At National Equity Fund, everything we do is in service of our mission to create and deliver innovative collaborative financial solutions to expand the creation and preservation of affordable housing. We strive to be a diverse, equitable and inclusive place to work so that our team has the experience and knowledge to effectively support our partners and communities.
Our vision is that all individuals and families across the country have access to stable, safe and affordable housing that provides a foundation for them to reach their full potential.
2022 was an exceptional year for NEF, despite having occurred during one of the most complex and challenging macro-economic cycles that many of us have ever seen. Elevated inflation, interest rate jumps, extended construction delays, continued longstanding economic effects of COVID and more, put pressure on investors, sponsors and the affordable housing industry like never before.
While managing these headwinds, NEF raised and deployed more than $2.1 billion in affordable housing investments, nearly matching our record production of $2.2 billion from the previous year. These results included over $1.2 billion in LIHTC investments and nearly $900 million in preservation lending and workforce housing investments to provide housing for the nation's "missing middle".
For 35 years, National Equity Fund® has played an integral role in creating affordable housing options, revitalizing communities and strengthening local economies.
Alex Denja originally joined National Equity Fund in 2001 and is NEF’s Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer. Throughout his tenure, Denja’s forward-looking and proactive perspective has helped create the success from which both NEF and its investors benefit.
Denja’s career began as an auditor for KPMG followed by a position as a financial analyst with marchFIRST, Inc. He left NEF in 2008 and worked for BP as a finance manager before returning to NEF in 2010.
His experience and background in finance and accounting with these organizations and his years at NEF provide Denja with a comprehensive understanding of many areas of business and the ability to communicate with a variety of financial professionals.
Denja has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana and an MBA from Northwestern’s University’s Kellogg School of Management. Denja is also a CPA and serves on the Audit Committee for New Markets Support Corporation, and affiliate of NEF.
Reena Bramblett joined National Equity Fund in 2010. She was recently promoted to NEF’s Senior Vice President, Chief Production Officer after serving as SVP of equity placement, in which she was responsible for developing investment strategies as well as placing product with NEF’s funds.
Throughout her tenure at NEF, Bramblett has played an instrumental role in the growth of proprietary equity placements and management of key investor relationships.
Bramblett previously worked as an auditor with Deloitte as well as occupying positions of SVP of underwriting and originations, chief risk officer and chief financial officer at Homestead Capital.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Connecticut and is also a certified public accountant.
Mark Siranovic joined National Equity Fund in 1994 and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Head of Capital Markets in Spring 2023, which reflects NEF’s increased focus on capital markets executions for larger LIHTC transactions. In this role, Siranovic will continue to oversee fund management and state tax credit execution with his extensive experience in treasury management, financial analysis and accounting. Concentrating on raising LIHTC capital from new investors and continuing NEF’s annual multi-investor fund opportunities, Siranovic oversees NEF’s fund management team.
Throughout NEF, Siranovic is credited with the creation of the organization’s secondary, guarantee transaction processes, regional fund approach and implementing the fund financing structures for some of its largest investors. Additionally, Siranovic worked on some of NEF’s syndicator takeovers, including responsibility for the integration of the Homestead transaction as well as a re-syndication of LP interests held by the FDIC.
Past positions include senior budget analyst with British Telecom North America, treasurer of Saul Stone & Co. and accountant with Glass Ginsburg Ltd.
Siranovic has a BSC and MBA from DePaul University and is also a certified public accountant.
