Saif Khan, CFA
Investment Professional Proptech Founder
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About Me
My career interests have vectored around housing and urbanism. I have worked within this problem space as an investment professional, an operator and a management consultant. My experience has included investing on behalf of Canada's leading institutional housing funds to building an early stage Proptech company. I'm endlessly curious about the future of urban living and how emerging technologies can interact with the built environment.
Curiosities
At a personal level, I've been a huge fan of ancient history. I love learning about how some cultures across time rose to become great civilizations while others vanished without a trace. I've always felt societies of the past can provide subtle yet very reliable indicators for our future, only if we manage to learn our lessons. I love to learn around this theme and also write from time to time.
Activities
I'm also passionate about health and wellness, particularly in the context of young professionals and how they can fuse longevity and vitality into their routine. Instead of shortcuts or hacks, I've helped many friends integrate simple principles with compounding benefits to transform their bodies and become their best selves. In my approach, I love to combine ideas from traditional wellness traditions with modern science-based methodologies to achieve an ideal balance and optimal results.
Ways to Connect
Send me a message
How can I help you?
PropTech Idea + Market Discussion
I have built and scaled a Proptech company serving multifamily housing in North America. I've also built deep knowledge of technology stack used by industry incumbents and areas where AI can have transformational impact.
In addition to operating experience, I've been involved in $800M+ housing related investments across Canada/US in several residential asset classes.
I'm happy to discuss market segments, product strategy, customer acquisition and navigating the sales process for potential prop-tech solutions.
Workout + Nutrition Plan for Busy Professionals
Without the fluff, a no-BS, tried and tested plan to optimize your health. Built for busy professionals and uses a simple yet transformational approach to health and wellness.
Regardless of your starting point, you can use this plan to structure your workouts and plan your meals. Take the guesswork out of staying healthy and focus on the fundamentals.
In a quick 30 minute chat, we can discuss your current state, your goals and any dietary restrictions, I will then calibrate and share a template that can automate the whole process for you.
Blog
State of AI in Property Management
Proprietary sector deep-dive on generative AI in multifamily housing across North America. Includes proprietary insights from 60+ multifamily executives, ROI-generating use-cases, market maps and top companies by segment.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback.
Field Notes to Forecasts: How an African Internship Shaped My Investment Lens
The best investment lesson I ever learned did not come from a model. It came from three months early in my career working in Africa, where the distance between capital and the real economy disappears. That experience reshaped how I assess risk, build conviction, and serve clients. In a world of faster cycles and noisier data, the field still tells the truth.
Today, as a CFA charterholder focused on public and private markets, I carry those field notes into every forecast. Below are the principles I brought back and how they guide my decisions in a multipolar, transition driven decade.
## The moment that rewired my risk compass
I landed expecting to validate spreadsheets. Instead, I learned to trust observation before abstraction. Supply chains flexed with the weather. Diesel prices reset business models overnight. A delayed shipment was more than a line item; it was payroll, goodwill, and survival. I saw how liquidity and time are the true currencies of emerging enterprises, and how resilience is built not in boardrooms but in warehouses and storefronts.
That proximity reframed risk for me. Volatility is not the enemy if cash flows are adaptable and incentives are aligned. Illiquidity is not fatal if time horizons are honest and stakeholders are committed. Since then, I have prioritized cash flow quality, counterparty strength, and operational redundancy over elegant narratives.
## Price signals are local before they are global
Market data arrives with a lag. Local price signals do not. In the field, mobile money float, trucking rates, and port congestion told me more about near term demand than any macro release. Today I triangulate top down data with bottom up mosaics, from satellite imagery and alternative data to channel checks and policy calendars.
This matters now more than ever. The energy transition, supply chain rewiring, and digital rails are reshaping cost curves at the micro level before they appear in indexes. When I evaluate opportunities, I ask what the local clearing prices are, who bears basis risk, and how fast costs can reprice. This helps avoid crowded trades and spot inflection points early.
