A hospitality company built around experience, alignment, and long-term value.
With experience spanning more than $2.5 billion in hotel investment, development, acquisition, ownership, and operations, JAM Asset Management is dedicated to hospitality development, investment, and asset management.
We focus on opportunities where disciplined execution, strong stakeholder alignment, and long-term ownership thinking can produce durable results. Our work is grounded in principal experience and shaped by decades of hotel investment, development, ownership, and operations.
JAM's leadership has developed, owned, operated, and overseen hotel assets across major brands including Hilton, Accor, BWH, IHG, Marriott, Hyatt, and Wyndham. In addition to hospitality, the team has also developed and operated a seniors housing portfolio, bringing further expertise in service-driven real estate and long-term asset stewardship.
We prioritize thoughtful deal selection, careful capital structuring, and sustained involvement over purely transaction-driven activity.
Leadership
Jolene Keats
President & Chief Executive Officer
Jolene Keats is a hospitality development executive, capital strategist, and business development leader with more than two decades of experience building brands, raising capital, and delivering growth across the hospitality, real estate, venture capital, and financial services sectors. As President & Chief Executive Officer of JAM Asset Management, Jolene leads the firm's corporate development, investor relations, strategic partnerships, and business development initiatives. Working alongside institutional investors, family offices, hotel brands, governments, and development partners, she plays a central role in originating opportunities, structuring strategic relationships, advancing complex development projects, and supporting capital formation for hospitality investments throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Jolene has built an exceptional career with some of the world's leading hospitality companies, holding senior development positions with Accor, MasterBUILT Hotels, Red Lion Hotels, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, and Travelodge Canada. Throughout her career she has negotiated franchise and development agreements, evaluated acquisition and conversion opportunities, secured development sites, guided hotel owners through brand selection, and helped expand internationally recognized hotel brands across Canada and the United States. Her experience extends well beyond hospitality. As Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Capital X and Effortless Mortgage, Jolene successfully raised more than $20 million for an alternative mortgage investment platform while developing innovative lending solutions for residential real estate. She has also worked in venture capital as an Investment Principal with Sandpiper Ventures, preparing investment theses, financial models, due diligence, and investment memoranda for one of Canada's leading early-stage venture capital funds focused on deep technology companies.
Ian McAuley
Executive Director
Ian McAuley, BA, MBA, is an internationally recognized hotel developer, capital markets executive, corporate director, and entrepreneur with a career spanning more than three decades and over USD$2 billion in hospitality and real estate development, capital deployment, and transaction value. As Executive Director of JAM Asset Management, Ian leads the firm's international hotel development and investment activities, working alongside governments, institutional investors, family offices, lenders, and global hotel brands to create destination hospitality projects throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Africa. He has successfully led projects as an owner, developer, operator, public company CEO, lender advisor, investor, and corporate director—bringing a rare 360-degree perspective to every stage of the real estate investment lifecycle. Throughout his career, Ian has participated in the ownership, development, operation, financing, of more than 200 hotels, giving him a unique perspective that bridges hospitality operations, real estate development, institutional capital markets, and corporate leadership. His experience extends well beyond hotels to include seniors housing, mixed-use developments, destination resorts, and complex public-private partnerships. Ian has twice served as President and Chief Executive Officer of publicly traded companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, leading initial public offerings, public market financings, acquisitions, and corporate transformations while working closely with institutional investors, investment banks, boards of directors, and regulators. His experience in both the public and private markets has enabled him to structure sophisticated financing solutions and execute complex real estate and hospitality investment strategies across multiple jurisdictions. Recognized as a thought leader in the global hospitality industry, Ian is a sought-after keynote speaker on hotel real estate, hospitality investment, capital markets, development strategy, and global hotel brands. He has addressed conferences, universities, government agencies, investment organizations, and industry associations throughout North America and Africa, sharing practical insights drawn from decades of experience developing, financing, and operating hospitality assets around the world. Ian brings extensive corporate governance experience, having served on the boards of publicly traded companies, private corporations, real estate organizations, and leading arts institutions. He currently serves as a Director of Northern Vision Development LP, one of the largest privately owned real estate development and investment companies in Northern Canada. Northern Vision's diversified portfolio spans hotels, seniors housing, commercial real estate, residential communities, mixed-use developments, retail assets throughout the Yukon and British Columbia. As a board member, Ian contributes to corporate governance, long-term strategy, capital allocation, acquisitions, executive oversight, risk management, and sustainable growth across one of Northern Canada's most significant real estate investment platforms. He has also served on the boards of major performing arts organizations and real estate enterprises, bringing the same disciplined approach to governance, strategic planning, and organizational leadership. Ian completed the Directors Education Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds the ICD.D designation, reflecting his commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance and board leadership. Before building his business career, Ian enjoyed a successful career as a professional musician, touring and performing with symphony orchestras and jazz and rock bands. Those experiences shaped the resilience, discipline, creativity, and entrepreneurial mindset that continue to define his leadership today. Today, Ian is leading the next generation of hospitality investment and development through JAM Asset Management, building institutional-quality hotel, wellness, and mixed-use platforms that combine world-class brands, innovative capital structures, and exceptional destinations. His vision is to create enduring hospitality investments that generate long-term value for investors while strengthening the communities in which they operate.
JAM leadership is supported by a seasoned network of associates and specialist partners, including architects, designers, contractors, bankers, operating managers, and other hospitality professionals assembled to suit each assignment.
What We Do
Development Management
We guide projects from concept through execution with a focus on feasibility, design coordination, budgets, approvals, stakeholder management, and delivery.
Capital Structuring
We help shape capital stacks and investment structures that support execution and align the interests of sponsors, investors, lenders, and operating partners.
Asset Management
We provide owner-side oversight centered on performance, accountability, reporting discipline, and long-term value protection.
Strategic Investment
Where appropriate, JAM invests alongside partners to create stronger alignment and shared long-term upside.