From Construction Noise to Boardroom Silence: The Journey of Bruno Ackermann, from Engineer to Asset Manager
- Partner at Cy Capital, Bruno Ackermann reflects on the career shift that took him from job sites to the center of Brazil’s logistics real estate market
On Avenida Paulista, near the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), Bruno Ackermann, partner at Cy.Capital, met with REsource at a small café. Over coffee and water, the executive walked us through the key milestones of his professional journey — a path that took him from construction sites to managing multimillion-dollar logistics assets.
The son of an engineer, Ackermann believes that a well-done job always produces results — a principle he describes as “cause and effect.” His career, he says, is proof of that.
“I graduated in Civil Engineering at FEI in São Bernardo. Fun fact: I studied with Jean in middle school — not sure if he’s mentioned it. My first internship was at Gafisa, a developer, focused entirely on construction, with no exposure to the real estate market itself. I wasn’t hired afterward, so with my background in construction, I joined a contractor that built warehouses. Again, it was construction — nothing to do with business,” he recalls.
Fresh out of school, Ackermann didn’t yet realize that his future wouldn’t be in hard hats and job sites, but in offices and boardrooms. The turning point came at Cyrela.
A change of course
“In 2006, I saw an ad for Cyrela’s trainee program. I’d always admired the company and decided to apply, without much expectation. The process was intense: around 23,000 applicants for just over 20 spots. I advanced through the stages and made it almost to the end, where we had to choose an area. Naturally, I picked engineering/construction. But the position was already filled. Still, they liked me and invited me to join a different area called Corporate Properties. I had no idea what that was — but I said yes,” he says.
“Corporate Properties” meant all of Cyrela’s non-residential projects: office buildings, retail, and commercial developments.
“That was a major turning point for me. I liked being on construction sites, and suddenly I was immersed in the corporate and business side. Today I’m grateful, because it was a true school for me. At the time, I wanted to be on site, but the shift was fundamental for my career,” he explains.
At Cyrela, Ackermann witnessed the rise of Brazil’s real estate investment funds (FIIs), the joint venture with Prologis, and the spin-off of CCP.
“As a trainee, then analyst, I kept growing. Our team was small, maybe 10 to 15 people, but we handled huge deals. A milestone was the joint venture with AMB/Prologis, an American logistics giant entering Brazil. Back then, the Brazilian industrial properties market was still underdeveloped, dominated by family businesses. With Prologis, we brought international know-how and adapted it to local practices,” he recalls.
Logistics as a calling
Ackermann became Cyrela’s first employee fully dedicated to logistics warehouses. Until then, the area handled offices, malls, and warehouses together — but Ackermann focused only on the latter.
“It was an incredible learning experience. Prologis executives from the U.S. came to train us, because for them this was already a massive industry. In Brazil, it was still new. We had to adapt everything: leasing models, contracts, operations. The market was just starting to take shape,” he explains.
His dedication didn’t go unnoticed. Around that time, Nessim Sarfati was founding Barzel and invited Ackermann to join as a partner.
“When I left Cyrela in 2015, I co-founded Barzel with Nissim. It was a brand-new asset manager, backed by a strong investor, but we had to build everything from scratch — opening an office, setting up accounts, designing processes, hiring a team. For three years, from 2015 to 2018, we laid the foundation. The main focus was corporate offices, but I felt my logistics expertise wasn’t being fully leveraged,” he says.
In 2018, Ackermann joined Brookfield, thanks to his logistics background and prior experience with Prologis. But his biggest turning point came in 2019.
“I always stayed close to the Cyrela team, especially Rafael. In 2019, he told me Cyrela wanted to return to commercial assets — warehouses, offices, retail. But this time, the idea wasn’t to invest directly on balance sheet, but through an asset manager raising third-party capital. He invited me to lead the logistics vertical. It took nearly two years to structure, until in January 2021 we officially launched Cy Capital,” Ackermann recalls.
“My goal now is to consolidate Cy Capital as a manager and establish myself as a partner. I want to build a team capable of running the logistics platform independently, so I can open new business fronts and pursue new opportunities,” he adds.
Beyond the suit and tie
“Outside of work, I’ve been married for 10 years. I have two kids, and in my free time, I’m a full-time dad. I’ve always loved sports — I practiced boxing for years, but now I’m into tennis, my main hobby. I’ve also always been passionate about modeling and LEGO. Since childhood, I’ve built cars, airplanes, and collected sets. It’s a hobby I’ve kept until today.”
Between serves and LEGO builds, Ackermann also reads avidly, averaging one book a month. He recently finished De Volta ao Jogo by Ariane Abdallah, about BTG Pactual’s ups and downs. He also dreams of writing his own book, inspired by Sebastião Salgado’s Exodus, blending the history of logistics warehouses with photography.
Like many Brazilians, Ackermann also envisions slowing down at some point. “I want to enjoy more time with family, study more, and balance life better. I don’t plan to stop working, but I want to reach a point where I have more time for other things,” he says.
