Qualified Intermediary

CDEC

Chicago Deferred Exchange Company · Parent: Wintrust Financial Corporation · Firm website

FEA membership: FEA unknown
CES® holders: Eric Brecher, Esq., CES®; Mary Cunningham, CES®
Fidelity bond: Not published on cited pages
E&O / other cover: Not published on cited pages
How funds are held: Segregated
Dual-signature wires: Wire controls unknown
Reverse / improvement / DST: Reverse Yes · Improvement Unknown · DST Unknown
Last sourced: 2026-09-05

Fund handling

Separate Qualified Trust account per client/transaction; funds held in trust for clients and described as segregated from creditors’ claims by operation of law; professionally managed institutional money market funds rated AA or better; interest accrues to client accounts.

Who keeps the float

Interest on the institutional money-market holdings accrues to client accounts, per the Wintrust CDEC page.

Who it is for

Nationwide 1031 exchangers (individuals, partnerships, corporations) wanting a bank-subsidiary QI/EAT that markets Qualified Trust custody and reverse-exchange experience. Founded 1989; Wintrust subsidiary. Office published: 231 South LaSalle Street, 13th Floor, Chicago, IL 60604; 312-580-9640.

Verdict

Bank-owned QI with clear Qualified Trust / segregated-funds language and named CES® leadership — stronger on trust structure than on published bond dollars (none on the cited page). Volume claims (75,000+ exchanges) are the firm’s own. Confirm current fidelity/E&O certificates and wire controls before large wires; FEA company membership not verified here.

Notes

This is a QI custody file, not a securities offering. Chicago Deferred Exchange Company provides Qualified Intermediary and Exchange Accommodation Titleholder services. The Wintrust page states CDEC is a subsidiary of Wintrust Financial Corporation, founded in 1989, and that 1031 exchanges are the firm’s only business.

The same page is the source for a separate Qualified Trust account on every client transaction, funds held in trust and “segregated from creditors’ claims by operation of law,” institutional money-market funds rated AA or better, and interest accruing to client accounts. Dual-signature / who-can-wire mechanics are not described. Fidelity and E&O dollar limits are not published there and are omitted.

Forward and reverse exchanges are both marketed; the firm claims thousands of reverse exchanges and “over 75,000” exchanges in every state. Those counts are the firm’s own. Improvement/build-to-suit is not asserted on the cited page, so it stays unknown. DST is not marketed there.

Named CES® holders on that team list: Eric Brecher, Esq., CES® (EVP, Business Development) and Mary Cunningham, CES® (CEO). Other officers are listed without CES® and are not added here. FEA company membership is not asserted on the cited page.

Sources

CDEC 1031 | Wintrust2026-09-05

Share a factual note

Prewritten LinkedIn text. No hype. No affiliate link.

Chicago Deferred Exchange Company (CDEC) has a custody file on The QI File — published facts only. No star rating. No paid placement.

FEA: FEA unknown. Funds: Segregated. Dual-sign: Wire controls unknown.

Unknown on that file means unpublished, not a grade.

https://www.theqifile.com/firms/chicago-deferred-exchange/

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Corrections and verification

Listings are sourced from public pages. Unknown is omitted, not graded. If a fact is wrong or stale, send the primary URL.