CRE Finance Council has named Lisa A. Pendergast as president of the organization for the term of June 2010-June 2011. Pendergast follows Patrick C. Sargent, who served as President this past year and whose term concluded during CRE Finance Council's June Convention 2010, the organization's annual meeting in New York City.
Pendergast is managing director, CMBS strategy and risk, for Jefferies & Company, the global financial services firm. Pendergast is a long-standing and visible industry expert, having served in research, executive and leadership capacities in commercial real estate finance.
"I am truly honored to serve as the new president of the CRE Finance Council for the upcoming 2010-2011 term," Pendergast said. "I look forward to working with Council members to move the organization's priorities forward in the coming year, and my hope is that these next 12 months will come to be viewed as one of renewal and achievement. I look forward to help steer the direction of this vibrant organization and its committed membership."
"On behalf of our members and the industry, I wish to sincerely thank Pat Sargent for his thoughtful and guiding leadership," said Dottie Cunningham, chief executive officer of the CRE Finance Council. "We witnessed many changes in our markets since last June—including our own organizational transformation from CMSA into CRE Finance Council—and Pat's steady work in managing our members' mission during these many changes was key to furthering the betterment of our organization and commercial real estate finance. All of us thank him tremendously."
"At the same time, I join Pat and all of our members as we welcome Lisa as our newest president," Cunningham continued. "Lisa's background and work in the commercial real estate markets has prepared her for this leadership role. She is one of the industry's most experienced and committed professionals and we are gratified that she has agreed to serve our industry. On behalf of our members—existing as well as new—we look forward to a year ahead with Lisa as our industry continues to transition and meet new challenges."
Pendergast is responsible for strategy and risk for CMBS and other structured commercial and multifamily real estate products. She most recently was a managing director in the fixed-income strategies group at RBS Greenwich Capital, where she worked for eight years. In addition to her role as risk manager for the CMBS effort, Pendergast provides analysis and commentary on commercial real estate credit fundamentals and relative value within the CMBS and structured-product markets. In addition to her current role as president of the CRE Finance Council, she has published many articles and reports on various aspects of the CMBS markets that have appeared in industry handbooks and academic journals, and is often quoted in the financial press on commercial real estate debt-related issues. Pendergast holds a BA from Fordham University at Marymount College.
For more information, visit www.crefc.org.
