Young Pros: Client Focus Leads to Growth

ATLANTA-Since joining GE Capital at age 22, Joel Traut has demonstrated the energy and pursuit of excellence that earned him honors for being in the top 1% of the company's rotational Financial Management Program, and more recently recognition from Real Estate Forum as one of this year's “45 Under 40” rising stars. Just 33 today, he's a senior director with GE Capital Real Estate and currently focused on the Southeast, sourcing loan origination opportunities.

Participation in FMP, though, gave Traut experience across a variety of industries in six-month rotations. “I had the opportunity to work in three different divisions,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “The first one was real estate; I followed that up by working in our corporate commercial finance division and then our aviation finance division. I thought it was an exceptional opportunity to learn the fundamentals of business.”

His biggest takeaway from his FMP tenure was that “if you really want to build a long-term franchise in any of these industries, you've got to be 100% focused on serving your customers and also delivering best-in-class products. When you do those two things, you'll find success over the long haul. I've tried to bring that into the real estate realm as well. The focus here is serving our clients. If you can serve our clients and tailor solutions that meet our customers' needs and help them grow, we in turn as an organization will grow with them.”

The experience also deepened Traut's understanding of how commercial real estate fits into the overall business picture. “When you look at GE, we're in businesses where we have deep domain expertise and have been in a long time,” he says. “And real estate's a great example of that. We've been in this space for 40 years. The professionals we have here have deep expertise and are regionally focused and organized.”

The Southeast was hard-hit by the downturn in 2008, but today, Traut says, “When we look at the Southeast over the past year-plus, the deal flow has been strong. Transaction activity has picked up substantially. Even though you're seeing kind of a multi-speed recovery in the Southeast, we're still seeing very good transaction volume across a number of our markets, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami and Nashville.”

Looking at GE Capital's business year-to-date, “I would say it's been diverse across our product suite,” which ranges from structured deals to CMBS. The client base, similarly, has run the gamut from local owner/developers to large institutional players.

Asked whether any group across that spectrum has been more active of late, Traut says the range of activity has been more closely tied to product type. “The areas where we see most activity are office and multifamily,” he says. “We've been able to successfully partner with some of the larger investment groups in those two spaces, always focused on tailoring a solution that meets their needs and helps them grow their organization.”

Traut, who joined GE Capital fresh out of college, can be said to have hit the ground running, and he offers four key points for those who'd like to follow his example. “The first thing is, you have to get involved,” he says. “Get involved in work, get involved in your associations and never stop learning.”

The second he makes to professionals at the beginning of their careers is to “work with the right company and also the right people. Pick the right spot and grow with the organization.” Third on his list: “there's no substitute for hard work. Always work as hard as you can and serve the clients, and if can you do those things, you're going to succeed.”

Last but not least, Traut says, “somebody told me early in my career that you have to take on big roles. Take on jobs that you may feel a little uncomfortable taking on at first, but in the end, you can do more than you think you can. Don't be afraid. Stretch yourself, and take on the big job.”