OUR TEAM
COE SCHLICHER
CEO & FOUNDER
Coe Schlicher is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Kong Capital, where he provides strategic direction of the investment strategies, as well as overall leadership of the firm.
Prior to founding Kong Capital, Coe launched the Titan Development Real Estate Fund 1 at Titan Development in 2016, where he was Fund Manager, Principal and independently responsible for the Senior Living Group. Previously, Coe worked as CFO of Ernest Healthcare which developed 20 post-acute hospitals and successfully prepared the company for exit, before returning to his engineering background as CEO of Silicon Audio, an Austin based engineering and manufacturing company that focuses on high tech sensor systems.
Coe graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago.
What’s your favorite vacation spot?
A tiny shack on the beach in Maine with my whole family.
What is the most interesting part of your job?
Figuring how systems work and figuring out which risks are real vs perceived.
What’s one thing someone would be surprised to know about you?
I made it to the Olympic Trials for the Modern Penthalon. As it turns out I run a little too slow to make it the Olympics.
What was the first concert you went to?
Aerosmith Pump. Just lost the t-shirt from the concert to my wife’s last Goodwill run which was assembled without my knowledge.
KATE FORD
PRINCIPAL & VP OF FINANCE
Kate is a Principal at Kong Capital, a real estate private equity firm focused on senior living investments. At Kong Capital, she sources and makes recommendations regarding investment opportunities. She also leverages her background as a former lender to secure construction and/or acquisition financing for projects in which Kong Capital invests. Kate joined Kong Capital from Titan Fund Management where she served as Vice President of Finance. In her role, she managed the fund’s underwriting team and secured project debt for fund investments. Prior to real estate development and private equity, Kate spent 10+ years in banking originating and/or syndicating $900M+ of commercial real estate loans for multi-family, retail, industrial, lodging, golf courses, and office buildings. She has previously worked at several financial institutions including Bank of America, Société Générale, Guaranty Bank and U.S. Bank with roles including underwriting, corporate finance with a focus on REITS, and loan syndications. Kate is a former Board Member of the Real Estate Council of Austin, as well as A Legacy of Giving, a non-profit organization. Kate holds a BBA with a concentration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
What was the first concert you went to?
My first concert was the Steve Miller Band and I didn’t even really know who they were, but I wanted to tag along with friends and my parents agreed to let me go. U2 was the first concert I attended where I could actually sing along.
If you weren't in private equity, what would you be doing for you career?
After college when I had just started banking, I considered changing my career path completely to Psychology. I’ve always been interested in people’s motivations.
How do you spend your free time?
What free time? I’m a mom. If I had free time, I’d play tennis.
What was your very first job?
I worked in the mall at a women’s clothing store called Harold’s cleaning the dressing rooms. It was very popular in Dallas at the time, but it was expensive. I suffered through folding clothes and hanging them back on the rack for 10 hours every Saturday and Sunday just for the discount!
CORY WOLFENBARGER
PRINCIPAL & VP OF OPERATIONS
In his role, Cory manages the performance of the company’s portfolio of assets and source new strategic investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Kong Capital, Cory served as Senior Vice President of Operations for The Wolff Resident Experience Company, a Scottsdale-based senior living management firm where he also held the position of Vice President of Senior Living Asset Management. Mr. Wolfenbarger also led business development and operations for two regional home health and hospice firms located in Northern Utah and Southeastern Idaho.
At Wolff, Wolfenbarger was instrumental in the underwriting, design, and development of 18 independent living communities in the western United States including Nevada, Colorado, Washington, California, and Idaho; eight of which are currently operational and 10 that are in various stages of entitlement or construction and scheduled to open within the next 18-24 months. During his first three years with Wolff, Cory added his operating experience to the design and underwriting of the portfolio. When Wolff assumed operations of their communities, he was given responsibility for overall operations of Wolff’s senior living portfolio.
Prior to joining Wolff, Wolfenbarger served in various operations leadership roles throughout the western United States for Emeritus Senior Living and Brookdale Senior Living, including Regional Vice President of Operations in Southern California. He was responsible for communities in California, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Montana and led the transition from Emeritus to Brookdale for communities in those markets following the merger of the companies.
During his employment with Wolff, Wolfenbarger served as a member of the American Seniors Housing Rising Leaders program. He also served as a board member of the Utah Assisted Living Association earlier in his career.
What was your very first job?
Utah Jazz ball boy – I was 14 years old! It was my dream job at that age.
If you weren't in private equity, what would you be doing for you career?
Teaching English Literature and coaching high school football
What’s your favorite quote?
“Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice. Pull down your pants and slide on the ice!” -Dr. Sidney Freedman, M*A*S*H
What was the first concert you went to?
The Thompson Twins and Berlin
JEREMY KOSTER
PRINCIPAL & VP OF CAPITAL MARKETS
Jeremy brings 29 years of bond trading expertise to the Kong Capital team and will be a critical component in successfully executing the firm’s unique investment strategy. In his role, Koster will be responsible for leading the bond trading portion of the multifaceted acquisition strategy.
Prior to joining Kong Capital, Koster served as Managing Director & Head of Sales at GMP Securities. There, he built strong, long-term revenue and growth performance by developing trusted client relationships in North America and Europe. He participated in the creation and performance of the Debt New Issue Committee which provided credit quality analysis, pricing, rates, terms and market support for GMP bankers. Mr. Koster successfully grew the business in highly competitive markets, many times competing against some of the world’s largest banks.
Jeremy began his career at Miller Tabak Roberts where he successfully created a trading desk business from scratch which he grew to be an integral part of a trading firm encompassing high yield, convertible, distressed and emerging market debt and was eventually purchased by GMP Securities.
What was the first concert you went to?
Van Halen 1984 tour
What’s your favorite quote?
Once in a while you get shone the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Jerry Garcia
What was your very first job?
I had a paper route at 13. It was so long I would get up at 5am and 3am on Sundays to push a shopping cart around my town for hours.
If you weren't in private equity, what would you be doing for you career.
Centerfielder for NY Yankees