GWM Group appoints head of real estate debt origination

GWM Group, the London-based asset manager, has announced the hiring of Guillaume Soule as head of real estate debt origination to support the expansion of the group's real estate private debt strategy with its new fund, Commercial Real Estate Debt Opportunity Fund (CREDO).

The CREDO fund was launched in late 2020 to invest primarily in mid-sized real estate debt financing and instruments in Western Europe, with a conservative LTV of 60-70%, taking advantage of the gradual withdrawal of banks from this segment of the real estate debt market.

The fund targets a net return of Euribor + 9% for investors in the levered segment, it offers the possibility to invest for interested investors also in an unlevered segment. In 2021, the Credo fund generated a net return of 16.7%, consisting primarily of income distributed to investors on a quarterly basis.

Private credit represents an opportunity for investors to de-correlate their exposure to traditional equity and debt capital markets, providing stable and predictable returns with low volatility and quarterly cash distributions, while not being locked into long-term private equity-like structures.

Prior to joining GWM Group, Guillaume Soule spent seven years at Blackrock in London, where he was responsible for real estate lending for France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Nordics. Prior to that, he spent seven years between Apollo Global Management, Aerium Properties and Fortis Bank.

Gennaro Giordano, Co-CIO of GWM Real Estate Debt and Equity Strategies, said, ‘We are excited to have Guillaume join our real estate investment team and are confident that, with his extensive experience and market knowledge, he will contribute greatly to our efforts to develop a robust real estate debt platform and identify viable investment opportunities.’

Soule will report to the Co-CIOs of GWM Real Estate Debt and Equity strategies, Matteo Cidonio and Gennaro Giordano, and will help drive the Group's growth.

GWM Group is an asset management company specialised in alternative investments in Europe. GWM Group, with more than 50 professionals, has offices in London, Luxembourg, Malta, Rome and Milan, and currently manages assets with a total value of $5 bn.

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