MULTI-HOUSING EXECUTIVES UPDATE: Western National Group Appoints Laura Khouri as President of Multifamily Subsidiary Co., and Other Moves

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorIrvine, Calif.–Western National Group has appointed Laura Khouri (pictured) as the president of the Multifamily Ancillary Group (MAG), a subsidiary of Western National Group. Included under the MAG umbrella are California Utility Billing Services (CUBS), a utility billing service provider, and iMAG, a renter’s insurance provider. In addition to CUBS and iMAG, MAG specializes in finding the partners for each community, negotiating the contracts and then managing the process after the contract is operational. As president, Khouri will oversee all of MAG’s activities and continue in her role leading Western National Group’s Human Resources, Training and Development, Risk Management and Investor Relations. Khouri joined Western National Group in 1985 and was senior vice president of human resources and vice president of operations before being appointed president. Prudential Douglas Elliman Appoints Two SVPsNew York–Prudential Douglas Elliman has appointed Lisa Brown and Alexis Demirjian as senior vice presidents Before joining Prudential, Brown worked with Stribling & Associates where as a vice president she spent 24 years specializing in residential sales and advising on 1,000+ deals. Demirjian has been with the firm since 2001. After a graduate degree from Syracuse University, he became a draftsman for world-renowned environmental architect Mike Reynolds. After several years as a draftsman, Alexis transitioned to general contractor.Dr. Richard Moody Becomes Chief Economist, Director of Research for Forward Capital and Its EntitiesOakton, Va.–Forward Capital LLC has promoted Dr. Richard Moody, chief economist and director of research of its Mission Residential unit to the same position for Forward Capital and all of its operating entities, which includes Mission Residential. This is a newly created position.Moody joined Mission Residential in 2006 to oversee the company’s micro and macroeconomic analysis team. He and his research team delivered local, regional and national supply/demand/balance metrics in real estate on a regular basis, as well as studying macroeconomic trends to help drive the firm’s multifamily acquisitions and portfolio practices.In explaining the rationale behind Dr. Moody’s move to the parent-company level, Forward Capital’s managing principal David Wieland says, “World-class research, risk quantification and thought leadership comprise the foundation of any sophisticated investment manager. This is particularly true in commercial real estate where measuring risk is difficult and as a result often gets ignored in the risk-return equation.”“The on-going economic dislocation and investor confusion is presenting incredible opportunities in both real estate debt and equity investments right now, but it also holds huge pitfalls. Having Richard as a senior member of Forward Capital’s investment team to support all our operating companies and asset managers will undoubtedly result in better investment decisions.”