Ep.67: Alpha Isn't Timing the Cycle. It's Outlasting it. - Greg Bates - President & CEO - GID

In this episode of The Distribution, host Brandon Sedloff sits down with Greg Bates, CEO of GID Investment Advisors, to explore how a 65-year-old private company is navigating today’s real estate landscape with a focus on long-term value creation, vertical integration, and investor alignment.

Greg shares his journey from growing up in a competitive family in Massachusetts to building and leading major investment platforms at GE Capital, and eventually joining GID. He discusses the evolution of multifamily and industrial real estate, the rising role of private credit, and how GID is positioning itself to remain disciplined and focused amid shifting market conditions and investor expectations.

This episode covers:

• The value of vertical integration and why GID avoids third-party property management
• How GID thinks about product-market fit, partner alignment, and long-term capital
• Lessons from building businesses inside GE Capital and transitioning to entrepreneurial leadership
• The benefits and challenges of raising institutional capital while staying focused on alpha
• GID’s approach to innovation, including AI, ESG, and building a captive insurance platform

Greg also reflects on market cycles, the risks of chasing trends, and why he believes great outcomes come from buying high-quality assets and holding them through time. This is a wide-ranging conversation with an experienced operator and investor leading one of the country’s most respected real estate investment firms.

Past results are not indicative of future performance. This podcast is not intended as investment advice and is for information purposes only. GID is a client of Juniper Square.

Links:

Greg on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-bates-164809b/

GID - https://gid.com/

Brandon on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Juniper Square - https://www.junipersquare.com/

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:45) - Greg’s background and career

(00:13:33) - Lessons learned in building companies

(00:18:22) - Advice for folks changing companies

(00:20:41) - Joining GID

(00:22:29) - GID as an organization today

(00:26:22) - Capitalization 

(00:29:36) - Developing products and ideas

(00:37:25) - Vertical integration

(00:42:09) - The state of the market in 2025

(00:46:32) - The future of multifamily and industrial 

(00:51:18) - Credit as a more durable business line

(00:53:11) - The motivation to continue building GID

(00:56:40) - AI and data