ING REF poaches UniCredit’s Younis for German push

ING Real Estate Finance (REF) has hired a new managing director and head of origination for Germany as it attempts to expand its commercial property lending operation in the country.

The Dutch bank has hired Daniel Younis (pictured), who was formerly head of real estate west for UniCredit, based in Frankfurt. Younis will be responsible for growing ING REF’s German loan portfolio and expanding its client base in the country.

ING REF has been a prolific lender to the European real estate sector during the last two years, although it has been less active in Germany than in other countries.

During 2015, the bank’s real estate lending business was concentrated on the UK and French markets. It was also active in the Spanish and Polish sectors as well as in its home market of the Netherlands. So far this year, the real estate unit’s highest profile loans have been provided in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. Germany’s ultra-competitive real estate finance sector has been traditionally dominated by large domestic banks including the country’s landesbanks, which fund themselves competitively on the Pfandbriefe market.

Younis joined UniCredit in February 2011. In that role, he was responsible for real estate financing activities in western and southwestern Germany. Previously, he was director of real estate structured finance at Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking from April 2008. From December 2006 to March 2008, Younis was director of real estate principal finance at UBS Investment Bank, working in the senior debt, mezzanine debt and equity spaces.

“Daniel Younis is a perfect addition to our team and brings a wealth of experience and expertise which further underlines our growth ambitions in Germany,” said Martin Knof, head of the bank’s commercial real estate finance business in Germany.

“Along with my team, I am looking forward to supporting ING in its growth in Germany. We are well prepared for that endeavour, because we have the necessary resources to provide customised financing solutions in an increasingly difficult market environment,” said Younis.

ING REF had a post-crisis record year of lending in 2015 with a total of €9.5 billion of new debt during the period. In addition, the Dutch bank’s real estate division extended €4.2 billion of debt at maturity, bringing the year’s total origination to €13.7 billion. It was a major uplift from 2014 in which the bank originated €4.5 billion of new loans and extended €5.5 billion of debt.