Connect with us

Finance

Newmark Hires Matthew Featherstone as Head of Debt & Structured Finance for the UK and Europe

Published

on

Newmark Hires Matthew Featherstone as Head of Debt & Structured Finance for the UK and Europe

Featherstone brings over 19 years of finance experience, enhancing the firm’s UK and European capital markets expertise and furthering Newmark’s talent expansion and unification strategy

NEW YORK and LONDON, Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK) (“Newmark”), a leading commercial real estate advisor and service provider to large institutional investors, global corporations, and other owners and occupiers, has hired Matthew Featherstone as Head of Debt & Structured Finance for Newmark in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe. Featherstone will work collaboratively with Newmark’s UK & EMEA Capital Markets teams, including Newmark’s Head of London Office Markets Tony Gibbon, Newmark’s President for the UK Michael Lehrman, and John Rodgers, Head of the UK Capital Markets and Corporate Finance teams for Gerald Eve, a Newmark company. In addition, Featherstone will work closely with Charlie Foster who was recently hired by Newmark affiliate Cantor Fitzgerald Europe to head up the Real Estate Investment Banking group, bolstering Newmark’s debt and equity capital markets services in the UK and Europe.

Based in London at Newmark’s 84 Grosvenor Street office, Featherstone joins Newmark from CBRE, where he served as Executive Director, Debt & Structured Finance, Capital Advisors. With nearly 20 years of finance experience spanning various real estate subsectors, including heading HSBC’s Global Banking UK Real Estate division, Featherstone has executed over $75 billion of financing and loan origination transactions. Featherstone possesses a strong client base and a successful track record in origination, with expertise in advisory, capital markets, balance sheet funding and risk management solutions, and has executed financing transactions ranging from £50 million to £1 billion+. Featherstone graduated from the University of Durham with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in business and finance and is a CFA Charterholder. His extensive knowledge and expertise in debt origination for private and public clients will play a significant role in advancing Newmark’s end-to-end capital markets services across the UK and Europe.

“Matthew’s and Charlie’s vast experience across the UK and European markets is integral to further enhancing our global capital markets strategy, fostering cross-collaboration and enriching our service offerings,” stated Lehrman. “Their expertise and complementary skill sets create a unique dynamic to drive greater connectivity, deal flow and client value.”

With 25 years of experience, Foster has a comprehensive background in real estate and corporate finance, with expertise extending across an array of sectors and leadership roles in international investment banking, capital markets, M&A and ECM and is well-versed in establishing, leading and managing a multi-disciplinary team that achieves significant transaction value market share. Prior to joining Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, Foster served as the Managing Director and Head of Real Estate, Europe at RBC Capital Markets, where he originated and executed M&A, ECM, private capital and DCM transactions directly, alongside product specialists and regional teams (Europe, US, Canada and Australia). In 2022, he ranked fourth in transaction value market share league table. Foster holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Building out a platform of world-class professionals, Newmark’s unique position in capital markets continues to earn the firm significant assignments over the past year, including representing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as the exclusive financial advisor in the largest loan sale in U.S. history, selling Signature Bank’s $60 billion loan portfolio1. Additionally, Newmark served as the Co-Lead Financial Advisor to Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. on its sale of Simply Self Storage to Public Storage for $2.2 billion and raised $500 million from an institutional investor on behalf of Envision Cold to capitalize a new cold storage operating and development company and acquire cold storage operations and assets to build its network of facilities across North America. As loan advisory and other real estate investment banking services gain importance, Newmark is well-positioned to serve clients at the highest caliber.

Advertisement

About Newmark
Newmark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMRK), together with its subsidiaries (“Newmark”), is a world leader in commercial real estate, seamlessly powering every phase of the property life cycle. Newmark’s comprehensive suite of services and products is uniquely tailored to each client, from owners to occupiers, investors to founders, and startups to blue-chip companies. Combining the platform’s global reach with market intelligence in both established and emerging property markets, Newmark provides superior service to clients across the industry spectrum. For the year ending December 31, 2022, Newmark generated revenues of approximately $2.7 billion. As of September 30, 2023, Newmark’s company-owned offices, together with its business partners, operate from approximately 170 offices with 7,400 professionals around the world. To learn more, visit nmrk.com or follow @newmark.

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements about Newmark
Statements in this document regarding Newmark that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include statements about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, results, financial position, liquidity and outlook, which may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impact may differ, possibly materially, from what is currently expected. Except as required by law, Newmark undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see Newmark’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information set forth in these filings and any updates to such risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information contained in subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.

¹ The book value of the overall loan portfolio was approximately $60 billion when Newmark was retained as an advisor by the FDIC and approximately $53 billion when the Company began marketing the loans. For more information, please see various announcements, press releases, and other information on the FDIC website, including “FDIC Announces Upcoming Sale of the Loan Portfolio from the Former Signature Bank, New York, New York“, “SIGF-23 Sale Announcement $18.5 Billion All Cash Loan Sale“, “SIGCRE-23 Sale Announcement $33.22 Billion Commercial Real Estate Loan Portfolio“, “FDIC Signature Bank Receivership Sells 20 Percent Equity Interest in Entity Holding $9 Billion Rent-Stabilized / Rent-Controlled Multifamily Loans“, “FDIC Signature Bridge Bank Receivership Sells Five Percent Equity Interest in Entities Holding $5.8 Billion of Rent-Stabilized / Rent-Controlled Multifamily Loans“, and “FDIC Signature Bridge Bank Receivership Sells 20 Percent Equity Interest in Entity Holding $16.8 Billion of Commercial Real Estate Loans“.

SOURCE Newmark Group, Inc.

