Starwood Capital Group, a private investment firm focused on real estate and energy investments, has hired Armin Rothauser to its hard asset structured finance team. Rothauser will lead Starwood Capital Group’s latest endeavor, the Starwood transportation, infrastructure and energy lending business. Rothauser will join the firm in January 2019.
At Starwood Capital Group, Rothauser will serve multiple roles and have a wide range of responsibilities. He will join the investment committee of Starwood Property Trust, a diversified finance company with a core focus on the real estate and infrastructure sectors and an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group, and the investment committee of Starwood’s recently acquired GE Capital Project Finance Debt Business.
Prior to joining Starwood Capital Group, Rothauser was a managing director at Deutsche Bank, where he ran its transportation, infrastructure, energy lending group, and then went on to co-head Deutsche Bank’s global structured credit business. In those roles, he was responsible for investing the bank’s balance sheet and capital in varied markets across the world and in multiple asset classes. Before joining Deutsche Bank, he enjoyed a successful career as a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he led their hard asset trading businesses.
“We are always looking for unique individuals with proven skills to help Starwood deliver on its plans to diversify its investments across multiple asset classes, and where we can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investor clients,” said Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group. “Armin brings a proven track record, exceptional relationships, deep knowledge and invaluable experience through multiple cycles across the globe. We expect Armin and his future team to complement and strengthen our already strong investment team, to help Starwood Property Trust with potential new loan originations, and to bring exciting investment opportunities to our current and future clients.”