“In knowing Colliers for many years, I realized it had been sub-optimized and not totally consistent with its investment-sales capability despite tremendous spread and strength through its individual market brokers,” Putnam tells GlobeSt.com. “All of those guys have great relationships and great knowledge, but not in the institutional-investment world.”

Putnam adds that his investment-sales expertise will help bring Colliers to a higher-level strategic discussion about how to invest and a consistency of conversation amongst the institutional clients that Colliers has served in so many ways. “When I left RREEF in October of last year, I realized what I really enjoy doing as a challenge and a continued career in real estate was to grow a business by doing the right thing by clients and seeing that come back to you. Colliers will be a leading investment-sales force on the West Coast within a few years.”

Martin Pupil, regional managing director for Colliers in Greater Los Angeles, says Putnam has a long track record of winning and executing institutional transaction listings throughout the West Coast, and he is thrilled to add Putnam’s expertise to Colliers’ investment-services team. Pupil tells GlobeSt.com that starting a capital markets service group has been in Colliers’ plans for years, but the right person with the right talent hadn’t become available until now. “CBRE and East Dill Secured are the predominant institutional players on the West Coast. We have not been competing in that space and have been trying to figure out who would lead that charge for us. Rick brings us into the institutional investment arena, giving us the ability to control the product, which ties the whole platform together. It’s the top of the pyramid in the services world, and without it, it was becoming increasingly difficult to compete on the leasing and management side.”