The highlight of Jason Joseph's career as the CEO of Trilogy Investment Co. was the real estate solution he devised during the global financial crisis.
"I was an economics and finance major, and I had dreams of being an investment banker on Wall Street," Joseph said in an interview. His Trilogy Investment, an Atlanta-area build-to-rent residential investment and development firm with $450 million under management, operates in six states.
Joseph, who lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, north of Atlanta, graduated from the University of South Carolina after enrolling at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he dreamed of playing on the football team. Joseph followed his wife of 30 years to the University of South Carolina after two years attending University of Nebraska.
"I was part of the football program for two years," said Joseph, who was on the Nebraska Cornhuskers' 1995 national championship football team.
He graduated in 1999 and went to work for Andersen Consulting's banking group in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2001, when he was 23, he moved back to the Atlanta area and set up his investment banking shop.
"I thought I was going to be the corporate guy, but I had this interesting knack of understanding debt structures and legal structures," said Joseph. "I had this knack for building relationships and understanding complicated financial structures."
By 2004, he was a managing partner for X1 Capital, a job that sent him across the globe to places such as Hong Kong and South Korea. "I was a young twenty-something who knew just enough to be dangerous and the mechanics of how project finances worked," said the executive. "I was raising capital for foreign clients" to invest in all types of commercial real estate.
New financing methodology
Fast forward to the Great Recession of late 2007-June 2009. Joseph was working on a financing methodology he created. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., or FDIC, and Financial Accounting Standards Board eventually approved his methodology for dealing with distressed assets.
"Think about it. The market is falling," Joseph said. "I have this financing methodology approved for all FDIC-insured banks, and I was an investment banker."
National development firms based in Atlanta that had deficiencies on their balance sheets needed solutions, he said. "I was in these meetings, and I was this 'no one' with this program approved."
Joseph said he didn't realize how quickly situations on distressed properties could suddenly change during that two year-period.
"It was like grabbing a falling knife," he said. "Right when I got close to closing [using the correct financial structure], another asset would fall (in value) and mess up all my ratios."
While the market was challenging to navigate, Joseph realized he didn't want to be an adviser to companies; he wanted to create his own investment company. With that, Hibernian Pacific Holdings was born. He was its principal investor.
"It was a fork in my career. Everyone wanted to be in distressed assets," said Joseph, who moved from having family and friends as investors to institutions. "But I could get an invite to any FDIC financial institution because they said, 'What this guy is selling can help you.'"
Entrepreneur 'at my core'
In 2013, he sold that fund to Evolution Real Estate Partners, a company in Santa Monica, California. From there, he started a development company called Mayfair Street Partners.
"I realized at my core that I am an entrepreneur," said Joseph. "I absolutely fell in love with development."
Today, his Trilogy Investment is a development company that specializes in build-to-rent, for-sale starter and second homes, as well as new developments. "When COVID hit, it was the first time I was on the other side," said Joseph. I learned to answer my phone, always maintain integrity, and do the right thing."
Although he didn't grow up around real estate, Joseph was fascinated by the economics of the property market and its impact on a community as far back as college.
"It is an opportunity to create," said Joseph. "I landed in residential. That's important to me. I came from a broken home. The most important thing for me growing up was sitting at the dinner table with my mother in her house or my father in his, and the relationships created at the table.
"Residential real estate has given me the ability to create community."
R É S U M É
Jason Joseph | CEO and Managing Partner of Trilogy Investment Co.
Hometown: Born in Baltimore, moved to Atlanta at age 1.
Current city: Alpharetta, Georgia, north of Atlanta
Years in industry: 25
Education: University of South Carolina and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Hobbies: Devoted father, family man and supporter of many faith-based organizations including Young Life Forsyth, Young Life Alpharetta, Phase Family Center, Community Coach for Kings Ridge Christian School, member of the Community Board for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Forsyth, and Big Stuff Ministries
Advice to those starting out in the industry: "Real Estate is multifaceted and always changing. No matter the role you play, big or small, dig in and be the best. Each role is a steppingstone to becoming, and ultimately being, your best…and always, always outwork everyone. Legends were made at 5a.m., morning and at night."