Exceed Capital: How two veterans built a values-first platform setting new standards in commercial property investment

ON the eve of its tenth year in business, Exceed Capital looks less like a boutique upstart and more like a playbook for how disciplined, values-led managers can thrive through multiple cycles.

Co-founders Vaughan Hayne and Justin Clarke each bring more than 35 years at the coalface – Hayne across investment banking and fund management, Clarke across the full arc of commercial property from valuer to chairman of a national network.

Together, they’ve shaped a firm whose north star is simple and hard to copy: put investors first, then let capability and performance do the talking.

Two founders, one complementary engine

If Exceed’s proposition reads clean and confident, it’s because its architects are. Clarke is the visionary advocate for collective investment in commercial property—giving investors institutional-grade access, diversification, and genuine alignment. Hayne is the product architect, designing vehicles that can move quickly, price risk precisely, and compound value through hands-on asset work.

“We’ve stayed patient, bought well, and focused on assets that can deliver sustainable, consistent cash returns with capital uplift,” says Hayne. Clarke’s framing is equally direct: “The goal is the same as always: dependable cash yields today and credible pathways to grow capital value for tomorrow.”

Ten years in, momentum to match the mandate

The past quarter crystallised what Exceed has been building for a decade: disciplined, repeatable execution.

The firm has transacted more than $108 million across five commercial assets in less than four months and is finalising two additional acquisitions—a cadence that would strain teams twice the size.

The new assets span Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast, Bundaberg, and Brisbane, acquired on an average yield of 8.5 percent.

The theme is consistent: income-resilient properties with practical levers for operational improvement, bought at sensible entry points and actively managed for uplift.

“Construction cost inflation is constraining new supply while vacancy rates trend lower,” Hayne notes. “That backdrop rewards careful buying and hands-on management.” Clarke adds: “We’re active, but not indiscriminate.”

The Collective: speed with discipline

Fueling this pace is The Collective, Exceed’s open-ended fund designed to minimise risk through diversification while maintaining the agility to act when the market blinks.

“The Collective gives us the ability to move quickly and precisely,” Clarke says. “That speed, combined with our sourcing network, is an unfair advantage in competitive processes.”

It’s a structure built for today’s market where tightening supply and easing vacancies are coaxing investors back toward income strategies, but where execution risk remains real.

Exceed’s answer is to keep incentives aligned, due diligence deep, and asset plans practical.

Proof in outcomes (and alignment)

Exceed’s first asset recently sold off-market, is a case study in disciplined lifecycle management.

“We don’t sell many assets because they’re hard to replace, but in this case the time was right,” Clarke says.

The result: greater than 1.7x multiple on invested capital plus healthy cash yields along the way.

Perhaps the loudest endorsement: most investors are rolling forward into the next opportunities.

“We know what we’re looking for when acquiring properties, we’re relentless about operations and our disciplined processes,” Hayne says. “Our investors have been very supportive, and we thrive on improving performance at the property level.”

A values-based business, by design

Ask either founder what’s non-negotiable and the answer comes fast: values. Exceed’s operating credo—investor interests first—shows up in how deals are underwritten, how communication is handled, and how exits are judged. It’s why the firm passed on attractive-looking assets that couldn’t carry their weight under conservative assumptions, and why it leans into active asset management where it can directly influence outcomes.

“You can’t claim alignment in the pitch and lose it in the practice,” Clarke says. “Our job is to show up consistently—through cycles, through surprises—and deliver what we said we would.”

Looking ahead: setting the standard

With two more acquisitions nearing completion, Exceed’s trajectory into its second decade looks like an extension of the first—patient, precise, performance-oriented. Clarke’s vision for collective access to high-quality commercial property is finding wider audience as private investors seek dependable income plus sensible pathways to growth. Hayne’s product craft continues to raise the bar on how risk is priced, how cash flow is protected, and how value is created at the asset level.

“Following the outstanding success of our Gold Coast assets, we’re confident the market is moving in the right direction,” Hayne says. “Vacancies keep tightening and new stock is harder to bring—conditions that reward discipline.”

Ten years on, Exceed Capital reads like a simple formula executed uncommonly well: values first, capability compounded, outcomes owned.

In a market that often chases the flashy or the fast, Hayne and Clarke have built something sturdier—a house where investors come first, and performance speaks for itself.

 

Click here to access the Exceed Capital website, for more details.