Macquarie Group Expands Credit Trading Division with Addition of Commercial Mortgage Finance and CMBS Team

Macquarie Group’s (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY) Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities (FICC) Group today announced the expansion of its Credit Trading Division with the addition of a commercial mortgage finance and CMBS team. The New York based appointments continue the growth and expansion of the firm’s credit trading business, which was established in March 2008.

The newly established commercial mortgage finance and CMBS team will join Macquarie’s Credit Trading Division. The new team will be led by Randy Reiff and adds an additional sector of mortgage origination, trading and securitization expertise beyond Macquarie’s existing focus on high-yield and distressed credit. The team includes:

• Randy Reiff joins as a Managing Director and Head of Commercial Mortgage Finance and CMBS. Mr. Reiff brings 18 years of experience in investing, structuring and trading in the commercial real estate and mortgage industry. Most recently he was President of Spartan Real Estate Capital and prior to that was Global Head of Commercial Mortgage Finance and CMBS at JPMorgan and Bear Stearns.
• Mark Lebowitz joins as a Managing Director. Mr. Lebowitz brings 17 years of experience in commercial real estate securitization and capital markets. Previously, Mr. Lebowitz was Director of Capital Markets at Spartan Real Estate Capital, having joined from JPMorgan and Bear Stearns where he served as head of CMBS capital markets and new issue structuring.
• James Conopask joins as a Managing Director. Mr. Conopask brings 18 years of experience in commercial real estate credit underwriting and investing. Previously, Mr. Conopask was Chief Investment Officer at Spartan Real Estate Capital. He joined the firm from JPMorgan and Bear Stearns where he headed Institutional Credit for the Firms’ large loan commercial mortgage groups.
• Simon Breedon joins as a Senior Vice President. Mr. Breedon has 9 years of experience in commercial real estate and investment banking, most recently with Spartan Real Estate Capital and prior to that as a senior member of JPMorgan and Bear Stearns commercial mortgage finance groups’ institutional credit teams.
• Matthew Weinstein joins as a Senior Vice President. Mr. Weinstein has 6 years of experience in commercial real estate finance and CMBS trading. He joins from Spartan Real Estate Capital where he was responsible for CMBS trading and investments. Prior to joining Spartan, Mr. Weinstein was a senior member of Bear Stearns’ CMBS trading team.
• Andrew Flack joins as an Associate. Previously, Mr. Flack was at Spartan Real Estate. He joined from JP Morgan and Bear Stearns where he was a member of the firms’ commercial mortgage finance group’s institutional credit teams.

"Our US based credit trading business provides clients additional trading and execution capacity that is backed by a strong balance sheet and active new issue pipeline. We have successfully grown the business with a particular focus on high-yield and distressed credit, and now see an opportunity to extend that offering into the commercial real estate and CMBS market,” said Michael McLaughlin, Senior Managing Director and Head of Macquarie’s Credit Trading Division. "Randy and his team’s track record in the sector and deep product knowledge will enable us to deliver an expanded offering to clients and work with them to capitalize on the opportunities presented in the market.”

About Macquarie’s Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Division

Macquarie, through its Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Group (FICC) provides a variety of services to a broad range of clients across the globe with an underlying specialization in fixed income, commodities and foreign exchange related institutional trading, marketing, lending and clearing.

With structuring, sales and trading professionals in the Americas, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East, FICC offers products and risk management solutions to meet client needs.

FICC offers trading, sales, analytics and financing covering:

• Fixed income – interest rate, debt and credit securities
• Currencies – foreign exchange spot, forward and tailored services
• Commodities – metals, energy, environmental products, agriculture, freight, bulk commodities, and complementary futures services

About Macquarie

Macquarie Group (Macquarie) is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. Macquarie’s main business focus is making returns by providing a diversified range of services to clients. Macquarie acts on behalf of institutional, corporate and retail clients and counterparties around the world. Founded in 1969, Macquarie employs more than 14,600 people in approximately 70 office locations in 28 countries. At March 31, 2010, Macquarie had assets under management of $US299 billion.