NewOak announced the appointment of Andrea Bryan as a managing director in its Credit Services group, responsible for credit risk management and operating advisor services for structured products.

“Andrea is a true professional who not only brings tremendous experience and skill to NewOak, but also has the leadership and vision necessary for our entrepreneurial and growing firm,” said Chad Burhance, partner and head of Credit Services. “The post-credit crisis world continues to stabilize, and it is becoming clear that the demand for independent expert services that can provide transparency, compliance and proper risk assessment and controls are in great demand. NewOak is committed to make the investments required to help our clients meet these challenges.”

“It’s a pleasure to have Andrea join NewOak to help spearhead such essential services as collateral validation, servicer oversight and other credit management functions,” said Ron D’Vari, CEO and co-founder. “The securitization market is in the process of redefining these services to make the next generation of securitized products a success. NewOak is dedicated to supporting the securitization industry in achieving this goal and is becoming known as a best-in-class service provider in the process. Andrea’s expertise will be an excellent resource and guiding force as we move forward.”

Bryan brings more than 20 years of experience in U.S. and international structured finance markets, along with in-depth knowledge of commercial real estate (CRE), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

Prior to NewOak, she spent 15 years at Standard and Poor’s, where she was responsible for credit analysis, surveillance and criteria development for early CMBS transactions and analyzed a variety of CRE deals ranging from non-performing loans (NPLs), conduit and large loan CMBS, and CRE CDOs. Ms. Bryan was the lead analyst on more than $5 billion of CRE securitizations, including several large asset securitizations throughout New York City and around the U.S. She established the methodology and rated the first CRE CDOs and CMBS real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) transactions.

Later, she was seconded to S&P’s international team and worked on CMBS transactions in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Bryan was subsequently appointed head of the Structured Finance team in Tokyo, where she managed a team of 20 analysts responsible for rating all securitizations in the region and was also a member of the executive management team responsible for implementing business strategy in the region. Bryan returned to the U.S. in 2004 to become the regional practice leader for the North America structured credit ratings team responsible for rating pooled credit derivatives transactions.