Anthony Maxwell-Jones, Founder of Valorem – Building a Real Estate Platform from Scratch

What does it take to walk away from a successful private-equity career and build your own real-estate investment platform from scratch?

This week, I sat down with Anthony Maxwell-Jones, Founder & Managing Partner at Valorem Investment Partners, to unpack his journey from the early days at Mercer / Castleforge to founding Valorem - and what he's learned along the way about timing, risk, and backing yourself.

Anthony has quietly built one of the UK's most interesting boutique investment platforms, deploying over £80 million across offices, student, residential, hotel, and strategic-land assets - achieving a 20 % IRR and 2.2× MOIC.

We discuss how he spotted opportunity in the wake of the GFC, why he left a newly raised fund to go it alone, and the lessons that came from building Valorem through Brexit, Covid, and a volatile rate cycle.

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Key Topics Covered In This Episode:

✅ From Castleforge to Valorem - How Anthony transitioned from analyst to entrepreneur

✅ The Leap - What gave him the confidence to found his own firm at 27

✅ Covid Chaos - How a "malicious virus clause" saved a £90 million office scheme

✅ Family Office Capital - Building trust, track record & long-term partnerships

✅ Discipline & Patience - Investing through a stagnant market without pressure to deploy

✅ Future Focus - Why defence infrastructure and core-plus offices are on his radar

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Oh, and one last thing…

In every episode, I ask each guest: Who are the People, what Property, and which Place they'd invest in if they had £500 million at their disposal?

Anthony's answer did not disappoint 👌

Got any thoughts or questions about this podcast? Drop them in the comments - I'm always up for a chat!

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