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Pennington Partners & Co
Pennington Partners & Co was founded in 2016 by Brian Gaister and Rodd Macklin, two operators who exited privately held companies and real estate ventures...
Pennington Partners & Co
Pennington Partners & Co was founded in 2016 by Brian Gaister and Rodd Macklin, two operators who exited privately held companies and real estate ventures before building a multi-family office designed around founders, CEOs, and multi-generational families. The firm emerged from the thesis that entrepreneurial wealth creators need an investment partner who has navigated the same liquidity, tax, and governance challenges — not a generic private bank. Gaister concurrently leads the affiliated venture platform SaaS Ventures and the real estate development firm PTM Partners, embedding operating-company DNA into the family office. The firm deploys across private equity, venture capital, real estate, and private credit, blending direct co-investments and SPVs with fund-of-funds commitments. Confirmed portfolio holdings span early-stage to buyout: the firm reports positions in the iShares Bitcoin Trust and iShares Ethereum Trust, while Gaister’s SaaS Ventures arm backs early-stage enterprise software and cybersecurity companies. Real estate investments, often executed through joint ventures, include the mixed-use Soleste Grand Central in Miami, 2000 Biscayne Boulevard with Kushner Companies, Edge Collective in St. Petersburg, and the Watermark project in Washington, DC. Geographic focus covers North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East & Central Asia. Pennington Partners won the Family Wealth Report Award in 2023 for Best Multi-Family Office up to $2.5 billion in AUM/AUA, an acknowledgement of its traction with founder-led families. The firm operates from Bethesda and a secondary office in Houston. Beyond the core MFO, Gaister maintains active roles in YPO and the Jewish Federation National Young Leadership Cabinet and serves on the investment committee of the Bender JCC of Greater Washington, signaling institutional connectivity rather than passive membership. The firm’s platform includes a tax-advantaged alternative income program called PPA, complementing the core family-office operating partnership. The structural differentiator is the operating-company layer: Pennington Partners is not merely a wealth allocator but a co-investor that originates deals through its own development and venture entities, then syndicates them internally. This hybrid architecture — part family office, part GP — lets founder-clients invest alongside principals who have their own capital in every deal, creating an alignment mechanism that pure-fee MFOs cannot replicate. The firm’s continued development of large-scale ground-up projects in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic reinforces that it behaves more like an owner-operator than a consultant.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
2016
AUM
Over $3 billion (per the firm, 2023; Altss estimate ~$3.95B)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Bethesda
Corporate office
7920 Norfolk Avenue, Suite 1150, Bethesda, MD, 20814, United States
Additional offices
Houston, TX
Principals
Brian Gaister
Co-Founder & CEO
Rodd Macklin
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Pennington Partners?
Investment decisions are driven by Co-Founders Brian Gaister and Rodd Macklin. Gaister, who is also CEO of the real estate development firm PTM Partners and the venture platform SaaS Ventures, brings an operator’s lens to the multi-family office. The firm aligns its own balance sheet with client capital in each allocation, making the founders personally exposed to every investment committee decision.
How does Pennington Partners source its proprietary deal flow?
Much of the firm’s deal flow originates through the founders’ own operating companies — PTM Partners originates ground-up real estate developments in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic, while SaaS Ventures scouts early-stage enterprise software and cybersecurity deals. These vehicles give the multi-family office a pipeline of vetted, principal-tested opportunities before they reach the broader market.
Does Pennington Partners operate solely as a family office or also as a GP?
It operates a hybrid model. The core entity is a multi-family office managing capital for founder-led families, but Co-Founder Brian Gaister simultaneously runs PTM Partners and SaaS Ventures as distinct operating companies. The MFO co-invests alongside these platforms and opens select opportunities to its partner families, creating a structure that blends family-office services with GP-style deal origination.
What investment stages does Pennington Partners target?
The firm participates across the full lifecycle. In venture, SaaS Ventures targets early-stage enterprise software and cybersecurity companies. The real estate arm executes ground-up development and buyout-scale projects. The broader MFO also makes growth-stage and buyout private equity commitments, giving partner families a spectrum that stretches from seed to stabilized-asset.
Which real estate markets does Pennington Partners develop in?
Confirmed projects cluster in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic. The portfolio includes Soleste Grand Central and 2000 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, Edge Collective in St. Petersburg, the Watermark mixed-use project in Washington, DC, and the Viridium residential development in Virginia. Joint venture partners have included The Estate Companies and Kushner Companies.
How is Pennington Partners structured for co-investment?
The firm uses direct co-investments, SPVs, and fund-of-funds allocations as its primary vehicles. Partner families can access individual opportunities on a deal-by-deal basis, and the founders commit their own capital alongside each investment. The model is designed to give families the choice between bespoke direct exposure and diversified fund commitments.
Does Pennington Partners maintain a philanthropic or community structure?
The firm does not operate a standalone foundation, but its principals are embedded in institutional community roles. Co-Founder Brian Gaister is an active member of the Jewish Federation National Young Leadership Cabinet and serves on the investment committee of the Bender JCC of Greater Washington, which extends the firm’s governance capability into non-profit asset oversight.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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