A score of Hilton & Hyland’s top sellers has decamped to form boutique agency Carolwood, while Compass’ Aaron Kirman opens AKG in partnership with Christie’s International.
L.A.’s ultra-luxe real estate landscape is shifting in dramatic ways.
This fall, Drew Fenton, one of Hilton & Hyland’s marquee names, veteran real estate exec Nick Segal and Hilton & Hyland marketing chief Ed Leyson struck out on their own to launch a new Beverly Hills-based brokerage, Carolwood. Fenton tells THR that after the death this year of Hilton & Hyland co-founder Jeff Hyland, “It felt like a natural progression to put all that I had learned in my 15 years at Hilton & Hyland into my own firm.”
In recent weeks, Carolwood has lured more than 35 agents from Hilton & Hyland, including power sellers Linda May (winner of the Agent of Historic Architecture Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s 2022 L.A. Power Broker Awards), Brett Lawyer, Jonah Wilson, Susan Smith, the team of Jonathan Nash and Stephen Resnick, Justin Paul Huchel, Bjorn Farrugia, Michael LaMontagna and Gordon MacGeachy. Others who have recently joined Carolwood include Cooper Mount (formerly of The Agency) and Richard Ehrlich (who came over from Westside Estate Agency).
After his time at the venerable Hilton & Hyland, Fenton says he is reveling in the “independence and the freedom to set a new tone moving forward.” The new tone includes a more personalized representation. “We’re taking the bespoke office concept to the next level with Carolwood, which is designed to facilitate top agents and accordingly facilitate their VIP clients in the spirit of private banking and family offices,” he says. (A spokesperson for Hilton & Hyland did not have a comment on the wave of defections from the brokerage.)
A similar spirit is evident at AKG, a brand-new, 160-agent luxury brokerage also in Beverly Hills. Top agent Aaron Kirman left Compass in November to start the company with Christie’s International Real Estate. “It’s the best of all worlds,” he says. “You get the luxury boutique, plus you get the incredible partnership and affiliation of something national and international that does hundreds of billions of dollars every year.”
Kirman says his goal for the brokerage is that it feels like a luxury boutique operation melded with innovative marketing techniques and even an AI division to help deliver data. Says Kirman, “We wanted to be more nimble. … We want to create and dominate the luxury sphere using the most innovative marketing techniques out there We have an incredible AI division … that gives us a lot of intelligence. Our goal is to use the intelligence, the teamwork that we have, the amazing agents that we have, the amazing marketing we have, and really create the ultimate luxury experience for sellers and buyers that just simply doesn’t exist today.”
With whispers of more high-profile defections on the way, it appears that breakaway brokerages will increasingly become a force to be reckoned with in the high-stakes game of L.A. real estate. “We are very, very confident,” Kirman says of AKG. “Not only will we continue to dominate luxury, we will own luxury.”
L.A.’s ultra-luxe real estate landscape is shifting in dramatic ways.
This fall, Drew Fenton, one of Hilton & Hyland’s marquee names, veteran real estate exec Nick Segal and Hilton & Hyland marketing chief Ed Leyson struck out on their own to launch a new Beverly Hills-based brokerage, Carolwood. Fenton tells THR that after the death this year of Hilton & Hyland co-founder Jeff Hyland, “It felt like a natural progression to put all that I had learned in my 15 years at Hilton & Hyland into my own firm.”
In recent weeks, Carolwood has lured more than 35 agents from Hilton & Hyland, including power sellers Linda May (winner of the Agent of Historic Architecture Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s 2022 L.A. Power Broker Awards), Brett Lawyer, Jonah Wilson, Susan Smith, the team of Jonathan Nash and Stephen Resnick, Justin Paul Huchel, Bjorn Farrugia, Michael LaMontagna and Gordon MacGeachy. Others who have recently joined Carolwood include Cooper Mount (formerly of The Agency) and Richard Ehrlich (who came over from Westside Estate Agency).
After his time at the venerable Hilton & Hyland, Fenton says he is reveling in the “independence and the freedom to set a new tone moving forward.” The new tone includes a more personalized representation. “We’re taking the bespoke office concept to the next level with Carolwood, which is designed to facilitate top agents and accordingly facilitate their VIP clients in the spirit of private banking and family offices,” he says. (A spokesperson for Hilton & Hyland did not have a comment on the wave of defections from the brokerage.)
A similar spirit is evident at AKG, a brand-new, 160-agent luxury brokerage also in Beverly Hills. Top agent Aaron Kirman left Compass in November to start the company with Christie’s International Real Estate. “It’s the best of all worlds,” he says. “You get the luxury boutique, plus you get the incredible partnership and affiliation of something national and international that does hundreds of billions of dollars every year.”
Kirman says his goal for the brokerage is that it feels like a luxury boutique operation melded with innovative marketing techniques and even an AI division to help deliver data. Says Kirman, “We wanted to be more nimble. … We want to create and dominate the luxury sphere using the most innovative marketing techniques out there We have an incredible AI division … that gives us a lot of intelligence. Our goal is to use the intelligence, the teamwork that we have, the amazing agents that we have, the amazing marketing we have, and really create the ultimate luxury experience for sellers and buyers that just simply doesn’t exist today.”
With whispers of more high-profile defections on the way, it appears that breakaway brokerages will increasingly become a force to be reckoned with in the high-stakes game of L.A. real estate. “We are very, very confident,” Kirman says of AKG. “Not only will we continue to dominate luxury, we will own luxury.”