The Brill Building, New York City TEAM Executive Team Other Senior Executives Commercial Lending Residential Lending Infrastructure Lending Investing & Servicing TEAM Starwood Property Trust is led by seasoned professionals who have successfully navigated all stages of the credit cycle. With an average of 24 years of industry experience, the top executives at the firm possess comprehensive expertise in commercial real estate investment lending, servicing and asset management. The Starwood Property Trust team collectively represents exceptional real estate finance talent—and, at all levels of the organization, the company continues to seek out energetic, self-motivated individuals with fresh ideas and the ability to help implement innovative solutions that ultimately benefit investors. EXECUTIVE TEAM Barry S. Sternlicht Chairman & CEO Starwood Capital Group & Starwood Property Trust Barry Sternlicht is Chairman & CEO of Starwood Capital Group, the private alternative investment firm he formed in 1991 that is focused on global real estate, hotel management, oil and gas, and energy infrastructure. Mr. Sternlicht also serves as Chairman of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), a leading diversified finance company, as well as Senior Advisor of Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH), the largest publicly traded investor, owner and operator of single-family homes in the U.S. For the past 30 years, Mr. Sternlicht has structured investments with an asset value of over $195B. Starwood Capital’s funds have invested in approximately 200,000 multifamily/condo units, 4,000 hotels, 99M SF of office properties, 56M SF of retail and 50,000 lots of land in residential subdivisions. The Firm currently manages over $95B of assets on behalf of its high net worth and institutional partners. Starwood Capital, its affiliates and externally managed public companies encompass ~4,000 employees. The Firm maintains offices in Arlington, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Greenwich, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., and affiliated offices in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Sydney and Tokyo. From 1995 through early 2005, Mr. Sternlicht was Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, a company he founded in 1995. During his tenure, he built Starwood Hotels into one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, employing more than 120,000 people with 895 properties in 100 countries. Mr. Sternlicht created W Hotels, perhaps the world’s most successful “boutique” brand, and built the St. Regis Hotels brand from a single hotel to a global brand. In 2008, Mr. Sternlicht founded SH Group, his new hotel management company. SH Group is the owner and manager of Baccarat Hotels & Resorts and 1 Hotels brands. In 2016, Mr. Sternlicht was the recipient of PERE’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015, he was named the Global Industry Figure of the Year by PERE, received the Cornell Icon of the Industry Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Hotel Investment Forum. In 2013, Mr. Sternlicht was named the Most Important Person in Commercial Real Estate Finance by The Mortgage Observer. In 2010, Mr. Sternlicht was named Executive of the Year and Investor of the Year by Commercial Property Executive. Mr. Sternlicht was also named America’s Best Lodging CEO by Institutional Investor Magazine. He is a member of the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame. He has received the Preston Robert Tisch Distinguished Industry Leadership Award from New York University, the CEO Diversity Award from Diversity Best Practices/Business Women’s Network, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Travel Marketing Executives, the Hospitality Heritage Award from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and the Marketer of the Year Award from Brandweek. Mr. Sternlicht’s humanitarian efforts have garnered prestigious national honors such as JDRF’s Man of the Year, JDRF’s Living and Giving Award and JDRF’s Chairman’s Award. Mr. Sternlicht serves on the Board of Directors of The Estée Lauder Companies and the Real Estate Roundtable. Additionally, he formerly served as Chairman of the Board and is currently a Board member of The Robin Hood Foundation, and also serves on the Boards of the Dreamland Film & Performing Arts Center, and the Executive Advisory Board of Americans for the Arts. He is a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation Trustee Council, the World Presidents Organization and the Urban Land Institute. Barry Sternlicht received his BA, magna cum laude, with honors from Brown University. He later earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School. Jeffrey F. DiModica, CFA President & Managing Director Starwood Property Trust Jeffrey F. DiModica, CFA, has been the Company’s President since 2014 and served as an external director of the Company from its inception in 2009 to July 2014. In his