Finance
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.
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.
Finance
Board Advances Motion to Address LAHSA’s Failure to Pay Service Providers – Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath
Board Advances Motion to Address LAHSA’s Failure to Pay Service Providers
Board Advances Motion to Address LAHSA’s Failure to Pay Service Providers
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Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath
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Finance
How “impact accounting” can integrate sustainability with finance
Around three years ago, Charles Giancarlo, CEO of data platform Pure Storage, came back from Davos and asked his sustainability team to look into an idea he’d encountered at the meeting: Impact accounting, a method for integrating emissions and other externalities into company balance sheets.
The idea had been slowly picking up adherents in Europe for around a decade, but Pure Storage, which rebranded this month to Everpure, would go on to become the first U.S. company to join the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA), a group of 30 or so companies developing the approach. Trellis checked in last week with Everpure and the VBA for an update.
How does impact accounting work?
At the heart of the approach are a set of “valuation factors,” developed by third-party experts, that are used to convert activity data for emissions, water use, air pollution and other externalities into dollar figures that can be integrated into balance sheets. In the case of emissions, for example, the VBA uses $220 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent, a figure based on the estimated social impact of rising greenhouse gases levels.
At Everpure, one long-term goal is to have cost centers be aware of the dollar impact of relevant externalities. After an initial focus on identifying and collecting the most material data, the team is now rolling out a dashboard containing several years of impact accounting numbers.
“It’s catered to different personas,” explained Adrienne Uphoff, Everpure’s ESG regulations and impact accounting manager. Finance was an initial use case, with product managers also on the roadmap. “You can compare it to financial numbers to really understand the impact intensity.”
What value does the approach bring?
“The essence of impact accounting is that you’re translating all these different metrics in the sustainability space into the language the decision makers understand,” said Christian Heller, the VBA’s CEO. “Everyone understands what you’re talking about, and you get a sense of the magnitude of your impact and the risks and opportunities.”
This has allowed Everpure to calculate what Uphoff called the “environmental costs of goods sold” and to estimate the impact of circular strategies, such as refurbishing hardware. The analysis reveals “impact savings across the full value chain across five different environmental topics all in a single dollar unit,” she said.
Analyses like that can then be shared with customers and used to distinguish Everpure from competitors. “The long-term winners in this space are going to be those that can perform against sustainability goals,” said Kathy Mulvany, Everpure’s global head of sustainability. “Impact accounting gives us a way to bring comparability, so companies can understand how they’re truly stacking up.”
What does it take to implement impact accounting?
A great deal of technical work goes into creating valuation factors, but the system is designed so that outside experts create the numbers and hand them to sustainability professionals for use. Still, not every company will have the in-house environmental data that is also needed. Many companies have been collecting emissions data for five years or more, for example, but detailed datasets for water use are less common.
Internal teams also need to be familiar with the concepts. “One of the key learnings from our impact accounting implementation is that the socialization curve is longer than you expect,” said Uphoff. “Attaching monetary values on externalities introduces new metrics and mental models, and that can naturally make people a little nervous at first. It takes time and dialogue for teams to build confidence in how to interpret this new lens on performance.”
What’s next?
In the early days of impact accounting, companies and consultancies worked independently on different methodologies. Now that work is coalescing, said Heller. The International Standards Organization will start work on a standard this summer, he added, and the VBA is having conversations with the IFRS Foundation, which creates international financial reporting standards.
The approach may also be integrated into mandatory disclosure standards. Heller noted that the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive mentions the potential benefits of companies putting a dollar figure on some environmental impacts. “It’s the next evolutionary step of any kind of sustainability disclosure regulations,” he said.
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Finance
2 Aspira charter high schools to close by April due to financial issues
Chicago Public Schools is shutting down two Aspira charter high schools by the middle of the year, following financial issues over the past year.
School leaders are calling the move “unprecedented.”
Students at the Aspira Business and Finance High School at 2989 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Avondale held a walkout right outside of Aspira after the CEO said they only have enough money to stay open for the next four to five weeks.
Students wanted their questions answered as to why they’re being transferred to other schools.
Angelina Mota is a senior at the high school and said she is concerned about her future.
“It’s very difficult, especially for us, hearing that credits might not go all the way with us. That our graduation might just be taken back. It’s very disappointing,” she said.
This is the first time a CPS school will close before the end of the school year. Both Aspira and CPS said the charter network won’t have the funds to stay open past April.
“The burden on our seniors has got to be… they don’t give a damn about the kids. The seniors,” Aspira of Illinois CEO Edgar Lopez said while fighting back his emotions.
The school is facing a $2.9 million deficit, impacting 540 students and dozens of staff.
CPS said they have already given more than $2.5 million to the charter school to help sustain operations. They said under Illinois law, it reached the legal limit of funding it can provide.
This has been a year-long effort in compliance with state charter school law.
In a statement, CPS said, “Aspira has not submitted required documentation, including evidence of funding to support operations through this school year.”
The documents CPS said are overdue include the school’s fiscal year 25 financial audit, general ledger, and payroll.
“We’re not hiding nothing. The financial documents that they were asking for, Jose told them, we’ll have them to you by Friday. Then they send a letter by Thursday. They didn’t even give us a chance,” Lopez said.
CPS said they’re initiating this due to the lack of financial transparency and solvency.
“We know we don’t want to go anywhere else because we’re used to the routine we have here,” said student Arichely Molina.
“Please let us (stay) open. at least until we graduate,” Mota said.
CPS said their main goal is to ensure the kids have a safety net as they transition to another school.
The second school is located at 3986 W. Barry Ave., also in the Avondale neighborhood.
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