ABOUT US
CORE VALUES
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Professionalism
We believe in competence, execution and conducting ourselves to the highest professional standards.
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Accountability
We strive for the highest levels of integrity, performance, responsibility and urgency.
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Creativity
We find solutions to difficult problems.
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Respect
We respect one another and operate with transparency.
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Teamwork
We get the best results with a collaborative leadership approach.
VALUE PROPOSITION
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Key Relationships
We believe relationships based on trust and alignment that help others succeed, will create opportunities and drive mutual value creation.
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Entrepreneurial & Disciplined
We apply the alchemy of institutional quality due diligence, analysis, governance and creative thinking to inefficient and entrepreneurial opportunities.
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Track Record
The partners of Ayrshire have been principals and advisors on hundreds of asset and corporate transactions and investments.
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Scalable Experience
We have successfully built businesses from start-up to billion dollar enterprises.
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Workout Expertise
We have experience creating value in complex situations including restructuring a $300M real estate portfolio.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
Real Property
Value-add
We look for opportunities where we can reasonably expect to significantly increase operating income in the near term. We look to do this through one or more of the following value triggers: (1) increasing revenue with higher occupancy and/or moving undervalued premises to market rents, (2) decrease expenses by operating the asset more efficiently and/or investing in better building components, and (3) realizing on excess development density with pre-leasing and/or creative partnerships.
Core Opportunities
We evaluate investments in low-risk, long-term cash flow streams with institutional partners.
All Property Types
Ayrshire makes data driven investment decisions in all asset types including office, retail, industrial, residential, hotel, seniors, agriculture and mixed-use. We also consider niche investment structures like public-private partnerships. In order to truly understand detailed market fundamentals, we focus principally on Western Canada.
Partnering with Tenants
Whether within new or existing assets, Ayrshire looks to implement creative alignment with its tenants. We have flexible partner capital that is not constrained by any conventional investment fund criteria. There is no time constraints for exit; no strict criteria for how or where our capital gets invested and each deal is capitalized independently. We have flexibility to invest in a tenant’s business if capital is required. We also invite tenants to invest alongside us in properties. Co-investment or even sale-leasebacks are given high priority in our portfolio. Our experience is that there is generally unlocked value (both in our property and tenant businesses) if we work together.
OPERATING BUSINESSES
Buy Small and Think Big
We invest in early stage companies that have a clear business plan to tangible growth. We are actively involved in our investments through a combination of capital, expertise and board involvement to assist with growth and value creation. We also invest in mature companies looking for growth or buyout capital.
Successful Management Teams
We look for people with a successful track record and a compelling strategy. We can provide board involvement, financial and management reporting tools and other support services to make better decisions faster. We want management focused on what they do best while we do the rest.
Sustainable Cash Flow
We favour companies that have cyclically stable cash flow with growth prospects that require modest capital investment.
Compelling Opportunities
We look to invest in companies with unique attributes, sustainable competitive advantages, innovative business models or consolidation potential.
TEAM
Philip C. Swift
Executive Chairman
Phil Swift was one of the founders of ARC Financial Corporation in 1989 and has held senior management positions in the company including President, CEO and Executive Chairman before assuming his current role of Founder and Director. ARC Financial Corporation is recognized as one of Canada’s leading energy private equity firms and has over $5.3 billion of capital under management. Phil has extensive equity investment, corporate advisory and direct investment management experience.
Mr. Swift’s private investment holding organization is the Ayrshire Group. A large focus of Ayrshire’s business has been investment in commercial real estate. Ayrshire has invested in over $395 million in real estate in Alberta since 1999.
Mr. Swift holds a Bachelor of Science (Math) degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of British Columbia. Mr. Swift has served on the board of directors of approximately 20 corporations. He is past president for Alberta, and past international director, of the North American Society for Corporate Planning. He is a past member of the advisory board of the University of British Columbia Business Faculty. He is a recipient of the Warren Bennis Award for Leadership Excellence as well as the Pinnacle Award for achievement in entrepreneurship. Phil has spoken at numerous energy and private equity conferences in Canada and internationally. He has co-authored a book published by McGraw Hill entitled “In Search of Leadership – How Great Leaders Answer the Question “Why Lead?”
Mr. Swift has also been active in the community and philanthropy and has served on a number of community organizations and foundation boards. He is a co-founder and Chairman of the Pacific Impact Investor Network (PIIN) at UBC Sauder School of Business. He is a Past-Chairman of the Canadian Institute of Natural and Integrative Medicine and has been increasingly involved in philanthropic projects overseas through the Swift Family Foundation.
Graham Gooch, MBA
Managing Director
Mr. Gooch joined Ayrshire in 2014 as VP Investments and oversees deal origination and underwriting.
