Maple Chen

Maple Chen, Principal at Accord Group, joined the firm in 2018, when it began a new project with their client, Avanath, an affordable multifamily and workforce housing-focused firm. The initiative was to raise investor capital for Avanath’s fourth real estate fund. The fund was slated to be Avanath’s largest at the time and one of the most significant affordable housing-focused real estate funds ever created, with a target of over $500 million.

He was a new player on the team for the capital raise, but his role in winning over investors became a critical component of the project’s overall success. He took it to investors, with a focus on European institutional investors who were familiar with the principles behind the social and sustainability goals that Avanath championed.

The final close for Avanath’s Fund IV totaled $800 million. This was an incredible accomplishment for him. A young professional participating in his first role with an investment advisory firm rarely says they have collaborated on a $800 million raise. More importantly, from his career perspective, the success with Avanath demonstrated his tremendous value to Accord and sowed the seeds of trust and respect with Accord’s senior management. This trust has led to additional responsibilities, such as helping manage Accord’s Catalyst Fund investments.

One of the accomplishments he is most proud points to his resilience and gaining the understanding that investment management is all about solving problems. Not all investments work out as planned. In this case, there were significant issues in a portfolio of eight small multifamily residential assets. Due to the COVID pandemic and the related economic challenges in the Bay Area, this portfolio needed significant attention to stabilize its value. This required a deft and somewhat delicate approach given the complexity of the situation.

He was assigned to the project to assist a managing partner in solving the issues but was soon asked to lead the turnaround initiative. He identified the issues, installed a new third-party property manager, and negotiated with the lenders to restructure the financing that supported the portfolio. Thanks to his efforts, the assets began to perform better, and the investment stabilized.

He contributes substantially to his local community and the institutional real estate industry. In the industry, he is active with established organizations like NAIOP, where he was a Bay Area Young Professionals Group (YPG) member. Following his participation in the program, he remains a mentor and connector for recent participants and graduates of the YPG program.

Originally from China, he has enjoyed tremendous support from the broader Asian community during his young career. In 2023, he started a networking organization called Asians in Commercial Real Estate (ACRE), a group of institutional-focused real estate professionals, fund managers, investors, analysts, and operators who share Asian heritage.

He has been actively involved with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. When he was working in New York, he was a “Big Brother” to a Chinese middle school student and helped the student navigate life in NYC. His native Chinese language skills were a helpful bonus, and the family took comfort in calling him for advice about their son, treating him almost as an extended family member. The experience instilled in him the importance of mentorship and community, which he has continued to carry throughout his career.

Growing up in China, he watched his father build a real estate business and get deals done while running a restaurant. His father’s energy and drive significantly influenced his desire to have a career in commercial real estate. Then, coming to the U.S. for college at Syracuse University opened a new world for him.

Connecting the two worlds of China and the U.S. and creating a bridge of collaboration, not competition, would be the mark he would like to make in the industry. He wants his legacy to be that of a professional who rises above the challenges of polarization and brings multiple cultures together through real estate. He believes there are tremendous synergies and opportunities in this endeavor.

The Next Generation Award would mean recognition and validation of his efforts and would help propel him to achieve his larger goals – creating a lifelong career in commercial real estate and finance, highlighting his diverse background, and supporting the efforts of other emerging Asian institutional real estate professionals.

These are just a few reasons Maple Chen was chosen as a recipient of Connect Money’s 2025 Next Generation Wealth Management Award. Now in its second year, the Next Generation Awards honor emerging leaders who are poised to significantly shape the future of the wealth management industry.