Andrew Kraus is a founding officer of Cornerstone Capital Corporation and Cornerstone Capital Partners Corporation and has served as Managing Director of both firms since inception in 1998.    Mr. Kraus is responsible for joint venture equity investments, real estate acquisitions, sale and leaseback transactions, and related financing of real estate, including credit tenant lease lending and securitizations, at Cornerstone Capital.    Mr. Kraus is also the Chief Financial Officer of Cornerstone Capital Corporation and Cornerstone Capital Partners Corporation and oversees corporate principal debt and equity investments for both firms.  Mr. Kraus has overseen more than $500 million in commercial real estate financing transactions and over $250 million in commercial real estate related acquisitions and developments. 

Mr. Kraus had previously employed as an investment banker in Banc One Capital’s Special Products Finance Group.   At Banc One, Mr. Kraus managed underwriting and deal structuring for the single tenant real estate lending program, during which time he handled over $200 million in first mortgage and mezzanine financing for commercial real estate.  Mr. Kraus has managed direct lending activity for permanent debt in leased real estate transactions involving Walgreen’s, Lowes, Chase Manhattan, Rite Aid, Federal Express, and other national credit tenants.  He managed the Banc One Capital warehouse portfolio of originated single tenant loans, including profitability assessment, market pricing, and risk management for credit, liquidity and hedging risks.  He was responsible for communication and reporting with Banc One Capital’s treasury, financial control and hedging functions, as well as portfolio securitization and whole loan sale.  Mr. Kraus was also directly involved in the development, negotiation and structuring of a variety of joint ventures between Banc One affiliates and third party investors.  His responsibilities at Banc One Capital included supervision of the credit analyst, financial modeling, transaction review, and executive committee presentation functions, together with communication and interaction with Banc One’s treasury, financial control and hedging functions, as well as portfolio securitization and whole loan sale. . 

Prior to joining Banc One Capital Markets, Mr. Kraus was a vice president and chief financial officer of a finance company owned by Berkshire Hathaway.  In that position, Mr. Kraus was responsible for asset management, financial and accounting controls, executive and managerial reporting and analysis, planning, and operational control. 

Mr. Kraus received a B.A. in economics and B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and he earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Kraus’ securities qualifications include NASD Series 7, 24, 27 and 63.