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⚖️ Legal Disclaimer

All opinions expressed by the guests are their own. 9×90™ and its affiliates do not endorse or guarantee any specific outcomes discussed in this episode. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Listeners should conduct their own due diligence and consult with professional advisors before making any investment or business decisions. Nothing discussed in this episode constitutes an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Any such offer or solicitation will be made only through official offering documents and to qualified, accredited investors, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or 9×90™.

About this episode

Ian Drewe, a global capital markets expert who has raised billions in institutional and private capital, joins Adi Soozin on 9×90™ to unveil the playbook for securing large-scale funding. From structuring investor-aligned capital stacks to reframing risk for institutional LPs, Ian shares the principles of conservatism, transparency, and thoroughness that have made him a trusted advisor to some of the world’s largest investors.

Discover how he evolved investor relationship management from handshakes to sophisticated CRM systems, why healthcare and property remain resilient asset classes, and how Avoka Property is spearheading innovative banking and real estate ventures. Ian also reveals a minority-owned community bank opportunity in Georgia and actionable insights for family offices and emerging managers looking to scale.

This episode is a masterclass in raising and deploying capital at scale—perfect for allocators, fund managers, and visionary founders preparing to navigate institutional waters.

About this guest

For those of you who do not know Ian, he:

1. Raised Hundreds of Billions Globally: Ian has led the structuring and execution of highly complex, global investment banking transactions—raising hundreds of billions of dollars for governments, institutions, and major corporations.
   
2. Transitioned from Global Finance to Strategic U.S. Sectors: After years of building capital solutions at the highest levels, Ian now applies the same discipline and precision to investments in U.S. property, healthcare, and banking.
   
3. Founder of Avoca Property: As the founder of Avoca Property, Ian combines institutional-grade analysis with entrepreneurial execution, currently backing innovative ventures like Healthy Milestones Healthcare, a next-gen care platform.

Connect with this guest

1. https://www.linkedin.com/in/iandrewe/
2. www.avocaproperty.com

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Transcript

This transcription was generated by Gemini & edited by ChatGPT

Adi Soozin: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of 9×90™. Today, we are joined by an exceptionally distinguished guest. Though originally from Australia, he has been deeply embedded in the U.S. financial landscape for more than 25 years.

Ian Drewe: Something like that.

Adi Soozin: Ian Drewe has raised hundreds of billions of dollars through the structuring and execution of highly complex, global investment banking transactions for governments, major institutions, and Fortune 500 corporations. After decades operating at the highest levels of global finance, he now applies the same discipline and analytical rigor to U.S.-based investments in property, healthcare, and banking as the founder of Avoka Property. Ian is renowned for bringing institutional-grade precision to entrepreneurial ventures in these spaces.

Ian, thank you so much for joining us today.

Ian Drewe: Adi, thank you. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here.

Adi Soozin: You’ve orchestrated and overseen the raising of hundreds of billions globally. From all that experience, what principles or patterns have proven most valuable when raising something like a $200 million fund today?

Ian Drewe: That’s an excellent question—and the short answer is: quite a lot. Many of the principles I’ve built my career on translate seamlessly to fund management today. First and foremost are conservatism, thoroughness, and absolute transparency in every aspect of the process.

Never pretend risks don’t exist—acknowledge them openly and analytically. Lay out how you plan to mitigate those risks. It’s also critical to run sensitivity analyses and show clients the potential outcomes if various assumptions fail, particularly macro-level factors beyond our control. Wherever possible, hedge risks.

An absolute axiom—then and now—is to surround yourself with the very best team of trusted advisors you can find. Many underestimate the value of the right advisors, but in my world, they have been the difference between success and failure.

And finally—and this sounds obvious but is often overlooked—you must know your material inside and out. Walk into every meeting fully prepared to answer countless scenarios. And if you don’t know something, have the integrity to say so and commit to finding the answer.

Adi Soozin: Oh my god. Yes!

Ian Drewe: I’ve seen too many people try to talk around a question they don’t know the answer to, hoping no one will notice. I assure you: they always notice. And it never pays off.

Adi Soozin: It’s so illogical. When you waste time bluffing, you lose the chance to showcase the expertise you do have. I was in a pitch recently where one of the country’s top M&A attorneys—unbeknownst to most in the room, also a former special ops officer—sat quietly as a young guy rambled on about U.S. military strategy in a country this attorney had direct experience in. I just thought, “Oh no.” The attorney simply stood, shook his head, and walked out.

Ian Drewe: Oops. Yes, that’s precisely what I’m talking about. Mistakes happen—we’re all human. But the fastest way to lose credibility is to pretend you know something you don’t.

Adi Soozin: Completely agree.

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Adi Soozin: One of my godfathers participates in syndicate structures where they lend billions.

Ian Drewe: Yes.

Adi Soozin: I got to see a glimpse of how it all works during a sunset sale a few weeks ago. Someone was trying to get in on the deal, and my godfather said to him, “I’ve been in banking for 45 years before I earned a seat at this table. You’re not even 45 years old—you’re not getting a seat at this table.” The young man was furious. I had to remind him, “I promised I’d get you into the sunset sale with my godfather—I never promised you’d get to work alongside him on everything.”

