Ross L. Smotrich joined Barclays Capital in September 2008 and is currently a managing director and senior research analyst following the real estate investment trust and real estate securities sectors. Previously, he had joined Lehman Brothers in June 2008 after 10 years as a senior managing director at Bear Stearns, following four years as a senior equity analyst at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Smotrich has ranked in the Institutional Investor’s “All-America Research Team” survey five times and has twice been named to The Wall Street Journal’s “All-Star Analysts” survey (earnings forecasting). Before moving to sell-side research, Ross was a real estate banker for Chemical Bank doing lending, investment banking and workout. He earned an MBA from Columbia University in finance/real estate and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in diplomatic history/international economics.