current role he leads and serves as a member of the investment committee of each of the Company’s business lines including Large Loan Lending, Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property Investing and Investing & Serving which have a collective $19 billion of assets under management. From 1993 to 2014, Mr. DiModica served in various investment banking roles at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Merrill Lynch. Mr. DiModica began his career in the Merchant and Investment Banking Group of the Commercial Real Estate Department at Chemical Bank from 1989 to 1991. Mr. DiModica received a B.S./B.A. degree with distinction and a concentration in Finance from Boston University in 1989, an M.B.A. degree from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College in 1993, and received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1995. Mr. DiModica is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and serves on the Miami Advisory Board of the Posse Foundation, an organization that identifies, recruits and trains individuals with extraordinary leadership potential who are awarded full-tuition scholarships. Mr. DiModica was also the founding president of www.Mitoaction.org, a support, education and advocacy group for families affected by Mitochondrial Disease. Mr. DiModica was honored to be ranked in Commercial Observer’s “The 50 Most Important Figures of Commercial Real Estate Finance” list for the last 7 years, ranking in the top 10 the past 4 years. Rina Paniry Chief Financial Officer Starwood Property Trust Rina Paniry is Chief Financial Officer of Starwood Property Trust. In this role, she is responsible for all financial and accounting functions for the business. Before being promoted to this role in 2014, Ms. Paniry served as Chief Financial Officer of Starwood Property Trust subsidiary LNR Property LLC, where she led the integration and transition of Starwood Property Trust’s core finance functions—including accounting, treasury, planning and tax—to LNR’s Miami office following Starwood Property Trust’s acquisition of the business in 2013. Ms. Paniry joined LNR in 2006 as Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining LNR, Ms. Paniry spent 11 years at Deloitte & Touche, where she began her career. She worked in numerous roles with increasing responsibility, principally in the real estate industry in the functional areas of audit and mergers & acquisitions. Ms. Paniry holds a Masters of Accounting from Florida International University and is a Florida CPA. Andrew J. Sossen Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel Starwood Property Trust Andrew Sossen is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group that is the largest commercial mortgage REIT in the U.S. In this role, Mr. Sossen is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business, as well as its capital markets and strategic initiatives. He is also a member of Starwood Property Trust’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Starwood Property Trust in 2010, Mr. Sossen served as the General Counsel of KKR Financial Holdings LLC, a publicly traded specialty finance company, and KKR Asset Management, where he was a member of senior management and was involved in both policy and strategic decision-making, as well as in the business’ day-to-day operations. Mr. Sossen’s career began at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he specialized in capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Sossen is currently a Trustee of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Mr. Sossen previously served as a trustee of Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust, a publicly traded REIT that is a predecessor company of Invitation Homes. Mr. Sossen received both his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. OTHER SENIOR EXECUTIVES Jeffrey G. Dishner Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Real Estate Acquisitions Starwood Capital Group SPT Management, LLC Jeffrey G. Dishner is a Senior Managing Director at Starwood Capital Group, where he is responsible for overseeing the Firm’s acquisition efforts on a worldwide basis. In this role, Mr. Dishner assists the team in originating, structuring, underwriting and closing investments in all property types. He has also helped drive Starwood Capital’s ongoing expansion of operations in Europe, as compelling investment opportunities in the region continue to increase. Reflecting the success of this effort, Starwood Capital in 2013 was named European Firm of the Year by leading industry publication PERE. Mr. Dishner is a member of the Firm’s Executive and Investment Committees, and also serves on the Investment Committee and board of trustees of Starwood Property Trust. Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 1994, Mr. Dishner worked in the commercial mortgage finance group at J.P. Morgan & Co., where he focused on whole-loan dispositions and securitizations for various thrift institutions. Before that, Mr. Dishner was a member of the acquisitions group at JMB Realty. Mr. Dishner received a B.S. degree in economics from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Dartmouth College’s Amos Tuck School, where he serves on the Advisory Board. Christopher D. Graham Senior Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Acquisitions for the Americas Starwood Capital Group SPT Management, LLC Christopher Graham is a Senior Managing Director at Starwood Capital Group, where he supervises the Firm’s investments in the Americas. In this role, Mr. Graham is responsible for originating, structuring, underwriting and closing investments in all property types. He is also a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee, as well as the Investment Committee for Starwood Property Trust. Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2002, Mr. Graham worked at CB Richard Ellis in Washington, D.C., where he was Director of the financial consulting group for the Eastern Region of the U.S. Mr. Graham was previously Associate Director, Eastern Region, of CB Richard Ellis’ investment properties group. Mr. Graham received a BBA degree in finance from James Madison University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Austin Nowlin Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets for the Americas Starwood Capital Group Austin Nowlin is a Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets for the Americas at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, he is responsible for the origination, structuring, and execution of asset-level and fund/corporate-level financing activity for Starwood Capital’s investments in the Americas. Since joining the Firm in 2011, Mr. Nowlin has closed over $16 billion in financings across all product types, including revolving credit facilities, domestic and foreign balance sheet loans, construction financing, fixed and floating rate commercial mortgage-backed securities, and mezzanine financing. Prior to joining Starwood Capital, Mr. Nowlin served as a Relationship Manager in Wells Fargo’s real estate banking group, where he originated financing for multifamily and hospitality assets in the New York market. Before that, Mr. Nowlin worked in Wachovia Securities’ leveraged finance group, where he arranged and syndicated debt for REITs, opportunity funds and real estate developers. He began his career as an analyst at Raymond James, where he was responsible for making equity investments in multifamily assets. Mr. Nowlin earned a B.A. degree in economics from Florida State University. Zach Tanenbaum Managing Director and Head of Investor Strategy Starwood Property Trust Zachary Tanenbaum is a Managing Director and Head of Investor Strategy for Starwood Property Trust. In this role, Mr. Tanenbaum is responsible for cultivating and managing the company’s relationships with the global investment and analyst communities. Prior to joining Starwood Property Trust in 2014, Mr. Tanenbaum served as a Senior Analyst at Wesley Capital Management, a long/short real estate securities hedge fund. In this role, he generated investment ideas across the REIT, real estate operating company, specialty finance and homebuilding sectors. He previously served in senior sell-side equity research positions at FBR Capital Markets and MLV & Co. Mr. Tanenbaum received a B.S. degree from Cornell University and an M.S. degree in real estate, with a concentration in finance and investment, from New York University. COMMERCIAL LENDING Dennis Schuh Chief Originations Officer Starwood Property Trust Dennis Schuh is Chief Originations Officer of Starwood Property Trust. In this role, Mr. Schuh is responsible for national originations, including senior debt, mezzanine and preferred equity investments. Prior to joining Starwood Property Trust in 2016, Mr. Schuh was a Managing Director and head of CMBS Banking/Origination for J.P. Morgan. He was previously head of CMBS Capital Markets where his responsibilities included managing the securitization business and high yield debt distribution. Before joining J.P. Morgan in 1997, Mr. Schuh’s career began at Fitch Ratings where he rated CMBS and REITs. He served on the Board of Governors for the CRE Finance Council from 2006 to 2008 and on its Executive Committee from 2007 to 2008. Mr. Schuh is also a member of the Urban Land Institute, the Mortgage Bankers Association, CRE Finance Counsel and the International Counsel of Shopping Centers. Mr. Schuh graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a degree in Finance, and maintains series 7, 24, and 63 securities licenses. Mr. Schuh was honored to be ranked in Commercial Observer’s “The 50 Most Important Figures of Commercial Real Estate Finance” list for the last 4 years, ranking 3rd in the most 2020 recent publication. Mark Cagley Chief Credit Officer Starwood Property Trust Mark Cagley is the Chief Credit Officer of Starwood Property Trust. In this role, Mr. Cagley oversees deal