What they’re doing in those syndicates—backing debt at that scale—is extraordinary, but so much can go wrong. The wrong decisions, made by the wrong people, can ripple out and destabilize entire economies.

Ian Drewe: Absolutely. A syndicator has one of the most demanding roles—whether in equity or debt—because they’re not only navigating their own internal processes, they must also guide every other banker and syndicate member through theirs.

Adi Soozin: Exactly.

Ian Drewe: I couldn’t think of a tougher job. Thankfully, I had a team of syndicators responsible for managing that process, so I didn’t have to deal with it directly. But even from a distance, I could see how incredibly complex and demanding it is.

Adi Soozin: With my fund, we deliberately oversubscribe to create a buffer. That way, if someone faces a personal emergency—or if war breaks out in their country and they can no longer fulfill a capital call—we can restructure things to ensure no one is hurt and our progress continues uninterrupted.

Ian Drewe: That’s smart.

Adi Soozin: Recently, a gentleman from another fund asked me how we manage that. I told him plainly, “I let the attorneys handle it. I tell them, ‘Look, something came up. We value the long-term relationship. Make this work in a way that’s fair for everyone.’”

He pressed me, “But what do the terms look like?” I answered, “I have no idea. That’s why I hire attorneys I trust to ensure fairness for all parties. I don’t pretend to be the legal expert—I’m not.” Thank God for exceptional legal teams.

Ian Drewe: There’s a phrase I hadn’t heard until moving to the U.S.: “stay in your lane.”

Adi Soozin: Yes.

Ian Drewe: It’s so true. If you’re not an attorney, you simply say, “My attorney is handling this.” It’s basic, but many people try to fake expertise. It never ends well.

Adi Soozin: I see my role more like a soccer coach on the sidelines. I make sure my all-star players are in position, trained, and equipped, but I trust them to execute on the field. I can’t kick the ball for them.

Ian Drewe: There must be 50 books supporting that philosophy. Delegation is a skill in itself.

Adi Soozin: I believe the true skill lies in finding the right advisors, building trust, and then stepping back to let them excel.

Ian Drewe: That’s been the cornerstone of my career. Many times, I’ve walked into rooms where potential clients didn’t know me personally or had limited exposure to the institution I represented. Yet the fact that we had a top-tier advisor—say, Bill Smith, Esq.—speaking for us carried immense weight. His reputation alone often opened doors. Having the right attorneys, accountants, and advisors isn’t just about getting it right—it’s about earning investor confidence.

Adi Soozin: Absolutely. One of the law firms we work with gained us as clients because they hired a trusted legal ally of mine from business school. I don’t think they realized at first that all his IE Business School alumni clients would follow him to the firm. Once you’ve found someone you trust, you want to keep doing deals together.

Ian Drewe: I’d be stunned if the firm didn’t expect that client migration. That’s often the strategy when hiring top legal talent.

Adi Soozin: True. Now, you’ve worked on some of the most sophisticated structured deals in the world. How should emerging managers approach capital stack design, incentives, and preferred returns in a way that protects investors on the downside while still attracting capital?

Ian Drewe: Excellent question. Let’s keep it high level rather than diving too far into the weeds.

First, remember that without the backing of a major institution, investors are evaluating you. You’re asking them to part with their hard-earned capital and trust you personally. That’s no small ask. When structuring capital stacks and compensation, you must put yourself in their shoes.

Second, the experience of the sponsor matters. Some transactions have phenomenal business plans, but if the sponsor group lacks sufficient experience, it becomes harder to convince investors. That balance between sponsor experience and deal quality heavily influences what you can and can’t ask investors to accept.

Equally important is ensuring the operators have sufficient incentive to execute the business plan as promised. It’s not enough for them to have “skin in the game.”

Adi Soozin: Absolutely.

Ian Drewe: I’ve seen deals where sponsors relied solely on upfront fees or minimal back-end participation, offering little incentive to stay engaged. Initially, this might appeal to investors—base case numbers can look very attractive—but dig deeper, and you’ll see enormous risk. If the sponsor isn’t properly aligned, they may jump from transaction to transaction, leaving investors vulnerable.

There has to be a balance: enough upside for sponsors to remain fully invested in the success of the deal, while still protecting investor interests.

Adi Soozin: I couldn’t agree more. Someone recently asked me about my relationships with my “godfathers.” I explained that I structure deals to ensure it’s a win-win. That way, I know they have real skin in the game and are incentivized to guide me well.

He said, “I don’t need a win-win. I just want to help you for free.”

I replied, “If you’re not directly benefiting from helping me, I don’t trust you. There’s no such thing as free advice.”

Ian Drewe: Spot on.

Adi Soozin: Blindly trusting someone who claims to have no incentive is naïve. It reminds me of fairy tales—like Snow White biting the poisoned apple from a stranger.

Yesterday, I had someone pitch me syndicates. When I asked how they earned fees, they said, “We get paid on acquisition and disposition.” So their entire model was built around flipping large properties—essentially, house flipping at a massive scale.

