Man Group hires European debt specialist

According to the firm, Kerner will focus on sourcing, executing, and managing European real estate loans as Man's global private markets (GPM) business expands further in its target euro-dominated real estate markets.

Kerner will be based in London and report into Jon Rickert, head of European private debt. He has over 25 years of experience in portfolio credit management and international real estate financing.

'Having worked closely with Bernd over many years, I am confident his extensive knowledge of real estate financing, including the credit risks, market risks and growing regulatory requirements facing the industry, will prove invaluable to the team,' said Rickert.

'We continue to see a healthy level of lending opportunities across Europe, and Bernd’s understanding of the local markets should help us access these opportunities,' Rickert added.

Kerner joins Man GPM after more than a decade with JP Morgan, serving most recently as an executive director in the corporate investment bank risk and treasury and securities services risk management teams.

Prior to that, Kerner was a vice president on the real estate finance team, responsible for underwriting and supervising commercial and credit-related transaction processes. He spent the earlier part of his career as vice president at Eurohypo, and in similar roles at Deutsche Hypothekenbank and Dresdner Bank.

'I am excited to be returning to London and working with Jon again in this new capacity,' said Kerner. 'I have spent most of my career in European real estate financing and as a credit risk manager, and am looking forward to working with the team and being a part of Man GPM’s continued growth story.'

Man GPM focuses on investments in private markets including real and corporate assets across the capital structure globally. The real assets business of Man GPM specialises in private real estate equity and unlisted real estate debt, with $2.4 bn of assets under management as of September 30 2019