Chris Aiken

Chris Aiken

Head of Acquisitions - Real Estate Group

Chris Aiken is head of acquisitions for MetLife Investment Management’s (MIM) Real Estate group. 

Chris is responsible for leading MIM’s acquisitions and development activity across the United States, on behalf of the MetLife general account as well as third-party institutional investors, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies.

Before joining MIM, Chris spent five years at Safanad, a principal investment firm, where he was responsible for leading all aspects of the investment lifecycle on behalf of multiple sector-based funds within the firm’s real estate strategies. These responsibilities included acquisitions, asset management, portfolio management and dispositions. Major transactions completed under his leadership include the acquisition and development of 2,600 student housing beds and a 148-property suburban office portfolio.  

Prior to joining Safanad, Chris was with BlackRock for 12 years, where he held roles of increasing responsibility focused on real estate acquisitions including development, value-add and core strategies. At BlackRock, Chris was responsible for the sourcing, underwriting and execution of over $3 billion in real estate investments across multifamily, retail, office, industrial and land on behalf of institutional clients. He also spent time in Investment Management, Structured Transactions, Capital Markets businesses and working on the BlackRock Diamond Property Fund.

Prior to BlackRock, Chris was an Analyst in the Investment Banking Division at Salomon Smith Barney. He holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Finance from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College, where he studied Business Administration.

Chris is a member of the Real Estate Executive Council, where he co-chairs the Membership Committee.