Cushman & Wakefield has hired James Spencer-Jones, former head of GE Capital Real Estate's European Debt Origination business.
Spencer-Jones (pictured) will head the property advisory's new EMEA structured finance initiative, part of the EMEA capital markets business.
He joins as partner from GE Capital, and has more than 20 years’ experience in senior banking roles which also includes spells at N M Rothschild and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Most recently, he was head of GE Capital Real Estate's European debt origination business, where he built and led a team to grow the firm's real estate debt lending from a start-up in 2013 to a $6.5 bn (now €5.8 bn) balance sheet business in just two and a half years.
Cushman & Wakefield’s new EMEA structured finance business brings together various existing financial-focused business units, including loan sales and debt advisory, as part of the company’s continued growth in this area. Spencer-Jones will help build out the European finance operations across its capital markets practice to support its large network of clients and beyond.
Spencer-Jones said: 'Cushman & Wakefield has a formidable European and global network and I’m joining at an exciting time in its development and growth. I see enormous opportunities in this space for us to add value with the structuring and financing of real estate deals, both for our existing and potential new clients across all of our European capital markets businesses. I am looking forward to building this business, the team and our breadth of experience and expertise to deliver real value for our clients.'