Christopher Tessler

Christopher "Chris" Tessler is a long-tenured real estate investment banker whose expertise spans structured finance, financial structuring, investment banking, capital markets and private equity. He is based in London and has spent much of his career originating and structuring debt against UK and European residential property.

In October 2014, Aeriance Investments — a European commercial real estate lending specialist — appointed Tessler as Director of Origination, with responsibility for Greater London and UK regional markets. He was hired to accelerate the firm's expansion into development financing for independent residential developers on behalf of the firm's Opportunistic Real Estate Loan Fund 2 ("OREL 2"). At Aeriance he is also cited as Director of Development Finance Origination & Co-Syndication, and the group's broader Aerium affiliation lists him having served as Head of Financing at Aerium.

Before Aeriance, Tessler was at BLG, where he was responsible for originating mezzanine residential development finance loans, and earlier held a role at Investec Bank. Aeriance itself was established in 2008, headquartered in Senningerberg, Luxembourg, as an independent multi-strategy, multi-product debt fund manager active in commercial and residential lending across whole loans, stretch senior, mezzanine and bridge financing; the firm is no longer active.

Beyond real estate lending, Tessler's profile also records advisory and board work outside the property-debt world — including Senior Advisor to The SCP Group and a Board Member position at QB Technology, which appears to be his more recent focus.

• Real estate debt, not venture equity — lends against property assets via senior, junior/mezzanine, short-term bridging and development-finance loans, rather than taking equity stakes in operating companies.
• High-end and prime residential — the OREL 2 mandate targeted senior and junior short-term and development-financing loans on high-end residential properties in London and South East England (assets in areas such as Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair, often valued around £20m).
• Development and conversion plays — active on office-to-residential conversions and refurbishment/extension projects (e.g. two London office buildings redeveloped into high-end apartments; sea villas in Cannes).
• Backing independent developers — his hire specifically targeted development financing for independent residential developers and expansion beyond prime London into "strong residential markets" across the UK regions.
• Selective, credit-disciplined lending — the firm publicly emphasised remaining "very discerning about lending decisions while seeking to increase our loan book volume" (CEO Harin Thaker), reflecting a cautious, credit-led approach.