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CREFC Annual June Conference: Key Takeaways from the Forums

June 23, 2026

The recently concluded CREFC Annual June Conference in New York City was a resounding success, marked by strong industry engagement and registration levels that surpassed last year’s figures. Across the seven core forum panels, the prevailing outlook among participants was one of cautious optimism. While macro headwinds, elevated interest rates, and short-term stagnant transaction volumes continue to present challenges, the underlying sentiment focused on highly resilient capital markets liquidity and stable fundamentals that position the industry well for an accelerating recovery. 

Servicers Forum

• Special servicing transfers have become more predictable, driven primarily by asset maturity stress rather than outright operational cash-flow deterioration. 
• Core office properties remain the primary driver of the special servicing pipeline. 
• Loan bifurcations into A/B note structures have reemerged as an effective workout strategy to grant borrowers the additional time and capital runway needed to stabilize assets. 
• While automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will significantly reduce administrative burdens, panelists emphasized that servicing remains a deeply judgment-driven business. 

GSE/Multifamily Lenders Forum

• The Agency multifamily capital market remains highly functional, with stable bond spreads despite broader macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility. 
• Ongoing interest-rate uncertainty continues to push borrower demand toward shorter five-year loan terms. 
• The multifamily sector exhibits severe bifurcation rather than broad distress; heavy supply pressures have flattened rent growth in Sunbelt markets like Phoenix and Austin, while lower-supply markets in the Midwest and Northeast continue to outperform.

Portfolio Lenders Forum

• Commercial real estate private credit has matured into a permanent, cyclical $2 trillion global market. 
• CRE private credit benefits from lower leverage levels and tangible collateral backing, separating its resilient performance from the negative headlines surrounding corporate private lending. 
• Lenders are heavily focused on data centers, prompting intense underwriting scrutiny around power availability, localized tenant credit, and residual asset value at lease maturity. 

Investment-Grade (IG) Bondholders Forum

• CMBS transaction issuance and spreads remain highly resilient, led primarily by robust activity in single-asset single-borrower (SASB) and CRE CLO structures. 
• While down-stack ratings migrations are highly consequential for ratings-sensitive investors, actual realized principal losses remain limited. 
• Investors expressed a clear need for greater reporting transparency, standardized workout documentation, and consistent appraisal disclosure practices to strengthen long-term market confidence. 
  

B-Piece Investors Forum

• The conduit CMBS market faces ongoing constraints from interest-rate volatility, leading to elongated transaction execution timelines as borrowers wait until exact loan maturities to transact. 
• The footprint of office collateral in conduit pools remains materially lower compared to prior credit cycles. 
• Structural downside protection is taking center stage across all property sectors, forcing a heavier focus on capital reserves, earlier cash-sweep triggers, and deep property condition due diligence. 

Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors Forum

• Alternative lenders are no longer viewed as capital providers of last resort, but rather as preferred, solution-oriented institutional counterparties for bridge, construction, and refinancing needs. 
• A highly liquid and competitive debt environment has tightened spreads, placing a premium on execution certainty and lender differentiation. 
• Significant investment opportunities are emerging in discounted secondary loans, driven by ongoing balance-sheet pruning and credit pullback among regional banks. 

Issuers Forum

• Securitization issuance remains active but structurally uneven; year-to-date issuance across conduit, SASB, and CRE CLO formats totals ~$82 billion, though conduits accounted for just a 16% share of that volume. 
• Capital availability and credit appetite remain selectively broad across all major property types, including retail, self-storage, and industrial. 
• Lending decisions continue to hinge strictly on sponsorship quality, asset fundamentals, and structural discipline rather than borrower attempts to predict the forward direction of the interest-rate market.
  

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The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

June 9, 2026

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual Conference this Week

 The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) today announced new Chairs for their 2026-2027 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was elected at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City this week.

CREFC’s Forums represent specific market constituencies that drive the U.S. commercial real estate finance industry. Forums include:

• Alternative Lenders and High-Yield Investors
• CMBS Investors:
  • CMBS B-Piece Investors 
  • CMBS Investment-Grade Bondholders
• CMBS Issuers 
• CMBS Servicers
  • Master Servicers
  • Special Servicers
• GSE/Multifamily Lenders 
• Portfolio Lenders
  • Bank Lenders 
  • Insurance Company Lenders

Each Forum interacts and addresses issues critical to its business sector, while working to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose and continue to drive the industry forward. CREFC’s Forums manage disparate and converging market views, advocate a consensus of positions to policymakers and lawmakers, educate members, develop market best practices and standards, and work to the betterment of these unique individual market sectors within the commercial real estate finance market in its entirety.

The incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

• Alternative Lenders & High-Yield Investors. CREFC welcomes Tony LaBarbera (Blackstone) as Chair-Elect, Rachel Hunter-Goldman (KKR - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) as Chair, and Samantha Rotchford (BDT & MSD Partners) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Samir Tejpaul (Madison Realty Capital) served as Past-Chair.
• B-Piece Investors. CREFC welcomes Zach Freedman (Eightfold Real Estate Capital, L.P.) as Chair-Elect, Josh Brand (Argentic) as Chair, and Frank Yin (KKR-Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Peter Lindner (Rialto Capital) was Past-Chair.
• GSE/Multifamily Lenders. CREFC welcomes Yahli Becker (Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.) as Chair-Elect, Lee Green (Wells Fargo) as Chair and David Haynes (CBRE Capital Markets, Inc.) as Past-Chair. Wayne Ip (Fannie Mae) and Jason Griest (Freddie Mac) serve as GSE representatives. In 2025-2026, the Past-Chair was Ahmed Hasan (Capital One). 
• Investment-Grade Bondholders. CREFC welcomes Li Pang (J.P. Morgan) as Chair-Elect, Wendy Pei (Ellington Management) as Chair, and Adam Smith (DWS) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Rajesh Bansal (Quiq Capital) served as Past-Chair. 
• CMBS, CRE CLO and Agency Issuers. CREFC welcomes Raul Orozco (Citigroup Global Markets) as Chair-Elect, Scott Epperson (Goldman Sachs & Co.) as Chair, and Shaishav Agarwal (Barclays) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Brigid M. Mattingly (Wells Fargo) served as Past-Chair. 
• Portfolio Lenders – Bank Lender Subforum. CREFC welcomes Mauricio Duran (Webster Bank) as Chair and Robert Grudzinski (U.S. Bank, NA) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Bridget Scanlon was Chair. 
• Portfolio Lenders – Insurance Company Lenders Subforum. CREFC welcomes Lisa Paterson Simonetti (Apollo Global Management) as Chair-Elect, Kevin Catlett (Principal Real Estate Investors) as Chair, and Melissa Farrell (PGIM) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Kevin Pivnick served as Past-Chair. 
• Servicers – Master Servicers Subforum. CREFC welcomes Michelle Engle (KeyBank) as Chair-Elect, Amanda Dugat (SitusAMC) as Chair, and Dana Jo Martino (Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Adam Fox (Fitch Ratings) served as Past-Chair. 
• Servicers – Special Servicers Subforum. CREFC welcomes William Clarkson (Torchlight Investors) as Chair-Elect, Brett Mann (LNR Partners) as Chair, and Alex Killick (CWCapital) as Past-Chair. In 2025-2026, Pamela Dent served as Past-Chair. 

“We are excited to welcome these new leaders to our industry Forums, which serve as the backbone of CREFC and all that it does. I want to thank all of our existing and past Forum leaders for their dedication and continued support of our work,” said Lisa Pendergast, President and CEO of CREFC. 

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CREFC Balance-Sheet Lending Leaders Convene for Strategic Roundtable Dinner

May 5, 2026

Last week, CREFC President & CEO Lisa Pendergast hosted an exclusive roundtable dinner, bringing together key members of the Portfolio Lenders Forum (Bank and Insurance) and the Alternative Lenders & High Yield Investors Forum. The evening featured special guest Leland F. Bunch, CREFC Chair and Managing Director at Bank of America, alongside a distinguished group of leaders from the balance sheet lending community.

Participating firms included senior representatives from BGO, Blackstone, Bridge Debt Strategies, Derby Lane Partners, KKR, PGIM, Regions Bank, and US Bank. The intimate setting provided a unique venue for these industry leaders to engage in a candid dialogue regarding current market developments and to offer strategic suggestions on how CREFC can further support the sector.

Key Discussion Highlights:

• The Divergence of Private Credit Performance: The group examined the growing performance gap between unsecured Private Credit, which has faced increasing headwinds, and secured real estate debt funds. Participants noted that real estate debt funds have emerged as beneficiaries of this market divergence, providing strong value propositions in the current environment.
• Benchmarking and Data Development: A critical point of discussion centered on the need for improved transparency and data in the private secured debt space. Executives explored the potential for developing a dedicated index to provide accurate performance benchmarking for the sector.
• Market Trends, Competition, and Credit: Leaders shared observations on trends in the market: while overall deal volumes are down, competition among balance-sheet lenders remains fierce. Members reported that while spreads have tightened to secure quality transactions, they have successfully maintained rigorous credit standards, prioritizing portfolio resilience over volume.

