Stoneforge exists because the alignment we wanted to invest under didn't exist where we used to work. We co-invest in every deal, on the same terms as our LPs, and we structure conservatively so nobody is waiting on a bank.
Stoneforge is the answer to a specific frustration: a generation of sponsors that took fees first, found conviction second, and asked LPs to trust the process. We weren't going to be that.
Before Stoneforge, we spent years inside firms that did everything we now refuse to do. Sponsor capital was token, if it existed at all. Variable-rate debt was stacked on every deal to juice the IRR. The deals we'd want to invest in personally were rarely the deals being shown.
So we started over. Stoneforge co-invests 5% of equity in every transaction, real money, on the same terms as our LPs, pro-rata, with the same exit timing. We close without bank contingencies so the closing date is the closing date, and the first time interest rates move, we're not eating into anyone's distribution. We underwrite conservatively because we live with the outcome too. If a deal doesn't pencil for us, it doesn't go to you. That's the entire model.
Skin in the game isn't a marketing line here. It's the only reason this firm exists.
These four ideas show up in every Stoneforge deal, from the first conversation with a broker to the final quarterly distribution. They're the difference between a firm and a marketing engine.
We co-invest 5% of equity in every deal, pro-rata with LPs. No catch-up. No promote. If the deal works for us, it works for you, and vice versa.
All-cash, or fixed-rate seller financing with income covering payments twice over. No bank approvals, no floating rates, no maturity wall. Sellers know our close is real. LPs know a 200 bps rate move doesn't touch their distribution.
We look at roughly 400 deals a year. The handful that clear the doctrine are the only ones we close on, and the same six rules apply to deal one and deal one-hundred.
Every quarter, every deal, paid from in-place NOI, after operating expenses, under structures where income comfortably covers every obligation. You see what was collected, what was paid, and what's reserved.
Stoneforge is intentionally small, a well-versed team of experienced acquisitions, underwriting, and operations professionals who work every deal together. We invest across the United States, but every property is one we've walked personally and underwritten line by line, we do not buy from a spreadsheet. Investors deal directly with the people running the deals, no analyst-by-proxy relationship management.
Adam Parbus is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Stoneforge, where he leads the firm's investment strategy, acquisitions, underwriting, and investor relations. Before founding Stoneforge, Adam spent nearly 15 years in commercial real estate acquisitions, asset management, and investor relations across private syndications and institutional platforms.
Adam combined his professional experience with his perspective as a private investor to develop a simple philosophy: private placement sponsors should forever maintain a hands-on approach, provide full transparency, and proactive communication to offer the best passive experience to investors. So, at Stoneforge, when investors call, they reach the partners who did the work, not a relationship team.
Adam is also a loving husband, a proud father, and a diehard New York Islanders fan. In the limited time he's not focused on Stoneforge, you will find him behind his drums, playing or watching hockey, and spending time with his family.
Stoneforge is a Reg D 506(c) issuer. Investment opportunities are available only to verified accredited investors. The fastest path to a real conversation is below.
We'll send the current portfolio brief, a sample deal memo, and an invite to the next quarterly investor call.