Mark O. Decker Jr.

Mark O. Decker, Jr., 47, is currently the President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer and a member of the board of trustees of Investors Real Estate Trust, an NYSE-listed REIT focused on the ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of apartment communities. He has served in this capacity since April 2017. From August 2016 to April 2017, he served as the President and Chief Investment Officer of Investors Real Estate Trust. From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Decker served as Managing Director and U.S. Group Head of Real Estate Investment and Corporate Banking at BMO Capital Markets, the North American-based investment banking subsidiary of the Canadian Bank of Montreal. Prior to that, he served as Managing Director with Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc., a brokerage firm and investment banking business, from February 2011 to September 2011, and worked with Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, an employee-owned international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, from 2004 to 2011, where he last served as Managing Director, Real Estate Investment Banking. Mr. Decker received a B.A. in history from the College of William & Mary. We believe that Mr. Decker’s experience including, capital markets and strategic planning, familiarity with the various real estate markets in which the Company operates and extensive contacts through his years in the real estate investment banking, brings important and valuable skills to our board of directors.