Ares CEO Jamie Henderson leaves

  • Push-out Score determined
  • After about two years in the position
  • Bryan Donohoe taking over
  • Henderson kept it short and said 19 words

(exechange) — New York, November 8, 2019 — Jamie Henderson, chief executive of Ares, leaves. As announced by Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Friday, November 8, 2019, James A. (Jamie) Henderson leaves his post as Chief Executive Officer at the real estate investment trust company after about two years in the role, effective December 5, 2019.

Among the 3,000 largest publicly held companies incorporated in the U.S. based on market capitalization, the average tenure of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 7.5 years, according to data compiled by exechange. On an accumulated basis, around 25% of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months left their posts within three years.

Jamie Henderson’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Bryan P. Donohoe, most recently Managing Director for Commercial Real Estate Debt of AllianceBernstein.

The fact that Jamie Henderson’s successor is brought in from outside suggests that the board may seek to stimulate change with fresh ideas and new initiatives.

No reason given

In the announcement, Ares did not explicitly explain the reason for Jamie Henderson’s move.

Precise information regarding Jamie Henderson’s future plans was not immediately available.

“Stepping down”

Ares said: “Jamie Henderson will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer on December 5, 2019 and will continue as a Director of the Board of ACRE.”

Ares further said: “Effective December 5, 2019, James A. Henderson will step down from his position as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the Company.”

“Did not involve a disagreement”

“Mr. Henderson’s decision to step down did not involve a disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices. Mr. Henderson will remain a director on the Company’s board of directors,” Ares said.

Share price increase since February 2016

The announcement follows an increase in Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation’s share price of 57% since February 2016.

In the position of CEO since 2017

Jamie Henderson became CEO of the Company in November 2017.

James A. Henderson is the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer and President and is one of the Company’s Class I directors.

Since joining Ares Management in April 2017, Henderson has served as a Partner in the Ares Real Estate Group and he is Head of Real Estate Debt.

Prior to joining Ares Management, Henderson held a variety of leadership roles at Barings Real Estate Advisers, a global investment manager, and its predecessor companies Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and Babson Capital Management.

The last position he held was Head of Structured Real Estate Investments at Barings where he oversaw a leading high yield real estate debt investment platform with teams in the United States and Europe.

Henderson also led the development, launch and/or investment of various high yield debt investment vehicles. Henderson was Chairman of Barings’ Structured Real Estate Investment Committees in the United States and Europe, a member of Barings’ Direct Equity and Real Estate Securities Investment Committees, had a leading role in Barings’ real estate private equity activities, and had direct oversight of a 100-person specialty finance company focused on multifamily lending.

Prior to joining Barings and its predecessor companies Cornerstone and Babson in 2005, he was a partner at a private equity real estate firm that owned and operated over 25,000 apartments, which was focused on the acquisition and repositioning of distressed multifamily assets.

Prior to this, he was Vice President of Development for Oldcastle/CRH where he focused on the acquisition, repositioning and operation of mid-market operating companies.

He served six years as an officer in the United States Navy, where he held a variety of roles including engineering, operations, and navigator of an Aegis Cruiser.

Henderson earned a B.S. degree with Merit from the United States Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from Duke University Fuqua School of Business.

Push-out Score determined

The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.

Read the full story in the exechange report 45.2019 ($).