Paul Cleary is Managing Partner and President of Oak Real Estate Partners (OREP), a national fund manager focused on the institutional investment sector. Based in Charlotte, NC, he is responsible for overall company operations, including managing finances, business partnerships and funding opportunities, as well as overseeing and measuring the success of business and employee initiatives.

In addition to his role at OREP, Paul serves a President and Chief Operating Officer of Red Oak Capital Holdings, a national commercial real estate finance company.

Paul has 25 years of national commercial real estate lending experience involving small-balance originations, construction loans and federally chartered credit union portfolios. Before OREP, he was a senior loan originator with Parkview Financial, and served as Chief Operating Officer for Money360, Inc. Paul has a significant track record in creating and managing lending policies and guidelines, as well as the development of operational tools and information systems to support financing operations.

Paul is an alumnus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Irvine, as well as a Juris Doctor degree (JD) from the University of San Diego School of Law.