Helmut Fischer
Helmut FischerChief Executive Officer
Helmut Fischer, aged 65, is a seasoned international real estate investment executive with over 35 years of experience in development and project finance, primarily focused on the Polish and U.S. markets.
Throughout his career, Helmut has successfully delivered more than 100 commercial real estate projects across various sectors, including office, energy, industrial, retail, and hospitality, with a total value exceeding EUR 4 billion. His expertise lies in crafting tailored financial solutions for optimizing investment transactions and enhancing senior debt banking mechanisms, working closely with global funds and local banking institutions.
From 1992 to 2006, Helmut worked at HypoVereinsbank, beginning as a risk analyst in their New York office and ultimately becoming Managing Director (Board Member) for HypoVereinsbank in Poland. He led the real estate division, managing projects for international investors and developers. Notable projects under his leadership include the Stary Browar Shopping Center in Poznań (development and investment funding), recognized as the best shopping center in the world in 2008 by the International Council of Shopping Centers (60,000 m² GLA / EUR 120M), and the Warsaw Financial Centre (WFC), an iconic 50,000 m² office project in downtown Warsaw (EUR 107M). He secured EUR 626M acquisition financing for the M1 portfolio of regional shopping malls for Apollo Rida, which won the Eurobuild Award 2004 for Investment Deal of the Decade.
In 2006, Helmut joined Griffin as Managing Director and Senior Partner, where he was leading the first real estate mezzanine and bridge finance vehicles for international investors including the Abu Dhabi Investment Council or Oaktree Capital Management. Both investments with a total committed capital in the level of EUR 125M and EUR 330M.From 2015 to 2019, Helmut served as CEO and Founding Partner at Capital2B, where he successfully managed development and investment finance for a retail parks portfolio across Poland. This included financing for the Quick Park projects (85,000 m² GLA), with QP Mysłowice being named the best small shopping center in CEE under 15,000 m² GLA in 2016 by Europa Property Magazine.
Since 2020, Helmut has been providing independent consulting services to U.S. and Polish investors in the EU, U.S., and Middle Eastern markets, focusing on the energy, industrial, and residential sectors. His projects included 15 solar farm developments in the Middle East, a USD 100M micro vertical axis wind turbine initiative for rural public facilities, and a USD 2 billion waterpower plant in the Middle East.