Prudential Agricultural Investments announced today the addition of three principals. Shane Hutchinson and Johan Dam have joined the agricultural lending team, and Seth Palmer has joined the timber lending team. PAI is the $4.4 billion agricultural debt and equity business of Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, which is one of the largest commercial mortgage businesses in the United States and a business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU).

The new hires fit with the company’s goal to expand its agricultural and timber mortgage lending operations.

“These new additions to our team provide a depth of industry experience and expertise as we look to grow the capacity and capabilities of our agriculture and timber lending businesses,” said Jess Jarratt, president of PAI. “Shane, Johan and Seth extend our bench of investment professionals and allow us to grow our loan portfolios in both sectors. As investors continue to diversify their portfolios and allocate more to alternative investments, we feel PAI is positioned well to take advantage of this shift.”

Hutchinson comes to PAI from Rabo AgriFinance, where he was most recently a regional vice president. He joined the firm in early January 2015 and reports to John Nitz, principal and Central Regional Head for the agriculture mortgage lending operations. Hutchinson is responsible for agricultural direct loan originations for the Mid-South region of the U.S.

Dam joined PAI in mid-February 2015 from Farm Credit of Central Florida, ACA and has relocated to Fresno, Calif. reporting to Frank Oberti, principal and Southwestern Regional Head in that regional office. Dam is responsible for agricultural mortgage loans in the Southwest U.S.

Palmer joined PAI’s Timberland Capital Group in mid-January 2015 from MetLife Timberland Finance Group, where he was most recently an associate director. Palmer is responsible for mortgage loan originations in the timber and forest products sector and reports to Rachelle Schlesinger, head of the Timberland Capital Group.

Expanding the agricultural business is part of Prudential Mortgage Capital Company’s strategic growth plan for 2015. On Feb. 3, 2015, the company announced that it had achieved its second highest production year, providing $15.2 billion in commercial mortgage originations and that it had up to $15 billion to lend in 2015.

“One of our goals for 2015 is to grow our agriculture lending business and establish it as a top-tier operation within the industry,” said David Durning, CEO of Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. “These additions are a step in the right direction as we look to grow originations, raise and invest equity capital and obtain new clients for PAI.”

Prudential Financial’s roots in agricultural lending extend back to 1898. Currently, PAI has an agricultural debt team that supplies short, medium and long term mortgage based loans with variable and fixed rates for wide a range of agriculture properties; and an equity group that acquires and manages agriculture investments on behalf of investors. Prudential began providing mortgage capital to the forest product and timber industry in the 1980s. PAI’s Timberland Capital Group provides timberland owners with a variety of financing options and loan sizes.

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company is a national full-service, commercial and multifamily mortgage finance business with more than $84.7 billion in assets under management and administration as of December 31, 2014. Leveraging a 135-year history of real estate finance, the company offers one of the most comprehensive lines of real estate finance products and originates loans for Fannie Mae DUS®, Freddie Mac Program Plus® and specialized affordable housing programs; FHA; Conduit; Prudential’s general account and proprietary balance sheet program; and other institutional investors. The company maintains a loan servicing portfolio of approximately $81.3 billion, as of December 31 2014. For more information, please visit http://www.prumortgagecapital.com.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with more than $1 trillion of assets under management as of December 31, 2014, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.