screening, structuring and due diligence, as well as portfolio management for investments made by Starwood Property Trust. He also chairs the Company’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Starwood Property Trust in 2015, Mr. Cagley was employed at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he most recently served as the Commercial Real Estate Credit Products Executive for the Eastern United States. In this role, he was responsible for the underwriting, structuring, closing and management of a $25 billion loan portfolio. During his almost 30 years in the real estate finance industry at Bank of America and Wells Fargo/Wachovia, Mr. Cagley held a number of senior roles in the commercial real estate origination, underwriting and capital markets loan syndication units at both organizations. Mr. Cagley received a B.S. degree in marketing from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the University of Houston. He is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers and holds Series 7, 79, 63 and 24 licenses. Cary Carpenter Managing Director Starwood Property Trust Cary Carpenter is a Managing Director of commercial real estate, capital markets, trading and syndication at Starwood Property Trust. In this role, Mr. Carpenter is responsible for pricing, structuring and capital commitments for the acquisition and sale of CRE debt for Starwood Property Trust. He also manages the financing and sale of whole loans, as well as warehouse lines for the company. Prior to joining Starwood Property Trust in 2010, Mr. Carpenter was a Partner at Coastal Capital Partners, where he managed the acquisition of performing, sub-performing and non-performing CRE debt. As an Executive Vice President with Countrywide Commercial Real Estate Finance, Cary was responsible for the pricing, structuring and sale of all fixed and floating rate high-yield commercial real estate debt. Before that, Mr. Carpenter served his initial stint at Coastal Capital Partners, where his responsibilities included client development and capital raising for third parties. Before that, he was a Managing Director for Precept Corp., an online marketplace for CRE financing, with responsibilities including business and product development, and capital raising. Prior to that, he was a Vice President of Structured Finance at Nomura Asset Capital, a Senior Consultant in Deloitte and Touche’s real estate capital markets group, an Assistant Treasurer in Toyo Trust and Bank’s real estate finance group, and a Project Designer for both The SWA Group and Sasaki Associates. Cary received an M.S. in real estate development and finance from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Kansas State University. RESIDENTIAL LENDING Steven Ujvary Managing Director, Acquisitions Starwood Capital Group Steven Ujvary is a Managing Director in the Acquisitions Group at Starwood Capital Group. In this role, Mr. Ujvary is responsible for residential mortgage debt strategies, with a focus on non-agency whole loans. Prior to joining Starwood Capital in 2016, Mr. Ujvary was a Managing Director at Macquarie Group, where he was responsible for mortgage and structured credit investments. Before that, he served in a variety of roles in the New York and Sydney offices of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he began his career as an Analyst. Mr. Ujvary received a B.A. degree in economics and government from Georgetown University. INFRASTRUCTURE LENDING Denise Persau Tait Co-President, Starwood Infrastructure Finance Starwood Property Trust Denise Persau Tait is the Co-President of Starwood Infrastructure Finance (“SIF”). In this role, Denise leads the origination, underwriting and portfolio management of the businesses investing in the thermal power, renewable energy, and oil and gas infrastructure projects, in the U.S. and globally. Prior to joining SIF in 2018, Denise was the Global Head Project Finance Debt Business at GE Energy Financial Services. In this role, Denise led the origination, underwriting and portfolio management of $3bn of debt investments across the energy industry in the U.S. and globally. Denise is a member of the National Charity League, Inc. – Westport Chapter, and a Board Member of Earthplace – Westport. Denise spent 24-years at GE and began her career with GE Capital in the Commercial Equipment Finance group holding various positions in Portfolio, Risk and Origination. Denise joined GE Energy Financial services in 2004 as an investment originator and held roles of increasing responsibility before being named to Global Head Project Finance Debt Business in 2015. During her tenure, Denise played an instrumental role in the growth of the businesses debt book, originating $4bn of new investments over the course of ten years as an individual contributor and increasing the size of the book by $2.7bn in hold volume under her leadership since 2015. A key focus of the group was the expansion into quasi-merchant transactions, where the