Leadership
Kenneth Pasternak has more than 30 years of experience in real estate investment and financial markets. He is Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co‑Founder of The KABR Group, a private equity real estate firm focused on value‑add and opportunistic investments.
Since 2008, he has helped identify and execute approximately 100 real estate investments and has raised around $500 million in discretionary funds and private equity partnerships.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Pasternak founded Knight Capital Group, a global financial services firm focused on equity trading and institutional sales. Under his leadership, Knight Capital completed its IPO and grew to a market capitalization exceeding $5 billion. He began his career at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, now part of Goldman Sachs, where he ultimately led NASDAQ trading operations.
Kenneth Pasternak
Partner
Adam Altman
Adam Altman is an entrepreneur and real estate investor with extensive experience sourcing, acquiring, and structuring real estate transactions. As a founder and Managing Member of The KABR Group, he plays a key role in fundraising, joint venture structuring, and identifying investment opportunities. Over the course of his career, he has participated in transactions involving millions of square feet of commercial real estate and thousands of residential units.
Before KABR, Mr. Altman worked on real estate acquisitions and development for a multi‑billion‑dollar healthcare company. His background also includes roles in private wealth management at Deutsche Bank and portfolio analysis at Chestnut Ridge Capital. He previously founded and sold Freshpair.com, an e‑commerce company.
Partner
Partner
William Yagoda
William Yagoda is a Founding Principal of KTO Finance, where he leads acquisitions, capital formation, and investor engagement. He is focused on sourcing high-quality opportunities and structuring investments with a strong emphasis on downside protection and consistent income generation.
William brings extensive transactional experience across U.S. real estate markets. He previously held roles at Madison Capital Management and the Chetrit Group, where he executed over $500 million in acquisitions across major markets, including New York City and the Southeast. His background combines institutional investment discipline with an entrepreneurial approach to deal-making.
William earned his MBA, cum laude, from Columbia Business School and holds a BSc from the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Partner
Brian Yagoda
Brian Yagoda is a Principal at KTO Finance, where he drives investment strategy and underwriting across real estate credit and structured finance. With a deep foundation in complex debt instruments, Brian specializes in identifying mispriced risk and structuring investments that deliver strong, risk-adjusted returns.
Previously, Brian was a Director in the Structured Credit Group at Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, where he analyzed and rated a wide range of securitized products, including CRE CDOs, CLOs, transportation ABS, and other specialized asset classes. During his tenure, he played a key role in evaluating more than $300 billion in transactions, developing a rigorous, data-driven approach to credit risk.
Brian holds a BSE in Mathematical Sciences and Economics and an MSE in Applied Mathematics, both with honors, from Johns Hopkins University.
Vice President
Kent Michels
Kent Michels is responsible for identifying and underwriting new debt investments, overseeing due diligence, servicing closed loans, and managing KTO Finance’s loan portfolio.
He brings more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate across multiple asset classes, including underwriting, asset management, feasibility analysis, and research.
Prior to joining KTO Finance, Mr. Michels served as Vice President of Underwriting and Due Diligence at Procida Funding, where he originated more than $150 million in loan investments. He also worked as a Senior Vice President in JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality group and previously managed hotel assets for Destination Hotels, now part of Hyatt Hotels.