NEW YORK CITY-Following the introduction of new credit products, Cantor Commercial Real Estate—an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald—announced Monday the promotion of Michael Kaplan to head of credit, and the appointment of Ari Schwartzbard as director of credit. Kaplan joined CCRE in 2010 as a managing director and he will lead the expansion of the firm's credit function, according to the announcement. Schwartzbard, previously a director at Aareal Capital Corp., will focus on overseeing potential real estate transactions, including loan approvals and portfolio monitoring of all closed loans across the platform, the announcement says.
“Last year we were exclusively doing fixed rate loans, now we're doing fixed and floating,” Anthony Orso, CEO of CCRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “A few months ago we hired Chris Milner, from BlackRock, to lead an investment management platform and we hired Ken Carpenter to create a net lease financing program, so as we've expanded our products and our footprint, the credit roles need to grow in accordance.”
Just a year old, the company is quickly gaining traction and needs to be prepared, Orso adds. “Last year, in our first full year as a CMBS lender, we were a top originator of loans, we were number one in loan count and number three in conduit volume,” he says. “This year, as we continue to expand, as of March we're number one in CMBS conduit lending in terms of loan count and we have 90 professionals in 10 offices, so we're growing pretty rapidly.”
The regional offices provide a leg up on the competition, Orso says. “It allows us to see loans that others don't. We can focus on small regionally sourced financing as well as large financings across the country.” Kaplan and Schwartzbard are the right people to spearhead those efforts, Orso notes.
"We believe Kaplan's significant experience in credit risk management, asset management and a strong relationship with the B-piece community will further extend CCRE's leading origination and structuring business," he says in the announcement. Regarding Schwartzbard, Orso tells GlobeSt.com, “He has a fair amount of experience acting as credit person for floating rate loans, and since we're expanding into that, his experience will help us tremendously.”
Kaplan was previously a managing director, senior credit officer and underwriting head for Deutsche Bank Mortgage Capital, Inc. where he also served as the liaison to the B-piece community. Earlier, he held senior positions at both Citicorp Securities and KPMG Peat Marwick's Real Estate Consulting Group.
Schwartzbard focused on evaluating potential real estate transactions and negotiating terms of restructuring existing loans. Previously, he was a director in the CMBS Group at FitchRatings. Earlier, he served as a senior analyst for MMA Realty Capital, and analyst for Fortress Investment Group.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