Advertisement

Finance

Financial Services Legislation Is in the Spotlight as the 119th Congress Settles In | PYMNTS.com

Published

on

Financial Services Legislation Is in the Spotlight as the 119th Congress Settles In | PYMNTS.com

The 119th Congress has now been seated, and is poised to consider, to take up — or to scuttle — financial services legislation that may touch on everything from credit cards to earned wage access (EWA) to digital assets.

The incoming majorities belong to the Republicans, of course, and it’s no secret that president-elect Trump and other members of his party have expressed misgivings about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the roles and scope of those agencies are as yet undetermined.

The House Financial Services Committee now is being chaired by Rep. French Hill, R-Ark. The Senate Banking Committee is being chaired by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. 

What May Be Up

As for what may still be considered “outstanding”:

Front and center will be what happens with the Credit Card Competition Act. It’s been a long road for the CCCA, which, among other things, would enable card payments to be routed over at least one network that competes with Mastercard and Visa. Since being introduced in 2023, the act has been stalled in Congress, and should it be taken up again, there’s no surety that it would make it through into law, but it may indeed come up for debate. Now vice president-elect JD Vance had signed on to the bill.  

Advertisement

At issue will be the ways in which the bill would change the dynamics of the card industry. Supporters say that the routing provisions would open up competition. But as Karen Webster noted in a recent column, “Notwithstanding a lack of understanding of how dual routing would work for credit card transactions, the flaw in Sen. Durbin’s bill is a lack of understanding of how the current credit card ecosystem works. And, more fundamentally, how platform ecosystems ignite and scale — and are monetized.”

Separately, the Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act would define EWA providers and sets strict operational boundaries, specifically regulating both employee-sponsored programs and direct-to-consumer offerings.

Digital Assets

There have been various attempts to have legislation that would set frameworks for digital asset markets to be structured. One bill, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act passed in the House but did not make it through the Senate. The act would, among other things, set standards for digital assets and consumer protections, and segregation of funds.

Crypto and artificial intelligence (AI), of course, will also be on the agenda.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Mike Katz, a partner in Manatt, Phelps and Phillips Financial Services Group, said that “despite the razor-thin Republican majorities, there is a growing bipartisan consensus in Congress around the need for thoughtful, innovation-focused crypto and AI legislation,” adding, “It will be interesting to see if any digital asset bills are part of the tax-and-border-focused reconciliation package already being discussed in Congress. I’d expect a strong stablecoin bill to move quickly given existing bipartisan support.”

Advertisement

And he added: “Keep an eye out early in 2025 for a repurposed or chopped up version of the pro-crypto bill FIT21 [which passed the House with a large bipartisan majority in May]. Regardless of form or timing, new legislation will finally provide clarity on the questions of whether crypto assets are ‘securities’ or ‘commodities’ … and on which regulatory authority is charged with oversight.”

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Finance

Protecting Your Future: How Cognitive Decline Affects Financial Decision-Making | University of Denver

Published

on

Protecting Your Future: How Cognitive Decline Affects Financial Decision-Making | University of Denver

RadioEd co-host Emma Atkinson sits down with medical doctor and finance expert Eric Chess to break down why financial decisions can be an early indicator of cognitive decline.

Podcast  •
News  •

Hosted by Jordyn Reiland and Emma Atkinson, RadioEd is a triweekly podcast created by the DU Newsroom that taps into the University of Denver’s deep pool of bright brains to explore the most exciting new research out of DU. See below for a transcript of this episode.

Advertisement

Show Notes

As we get older, things change. Our priorities shift, viewpoints and opinions evolve, and our bodies—and brains—age.  

Many of these changes are good—we can celebrate the process of aging as one that invites wisdom and joy. But there are natural consequences of getting older, and one of those consequences is cognitive decline. 

Eric Chess is a former medical doctor who has also earned degrees in law and business. Chess is the director of the Paul Freeman Financial Security Program at DU. He seeks to identify the earliest signs of cognitive impairment—and works to protect the lives and financial assets of older people experiencing cognitive decline. 

Dr. Eric Chess is a physician, lawyer and professor with a focus on prevention, comprehensive well-being, financial security and older adults. He has over a decade of

Dr. Eric Chess.

 experience in internal medicine practice (board certified), as a hospitalist and as an outpatient physician. He is currently a Clinical Professor at the University of Denver’s Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging, serving as the founder and director of Aging and Well-being/The Paul Freeman Financial Security Program. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct Professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law and Daniels College of Business. Dr. Chess has an undergraduate degree in economics and political science, and a graduate law degree with experience as an attorney and economic consultant. 

Advertisement

The Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging creates and implements solutions for aging issues through multidisciplinary research, education and outreach by serving as an information clearinghouse for media on matters related to aging; educating and training a diverse workforce to serve a rapidly aging population; and promoting innovation, research and business development related to aging. 

The Paul Freeman Financial Security Program combines the expertise of faculty, researchers and students at the University of Denver. Their interdisciplinary team of researchers in law, finance, psychology, social work, business, neuroscience, and medicine is led by Eric Chess, MD, JD. Goals of impact include four main areas: Research and Development; Outreach and Collaboration; Education; and Policy. Part of the program’s core mission is to address the need for more impactful solutions regarding financial exploitation and fraud of older adults. Target areas currently include developing a financial vulnerability scale, leading a state-wide collaboration, developing a financial-protective team legal instrument, and addressing the significant transfer of wealth affecting older adults and potential future generations and clients. 

More Information:

Advertisement

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Finance

PrimeRevenue Wins 2025 Global Finance Award

Published

on

PrimeRevenue Wins 2025 Global Finance Award