Ben Roger-Smith hired as head of EMEA structured finance

4 April, 2016

In a strategic move to help clients seeking leverage and alternative financing for their real estate activities, JLL has expanded its specialist investment services capabilities with the appointment of Ben Roger-Smith as head of structured products for the EMEA region.

In the newly created role, based in London, Mr. Roger-Smith is responsible for developing JLL's comprehensive structured credit platform.  He reports to Chris Holmes, lead director for EMEA debt advisory.

"Against a backdrop of reduced bank lending, shorter loan terms, regulatory changes and upheavals, and the associated increasing cost of capital, demand for non-bank lending and more diverse sources of capital continues to rise," said Mr. Holmes. "Ben's appointment, along with our recent acquisition of AGL in Sweden, puts us in a strong position to navigate fragmented debt markets and arrange the best capital structure over any time horizon to help our clients fulfil their objectives."

Richard Bloxam, head of capital markets, EMEA, at JLL said, "The establishment of our new structured finance offering under Ben's leadership further reinforces our debt and financial advisory capabilities. Ben will work alongside our M&A, funds advisory and investment sales and acquisition experts to ensure we give our clients the edge in their investment decisions. This development is in line with our long term strategy to ensure clients can benefit from JLL's access to global capital, deep and broad knowledge of the real estate asset class and enhanced financial expertise."

Mr. Roger-Smith joins JLL from Finn Square Capital LLC, and previously spent 15 years at HSBC as part of the Global Structured Finance team responsible for the origination, structuring and distribution of asset backed securities. He has raised over US$30billion of asset backed debt, distributed to institutional investors and has developed a number of first-time funding platforms across a wide variety of asset classes including RMBS, CMBS, whole business securitisation, future flow and infrastructure PFI/ PPP.

-Ends-

For further information:
Contact:Sara Murshed / Emily Hodson
Phone:+44 (0) 207 852 4430 / +44 (0) 207 087 5481
Email:Sara.Murshed@eu.jll.com / Emily.Hodson@eu.jll.com

Contact:Manash Bhuyan / Vadia Rai
Phone:+971 (0) 4 437 2102 / +971 (0) 437 2110
Email:manash.bhuyan@fticonsulting.com/vadia.rai@fticonsulting.com

About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. A Fortune 500 company with annual fee revenue of $5.2 billion and gross revenue of $6.0 billion, JLL has more than 230 corporate offices, operates in more than 80 countries and has a global workforce of more than 60,000. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 4.0 billion square feet, or 372 million square meters, and completed $138 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2015. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $56.4 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.

© Press Release 2016