LOS ANGELES—Robert Murphy has joined Transwestern as VP of the firm's structured finance group in the Downtown Los Angeles office. The addition of Murphy expands the firm's. He will focus on debt and equity placement for the firm's national corporate and institutional clients.

Murphy comes to the firm with nine years of experience in institutional lending and credit underwriting. He has experience in all aspects of the transaction process, including acquisitions, dispositions and asset and portfolio management. According to the firm's SVP Steven Orchard, Murphy will help the firm to benefit from the market's current volatility and excess capital.

Prior to joining the firm, Murphy severed as the senior credit officer at ReadyCap Commercial, structuring small-balance loans. He has also worked with the TerraCotta Group and MassMutual. In his career, he has worked to acquire debt for distressed assets, managed non-performing loan portfolios, managed income properties for private equity firms and served as the credit underwriter on a $1.2-billion portfolio.

Several firms have been expanding their teams in response to economic growth. GlobeSt.com recently reported that TruAmerica, which launched last summer, has added four new team members to its acquisitions and asset management teams. Among the new staff additions is Lynn Owen, senior managing director of asset management and portfolio operations, Mark Enfield, chief administrative officer, Tammi Warner, senior transaction manager and Zach Rivas, acquisitions associate.