"We've grown a lot over the last six years, from a New York company to an international company; this is the next step in completing the picture," Insignia chief executive Steve Siegel tells GlobeSt.com. The Finance and Capital Markets Group will raise capital for clients via the structuring of joint ventures and through private offerings. "With interest rates where they are, there's a heightened awareness in the market," Siegel explains. "Two major factors are weighed: the potential for sale, and financing options. It helps our client if we have that financing component in place." And that is where Dougherty comes in the picture. "Paul brings a world of experience and the willingness to take this on," Siegel says. Dougherty is a 15-year veteran of the business and has spent years specializing in the structuring and placement of joint venture equity and debt financing. His qualifications for the position of national director are highlighted by a career total of roughly $4 billion in equity and debt placement arrangements.

With Dougherty at the helm the group, in essence, will be a sweeping magnification of services Insignia has been offering on a small scale in a handful of its 50 markets across the country. "We currently have finance services in DC, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco," Dougherty tells GlobeSt.com. "We're going to add Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas." He says the company will add three to four finance professionals in the offices, as well as two to three analysts to serve as support staff. The new group's services, in conjunction with the services of Insignia's property sales arm Capital Advisors Group, will provide its clients with an even more extensive array of real estate services. "We want to become one of the top finance intermediaries in the country," Dougherty says, "and we intend to do so."