team

Aaron Swerdlow
FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

424-500-8455
aaron@equitasinvestments.com
Through his knowledge, expertise, and relationships in commercial retail investments, founder Aaron Swerdlow created Equitas Investments to grow a significant national portfolio of single tenant retail properties with a heavy emphasis in convenience/gas, auto supply, and fast food. Aaron has been a developer and investor for approximately 20 years with a resume that includes the acquisition of approximately 300 properties nationwide, and the development of approximately 30 ground-up retail projects.

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Doug Payne
PARTNER

310-575-9760
dpayne@equitasinvestments.com

Doug Payne is a partner at Equitas Investments. Following a seven-year commercial real estate brokerage career specializing in retail investment properties, he partnered with Equitas Investments. Mr. Payne focuses on property acquisitions and business development for Equitas Value Company, LLC. By utilizing his brokerage relationships and his underwriting and analytic experience, he is able to effectively locate and recognize opportunities throughout the country. To date, Mr. Payne has purchased properties in twenty states in the U.S. Mr. Payne is a licensed real estate Broker in the state of California. Mr. Payne is a native of Los Angeles and received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California Los Angeles.

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Linda Swenson
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

With 30 years of experience in all financial areas of real estate including syndication and development of commercial and residential projects Linda brings the caliber of financial expertise one can expect from Equitas Investments. She understands the importance of financial transparency needed in all aspects of the day to day business. In addition to her vast expertise in all areas of accounting and finance, she is intimately involved in streamlining financial and property management reporting systems and optimizing complex accounting operations.

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John McLaughlin
VICE PRESIDENT OF ACQUISITIONS

424-500-8558
jmac@equitasinvestments.com

John joined Equitas investments in 2012. He focuses on transaction management, property management, and coordinating all financing for our properties. In addition, he focuses on creating and maintaining lender, investor, and broker relations.

After spending 3 years as an intern while in school at UC Riverside, John joined the Equitas team full time June of 2015. Over the years, he has been involved in over $250 million in property acquisitions, sales, and loan closings.

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Shirley Costa
CONTROLLER

With a degree in Business Management and 9 years’ experience in bookkeeping and accounting, Shirley not only specializes in reviewing, analyzing, and interpreting financial statements, but she also enhances the workplace environment by integrating and refining processes to accommodate the company’s operational needs. Outside of the office, Shirley is a PTSA Fundraising Chair at her son’s Junior High and actively engages in volunteer work within her community.

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Athena Flores
EXECUTIVE OPERATIONS MANAGER

In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the office including maintaining banking relationships, processing new hires, benefits administration and payroll.
Her goal is to foster an environment that values diversity, employee development, and professionalism, while maintaining a dedicated focus on organizational effectiveness.
She has over 15 years of 1031 exchange, Triple Net and commercial real estate investment experience. Her past positions include Treasury Manager at Grubb & Ellis Company specializing in cash management, daily cash positioning and investments in commercial paper.

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Tom Johnson
ACQUISITION SPECIALIST

424-287-4181

tjohnson@equitasinvestments.com

Tom is trained in architecture and macro systems. He transitioned into real estate acquisitions in 2011 and worked in large scale development with CIM Group, after acquiring an advanced degree from UCLA. Prior to working in real estate, Tom worked as an architecture project manager. In his position with Equitas he manages and oversees day-to-day CRM workflow and distribution of leads based on economic trends and geography. He leads training for the research and acquisition process and directs sales and database management.

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Lauren Finkenbeiner
Associate Transaction Specialist

424-781-3805
lauren@equitasinvestments.com
Lauren is a Cal Poly Pomona graduate with a BS in Finance, Real Estate, and Law. After college she gained experience in residential real estate and is now assisting with our escrows. She is responsible for helping out with transactions, escrows, and loans, and involved in the due diligence process for all our acquisitions.

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Mike Wicks
SENIOR PROPERTY ACCOUNTANT

Mike joined Equitas Investments with a very diverse background. He received his B.S. from University of California Irvine in Astrophysics. He worked at a small bookkeeping firm where he discovered his love of accounting and finance. Now at Equitas as a Property Bookkeeper, Mike works in various areas including real estate taxes, property loans and bookkeeping for single asset entities

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Anthony Tomol
PROPERTY ACCOUNTANT

With the addition of Anthony Tomol to the Equitas Investments team, he brings more than a decade of professional experience in bookkeeping, accounting, and property management. Within Equitas Investments, Anthony is responsible for managing the accounting over multiple entities and overseeing their day-to-day activity. No investment is too small or too big to receive anything less than an exceptional performance and genuine care for each investments’ growth. Prior to joining the team, Anthony emersed himself in the financial sector as a licensed Mortgage Loan Originator. 

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Rogelio Flores  
ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT

Rogelio received his BS in Mathematics from Cal Poly Pomona, and after spending the first part of his career in teaching, he joins our team eager to put his knowledge and experience to practical use. Rogelio also enjoyed success as a competitive runner, winning one of our biggest local road races – the Manhattan Beach Old Hometown 10k! He brings with him the same level of dedication, that it takes to compete among elite athletes, into Equitas Investments to assist our accounting and operations departments. 

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Eva Alexander

Eva comes to us with over 25 years of customer service and E-Commerce background, she gained experience in various areas of accounting, marketing, web development and Graphics. Through her exceptional customer service skills, she developed many on-going relationships with vendors and clients. Eva’s role will be to ensure all day-to-day tasks are completed assisting in accounts receivable/payable departments.

With the importance with so many homeless and disadvantage people in the world Eva saw the need to help any way she could. Eva is the founder of Bobbysocks charity, who has a team that helps donate items to the unsheltered of primarily jackets and socks. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.

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