Art Capital launches Europe’s first real estate “back leverage” advisory

European real estate credit advisor Art Capital has launched a new division focused on "back leverage" advisory services, a first for Europe. 

Alexander (AJ) Storton

This follows the appointment of Alexander (AJ) Storton, a former JP Morgan executive, as the firm's fourth partner.
Storton, who began his role in late August, brings over 15 years of European real estate credit experience. Previously, he was executive director and head of EMEA & APAC CRE Loan Capital Markets and EMEA CRE Loan-on-Loan at JP Morgan Chase, where he spent nine years building one of Europe's largest back leverage platforms and overseeing billions in loan facilities. Before JP Morgan, Storton worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for six years, involved in origination, underwriting, syndication, and securitization across the UK and Europe.
At Art Capital, Storton will head Art Capital Structured Finance ("ACSF"), initially advising clients on CRE back leverage and loan-on-loan financing, with plans to expand into broader structured finance activities. His appointment creates Europe's first specialized real estate back leverage advisory service, addressing a growing yet complex segment of the real estate capital markets.
Storton's addition also increases Art Capital's partnership to four.
AJ Storton, partner at Art Capital, said: "Over the past five years, back leverage has quietly become a fundamental component of the European real estate capital markets, adapting structures and technology inspired by the mature loan-repo markets in the US. Unlike direct lending, back leverage introduces added complexities — mark-to-market requirements, structured guarantees, and diversification criteria — requiring specific structuring and risk evaluation knowledge. ACSF aims to bring greater clarity, efficiency, and standardisation to this rapidly growing segment by applying deep expertise, market experience, and technical insight."
Tim Vaughan, partner at Art Capital, added: “Back leverage can transform debt funds’ competitiveness on pricing and open up opportunities to match bank-level margins, while in turn, allowing banks to maintain real estate exposure without carrying direct risk on their balance sheets – a trend set to continue as new regulatory frameworks like Basel IV come into play. Through our existing debt advisory business, we have only seen interest in the back leverage sector increase from both banks and debt funds. Establishing ACSF with someone as experienced as AJ allows Art Capital to expand its offering in an underserved part of the advisory market.” 
Art Capital provides advisory services for loans typically ranging from £20 mln (€23 mln) to over £500 mln (€588 mln), with the capacity to arrange larger or smaller facilities when appropriate for clients. Since its launch in September 2024, the firm has quickly expanded. It is currently managing over £3 bn (€3.5 bn) in active mandates across the UK and Europe and anticipates closing £1.5 bn (€1.76 bn) in transactions by the end of Q3 2025.