Season 4 of the No Cap podcast continues with Rick Schaupp, Managing Director at Clarion Partners, a $70B+ real estate investment manager. Schaupp joins hosts Jack Stone and Alex Gornik to trace his journey from architecture to leading institutional and private-wealth strategies at Clarion.
He shares candid insights on semi-liquid fund design, navigating pricing vs. growth, and where Clarion is overweighting today—from multifamily and warehousing to senior housing and industrial outdoor storage. Along the way, Schaupp breaks down how cycles turn, why office is a tale of winners and losers, and what advice he gives to young professionals entering the industry.
Conversation Highlights
Alex: For those who don’t know your story, how did you get started in real estate?
Rick Schaupp: “I was passionate about building things. I went to Notre Dame for architecture and worked at Cooper Robertson in New York. Alex Cooper designed Battery Park City, and I worked on Celebration in Florida and the Stapleton airport redevelopment. After three years, I went to business school and joined Clarion.”
Jack: What was your role at Clarion early on?
Rick Schaupp: “I was hired as an asset manager. At that time we were regional based, so I worked on office, apartments, and retail. This was 2000, right into the tech bust. Then 9/11 happened. Career progressed into portfolio management, and I created a separate account for a corporate pension fund.”
The conversation turned to Clarion’s growth and shift toward private wealth.
Alex: Clarion has grown a lot. How would you describe the platform today?
Rick Schaupp: “Clarion’s been around 40 years and manages 70-plus billion. We do one thing — invest for our clients. We have separate accounts, institutional products, and individual investor products. Generally we’re an LP, though we do some development.”
Jack: You mentioned Franklin Templeton earlier. How did that change the business?
Rick Schaupp: “We recapitalized with Franklin about eight years ago to expand distribution. In 2019 we launched the first ’40 Act tender fund. It offers five percent liquidity per quarter and a daily share price. All the information is on the website, which is unique.”
Alex: What themes are driving your investment strategy?
Rick Schaupp: “We’re thematically driven. Demographics are huge — millennials and boomers both drive housing. As millennials enter prime spending years, it also boosts warehouse demand. E-commerce penetration keeps growing. Healthcare demand rises as boomers age. And we have a housing shortage. That pushes us to housing, warehouse, and senior living.”
Jack: You’ve mentioned industrial outdoor storage. Why is that interesting?
Rick Schaupp: “It’s generally higher yielding and lower capital. The thesis is supply constraints — communities often don’t want storage yards, so good infill sites are scarce. That creates opportunity, but you need to underwrite zoning carefully. It can also be a covered-land play with optionality down the road.”
The hosts asked about portfolio construction and how Clarion balances equity and credit.
Alex: How do you think about building the portfolio?
Rick Schaupp: “About twenty percent is in mortgage-backed securities for liquidity, a third is private credit, and half is equity. Some investments provide stability, others growth. It’s both an art and a science.”
New supply tends to be the greatest moderator of rent growth.
Alex: Where are we in the cycle right now?
Rick Schaupp: “The ten-year has been between four and a quarter and four and a half for six months. That stability helps. We’ve had four quarters of positive private market returns. With strong demand, low supply, and values turning, I think we’re in the early innings of a new cycle — with the exception of office.”
Alex: How do you view office today?
Rick Schaupp: “Some buildings are performing at the highest level ever, but many aren’t. Vacancy is over twenty percent nationwide. Until supply and demand normalize — through conversions or other means — it’s hard to have conviction in the sector.”
Alex: What advice would you give recent grads trying to break into real estate?
Rick Schaupp: “All experience is good experience. I was an architect. You could be a property manager, broker, or research analyst. They all build your judgment pool. Be open-minded when you’re young. Later you can pivot, but at the start every experience adds value.”
You can’t set it and forget it. You need to make sure you’re selling at the right time if the world is changing.
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