Prior to joining Ayrshire, Mr. Gooch was Director of Portfolio Investments at GWL Realty Advisors where he contributed to underwriting due diligence and associated board documentation for $1.5 billion of transactions and developments. Together with senior management, this team also held national accountability for property management, asset management, leasing, valuation and reporting initiatives on a $6.0 billion portfolio of operating assets.
Mr. Gooch also worked at Forum Partners in London. Forum is a global real estate investment and asset management firm recognized for investing in and alongside public and private real estate companies. He is a Masters of Business Administration Alumni of London Business School and Hong Kong UST with undergraduate experience at the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia.
Adam Rosenfeld, CPA, CMA
Managing Director
Mr. Rosenfeld has 17 years of experience in the finance, oil & gas and engineering industries. He joined Ayrshire in 2017 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Ayrshire, Mr. Rosenfeld was Chief Financial Officer of Beringer Energy Inc., a private equity backed junior oil & gas company. At Beringer he managed all financial operations, treasury, corporate planning, and corporate development.
Prior to joining Beringer, he spent eight years in investment banking, most recently as Director with RBC Capital Markets, where he provided advice and led execution on mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt financings. Prior to investment banking, Mr. Rosenfeld was a wireline logging engineer with Halliburton Energy Services.
He holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree with a minor in Aerospace from McGill University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business. He is a CMA charter holder.
Ian Kennedy
Managing Director
Mr. Kennedy joined Ayrshire in 2009. His unrelenting focus has been to create value and mitigate risk in the portfolio.
Prior to joining Ayrshire, Mr. Kennedy was a founding team member in an organization that acquired and managed a large privately held real estate portfolio. With this organization Mr. Kennedy was involved with the acquisition and management of over $1.0 billion of commercial real estate and a portfolio of over 70 properties. Mr. Kennedy has Bachelor of Arts from Wilfred Laurier University and a Law Degree (LLB) from the University of Calgary.
Jason Theaker, CFA, CPA, CA
Senior Accountant
Jason is responsible for the accounting, financial reporting and business planning function across Ayrshire portfolio businesses and real estate holdings. Prior to joining Ayrshire, Jason worked in the accounting and finance department of a large land developer and homebuilder focusing on their Alberta operations. Prior to that, Jason worked in the assurance department of a Big 4 accounting firm in Calgary and New Zealand. He is a CFA charter holder, a Canadian designated Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce – Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan.
Fay Bell
Accounting Manager
Fay brings 20 plus years of accounting and bookkeeping experience to Ayrshire portfolio holdings. Prior to Ayrshire, Fay worked in the energy industry and quickly transitioned into Ayrshire’s diverse portfolio designing accounting processes for our commercial real estate, industrial services and hospitality assets. Fay brings to the team many roles and manages many aspects of our business including payroll, accounts receivable, payables, GST Filings and also client relations with stakeholders and tenants.
Jonathan Williams, B.Arch, RIBA, PMP
Senior Director, Development
Having helped develop billions worth of real estate over his career and with his background in architecture, Jonathan brings measurable value to Ayrshire’s development pipeline. Jonathan helps lead design development and project management initiatives including scheduling, scope control, quality assurance, contract administration, risk management, costing, value engineering and stakeholder communications.
HISTORY
Ayrshire (pronounced: “Air-Shire”) is a historic county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Phil Swift (Hopkirk and Wallace Clans) was born in Ayrshire and Ayrshire is also the founding homeland of the Kennedy clan. All members of our firm have some “special” connection to Scotland. As historians, we appreciate the rich history of Ayrshire and its people. This history captures many values, principles and character traits that we admire and that have influenced our growth as an organization. Here’s just a few that we’d like to share:
We know the value of a dollar. We’re careful about spending and expect value for money.
Forthright and honest. We’ll say what we mean, without malice.
Fiery and bold. Scots are brave and courageous.
Practical and down-to-earth. One side of our personality is very grounded and matter-of-fact. We don’t like pretenses or ‘fake-ness’.
Appreciate the arts. Scotland has produced more than its fair share of artists, poets, writers & musicians. Scots especially love music, dancing, story-telling and literature.
Hard-working. Historically this is a country founded and grown on hard work. First farmers and crofters, then heavy industrial plants and shipyards, today it’s finance and service industries.
Know how to have a good time. Celebrations, dancing, drinking, singing…. we’re expert at these.
CONTACT
Ayrshire Group
Suite 100 – 6835 Railway Street SE
Calgary AB T2H 2V6
P : 403-984-5277 F : 403-292-0803
CAREERS
If you are interested in working with us, please send a copy of your CV to [email protected]
Senior Associate, Asset Management
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