AllianceBernstein Builds a Presence in Commercial Real Estate
September 14 2009 - 5:01PM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AllianceBernstein
announces the establishment of a real-estate investment unit that
will be led by two highly regarded industry veterans with a
combined 40 years of experience. This initiative will enable the
firm and its clients to capitalize on real-estate opportunities
around the world. Brahm Cramer, previously Co-Head of the Goldman
Sachs Group, Inc.'s Real Estate Principal Investment Area, a group
responsible for investing over $24 billion in 35 countries since
its inception in 1991, will join AllianceBernstein in the first
quarter of 2010. Jay Nydick will join AllianceBernstein after
serving as President of iStar Financial, a leading commercial
real-estate company, since 2004. AllianceBernstein's entry into the
direct real-estate market will improve its ability to deliver
superior investment returns to its clients. The firm sees
widespread opportunities in many real-estate markets as the
economic and capital-market downturn has undermined valuations for
a multitude of properties -- even those with sound long-term
prospects. Mr. Cramer and Mr. Nydick collectively have extensive
expertise in both private and public real-estate markets,
structured finance, commercial mortgages and corporate capital
markets. Both have led teams that built successful, global,
multi-billion dollar businesses with operations in a variety of
product areas. "I've had the opportunity to work with both Brahm
and Jay in the past," said Peter S. Kraus, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of AllianceBernstein. "They're both outstanding
investors -- their real-estate expertise and research-driven
approach will be great additions to our firm." AllianceBernstein
expects to have an opportunistic, US-focused real-estate offering
for its high-net-worth and institutional clients by mid 2010,
followed by both core and global offerings. These real-estate
services will complement the firm's deep research and investment
platforms in fixed-income and growth and value equities. The
additional resources will also provide a deeper perspective on
real-estate markets, thereby enhancing the firm's existing
investment research on securitized real-estate debt and equity. Mr.
Cramer joined Goldman Sachs in 1990 and became partner in 2002. He
most recently served as Co-Head of Goldman Sachs' Real Estate
Principal Investment Area (REPIA) with oversight of the US
business, and co-chaired the investment committees for Whitehall
and several sector-specific real-estate funds. He also served on
Goldman Sachs' firm-wide Risk Committee. Mr. Cramer has extensive
experience in real-estate debt and equity acquisitions dating back
to Resolution Trust Corporation auctions in the early 1990s, and as
a real-estate investment banker advising on restructuring
transactions in the mid-1990s. In 1996, while based in Paris, he
was a key architect of Goldman's highly successful European
real-estate acquisitions business before returning to the US in
1999. Mr. Nydick joined iStar Financial, Inc. as President in 2004.
Initially he was primarily responsible for identifying, evaluating
and executing strategic expansion opportunities for the company.
These businesses grew under his leadership to over $10 billion of
diverse assets in both the US and international markets. Most
recently at iStar, Mr. Nydick was responsible for the firm's
Investments Platform and Operations Divisions, which includes new
investments, asset management, construction management, risk
management, servicing and workouts of distressed real-estate.
Previously, Mr. Nydick spent 14 years with Goldman Sachs during
which time he held a variety of senior level positions including:
co-leading the firm's Non-Japan Asia Corporate Finance, Mergers and
Acquisitions, and Real Estate Investment Banking business for four
years; serving as a key member of the US Real Estate Investment
Banking Group; co-heading the firm's Lodging and Gaming business;
and participating in both the Debt Capital Markets and Derivatives
Groups. Mr. Nydick has an extensive and broad-based real-estate
background, having been in the industry since the late 1980s.
During his career, he has been involved in a wide range of
transactions in a diversity of markets. Selecting Mr. Cramer and
Mr. Nydick to lead this exciting new opportunity exemplifies
AllianceBernstein's long-standing commitment to retaining
high-quality, experienced professionals who are fully dedicated to
providing clients with superior investment performance. DATASOURCE:
AllianceBernstein CONTACT: Philip Talamo, Investor Relations,
+1-212-969-2383, , or John Meyers, Media, +1-212-969-2301, Company
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