CEO, Via Capital
One of London?s most notable debt capital markets bankers is resurfacing. Marc Bajer, formerly of Barclays Capital and Commerzbank, has set up a real-estate investment banking business. Subject to FSA approval, Via Capital should be up and running this year.
The firm is a 17-strong outfit based just off Liverpool Street, and it plans to offer three products. A structured finance advisory business will be aimed at end users and intermediaries looking for alternatives to traditional real-estate financing. Via Capital will also advise clients on setting up conduits to finance property development and investment. Thirdly, at arm?s length from the other two business lines, Via Capital will run an investment advisory business, raising third-party funds and investing them in property debt and property-related securities rather than directly in property.
Pending regulatory approval, Bajer wants Via Capital to start acting as investment adviser to its first fund and to start its first conduit financing by the end of the year.
Bajer thinks the time is right to launch a niche real-estate investment bank. ?The growth in the property markets in central and eastern Europe means new opportunities for everyone,? he says. ?In the more mature markets, regulation is putting pressure on financial intermediaries to alter their capital and funding structures. That will cause issuance of property-related securities to increase. Spreads are tight and end-users are looking to diversify their funding sources. And I think the fundamentals of the property market are healthy.? That said, Bajer would be confident of success whatever the state of the market. ?I don?t think our success depends on the planets being perfectly aligned,? he says. ?I believe we have a unique combination of products.?
Many of the staff of Via Capital followed Bajer from Commerzbank. The team includes Richard Curtis, who heads up the investment advisory side; Arun Mirchandani, who heads conduits and structured finance advisory; and John Bills, on the structuring and placing side. Bajer says his own role will initially be mostly business development.
Born in France, Bajer moved to the US as a child. After beginning his career in banking there, he came back to Europe in the 1990s. At Barclays Capital in London, he headed asset securitization and formed a highly successful partnership with Roman Schmidt. When Schmidt joined Commerzbank as global head of debt syndicate, Bajer followed a few months later, becoming head of global debt origination. The team picked up a series of impressive securitization mandates. Last year, Bajer felt the need to do something different.
He travels to work on a BMW R 1100 ? one of his collection of 18 motorcycles. Although he has been riding since he was 14, his enthusiasm for bikes is also part of his business plan. ?I can work longer hours if I don?t get stuck in those traffic problems,? he says.
Aside from bikes and banking, perhaps Bajer?s most remarkable work is with cancer patients. Diagnosed with cancer himself 18 years ago, he now uses his personal experience to advise patients and their families on how to cope and survive.
?When you?ve got one foot in the grave, as I had for two-and-a-half years, you have to work really hard to maintain a positive outlook,? he says. ?A lot of people get cancer and it is amazing how difficult it is to react in a way that will improve your odds of survival.?
He has been counseling cancer patients for more than a decade. ?I have the most profound respect for people who go through it,? he says. ?They always seem to show determination, nerve, daring and courage.?