Elion Announces Formation of Independent Advisory Board

Elion (the “Firm”), a tech-enabled, vertically integrated investment manager focused on industrial logistics real estate, today announced the formation of its new Independent Advisory Board (the “Independent Advisory Board”) with founding members Yvonne Nelson, Vincent A. Tria, Jr., and Heather Fernstrom Border. Elion’s Independent Advisory Board will provide strategic guidance to the Firm and further strengthen its commitment to providing best-in-class investment management services to its partners. The founding members of the Independent Advisory Board have expertise across real estate investments and offer both deep and broad perspectives on real estate investment management, underwriting, financing, and capital markets. The Independent Advisory Board is also comprised of early leaders in Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) advocacy, which will further Elion’s objective to lead such initiatives by example. 

“We are honored to add Yvonne Nelson, a deeply accomplished institutional investor and thought leader to our Independent Advisory Board,” said Juan DeAngulo, Managing Partner at Elion. “Yvonne comes from managing one of the largest institutional investment programs in the United States and is a recognized groundbreaker in the field of DEI within the institutional real estate industry.”  

Yvonne Nelson joins the Independent Advisory Board having recently concluded a 40-year career in building top-performing cycle-tested institutional real estate programs and teams. Yvonne is a proven leader and established investment professional with significant strategic planning, investment selection, and portfolio management experience. Yvonne recently retired as Head of Real Estate on behalf of the New York City Retirement System, an aggregation of New York City’s five primary pension plans with a total of $250 billion in assets under management. Over the course of her career, she grew the pension’s private real estate portfolio from $1 billion in 2005 to a diversified, multi-billion global real estate portfolio valued at $16.6 billion. Yvonne is a recognized leader and advocate of advancing DEI within the institutional real estate industry. She serves as secretary and is an inaugural board member of the PREA Foundation and a member of WX-NY Women Executives in Real Estate. Yvonne graduated from New York University with a BA in Urban Design in 1979 and earned her MBA from Rutgers University as a Ralph Bunche Fellow in 1989.  

“We are grateful for Vincent A. Tria, Jr.’s expertise of more than 30 years of debt financing experience and appreciate his valuable guidance, particularly in the macroeconomic environment we face today.” shared DeAngulo. “Vincent is a true debt capital markets strategist and proven leader in the real estate finance world, and we are honored to add him to our Independent Advisory Board.”  

Vincent A. Tria, Jr. previously spent more than 25 years with Bank of America Merrill Lynch (“BAML”) and its predecessors leading BAML’s East Coast real estate financing division from Philadelphia, PA, to Miami, FL, and at the time held Series 7, 63, 79, and 24 securities registrations. Following his retirement from BAML, Vincent founded Coral Pine Advisors in 2012, advising investment managers such as Elion on their debt financing strategies. Vincent served on the Board of Directors of the International Finance Bank of Miami from 2016 to 2020. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the National Association of Realtors. Vincent earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Binghamton University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

“Elion is excited to announce the appointment of Heather Fernstrom Border to our Independent Advisory Board. Heather is an industry leader, bringing a depth of experience in best practices for operating platforms, and has a deep knowledge of the consultant, investment manager, and institutional investor universe. She also shares in our commitment to fostering a strong corporate culture and a focus on ESG.” stated DeAngulo.

Heather Fernstrom Border, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Alliance Global Advisors, has been building deep expertise and networks within the public and private real estate sectors for nearly two decades. Her passion for helping others is the fundamental reason for founding Alliance Global Advisors, now advising investment management organizations with over $380 billion in aggregate assets under management. Prior to Alliance, Heather was Managing Director for National Real Estate Advisors and held positions with Hunt Investment Management and The Townsend Group. Throughout her career, she’s held memberships at NAIOP, PREA, and IREI and continues to speak and moderate various panels on industry-wide topics. She is an Advisory Board member of Outsourced Research & Capital and was recently asked to participate on PREA’s Governance Committee. In 2022, Heather received the GlobeSt. Women of Influence award and the GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum’s 50 under 40 awards. Heather earned two Master of Science degrees—one in Finance and the other in Real Estate and Construction Management—from the University of Denver, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She also earned a dual Bachelor of Science degree from Western State College in Accounting and Business Administration.

About Elion

Elion Partners (“Elion”) is a tech-enabled, alternative investment manager focused on industrial logistics real estate. Elion’s vertically integrated institutional investment management platform manages $3.0 billion in gross real estate assets. The Firm is minority-owned and more than 65% of the team is diverse.