Overview
- The CRE Finance Council announced on Sept. 11, 2026 that Paul T. Vanderslice will become president and CEO effective Sept. 30, 2026.
- Vanderslice joins from BMO Capital Markets, where he led the bank’s CMBS platform since 2020, and will leave BMO on a timetable the bank has not made public.
- He has more than 30 years in commercial real estate finance, including senior roles at Citigroup, a CEO stint at CCRE, and service as CREFC’s chair of the executive committee and board in 2012–2013.
- The move ends an interim leadership period following Lisa Pendergast’s retirement in August and Ed DeAngelo’s temporary stewardship of the trade group.
- CREFC represents a roughly $6 trillion commercial real estate finance market with 400+ member companies and about 19,000 individuals, and Vanderslice’s appointment signals continuity in the group’s advocacy, market standards and member services while members watch his policy and staffing priorities.