team was the leader in arranging and structuring the initial transactions for large, new build power projects in the U.S. Denise also led GE Energy Financial Services’ charitable contributions program which donated approximately $300,000 annually. Additionally, she led the businesses Associate / AVP / Analyst career program which focused on growing and retaining energy finance professionals with undergraduate and graduate degrees. Denise graduated from American University’s Kogod School of Business, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Sean Murdock Co-President, Starwood Infrastructure Finance Starwood Property Trust Sean Murdock is Co-President of Starwood Infrastructure Finance (“SIF”). In this role, Mr. Murdock oversees deal screening, structuring and due diligence, as well as portfolio management for investments made by SIF. He is also a member of SIF’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Starwood, Mr. Murdock was a Senior Credit Analyst at Panning Capital Management, a distressed credit fund based in New York. Previous to joining Panning, Mr. Murdock served as the head of US Credit Trading at both the Royal Bank of Scotland in Stamford, Connecticut and Merrill Lynch in New York. Mr. Murdock received a BA in History from Duke University. INVESTING & SERVICING Adam Behlman President, Real Estate Investing & Servicing and Starwood Mortgage Capital Starwood Property Trust Adam Behlman is President of Starwood Property Trust’s Real Estate Investing & Servicing segment as well as President of Starwood Mortgage Capital. In this role, Mr. Behlman is responsible for overseeing Starwood Property Trust’s commercial mortgage-backed securities, its conduit lending and subsequent securitization activities and its real estate investment platform, as well as leading the company’s wholly owned special servicer, LNR Partners. He previously served as Head of Capital Markets and Chief Risk Officer for LNR. Prior to joining LNR in 2011, Mr. Behlman served as Head of the Real Estate Finance and CMBS division of UBS. In this role, he was responsible for managing and trading UBS’ legacy CMBS and commercial real estate loan book, while also helping return UBS to the origination, trading and underwriting business. Mr. Behlman previously held a variety of capital markets and real estate roles with firms including Deutsche Bank, Prudential Securities and Deloitte. After serving on the Board for the past 5 years, Adam was the President and Chairman of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) during the 2020-2021 board of directors term, which is the leading trade organization for the commercial real estate finance industry, with over 11,000 members. He is currently serving as the Past Chairman and chairs the compensation and nomination committee’s as well as co-chairs the DEI HBCU and Education sub-committee Mr. Behlman holds a B.A. degree from Queens College, CUNY, in both accounting and information systems and economics. Larry Brown Chairman, Founder Starwood Mortgage Capital Mr. Brown is the Founder and Chairman of SMC, advising on the lending and subsequent securitization activities of the firm. Prior to forming SMC, Mr. Brown was a co-founder, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of AllBridge Investments, an investor in the commercial real estate capital markets. Before co-founding AllBridge, Mr. Brown started Deutsche Bank Mortgage Capital, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, in May 1999 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer through April of 2005. While at DBMC, he oversaw more than $23 billion in public and private securitized transactions as well as the origination of over 750 loans totaling approximately $9 billion. Prior to the formation of DBMC, Mr. Brown served as President of WMF Capital Corp., where he oversaw all commercial real estate finance and capital markets activities of the company. Before joining WMF CC, he was the Managing Director of Commercial Real Estate Finance at First Union National Bank (now known as Wells Fargo), co-founding the Real Estate Capital Markets Group and overseeing the origination and subsequent distribution of commercial mortgage-backed securities including over $6.5 billion in public/private securitized transactions. Prior to joining FUNB, he was a Senior Vice President in the Real Estate Finance Group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, supervising the negotiation, documentation, and closing of more than $1.5 billion of securitized commercial mortgage transactions. Before joining DLJ, Mr. Brown was an Associate at the law firms of Baker & McKenzie and Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon, where he specialized in real estate banking and real estate finance law. Mr. Brown graduated Magna Cum Laude from Tufts University and earned his law degree from Georgetown University School of Law. © Starwood Property Trust 2021 Privacy Policy California Notice & Privacy Policy Terms of Use