Erwin Aulis.

THE O'CONNOR GROUP

Erwin Aulis is a cool customer in a very hot business. Unlike many other real estate professionals, the senior vice president of The O'Connor Group does not blow a lot of smoke. His style at the negotiating table, he says, is "very even-tempered."

He even refuses to criticize the more aggressive, in-your-face tactics of some people who sit across from him. "It takes all kinds," he says simply.

While he seems to personify the conservative cool of billion-dollar investors, the 35-year-old alumnus of Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University is also in the avant-garde of the current generation of fund managers.

His responsibility is The Argo Partnership L.P., a $500 million "opportunistic investment" fund, which is venturing into investment types where timid or conventional-minded funds have not yet gone.

As opposed to companies that buy only mortgages and properties, Argo is willing to invest in what Aulis calls "strategic equity," including major positions in real estate investment trusts and other real estate operating companies.

"We have always been a value investor," says Aulis.

Aulis is a company man who dislikes the spotlight. He acknowledges that he dislikes media interviews. At times, his answers are so brief as to make him seem a sort of Calvin Coolidge of commercial real estate.

His reaction to a recent Wall Street Journal story which suggested that all the "good" investment deals in California have already been taken: "We would disagree with that. There's a lot of opportunity," he insists.

Why would investors prefer his fund over others? "You should speak with them," Aulis replies.

There is iron as well as ice in Aulis' makeup. Unlike some institutional fund managers, he likes to take a direct hand in negotiations. "I like the transactional side," he says.

How does an even-tempered person succeed in adversarial negotiations? "I've done okay so far. I'm not sure what the trick is," Aulis says.

One time that Aulis did show excitement was when he met O'Connor Group President and CEO Jerry O'Connor. At the time, Aulis was a three-year veteran of Chemical Bank's loan department. "He had a fantastic reputation in the market for doing very interesting things, both as a principal in real estate, as well as an advisor," Aulis says of the company founder.

Aulis worked in O'Connor's New York headquarters for five years, spent a year in Kansas City for the company, and has spent the past five years in Los Angeles.

A typical day for Aulis is long, and much of the day is spent "processing transactions," he says. He adds that the "deal flow is strong."

Aulis heads a staff of nine people at the corporate level, and another 20 property management people in the field. As a manager, "I'm a delegator, and I'm very sensitive and very attuned to details," he explains.

He is cautious about forecasting what Argo will do in the next year. "The firm's view is that there are a lot of opportunities, and there is no shortage of opportunities down the road," he says.

If the past is a reliable guide, Argo will likely continue to grow in new and adventuresome areas. Just don't expect to hear much about it from Erwin Aulis.