NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Director of Real Estate Services
Brian Bennett is the Director of Real Estate Services for Northwestern Mutual Real Estate. Brian is responsible for the oversight of all Architectural, Construction, Environmental, and Closing due diligence functions within the Real Estate Department. Brian's team is also responsible for the oversight of construction quality and progression, administration of construction financing, environmental quality within the equity portfolio, and administration of documentation within the existing mortgage loan portfolio. Brian joined Northwestern Mutual in 1998 and has held positions as Director of Environmental Services and Director of Architectural, Construction, and Environmental Services.
Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Brian worked with Heitman Financial in Chicago, and before that led the Chicago office of an international environmental consulting firm. Brian began his work in consulting with the company "Environmental Risk Consultants" in Evanston, IL, a firm that pioneered the "environmental site assessment" due diligence business in the late 1980s. Brian started his career in the United States Air Force as a Bioenironmental Engineer, serving from 1985-1989. He is frequently a guest lecturer for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Asset Management
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- in 2003 As an Associate
- Managing Director - Portfolio Services
- Portfolio Management
- Portfolio Services
- Recruiting
Daniel Flesch serves as Managing Director - Portfolio Services for Northwestern Mutual Real Estate, a position he has held since July 2016. In this role, he is responsible for performance measurement, risk management, research and technology.
Flesch joined Northwestern Mutual in 2003 as an Associate and has held various roles including heading Real Estate Services, leading new market initiatives and representing Real Estate within the Investment Strategy group.
Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Flesch worked for Chicago Research and Trading at the Chicago Board of Trade and held various information system consulting roles with Accenture, SysLogic and BORN Consulting.
Flesch received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago - Booth School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Production - East
Joe Miller serves as a Managing Director of Northwestern Mutual Real Estate. He leads a team responsible for the origination and management of the company's portfolio of real estate equity investments and mortgage loans in the eastern half of the U.S.
Miller joined Northwestern Mutual in 2007 and then relocated to Northwestern Mutual's Real Estate office in Washington DC to build upon his career as an institutional quality real estate investor. In 2012 Miller transitioned to an Asset Management role where he led a team of seven asset management professionals responsible for a portfolio valued at $2.4 billion. His team had 2,500 multifamily units in development as well as equity investments in office, retail, industrial and self-storage assets. In April, 2013 Miller relocated back to Northwestern Mutual's corporate headquarters as an Assistant Portfolio Manager in mortgage production and subsequently his current role.
Miller graduated with a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering followed by an MBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Production - West
Paul Hanson serves as a managing director of Northwestern Mutual Real Estate. He is responsible for the origination and management of the company's portfolio of real estate equity investments and mortgage loans in the western half of the U.S.
Hanson joined Northwestern Mutual in 2002 and has held various roles including head of the underwriting unit, director of real estate equity production, and positions focused on portfolio management. Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Hanson worked as an investment banker in the Global Real Estate Group at Lehman Brothers.
Hanson received an M.S. degree in real estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2000 and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville where he received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. Hanson is also a CFA charterholder and member of the Urban Land Institute.
Job Titles:
- Head
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Vice President
- Vice President / Head of Real Estate
Thomas D. Zale serves Northwestern Mutual in the position of Vice President-Real Estate. He is responsible for the company's investments in mortgage loans and real estate. He also serves as a member of the Investment Committee and Diversity & Inclusion Committee, as well as Executive Sponsor of the African American Employee Resource Group and Managed Investments Diversity & Inclusion Council.
Previously, Zale was a managing director of the Northwestern Mutual Real Estate Investments, LLC. His responsibilities included the company's investments in mortgage loans for the eastern portion of the country, as well as administrations of the Washington, DC, Chicago and Atlanta regional real estate offices.
Zale joined Northwestern Mutual in 1995. He moved to Seattle in 1996, as a director with a split role in production and asset management. He rejoined the Home Office in 1998 as a director in real estate services where he was responsible for underwriting and recruiting. In 2004, he was appointed director of real estate equities, in 2005 he was appointed to managing director of real estate equities and in 2008, Zale accepted the additional role of managing director - asset management.
He holds two degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received a B.B.A. degree in real estate and economics in 1988 and an M.S. degree in real estate and finance in 1995. Zale earned the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute in 1996, and he is active in ULI and NAREIM. Zale also serves on the boards of the United Community Center and Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation.