CBRE has appointed highly experienced property banking professional Duncan Caldwell to lead its Debt & Structured Finance (DSF) business in Victoria.

CBRE’s expanding DSF team includes 15 professionals in Australia and New Zealand, headed by Andrew McCasker. Last year, the team provided debt origination and advisory services on $2.8 billion in property transactions across both countries.

Mr Caldwell’s appointment aligns with the team’s continued expansion amid heightened client demand for funding solutions.

“As the capital markets landscape continues to evolve, leveraging the experience and global network of the DSF business provides clients with access to well-structured and competitive debt,” Mr McCasker said.

“Duncan’s appointment further strengthens our Pacific platform, harnessing his 30 years of property finance experience to provide solutions for our clients working alongside our brokerage teams.”

Mr Caldwell commenced his property finance career with NAB, where he established the bank’s property finance operations in the UK and Ireland and played a leading role in the establishment of NAB’s Major Client Group property finance team in Melbourne.

He has also held senior roles with Investec, ANZ and was mostly recently Westpac’s Executive Director of Real Estate for Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.

“Joining CBRE gives me the opportunity to work even more closely with my network and CBRE’s client base to deliver comprehensive, creative financing solutions working with a broad range of bank and non-bank lenders,” Mr Caldwell said.

“As 2023 progresses, a forecast stablisation in interest rates is expected to be a catalyst for increased transactional activity, which in turn will drive new funding requirements for investors expanding or re-weighting their footprints in commercial real estate.”