Berkadia Adds Luther Peacock as Chief Risk Officer

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage has announced that industry veteran Luther Peacock has joined the company as chief risk officer. Peacock will be based at Berkadia’s New York City office and report to Chief Operating Officer Linda Pickles. Peacock will be responsible for evaluating and controlling Berkadia’s risk including credit risk, counterparty risk, interest rate and liquidity risk. He will be actively involved in loan transactions to help minimize risk, serve on the Asset Liability Committee and will also oversee Berkadia’s Credit Committee. “As we grow our business, risk management is integral to our strategy,” said Hugh Frater, chief executive officer of Berkadia. “With his extensive commercial real estate finance background and diverse skills, Luther will play an important role as we leverage our financial strength to provide clients more options for meeting their objectives.” In recent months, Berkadia has launched proprietary lending programs for originating fixed-rate loans for inclusion in the new generation of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) as well as floating-rate bridge loans. Peacock has more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience, including 11 years working in key positions at Morgan Stanley. Since 2009, Peacock has provided risk assessments, investment valuations and investment advice to clients on an independent basis and through several prominent advisory organizations.