People moves and key promotions in securitisation

This week’s round-up of securitisation job swaps sees Mount Street Group fill two newly created senior roles, as it seeks to strengthen and expand its international offering. Elsewhere, GCM Grosvenor has added a pair of CLO market veterans to its credit team, while Barclays has recruited a global head of securitised products bond trading in a bid to become one of the top-five US securitised products trading desks.

Barclays has appointed David Garner as md and global head of securitised products bond trading. He will join the bank in June and will be based in New York, reporting to Scott Eichel, global head of securitised products (SP).

Having been identified as a future revenue driver for Barclays’ Global Markets business, the appointment reflects the bank’s ambitions for the SP business and further advances its goal of becoming a top-five securitised products trading desk within the US - adding further momentum to a client franchise that has consistently gained market share since 2019.

Garner joins Barclays from Atlas SP Partners, where he was an md. He moved to Atlas SP Partners following Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of Credit Suisse’s SP franchise in 2023. During his 14-year tenure at Credit Suisse, Garner held a number of key leadership positions across its SP business, including most recently serving as co-head of securitised products trading. 

Meanwhile, Dechert has recruited Blake Gilson as counsel in New York. Gilson focuses his practice on structured finance insurance solutions, advising clients regarding rated note feeders, CLOs and other structured transactions for facilitating insurance capital investments into private fund strategies. He was previously an associate at Milbank, which he joined in August 2014 from Kirkland & Ellis. 

GCM Grosvenor (GCMG) has added Brandon Cahill and Scott Ingles to its established credit team, underscoring the firm's commitment to providing world-class credit investment solutions. Cahill joins as an md, having spent nearly 20 years at BlueMountain Capital Management as co-head of its global CLO business. During his time with BlueMountain, he also acted as head of structured and technical credit, overseeing investments in CLOs, synthetic CDOs and RMBS.

Ingles joins GCMG as a principal, bringing nearly 10 years of experience in credit management and risk assessment. He previously held senior positions at The Carlyle Group and PointState Capital, where he managed credit portfolios across various sectors.

Valerie Shapiro has joined Houlihan Lokey’s financial sponsors group as an md to support and expand the team’s credit coverage efforts, focusing on alternative asset managers, hedge funds, credit funds and CLOs. Based in New York, Shapiro was previously a senior md in Ankura Consulting’s turnaround and restructuring group and head of the firm’s revenue team. Prior to Ankura, she was a vp at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, managing leveraged loan and high-yield bond investments for issuers across several sectors. She has also held roles at Onex Credit Partners and Deutsche Bank. 

Intesa Sanpaolo has promoted Elisabetta Bernadini to head of balance sheet optimisation. Based in Milan, Bernadini was previously head of credit portfolio management at the firm, having joined its credit portfolio management group in January 2007. Before that, she worked in equity and credit structured products at Sanpaolo IMI, which she joined in July 2000.

Lauren Kaufman has joined JLL Capital Markets’ New York advisory team co-led by senior mds Michael Gigliotti, Christopher Peck and Andrew Scandalios. Serving as md, Kaufman will leverage her nearly two decades of experience in commercial real estate finance to work with institutional and private clients to structure and execute financing for their short- and long-term business goals across a variety of asset classes, including multifamily, retail, office, industrial and self-storage.

Kaufman previously worked at Cushman & Wakefield, where she was a member of an equity, debt and structured finance team responsible for some of the most significant capital transactions in New York City in recent years. Before that, she was a vp with Deutsche Bank, working in both syndication and loan originations to provide strategic financings for CMBS and balance sheet execution. She began her real estate career practicing law at Alston & Bird, where she represented a variety of lenders on all types of loan transactions.

Linklaters has elected 27 new partners and promoted 49 lawyers to counsel across its global platform, with effect from 1 May 2024. Among those promoted to partner within its London-based capital markets group is Leanne Banfield. She was previously derivatives and structured products counsel at the firm, which she joined in September 2007.

