M&T Bank appointed Sam Bluso to lead the bank's new Institutional Real Estate Group focused on expanding M&T's corporate real estate business. As Head of Institutional Real Estate for M&T, Bluso will rely on his 25 years in the real estate capital markets and institutional business to deliver lending and capital markets solutions to Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and Investment Real Estate Fund clients.

The new Institutional Real Estate Group will focus on managing corporate and institutional real estate relationships and will complement M&T's existing Institutional Commercial Real Estate Capital Markets team led by Matt Orrino, managing director, within the Investment Bank. Orrino joined the bank earlier this year to expand its Institutional CRE Capital Markets solutions for new and existing customer bases.

"M&T has a proven track record of delivering exceptional service and innovative solutions to its clients, and I look forward to building on that reputation in this new role," said Bluso. "Along with the talented team of professionals in this new group, we're working to deliver lending and capital markets solutions that match our clients' business objectives and priorities."

Bluso has been responsible for balance sheet and capital market origination throughout his 25-year career. Prior to joining M&T Bank, he served as the Head of People's United Bank's REIT Corporate Finance and Banking team, where he was responsible for growing the bank's REIT capital markets and balance sheet business. Previously, Bluso served as a Managing Director in the Debt Capital Markets group at Citizens Bank, where he supported the Bank's REIT team in its capital market origination.

"Sam is a well-respected leader in the industry with a wealth of experience in real estate capital markets," said Tengel." His appointment as head of our new Institutional Real Estate Group underscores our commitment to providing best-in-class service and innovative solutions to our clients."

Bluso earned his MBA with a finance concentration from the Kent State University Graduate School of Business and his bachelor's degree in economics from Kent State. He also holds Series 24, Series 63, and Series 79 licenses.