Westwood Financial, a leading retail real estate firm, today announced that Mark Bratt has been named the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. At Westwood, Mr. Bratt will oversee all day-to-day operations, including executing on the Company’s strategic plan to grow its assets under management. Mr. Bratt has served on Westwood’s board of directors since 2016.

Mr. Bratt joins Westwood from CBRE’s Capital Markets and Investment Sales team where he served as Senior Managing Director for 4 years. In his role at CBRE, he oversaw over 125 real estate professionals who focused on institutional clients and private clients. His team was responsible for over $6 to $7 billion of retail real estate transactions annually. Prior to his time at CBRE, Mr. Bratt served as Chief Investment Officer at DDR Corp., a publicly traded REIT focused on open-air shopping centers, where he was responsible for all transactional activity. During his tenure, DDR acquired over $4 billion and disposed of over $2 billion of retail centers. Prior to DDR, Mark was an Executive Director with Morgan Stanley Real Estate, and he also had management roles at Lend Lease and Prentiss Properties.

Steve Fogel and Howard Banchik, co-Founders of Westwood, commented, “On behalf of our entire Board of Directors, we are excited to announce Mark Bratt as Westwood’s next CEO. While on our Board, Mark has provided retail expertise, organizational leadership, and strategic direction, all of which will benefit the Company tremendously with his appointment to CEO. He brings an extensive transactional background and has an outstanding reputation as an experienced leader in the retail real estate industry. We look forward to working with Mark to enhance shareholder value, grow Westwood’s asset base, and further build a culture of excellence.”