I said, “Why not structure a fund and hold onto these valuable assets for long-term cash flow?”

They answered, “We’ve never done a fund before.”

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Adi Soozin: I told him, “I like your deals. But I would like them far more if you had a fund structure. That would give me greater confidence—you wouldn’t feel pressure to sell assets prematurely, and I wouldn’t have to worry about short-term motivations.”

Ian Drewe: Absolutely. It’s interesting you bring that up. I look back on my younger self and think how naïve I was—even at 35, I trusted far too easily. In a perfect world, I’d love to still have that innocence. But like you, I’ve witnessed too many people get burned because incentive structures weren’t properly aligned. It’s a lesson that applies across countless situations.

Adi Soozin: Yes.

Ian Drewe: As much as we’d like to believe the world works differently, the reality is it doesn’t. At the end of the day, you need a win-win. Both sides must have aligned incentives to ensure success. The sponsor needs to execute flawlessly for investors to see their returns. If those incentives aren’t calibrated properly, the entire structure collapses.

Adi Soozin: Absolutely. And to clarify, it’s not that people don’t want to hear political perspectives about Australia—we just avoid politics entirely on this show. Our audience spans 56 countries, and we want to keep the focus on actionable insights.

Ian Drewe: Then we’re doubly aligned. I don’t have anything valuable to contribute about politics in any country.

Adi Soozin: Exactly. We’ll leave that to Megyn Kelly.

Ian Drewe: She does it far better than I ever could.

Adi Soozin: So at your scale, managing investor relationships must have required systems. How did you scale trust-building with investors without losing authenticity?

Ian Drewe: Ah, this question really shows my age, Adi. In the height of my banking career, we didn’t have sophisticated CRM systems like we do today. The client base for any given transaction was finite and well-known. Decision-makers were familiar faces, and much of our success came from cultivating repeat business within that circle.

Adi Soozin: Right.

Ian Drewe: Whenever we ventured into a new country or sector where we lacked history, I’d say half the time our entry point came through an introduction. The other half came via connections—this is where our advisors were invaluable.

For example, clients were always willing to take a call from Ian Drewe of Institution X if Bill Smith, our trusted attorney, was on the team. Bill’s reputation alone reassured them that any deal he touched would be carefully structured and prudent.

Adi Soozin: Of course.

Ian Drewe: That reputation opened doors. But once we were in the room, the key was presenting a structure that openly examined risks, showed how we’d mitigate them where possible, and acknowledged them where we couldn’t. Transparency, preparation, and intellectual honesty built enduring relationships.

Adi Soozin: That’s so true.

Ian Drewe: Today, running Avoka is a very different dynamic. We rely on multiple CRM systems to automate parts of the process. But the challenge remains—balancing automation with authenticity. A system can help you reach more people effectively, but the personal connection is irreplaceable. If I’m not speaking with an investor enough, I know I risk weakening that relationship.

Adi Soozin: Exactly. In my own CRM, I’ve developed a process to keep that balance. When people ask how to access the deals I like, I first mark them as “maybe interested”. Then I send over our fund deck and a target asset preview.

If they respond positively and want more information, I move them to “interested.” If they don’t respond—or if they decide it’s not a fit—I simply mark them as “not interested” and move on. It’s like a marketing funnel.

At its core, people are either trusting you or one of your key decision-makers. Once you’ve built a strong base of investors you can retain, the focus shifts from acquisition to relationship stewardship.

Ian Drewe: Precisely. There’s an entire science around understanding the attributes of investors who will partner with you and your firm. It’s absolutely fascinating—something we never studied during my banking years but would have been incredibly valuable.

Adi Soozin: There’s a great book by Hunter Thompson where he categorizes investors into five archetypes. I haven’t reached that chapter yet, but for anyone curious, that’s a recommendation worth exploring.

Let’s shift to our final questions. For family offices or first-time allocators entering healthcare—or finance, as I know those are your current focus areas—what should they know?

Ian Drewe: Excellent. Let me start with multifamily property since that’s been our bread and butter. For a first-time investor, the first thing to understand is that this asset class is remarkably recession-resilient.

Why? Because in the U.S., there’s a chronic shortage of affordable housing. It’s a structural issue that, sadly, isn’t going away anytime soon. People need places to live, and that fundamental need cushions multifamily assets against volatility in a way few other asset classes can match.

Adi Soozin: That makes sense.

Ian Drewe: In healthcare, which for us spans assisted living through to intensive rehabilitation clinics, the story is similar. Unfortunately, people will continue to get sick and require rehabilitation—regardless of what’s happening in the broader economy.

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Listen to this episode using your favorite app

⚖️ Legal Disclaimer

All opinions expressed by the guests are their own. 9×90™ and its affiliates do not endorse or guarantee any specific outcomes discussed in this episode. This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Listeners should conduct their own due diligence and consult with professional advisors before making any investment or business decisions. Nothing discussed in this episode constitutes an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Any such offer or solicitation will be made only through official offering documents and to qualified, accredited investors, in accordance with applicable securities laws. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or 9×90™.

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