Urdang Securities Management Expands REIT Investment Platform Globally, Forms Joint Venture with NAI Global, and Expands Investment Team
July 10, 2006 - Urdang Securities Management, Inc. (USM) a leading institutional manager of publicly traded real estate securities with approximately $2.5 billion of assets under management, has completed a global expansion of its REIT investment platform, formed a strategic joint venture with NAI Global (NAI), and significantly expanded its investment team with several executive appointments.
Global Expansion of Real Estate Securities Investment Platform
In a strategy to capitalize on growing opportunities in International REIT markets, USM has expanded its investment platform by launching International (ex-U.S.) and Global REIT investment options for institutional investors. This expansion builds on an 11-year track record of providing institutional investors with industry leading, risk-adjusted returns through investments in publicly traded U.S. REITs. During that time, the continuity of USM's investment team, along with rigorous underwriting and proprietary risk management techniques, have placed the company among the top performing U.S. REIT managers.
E. Todd Briddell, CFA, managing director and chief investment officer of USM, said "The phenomenal success of the U.S. REIT model over the past 15 years is resulting in rapid expansion of opportunities overseas. REIT-like legislation now exists in 15 countries, and will soon expand into the UK, Germany and India among others. Beyond growth, we see inefficient pricing and fractionalized research coverage of non U.S. REITs. From our clients' perspective, we believe our expansion into the International REIT market provides an excellent opportunity for our firm to provide strong absolute and risk-adjusted returns while adding meaningful diversity to their existing portfolios."
NAI Strategic Relationship
In addition to the global expansion of the REIT investment platform, USM has entered into a strategic relationship with NAI to create a proprietary research relationship for global real estate market data. NAI is the world's leading managed network of commercial real estate firms and is made up of 3,500 professionals working out of 300 offices in more than 40 countries throughout the world.
The strategic relationship establishes a proprietary pipeline into NAI's global database of fundamental real estate information. This pipeline, as well as a network of global real estate associates to interpret the market data and provide commentary, opinions and analysis of market trends, will significantly enhance USM's coverage of the international real estate markets.
"Integrating NAI's vast international real estate expertise with USM's rigorous research and company analysis, will provide our company with a strong competitive advantage for the global expansion of our REIT investment platform," said Briddell. "In addition, direct and regular contact with NAI's network of offices across the globe should prove invaluable in both the asset allocation by country, management team underwriting and individual stock selection."
Investment Team Promotions and Additions
In preparation for the global expansion of its real estate investment platform, USM has promoted three of its principals and made significant additions to its investment team.
Briddell has been promoted from senior portfolio manager to the newly created position of chief investment officer and will serve as chairman of the Investment Committee for the company's international, global and domestic products. Briddell co-founded USM with Scott Urdang in 1995 and was senior portfolio manager for the past 11 years. He joined Urdang Capital Management in 1993. Briddell has a BSE from The Wharton School of Business and is a member of Urdang Capital Management's management committee.
In addition, Dean Frankel, CFA and Peter Zabierek, CFA, have been promoted to senior portfolio managers and each will have primary portfolio management responsibility for the U.S. REIT and International (ex-U.S.) products, respectively.
"Dean and Peter are exceptionally talented individuals, have excellent performance track records, the highest level of integrity, and a commitment to serving as a pure fiduciary to our clients," said Briddell.
Frankel has been with USM since 1997 and has a BSE from The Wharton School of Business. Prior to joining USM in January 2003 as portfolio manager, Zabierek was a REIT research analyst with Morgan Stanley and a real estate investment banker at Citigroup. He holds an MBA and MSE from University of California at Berkeley.
USM has also added to its investment team roster with the appointment of Sherry Rexroad, CFA, as director of Client Services and Business Development and member of USM's investment committee. She joins the firm after nine years as managing director and portfolio manager with ING Clarion Real Estate Securities in Radnor, PA, where she also served on the company's global and domestic REIT investment committees. Rexroad has more than 18 years of real estate investment experience and holds an MBA from The Wharton School of Business.
Maneesh Chhabria also recently joined USM as senior quantitative analyst while completing his PhD in Finance at Drexel University. Mr. Chhabria earned his MBA and MS from Drexel University.
Along with the aforementioned senior positions, Ben Holtz and Amal Mahadawo have also been appointed equity analysts from the 2006 Wharton School of Business undergraduate program. Messrs. Holtz and Mahadawo continue USM's annual tradition of hiring top real estate graduates from Wharton each year.
About Urdang Securities Management
Urdang Securities Management, Inc. and Urdang Capital Management, Inc. (collectively "Urdang") are wholly owned subsidiaries of The Bank of New York Company, Inc. Urdang is The Bank of New York's exclusive provider of public REIT and private real estate investment management services.
Since its founding in 1987, Urdang has achieved an outstanding investment track record and consistently delivered strong risk-adjusted returns to its investors. This success is anchored in an entrepreneurial culture that enables Urdang to uncover hidden investment opportunities. Equally important, its presence in both the private real estate and public real estate securities markets has allowed the firm to expand its investors' investment opportunities with programs tailored to their strategic goals.
Urdang Securities Management is one of the public real estate security industry's strongest performing investment management firms. Urdang Securities Management was formed in 1995 to focus exclusively on opportunities in the real estate securities market, including publicly-traded REITs. The firm's goal with REITs is to enhance its clients' portfolios by improving diversification (Asset Allocation) and by earning superior risk-adjusted returns (Manager Selection).
About NAI Global
NAI is made up of 3,500 professionals working out of 300 offices in more than 40 countries throughout the world. As the world's leading managed network of commercial real estate firms, NAI works together to help its clients strategically optimize their assets. In 2005, NAI offices around the world completed more than 36,000 transactions worth over $35 billion. NAI also manages over 258 million square feet of space.
- In 2005, NAI received top industry rankings:
- Ranked #2 brokerage network by Commercial Property News
- Ranked #5 brokerage by National Real Estate Investor
- Ranked #7 property management by National Real Estate Investor
- Ranked #8 Top 25 Real Estate Brands by Lipsey Report
NAI is based in Princeton, New Jersey. A dedicated 55 person staff, strategically positioned around the world, provides technology, marketing and corporate services support to its network of real estate offices.
About The Bank of New York
The Bank of New York Company, Inc. (NYSE: BK) is a global leader in providing a comprehensive array of services that enable institutions and individuals to move and manage their financial assets in more than 100 markets worldwide. The Company has a long tradition of collaborating with clients to deliver innovative solutions through its core competencies: securities servicing, treasury management, asset management, and private banking. The Company's extensive global client base includes a broad range of leading financial institutions, corporations, government entities, endowments and foundations. Its principal subsidiary, The Bank of New York, founded in 1784, is the oldest bank in the United States and has consistently played a prominent role in the evolution of financial markets worldwide. Additional information is available at www.bankofny.com.
Material in this publication is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any purchase or sale of any specific security or commodity. Certain information contained herein is based on outside sources believed to be reliable, but their accuracy is not guaranteed.
Contacts:
Urdang Securities Management, Inc.
E. Todd Briddell, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer
630 West Germantown Pike, Suite 300
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
(610) 818-4635
NAI Global
Jeffrey Finn, President and Chief Operating Officer
4 Independence Way, Suite 400
Princeton, NJ 08540
(609) 945-4800
The Bank of New York
Kevin Heine
Corporate Communications
(212) 635-1569
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