Situs Expands Bank Group with Four New Hires

NEW YORK CITY-CRE advisory firm Situs is expanding its bank & loan advisory group with the hiring of four senior executives here, GlobeSt.com has exclusively learned. Edward Robertson and Roger Johnson have been named directors, while Brian Murray and David Risdon have been appointed as VPs.

Robertson, who will be directly involved in both the strategic direction of the business and overseeing quality control for the business unit, joins Situs from Clayton Holdings, where he was managing director in the commercial services division. During his time with Clayton, Robertson created and led a profitable commercial business servicing all aspects of financial services. He previously held positions with Washington Mutual and Cerberus Capital Management.

Johnson will be primarily focused on business development for Situs' bank & loan advisory group. He spent the past 18 years in the financial services industry, focusing for the last five years on distressed community banks. Most recently, he served as managing director and business development officer at Garrison Investment Group.

Risdon was the commercial services underwriting manager at Clayton, and led contract underwriting teams on bank recapitalizations and M&A assignments. Murray has been in the industry for almost a decade, with the majority of his experience at investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, as VP and head underwriter in the loan portfolio strategies group.

“Banks are faced with high costs to comply with regulations while the smaller firms are struggling to endure this burden,” says Kenneth Segal, managing director and head of Situs' bank & loan advisory group, in a statement. “We have been focusing on expanding our capabilities, execution and counsel to provide valuation and advisory services to our clients. The wealth of knowledge these four individuals bring to our group is indispensable, and each executive will add significant value and thought leadership to our team.”

In May, GlobeSt.com reported that John Zielke was appointed head of underwriting for Situs, based in Houston. In his new role, Zielke will be responsible for expanding the firm's advisory services as well as its client base of debt and equity participants.