## Governance is a relationship, not a checkbox
In those months, contracts mattered, but trust mattered more. Sitting with founders and finance managers, I learned that governance is less a document set and more a living system of incentives, transparency, and feedback. The best counterparties welcomed covenants because they protected relationships through cycles.
I apply that today with structured diligence. I map decision rights, look through to beneficial ownership, and test board dynamics. I favor governance that makes good behavior easy and bad behavior hard. Strong alignment lowers tail risk, and in periods of stress, relationships are the first line of defense.
## Building portfolios for a multipolar decade
The next decade will reward portfolios designed for regime shifts, not mean reversion. I prioritize resilient cash flows, infrastructure adjacencies, and essential services where demand is less elastic. I am constructive on assets linked to electrification, grid efficiency, logistics modernization, and digital payments, especially where unit economics are improving.
I manage currency and liquidity risk explicitly. Local currency exposure must be earned through pricing power or natural hedges. Where appropriate, I favor private credit and blended finance structures that align stakeholders, improve downside protection, and bridge funding gaps created by bank retrenchment.
Scenario planning is non negotiable. I run decision trees for policy shocks, commodity swings, and supply bottlenecks, then pre commit actions for each branch. That discipline converts uncertainty into prepared choices rather than reactive moves.
### What clients can expect from my approach
You can expect clarity on what drives returns, what can go wrong, and how we will respond. I communicate in plain language, link every thesis to measurable indicators, and update positioning when facts change. I prefer concentrated conviction over passive drift, and I value patience supported by real time monitoring.
I anchor valuations to cash flow resilience, not just multiples. I insist on auditable data, independent verification, and post investment accountability. And I will tell you when no decision is better than a rushed one. Opportunity cost deserves the same rigor as deployed capital.
The Africa internship did not make me romantic about emerging markets; it made me realistic about how value is created anywhere. The edge is not in predicting the future perfectly. It is in noticing differently, preparing rigorously, and partnering with discipline. If this resonates, take a moment to ask where your own decisions are furthest from the field. The answers there often change the outcomes everywhere.
The Ancient Metropolis
Great Cities of Our Past
Introduction
If you’re reading this, there’s a high chance that you live in a city, which would be considered by historical standards a “Metropolis”. In less than two centuries (something so negligible that it would be a rounding error in overall recorded history), we’ve witnessed the greatest wave of urbanization ever known! By 2050, urban centres are expected to become the living spaces for about 70% of the world’s population.
But the idea of ‘living in the big city’ is hardly anything modern; there is evidence around the world of some great societies that date as far back as 7,500 BC. Maybe, you’ve also wondered what it would’ve been like to live in one of these great ancient cities and how it would’ve compared to an urban lifestyle today.
My own interest in urban history grew out of a childhood fascination with ancient cities. I grew up in Pakistan, land of the fabled Indus Valley Civilization and home to some of the world’s earliest cities. Even as a kid, I remember being in complete awe of mysterious ruins of human settlements that were built more than 5,000 years ago. Add to that the countless teenage days spent playing the classic strategy video game Age of Empires 2, I’ve since kept falling curiously down this rabbit hole. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to visit several such places, and fast forward to today; I‘ve co-founded an urban technology company with the goal of creating connectedness and community in apartment housing. So naturally, I get to spend lots of time thinking about the future of urban living as well.
Mohenjodaro, Pakistan — largest city of Indus Valley Civilization. (Photo: BBC)
Nemrut Dagh, Turkey (Photo: dailysabah)
The motivation to start a series on urban history comes from the recognition that we might be living through a century where some generational trends will play out — including the convergence between built spaces and technology that’s already happening at an unprecedented pace.
History of cities, ultimately, is the story of humanity — it offers us a window into our collective past, a benchmark for our present, and a template for our future. It may sound surprising today, but there was remarkable diversity across ancient cities; in things such as modes of living, types of government and local economy.
