About Us

Carysfort Capital was founded by Michael Looney in 2014.

From our launch, Carysfort has been very active buying both direct real estate assets and asset backed loans. Through this activity, the team at Carysfort has built up a strong knowledge of investment selection, transaction management and active asset management post acquisition of large and complex investments.

Carysfort started as a small business and has grown quickly. We have a clear idea of what investments will work for us and what don’t. We can give clear direction to sellers, developers, agents and other market participants on what we want to achieve. That allows us to focus our time effectively, as well as that of the market participants we interact with.

A key guiding principle of ours is

"Do what you say you’re going to do".

If we tell a developer we are going to buy their entire scheme for a given price at a given date, we will. If we tell our investors we will generate a stable levered return at a given rate, we will. That simple and consistent principle and the reputation which has been earned on the back of it, has encouraged sellers to sell to us, developers to partner with us and investors to continually re-invest with us.

Our Approach

In 2014/2015, our focus was buying assets or portfolios of assets which were selling at significantly below replacement value, due to complex problems which banks, receivers, borrowers and many other investors could not solve due to financial, timing, experience or other constraints. Common issues involved planning permission, rights of way, title, fire remediation and management. We are still working out some of these positions.

From 2016 our attention turned to larger deals which were being sold by receivers, which had the ability to be significantly improved through much needed refurbishment and active asset management.

From 2017 onwards, our focus has been on creating value through the aggregation of a number of moderate sized residential investments to create an efficient institutional grade residential investment platform.

Key to this is:

  1. Partnering with best in class developers and working closely with them through delivery, to ensure the product is right and will stand the test of time.
  2. Being a reliable largescale exit for developers, which allows them to build scale at pace, safe in the knowledge that Carysfort will be there on the delivery date with the capital we’ve committed. This is the key contribution which Carysfort can make to addressing Ireland's housing shortage.
  3. Acquiring assets at a price which will guarantee a moderate and stable return for our investors.
  4. Managing the asset and the platform tightly post-delivery to ensure we produce a clean, reliable and efficient cashflow in the short, medium and long term.

Carysfort Capital Team

Michael Looney
Managing Director

Michael started his career in Goldman Sachs (London), before moving to JPMorgan (London), focusing initially on real estate finance underwriting, before leading the syndicated real estate senior loan distribution effort for UK and Ireland.

In 2009 Michael set up a consulting business which initially focused on working out real estate loans for banks, before switching in 2010 to advising investors on acquiring troubled loan positions and assets which where being sold as part of bank deleveraging processes.

Michael moved back to Dublin in Q3 2014 to set up Carysfort to put these experiences to good use.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering from University College Cork
  • Master’s degree in Management Science from Smurfit School of Business, University College Dublin
  • Master’s degree in Real Estate from the University of Reading, UK

Peter McCague
Director - Property Delivery & Asset Management

Peter joined Carysfort Capital as Director of Property in 2017. He is responsible for the property operations of the group, ranging from development management to asset management. Additionally, he takes charge of the company’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives.

Before joining Carysfort Capital, Peter was an Asset Manager for a UK based Real Estate investment manager. Prior to this, he held a position at Grant Thornton Ireland, where his responsibilities included managing asset disposal strategies on behalf of pillar Irish banks.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science (BSc) Surveying, University of Ulster
  • Diploma in Accounting & Business, ACCA

Memberships

  • Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI)
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
  • Property Service Regulatory Authority

Aisling McDonagh
Associate Director of Finance

Aisling joined Carysfort Capital in 2022 as Associate Director of Finance. Aisling is a qualified chartered accountant and chartered tax advisor who is responsible for structuring, financing, legal, tax and accounting matters for the business. Aisling ensures timely, efficient, and correct implementation of our transactions, including the acquisition and sale of assets, financing arrangements, and group reorganisations. Aisling also manages board meetings and other reporting matters.

Aisling worked in KPMG Ireland for almost 7 years and held a managerial position prior to joining Carysfort Capital. In her previous role, Aisling advised clients across various industries but focused primarily on the real estate sector.  She has experience advising on all aspects of property transactions, including the acquisition, structuring, financing, potential exit scenarios and day-to-day aspects.

 

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Trinity College Dublin
  • Chartered Accountant (ACA) with Chartered Accountants Ireland
  • Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) with Irish Tax institute

Memberships

  • Member of Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI)
  • Member of Irish Tax Institute (ITI)

Ciarán Soden
Investment Analyst

Ciarán joined Carysfort Capital in June 2022 as an Investment Analyst. Prior to joining Carysfort Capital, he achieved a first-class honours degree in Economics & Finance with a specialisation in Mathematics and Statistics at UCD.

His role in Carysfort Capital is to analyse & model new transactions, assist in the deal origination process, explore alternative investment opportunities, and actively adapt execution strategy in response to changing market forces.