Forum Spotlight: Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors
November 10, 2025
Samantha Rotchford (Chair), Rachel Hunter-Goldman (Chair-Elect), and Samir Tejpaul (Past Chair), form the Leadership Working Group for CREFC’s Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors Forum. They are supported by Iman Tajadod, the Young Professionals (YP) Representative for the Forum.
This working group sets agendas and priorities for the Forum, as well as represents their constituencies on CREFC’s Policy Committee.
Why it matters: Each industry Forum addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose.
CREFC works closely with Forum leaders and members to:
- Ensure all voices are heard,
- Assist in finding consensus amidst disparate and converging views,
- Share those views when appropriate with regulators and legislators, utilizing CREFC’s experienced Government Relations Team and our CEO Lisa Pendergast, and
- Develop new best practices and monitor old ones.
What they’re saying: Volumes are approaching 2021 levels in the second half of 2025
While there was a temporary slow-down in the market in April/May given market uncertainty, investors seem to try to be making up for lost time to meet budgets.
- There is a noticeable increase in the volume of acquisition activity compared to previous years (which were almost exclusively refis)
- Banks have re-entered the direct lending space with high conviction, aggressive pricing, and lighter structure. However, they maintain a bias and offer more attractive financing for indirect lending (via repo, warehouse, or note-on-note structures) rather than direct lending, which continues to support levered lenders such as debt funds.
Coupon compression continues and is accelerating…
- Term SOFR is lower by ~40-bps since January and is expected to decrease another 100-bps as the Fed continues to cut rates.
- Spreads have tightened significantly since the summer, partly driven by the re-entry of banks.
- The market continues to see a number of historically equity investors launch debt products to gain access to the credit opportunities.
Diverging asset classes
- Multifamily and residential asset classes (seniors /student) continue to enjoy tight bid, while industrial momentum has slowed.
- Data centers with signed hyperscale leases are receiving A+ pricing, while spec deals or those leased to non-IG tenants see a significant pricing gap.
- Liquidity is slowly increasing for cash-flowing office transactions, albeit from a very low base.
- Grocery-anchored retail product is becoming an industry darling.
What’s Next?
To join the Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors Forum, please register here.
Contact Rohit Narayanan at (RNarayanan@crefc.org) for Forum-related questions.