In each part of this series, we’ll look at a different ancient city along these themes and try to paint an idea of that era’s lived experience. We would also include the current state of these places and as a fun futuristic exercise, create their generative AI-based renderings (imagined to the present day). We’ll try to include bonus content like book and documentary recommendations if you’d like a deep-dive on a particular society.
Abu Simbel, Egypt — Temple of Pharoah Ramses II (Photo: Tim Rivenbark)
Persepolis, Iran — ruins of the “Gate of all Nations”. (Photo: wikimedia)
Through learning about these cities, we’ll get to explore the dramatic rise, and tragic downfall of some of history’s greatest civilizations. While we observe a wide variety of factors behind the rise of ancient cities, there seems to be a few common causes of their eventual decline. There’s obviously external invasions or natural disasters; but a surprisingly large number of past cities have fallen due to the actions, inaction or hubris, of its own people.
There’s something very sobering about the stories of history’s great cities; they are monuments to some of humanity’s greatest achievements, but also their greatest failures. In many ways it seems that things couldn’t be more different, while in as many, it seems like nothing’s changed. The best we can do, is to learn from this body of knowledge that exists before us, which comes from our distant ancestors, and use that to shape our future.
“Those who cannot remember their past mistakes, are condemned to repeat them.” Jorge Santayana
Angkor, Cambodia. The abandoned Ta Prohm Temple. (Photo: Vox)
Pompeii, Italy. Great Roman city destroyed by volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. (Photo: World History Encyclopedia)
Gobekli Tepe, Turkey. World’s oldest temple, 9,500 BC. Built almost the exactly like Stonehenge, but predates it by 6,000 years. (Photo: Thrive Global)
Hope you would enjoy this series, it would mean a lot if this can help stimulate curiosity, awareness or debate around a topic that I care deeply about; urban living and the future of our communities. Excited to kick this off with the timeless opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, one of history’s greatest novels.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness;
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity;
it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness;
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair;
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us;
we were all going directly to heaven, we were all going directly the other way”.
American Society in Numbers
In one of my recent posts, I summarized a landmark report by US Surgeon General on America’s social isolation epidemic. Since then, I’ve received many messages from friends and readers who’ve expressed their shock, awe or sadness towards the social fabric of America. This “social fabric” might as well be euphemism for something really odd that’s been going on in US cities, which are home to 83% of all Americans.
Something which seems to defy the endless trend of “surveys” that rank world’s best cities to live that you may have come across. You may even have noticed a certain shift in urban and civic attitudes yourself; or if you are more analytically inclined — may have been hoping to see some numbers.
One of the great things about data is that it can convey a lot without saying much; social data also offers a window into the Zeitgeist or the prevailing spirit of an era. The reason surveys about American social life or values become so important is because for more than a century and for much of the world, it has represented a very strong idea — a modern urban life or the more colloquial “American Dream”.
In a time when urban density is at an all time high and everyone is unquestionably more connected to information — Americans appear more distant than ever before. Not only that, they’ve also become more indifferent and disagreeable towards each other. Included below are some eye-opening charts and figures which summarize the current state of affairs — these mainly relate to social values, population density and community well-being.
Depending upon your disposition, you may find these figures shocking, sad or even absurdly comical; but in any case they point to something significant and urgent. America’s global brand of urbanism seems to be losing the plot entirely. A place which in modern history has led a ceaseless procession towards innovation and modernity, appears to be missing something rather simple — a sense of community.
One thing that any immigrant from a country with declining social order may attest to; is the surprising speed with which things can go from bad to worse. While the reasons for community breakdown may be many and some of those structural — any course correction may first depend on acknowledging something that’s going seriously wrong. Before we build the smart cities in the future, perhaps we should create more sustainable communities in the present. There is a lot that can be learnt from looking at rest of the world as well as the large body of knowledge in urban history.
Social data can become quite politically divisive and rhetorical, which is why I would recommend we all reserve our opinions in that regard. Instead, I hope we realize the urgency and impact of what these charts represent; for better or worse, one gets the sense they’re probably going down in history.