale. In 2010, together with Ms. Hawkes, Mr. Schmitz founded the Phoenix Fund, a private investment fund that opportunistically invested in single-family homes as rental properties in Arizona and Nevada. In May 2012, they formed American Residential Properties, Inc., which now owns homes in 13 states. Prior to cofounding ARP, LLC, Mr. Schmitz was Chief Investment Officer of Franchise Finance Corporation of America. After spending 15 years with FFCA, the company was acquired by GE Capital. He subsequently spent four years with GE Capital as an Executive Vice President. Mr. Schmitz holds a B.S. in business from Franklin University and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University. Profile
Hawkes, Laurie A.
Laurie A. Hawkes is President and Chief Operating Officer of American Residential Properties, Inc., and has been a member of the board of directors since the company’s formation in May 2012. Since 2008, Ms. Hawkes has been instrumental in raising $700 million in institutional equity and securing close to $400 million in credit facilities to acquire, renovate, lease and manage single-family homes. From 1995 to 2007 she worked at U.S. Realty Advisors, a $3 billion real estate private equity firm. She became a Partner in 1997 and served as President of the firm from 2003 to 2007. From 1993 to 1995, she was a Managing Director in the real estate investment banking division at CS First Boston Corp., and from 1979 to 1993 she was a Director in the real estate investment and mortgage banking departments at Salomon Brothers Inc. Ms. Hawkes holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an MBA from Cornell University. She is a Trustee Emerita of the governing boards of Bowdoin College, where she has served for 22 years. Profile
TWST: Let’s start with some background and history of American Residential Properties. Please tell us about its predecessors and your plans to ultimately launch as a public REIT.

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