Wachovia Securities Names Leadership For Newly Integrated Real Estate Platform

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Wachovia Securities today named four managing directors as leaders in its newly integrated real estate platform. The firm had announced in April that it would move its Real Estate Financial Services group from the General Bank to the Corporate and Investment Bank in order to combine its market-leading Real Estate Capital Markets (RECM), Real Estate Financial Services (REFS) and Real Estate Investment Banking (REIB) groups.


The new integrated domestic real estate platform will provide seamless service to Wachovia’s commercial real estate clients though two primary business lines - Real Estate Americas and Real Estate Asset Management. Leaders of both groups will report to Tom Wickwire, managing director and head of Structured Products within the Fixed Income division of the Corporate and Investment Bank.

Lawrence Gray and Robert Verrone have been named co-heads of Real Estate Americas, which includes coverage teams for all domestic real estate clients (including public and privately owned real estate operators, homebuilders and gaming companies), commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS), structured finance, real estate corporate banking, tax credit and agency finance, real estate syndications, and real estate collateralized debt obligation sales and trading.

Gray is a managing director and former head of the firm’s Real Estate Investment Banking group. He joined the company in 1997 to form the Real Estate Investment Banking group, which he has led for the past ten years. Verrone is a managing director and former head of Real Estate Capital Markets Americas. He joined Wachovia in 1995 and has held a variety of leadership roles in Real Estate Capital Markets.

Leslie Fairbanks has been named as co-head, effective immediately, and Dan Sullivan has been named as interim co-head, effective Oct. 1, of Real Estate Asset Management, which includes Wachovia’s market leading CMBS servicing operation, construction loan underwriting, and construction loan portfolio management.

Fairbanks is a managing director and former head of Real Estate Services. She joined Wachovia in 1999 after spending eleven years as a real estate attorney at leading New York law firms. Sullivan is a managing director in Wachovia’s Fixed Income Research Group, covering Real Estate Investment Trusts. He previously managed the Debt Capital Markets team within Wachovia’s Real Estate Corporate Finance group and has been with the company since 1998.

“Each of these leaders has achieved remarkable success in their careers at Wachovia,” said Wickwire. “I am confident that they are the right people to continue the momentum of our market-leading real estate business.”

As part of the firm’s commitment to international expansion, Bill Green, managing director and former head of Real Estate Capital Markets in the U.S., has relocated to London to become head of Real Estate Europe.

“Bill’s career in real estate spans 24 years, with seven of those at Wachovia in the U.S.,” said Wickwire. “Placing such a seasoned leader on our European platform reinforces our commitment to growth in this important market and adds additional talent to our European real estate business.”

Rick Abrams will continue as head of Real Estate Asia, a position he has held since 2005.

“We have a diversified and integrated real estate business which now encompasses origination, coverage, distribution and principal activities under the same leadership team and has the ability to compete successfully around the world,” said Wickwire. “The strength of our newly integrated platform and the skills and vision of this leadership team will ensure our future success.”

Wachovia Securities is a leading capital provider and advisor in the U.S. commercial real estate sector. The firm is ranked as the #1 contributor to U.S. CMBS transactions1, #1 CMBS Master Servicer1, #1 in U.S. Commercial Real Estate CDOs1, #1 Bookrunning Manager for REIT Preferred Stock2, and #1 REIT M&A advisor3. The firm serves clients through more than 30 regional U.S. offices as well as offices in Europe and Asia.

About Wachovia’s Corporate and Investment Banking Group
Wachovia’s Corporate and Investment Banking group offers a full suite of products and services to public and private companies, institutional investors, financial institutions and the financial sponsor community. Investment banking and the global markets businesses (fixed income and equities) operate under the Wachovia Securities brand and have become a global force in the capital markets arena by providing comprehensive advisory, capital raising, structuring and execution services. Wachovia’s Corporate and Investment Bank also includes the third-largest Treasury Services business in the U.S., as well as leading asset-based lending and global correspondent banking services. The firm is built on a cohesive culture that encourages creative ideas, capital solutions, and experienced advice to all clients.

Wachovia Securities is the trade name for the corporate, investment banking and capital markets of Wachovia Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC (WCM), member NYSE, NASD, and SIPC, and Wachovia Securities International Limited, which is authorized and regulated by The Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. Wachovia Securities is also the trade name for the retail brokerage businesses of WCM’s affiliates, Wachovia Securities, LLC, member NYSE, NASD, and SIPC, Wachovia Securities Financial Networks, LLC, Wexford Clearing, LLC, and First Clearing, LLC.