Kara McShane doesn't believe banks exist to sell products. Banks exist to solve problems — and she wants to be certain her team is ready to deliver.
"Our performance reflects the team's expertise, the breadth of our platform, and the depth of our client relationships," said McShane, the global head of commercial real estate at Wells Fargo, whose team originated approximately $83 billion across balance sheet and capital markets in FY 2025. "We are focused on what the client ultimately needs, not a product list. We think about what the client is solving for and the best solution. We show up as one firm, even if a project crosses disciplines."
That mindset helps McShane foster a collaborative culture at Wells Fargo, within her team and across departments. In 2025, she helped launch the digital infrastructure solutions council, or DISC, a cross-CIB initiative that aims to improve coordination to prepare for growth in the digital infrastructure market.
"The digital infrastructure market isn't just data centers and real estate bankers — it touches technology bankers, energy and power bankers, equity capital markets professionals, debt capital markets professionals," says McShane, who serves as one of DISC's executive sponsors. "We bring all these representatives together weekly to share information, talk about pipelines, and make sure we're equipped to advise our clients and think about risk appropriately."
Preparing for future growth has been McShane's MO since stepping into her role in 2020, when she changed out a significant portion of her team to ensure strategic alignment.
"Kara brings real experience to the table; she's not just an empty suit," said A.J. Sfarra, who's known and worked with McShane for nearly 25 years and is the managing director and head of real estate securitization and capital markets at Wells Fargo. "She fosters collaboration and individual achievement while driving accountability. She will never ask you to do something she's not prepared to do herself. She can drive results, and that forces us all to be better."
Those results speak for themselves: In 2025, McShane's team pushed Wells Fargo to rank as the top global CMBS bookrunner, the leader in real estate loan syndications, and the top bank agency lender. Marquee transactions included a $3.15 billion StuyTown/Peter Cooper Village refinancing and a $5.65 billion Safe Harbor Marinas acquisition by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, where Wells Fargo served as lead financial advisor to Blackstone and provided committed debt financing.
They're all professional accomplishments that drive McShane to achieve more, but she also sees her role as an opportunity to create change beyond lines of revenue.
"We know we have an affordable housing crisis in this nation," said McShane, who's lived in New York City for 32 years and serves on the board of the housing nonprofit Breaking Ground, which works to give unhoused people access to shelter and other vital services. "I've been in this role at Wells Fargo since 2020, and we've invested nearly $10 billion in New York City alone to develop, preserve, and support [affordable] units via multifamily capital and community lending. It's a gift to have something I personally care about that intersects with my professional life."
