AHI and Recap Advisors, LLc.
In addition to AHI, David Smith also is CEO of Recap Advisors, LLC. (Recap), one of the US's premier financial consultancies in affordable housing that recapitalizes and preserves existing affordable housing in the US through innovative financial transactions.
Complementary and compatible
Although AHI and Recap are fully independent, they are complementary and compatible endeavors:
- Recap is for-profit and works exclusively within the United States, for mission-oriented owners (both non-profit and for-profit), buyers, and government bodies (Federal, state and in some cases local agencies).
- AHI is non-profit (approved as a §501c3) and works exclusively outside the United States, for government bodies and NGO's seeking better affordable housing programs.
Why David Smith founded AHI
As founder (1989) and CEO (current) of Recap, David has been in the forefront of policy and programmatic issues relating to the finance of existing affordable housing in the USA. He has served on a HUD strategic planning working group to restructure their core business practices, as well as being a member of the 1996 hand-picked Senate Housing Subcommittee working group that developed what became known as the mark-to-market legislation, a cornerstone of US federal affordable housing policy for nearly a decade now. He has also been a prolific contributor to affordable housing literature, with articles on valuation, financing and refinancing, preserving existing affordable housing, major trends, legislative initiatives and their unexpected consequences, and more than 100 articles in total.
David's programmatic work at Recap and his enthusiasm for affordable housing led him to ask whether public-private partnerships were adaptable outside the US, and whether lessons learned in the US could, with suitable adaptation and customization, prove useful in other contexts. He founded AHI to use that 28 years of experience and the lessons so hard learned in the USA to aid the cause of affordable housing worldwide.
Legal and financial relationship: arm's-length
AHI and Recap are fully independent. Neither draws financial support from or provides financial support to the other. Any inter-company arrangements are on a purely arm's-length basis and are fully documented with appropriate agreements.