FBRT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Operations for Benefit Street Partners
- Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Operations
Brian Buffone is a managing director and head of real estate operations for Benefit Street Partners' commercial real estate group, based in Florida. Prior to joining BSP, Mr. Buffone was a managing director at Ladder Capital where he originated CMBS loans and balance sheet loans and sourced/executed the majority of property acquisitions for the Company's own portfolio. Prior to joining Ladder Capital, Mr. Buffone was the founder and president of Park Manor Capital Partners, a full service commercial real estate firm. He was previously a partner and chief financial officer of Compson Holding Corporation where he oversaw the day to day operations of the Company's commercial real estate equity investments, acquisitions, dispositions, asset/property management and financing. Mr. Buffone earned his Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Laude, from Babson College with a double major in Quantitative Methods and Investments.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Head of Capital Markets for Benefit Street Partners CRE
- Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets
David Henschke is a managing director and the head of capital markets for Benefit Street Partners CRE and is based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2021, Mr. Henschke was a managing director and co-head of securitization at Ladder Capital where he was responsible for the execution of loans into CMBS transactions and CLO financings. Prior to joining Ladder Capital, Mr. Henschke served as a Director at Standard & Poor's and was responsible for rating new issue CMBS transactions, surveilling existing ratings and was a member of the criteria committee. Mr. Henschke received a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and is a CFA® Charterholder.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Executive Management Team
Jerry Baglien is a managing director and chief financial officer & chief operating officer who functions as a portfolio manager of real estate, based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2016, Mr. Baglien was director of fund finance for GTIS Partners LP, where he oversaw all finance and operations for GTIS funds. Previously, he was an accounting manager at iStar Inc. with oversight of loans and special investments. Mr. Baglien received a Master of Business Administration from Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Oregon.
Jerry Baglien - CFO, COO, Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operating Officer
- Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- Chief Credit Officer
- Managing Director
- Member of the Executive Management Team
Matt Jacobs is a managing director and the chief credit officer for BSP CRE, based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2016, Mr. Jacobs was co-head of underwriting at Ladder Capital, where he led a team of professionals in the underwriting of CMBS loans, structured / balance sheet loans, mezzanine loans and equity investments. Prior to joining Ladder, Mr. Jacobs worked in Deloitte's Financial Advisory Services practice, where he provided valuation services to various real estate lenders and investors. Additionally, Mr. Jacobs previously worked at UBS Real Estate Securities, focusing on the underwriting of various CRE loans. Mr. Jacobs received a Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis.
Micah Goodman - Chief Legal Officer, Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Chief Administrative Officer
- General Counsel
- Managing Director
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Managing Director, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of Benefit Street Partners
Micah Goodman is a managing director, general counsel and chief administrative officer of Benefit Street Partners' commercial real estate business, based in our New York office. He is also general counsel and corporate secretary of Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust, Inc. Prior to joining BSP in 2014, Mr. Goodman was an executive director in the transaction management group at Ladder Capital Finance, where his team was responsible for structuring, negotiating and closing commercial real estate loans. Prior to joining Ladder Capital, Mr. Goodman was a vice president at Credit Suisse and at JP Morgan Chase in their real estate capital markets groups. Previously, Mr. Goodman was a real estate and finance attorney at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP. Mr. Goodman received a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- President
- President of FBRT Managing Director and Head of Commercial Real Estate at BSP
Michael Comparato serves as President of FBRT. He is also a managing director with Benefit Street Partners and the head of commercial real estate for BSP. Prior to joining BSP in 2015, Mr. Comparato was head of U.S. Equity Investments at Ladder Capital, where he led Ladder's largest team that actively originated CMBS loans, structured/balance sheet loans, mezzanine loans and acquired strategic assets for the firm. Prior to joining Ladder, Mr. Comparato was president of BankAtlantic Commercial Mortgage Capital (BACMC), the CMBS affiliate of BankAtlantic, where he was responsible for managing all day-to-day operations. Mr. Comparato also previously ran Compson Holding Corporation, which made various equity investments in multiple different commercial real estate assets and publicly traded REITs. Mr. Comparato received a Bachelor of Science, Summa Cum Laude, from Babson College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officers
Richard Byrne has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officers of FBRT since September 2016. Mr. Byrne is also the President of Benefit Street Partners and is based in our New York office, as well as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin BSP Capital Corp. and Benefit Street Partners Multifamily Trust.
Prior to joining BSP in 2013, Mr. Byrne was Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. He was also the global head of capital markets at Deutsche Bank as well as a member of their global banking executive committee and global markets executive committee.
Before joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Byrne was global co-head of the leveraged finance group and global head of credit research at Merrill Lynch. He was also a perennially top-ranked credit analyst.
Mr. Byrne earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Binghamton University. Mr. Byrne is a member of the board of directors of Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN), and New York Road Runners. He is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KASAI Elite Grappling Championships.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Management Team
- Managing Director With Benefit Street Partners
- Managing Director, Head of Asset Management
Tanya Mollova is a managing director with Benefit Street Partners and is based in our New York office. Prior to joining BSP in 2015, Ms. Mollova was an executive director at CIBC in the commercial real estate group, where she focused on CMBS underwriting. Prior to joining CIBC, Ms. Mollova headed underwriting for Contemporary Healthcare Capital, where she closed mezzanine and preferred equity transactions with concentration on senior housing and healthcare. Previously, Ms. Mollova worked as a structured finance associate director in the CMBS group at Fitch Ratings. Ms. Mollova received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Lawrence University.