PGIM Real Estate has bolstered its European debt team with two senior hires, from HSBC’s Germany business and Allianz Real Estate in London.
Allianz Real Estate senior manager Laura Denenga has been appointed as an originator to drive the debt platform’s European origination efforts, reporting to Duncan Pearson, lead originator at PGIM Real Estate in London. Her role is effective immediately.
Denenga is responsible for sourcing and closing senior and whole loans, as well as mezzanine and preferred equity funding.
At Allianz, Denenga was responsible for the origination and execution of senior commercial real estate loans across Europe. Prior to this, Denenga held roles at Maslow Capital and Quadrant Real Estate Advisors.
The asset manager has also recruited former HSBC Germany head of real estate Juergen Helm as lead originator. In his new role, Helm will be tasked with growing the European debt platform by developing new business and loan originations across key markets on the continent.
Helm reports to Andrew Macland, head of European debt at PGIM Real Estate.
During his time at HSBC Germany, Helm focused on the financing of large real estate transactions within the country and wider continental Europe. He has more than 30 years of experience, with prior roles at SEB, HypoVereinsbank and Dresdner Bank.
Both Helm and Denenga will support the European team’s efforts in underwriting and execution of European debt transactions, while reinforcing PGIM Real Estate’s local sourcing capability.
Macland said: “Demand for real estate debt is steadily growing, and these two key origination appointments will help us meet that demand as we further position ourselves for future growth.”
He added that the appointments “reinforce our strategic commitment to strong borrow-focused market coverage”.
“Current market conditions have sped up the trend we saw after the financial crisis of banks lending less,” said Macland. “This presents a significant opportunity for lenders such as ourselves who are able to provide vital financing.”
Since first establishing PGIM Real Estate’s European debt platform more than a decade ago, the team has invested €13.3bn (£11.7m) across 10 European markets.
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