Among those promoted to counsel are Thomas Capon within Linklaters’ structured finance and securitisation team, as well as Edmund Leung and Sarah Willis within the firm’s derivatives and structured products team. The trio are all based in London.

The LSTA has named Sean Griffin as executive director of the organisation. Griffin joins the LSTA from JPMorgan, where he was md responsible for the global primary CLO business, focusing on the origination, structuring and distribution of CLO transactions for issuer-clients. He succeeds Lee Shaiman, who will be retiring after he serves for a period as a senior advisor to the LSTA.

Mount Street Group has promoted Serenity Morley to the newly created role of global coo. Additionally, the firm has appointed Dean Wheeler to the newly created role of md, head of US operations.

In her new role, Morley will be instrumental in ensuring continuity and cohesion across the firm on a global level, strengthening Mount Street’s international offering using its proprietary technology, CreditHub.

CreditHub provides clients with real-time data, analysis and unique insights essential to effectively manage their portfolios. Morley will be responsible for coordinating the business’ overall growth strategy across Mount Street’s 11 offices and developing new business opportunities across all areas of loan servicing and asset management.

Morley has over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector – the last seven of which have been at Mount Street – including leading a 10-year strategic agreement with Aviva Investors for asset servicing arrangements for its real assets business, totalling £50bn AUM. As head of loan servicing at Mount Street, she has been responsible for the company’s EMEA credit servicing group in Europe and Asia for the past three years.

Meanwhile, Wheeler brings 30 years of executive management experience building and leading commercial real estate loan servicing, asset management and special servicing platforms in the US and Canada. Based in Kansas City, he will be responsible for implementing Mount Street’s growth strategy in the US loan servicing market, where Mount Street together with its JV partner Mission Peak Capital has ambitions to double its current US$36.3bn of assets under management over the next two years. Reporting directly to ceo Paul Lloyd, Wheeler will oversee all loan servicing, asset management and special servicing activity, alongside growing the team and devising and implementing new technology-led strategies that leverage the CreditHub solution.

Before joining Mount Street, he was president and founder of software and consulting advisory business True North Performance Solutions, prior to which he was head of servicing and asset management operations at SitusAMC.

MUFG has appointed Terry McKay and Alex Pierre as co-heads of its new global structured solutions (GSS) function. Combining the strengths of MUFG’s global corporate and investment banking (GCIB) with the capabilities of its global markets (GM) business group, the new virtually-operated GSS team will work to enhance services to clients worldwide.

McKay is MUFG’s current head of global financial solutions for GCIB, president of MUFG’s merchant bank and ceo of MUFG Capital, Leasing and Finance Corp. Pierre serves as international head of structured solutions and regional head of sales and trading for EMEA at the bank.

North Wind Capital has recruited former Deutsche Bank CRE head to lead its Luxembourg lending and securitisation vehicle, in a bid to boost its private credit business. Clive Bull joins North Wind Capital after 16 years at Deutsche Bank and will be responsible for new securitisation issuance, as well as advising on the structuring of new loans made across the North Wind Capital platform.

Santander has promoted David Saunders to md, securitised products group - Europe, based in London. Saunders was previously executive director of the firm’s European securitised products group. He joined Santander in August 2018, having formerly been director, strategic risk management at Barclays and a manager, enterprise risk services at Deloitte.

SCOR has promoted Peter Nowell to head of structured asset solutions, based in London. Nowell was previously global head of financial solutions at the firm, which he joined in September 2015. Before that, he was head of ABS and ILS trading at BNP Paribas.

Finally, Shawbrook has upped its lending capabilities with the launch of a new structured real estate team, aiming to facilitate bigger-ticket loans exceeding £5m. In conjunction with an increase of its maximum loan size to £35m, the UK challenger bank hopes to enhance its financing solutions offerings to property investors and professional landlords.

The new team will focus on income-producing and bridging loans across both residential and commercial assets, and will be led by Totum Finance founder Piragash Sivanesan. Sivanesan will serve as director and head of structured real estate, and joins Shawbrook from United Trust Bank, where he was a director for property finance.

Corinne Smith, Claudia Lewis