Our Team

Mr. D’Alessandro is a partner at Castlelake and a leader of its Real Assets team. He is primarily focused on originating investment opportunities in transitional real estate, infrastructure, renewables and power stability, and sub- and non-performing loans. Mr. D’Alessandro is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Investment Review Committee. He joined Castlelake in 2011 and became a partner in 2018. Previously, Mr. D’Alessandro led the firm’s Spanish land banking investment strategy and was also responsible for executing its investment strategy in Portugal, Italy and Greece, the United Kingdom and Ireland. His expertise includes direct asset and non-performing loan opportunities as well as equity public offerings.

Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. D’Alessandro was an investment consultant at Deutsche Bank in its special situations group, focusing on non-performing loan investments across Europe. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. D’Alessandro was an investment associate at CVI within the Loan Portfolio Group. At CVI, he worked on non-performing loan and real estate investments in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. Mr. D’Alessandro received his M.B.A. from the London Business School and received his B.Sc. in finance from Manhattanville College, cum laude. Mr. D’Alessandro is a native English and Spanish speaker.

Mr. Gearing joined Castlelake in 2017 and is a leader of its North American Real Assets team. He is primarily focused on executing the firm’s investment strategy across transitional real estate, infrastructure, and sub- and non-performing loans in the U.S. He became a partner of the firm in 2020. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Gearing was the president and founder of Gearing Capital Partners, a commercial real estate specialty finance company focused on distressed debt and direct lending across North America. Mr. Gearing has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate finance and investment and has been involved in over $2 billion of completed transactions over the course of his career. Prior to founding Gearing Capital Partners, Mr. Gearing was a vice president at Secured Capital Corporation, where he was responsible for structuring debt and equity investments and raising capital. He has also held roles at JP Morgan Mortgage Capital and Archon Group, a Goldman Sachs subsidiary. Mr. Gearing received an M.B.A. from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University and a B.B.A. in finance and real estate finance from Southern Methodist University. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), and is a board member of the Folsom Institute for Real Estate at the SMU Cox School of Business.

Mr. Agrawal joined Castlelake in 2020 and is part of the Real Assets team, focused on distressed investment opportunities in Europe. Mr. Agrawal has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate finance and investment and has been involved in over $7 billion of completed debt and equity transactions over the course of his career. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Agrawal was with Kildare Partners in London, where he focused on distressed and opportunistic real estate acquisitions across Europe. Mr. Agrawal also worked with Deutsche Bank on their European Real Estate Financing and Special Situation team, and prior to that was part of their Financial Institutions Group, Investment Banking team. Mr. Agrawal started his career with Caterpillar in Southeast Asia. He received his M.B.A. from the London Business School and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi.

Mr. Cohen joined Castlelake in 2017 and is part of the Real Assets team, focused on investments in the North American commercial real estate sector. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Cohen worked as a director for Gearing Capital Partners where he was responsible for the sourcing, structuring and execution of debt and equity real estate investments across the U.S. Prior to joining Gearing Capital Partners, he worked as a senior vice president for FirstCity Financial Corporation, a multi-national specialty finance company focused on the acquisition of sub-performing and non-performing loans. Prior to joining FirstCity, he was an associate at Morgan Stanley and Crescent Real Estate Equities. He received his B.S.B.A. with a concentration in finance from the University of Richmond.

Ms. Fusi joined Castlelake in 2014 and is part of the Real Assets team, focused on European real estate investments. Prior to joining Castlelake, Ms. Fusi was a manager on Restructuring &Corporate Finance with KPMG in Madrid, where she worked on real estate corporate transactions and investments, as well as on re-financing and insolvency processes within the real estate sector. Prior to KPMG, Ms. Fusi worked as appraiser and consultant on land and real estate developments for diverse clients, including Altamira and Banco Santander, performing appraisals, due diligence, viability studies and asset management projects. Ms. Fusi received her B.Sc. and M.Arch. from the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid in architecture and urban planning. She received a master’s degree in real estate management and urban planning from the Icade Business School at Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid and another in corporate finance and investment banking at Instituto de Estudios Bursatiles. Ms. Fusi is fluent in Spanish, as well as conversational in French and Italian.

Mr. Suarez Alvarado joined Castlelake in 2021 and is part of the Real Assets team. He is primarily focused on sourcing and analyzing new investments for Castlelake in Southern Europe and managing Castlelake’s investment book in Spain. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Suarez Alvarado was a senior associate at ActivumSG, with a focus on real estate investments. Prior to ActivumSG, he developed his career in Arcano Partners. He received his economics degree from Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). Mr. Suarez Alvarado holds a master’s in finance from London Business School and a master’s in town planning from CEU San Pablo University. He is fluent in Spanish.

Mr. Yafra joined Castlelake in 2021 and is part of the Real Assets team, focused on real estate investments in North America. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Yafra was a private equity associate with Silverpeak Strategic Partners, where he focused on transactions in the infrastructure and energy industries. Prior to Silverpeak, he was an analyst in the Investment Banking Group of the Wells Fargo, where he was involved in a wide variety of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets financings and strategic advisory assignments for clients. Mr. Yafra holds a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in finance from Tulane University and was a TABA Service Award recipient. He is fluent in Farsi.

Mr. Zampini joined Castlelake in 2020 and is part of the Real Assets team. He is primarily focused on evaluating, underwriting and monitoring investments. Prior to joining Castlelake, Mr. Zampini was with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he focused on M&A and leveraged finance transactions across Europe. Mr. Zampini received his M.S. in business administration and law, and his undergraduate degree in finance from Bocconi University. He also completed an exchange program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr. Zampini is fluent in Italian.