He spent 30 years in Big 4 leadership, financial industry, and in real estate development. Now he's betting on raising a standard for how real estate advisory firms operate. Azamat Yerzhanov, co-founder and Managing Partner of PEERS Real Estate, talks about the gap in the market nobody else was closing, and why now is the moment to do so.
You're a certified public accountant who's worked as CFO of a bank that IPO'd on the London Stock Exchange. Why did you decide to start a commercial real estate company?
I've spent the last 9 years in real estate, working through the whole cycle of commercial development: selection and acquisition of suitable land plot, development concept, construction, leasing out the property, and exiting the project.
Having worked with different brokers and advisors, and coming from professional service-background myself, I kept noticing what worked well in this industry and what I would do very differently.
Why another company in this industry?
Because most real estate advisors only ever see one side of a deal. The physical space, or the numbers, or the contract, rarely all sides together. PEERS Real Estate (PEERS RE) brings four senior partners from four sides onto the same deal at the same time, backed by direct access to legal expertise.
Another reason is the growing need for independent advisors: because large international firms are often involved in leasing, asset management, property management, investment advisory, and valuation all at once, sometimes with different, even competing interests within the same group. Our recommendations don't come from global directives or group priorities. They come from what's best for the client.
Why did you personally take on this turn in your career?
I wanted to stay in real estate, but I also wanted to put my background in professional services to real use. I genuinely enjoy the people side of this business: the team you build inside, and the clients you work with on the outside. Building and growing something has always been what I enjoy most, and real estate is where I've chosen to keep doing it. I believe my financial background adds something valuable to PEERS RE and to our clients that very few competitors in this market can offer.
What originally brought you to Slovakia and to real estate?
I moved to Slovakia around 15 years ago when we were trying to select the country to relocate to from Kazakhstan. Slovakia won our hearts: people here were far more welcoming than in other countries we considered. My work has since taken me to Romania and elsewhere in CEE, but Bratislava was the place that reminded us most of home, of Almaty. Culturally, we felt closer to Slovaks than to any other nation here.
What is happening in the Slovak/CEE market overall that makes this the right moment for PEERS Real Estate to launch?
Slovakia's commercial real estate industry is more developed than in many neighboring countries, which is why we chose to start PEERS RE here. The market has been through a difficult adjustment over the past year or two, but I'm confident it will pick up again, and soon. That makes this the right moment to build the foundation: to be ready for the next wave of market growth.
And we shouldn't stop here. We plan on expanding to other CEE markets, learn from them, and bring that experience back. We are building PEERS RE as a regional practice, not one confined to a single country.
Can you take us behind the scenes of launching PEERS Real Estate and why that name?
Over the years, I built a strong network within Slovakia's real estate industry, and I started sharing the idea of a commercial real estate advisory with people in it. I was lucky enough to bring together partners with genuine senior experience across all crucial business lines: industrial & logistics, offices & retail, property management, and investment & finance. I'd already had the pleasure of working with Tomáš Horváth on various projects, and I'd come to value Michal Hoško's and Patrik Potisk's expertise just as deeply. It became clear fairly quickly that the four of us shared the same vision, and that's how we became the founding partners of PEERS Real Estate.
And we were aware that our joint expertise was solid, but there was one "missing" piece that would give us a real edge. What we kept missing within the real estate advisory industry was good cooperation with legal advisors. That's where my long-standing relationship with Daniel Grigeľ from PEERS, The Central and Eastern European Law Firm, came in. Daniel and I had worked together on many projects over the years and had talked about building something like this.
Over time, that conversation turned into PEERS backing us, so we could offer our clients direct access to one of the best legal advisors in the region.
What would be PEERS RE's first moves?
We're launching in Slovakia first, with a small, senior team covering every angle of a commercial deal: real estate, finance and property management. And with the scale of industrial investment currently moving into Slovakia, that timing isn't a coincidence.
Who is PEERS RE for?
Corporate tenants looking for office or industrial space in CEE. Property owners considering a sale, including sale-leaseback. Developers who need land but not long-term ownership. And investors looking at real estate as part of a wider portfolio. What connects them is that they're tired of piecing the picture together themselves: talking to a broker, then a lawyer, then an accountant, and reconciling what each one says. We are here to take over and manage their investments as we'd do our own.
Where do you see PEERS RE in five years?
One of the leading practices in Slovakia, with a market share of 10-15%. Offices in key CEE markets and more than 20 equity partners across the region. And recognized by the market as the most trusted advisor in the real estate industry.
If you had to say, what PEERS RE guarantees that nobody else on the market does, in one sentence?
PEERS RE is the only advisor covering every angle of your deal, incl. real estate and finance, and is backed by legal precision provided by PEERS, the Central and Eastern European law firm.
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