Correction Presents Opportunities for Some

The ongoing correction in the capital markets and reassessment of risk present opportunities for some, it emerged at the recent International Council of Shopping Centers' capital marketplace conference in New York.Dana Roffman, a director with Angelo, Gordon & Co., New York, said she expects the situation to get a little gloomier, depending on how badly people get hurt, what players are eliminated, and how it will affect the U.S. economy. But there are "a lot of interesting opportunities in this interim period," including a chance for mezzanine and other players to fill the void left by mortgage lenders, she said. Ms. Roffman said there is a group that is setting up a fund to buy some of the market's oversupply of securities. If the risk to return makes sense and the paper is priced right, she said she expects it to trade at about a 5%-15% discount. Aaron Walsh, a managing director at Barclays Capital Inc., New York, also said there are opportunistic funds looking at the available paper. "People are circling right now, and there is still a disconnect," he said, adding that it will take a while for Wall Street to digest the paper.