Head of Commercial Real Estate
It’s hard to imagine a more difficult time to take over a bank’s commercial real estate operations than the middle of a pandemic that has emptied out millions of office buildings across the country. But that is the challenge Kara McShane faced when she took the reins of Wells Fargo’s CRE operations in February 2020.
Before long, nearly one-third of the borrowers in the bank’s CRE portfolio were seeking accommodations related to the effects of the pandemic. Under McShane, the bank created a rapid-response loan workout team that helped address thousands of accommodation requests, even as the bank sought out new business opportunities.
During 2020, McShane and her team executed seven CRE collateralized loan obligations, accounting for nearly half of all debt issuances in the market. In total, Wells Fargo originated nearly $35 billion in CRE debt in 2020.
A year after McShane took over, the bank’s CRE operations posted a 5% increase in profits, despite the challenges of the pandemic, and retained its position as the largest CRE lender in the U.S.
McShane says that working through the pandemic helped her reprioritize the way she spends her time.
“I still think building relationships is critical and we will continue to do this — our business is a relationship-driven one,” she says. “But over the past year Zoom has truly changed the way we interact. For example, we have hosted Zoom wine tastings — it’s not a bad way to connect with people.”
The change has also benefited her home life, she said. “The best part of the last year was getting to eat dinner with my family every night. I was out so much in the past, but now I can be present for dinner — it makes a big difference. … This pandemic has made me realize that life is short and it’s important to remember that when you take vacation you really take it. You only get 18 summers with your children before they grow up.”