Engage with CREFC Forums

CREFC’s Forums offer a dedicated space for members to share insights, develop industry best practices, and influence policy. We encourage all members to engage actively with their relevant forums to help shape CREFC’s policy and capital markets initiatives.

• Join a Forum: Visit the Forums Engagement Page
• Questions? For more information regarding CREFC Forums, please contact Rohit Narayanan at rnarayanan@crefc.org.

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CRE/CLO Update

May 5, 2026

Progress on CREFC’s Collateral Manager Data Report (CMDR) and Upcoming June Meeting

CREFC continues to spearhead efforts to enhance transparency and standardization across the CRE CLO landscape. As we approach the mid-year mark, significant strides have been made in the adoption of the Collateral Manager Data Report (CMDR), alongside new opportunities for industry-wide collaboration.

Save the Date: CRE CLO / IRP Joint Meeting

The upcoming CREFC Annual Conference will feature a dedicated in-person joint lunch meeting of the CRE CLO Working Group and the Investor Reporting Package (IRP) Committee. This session is geared for participants to provide comments and suggestions on CRE CLO and IRP reporting.

• When: Monday, June 8, 2026 | 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
• Registration: Register Here
• Note: Registration for the full CREFC Annual Conference is not required to participate in this specific meeting.

Collateral Manager Data Report (CMDR) Implementation

Adoption of the CMDR is gaining significant momentum. This quarter marks a turning point as several additional firms have begun active reporting. The integration into major data platforms is also moving forward rapidly:

• Intex: Active reporting is underway.
• Trepp: Scheduled to begin reporting by the end of May.
• Bloomberg: Now reviewing requirements to facilitate this reporting in the future.

Furthermore, CREFC is actively developing CMDR v2. Our goal is to circulate this updated version for review by the working group prior to the June Annual meeting, ensuring that the latest feedback from market participants is incorporated into the draft.

What's Next: Advancing CRE CLO Financials Reporting

Streamlining the reporting of financials remains the next top priority for the working group. Recent discussions with a diverse group of Issuers, Investors, and Servicers revealed a variety of perspectives on the most efficient path forward.

Given the importance of achieving a consensus that serves all market participants, we will be hosting a live discussion during the June 8th meeting at the Conference. This will be an essential opportunity to weigh different viewpoints and determine the best strategy for streamlining these critical data sets.

Get Involved 

Your feedback is vital to the success of these initiatives. For any questions or comments regarding these updates, please reach out to Rohit Narayanan at rnarayanan@CREFC.org.

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Portfolio Lending Update: A Divergence in Spreads as Balance-Sheet Lenders Compete for Limited Deal Flow

April 14, 2026

The Insurance and Bank Portfolio Lenders Forums recently discussed market conditions amidst persistent geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds. The primary takeaway is a notable divergence in pricing. Spreads have tightened for balance-sheet executions even as the broader capital markets experienced moderate widening.

Market Dynamics: The Search for Volume

The abundance of available debt capital relative to a limited supply of high-quality lending opportunities is driving downward pressure on spreads, forcing an override of potential increases in risk premiums.

• Vertical Stability vs. Core Drop: While bridge and construction verticals remain stable, the core pipeline has seen a significant contraction due to market volatility.
• The "Maturity Trigger": Acquisition activity remains muted. Outside of imminent maturities, borrowers are largely sidelining permanent loan refinancings in hopes of greater market certainty later in the year.
• Competitive Pricing: Banks have become increasingly aggressive in pricing construction and floating-rate products. The stance is challenging life company competitiveness in traditional "core" territories.

Benchmark Spreads & Pricing

Lenders are tightening spreads to "win" the few institutional-quality transactions coming to market.

Asset/Transaction Type and Reported Spread Range

• Multifamily Construction (Tier 1) - High 100s
• Other Major Asset Classes - Low 200s
• Back Leverage (Top-Tier) - ~130s

Note on CRE CLOs: The tightening of back-leverage pricing to the 130s serves as a potential dampener for the CRE CLO market, which has seen an orderly widening of spreads since the onset of recent geopolitical conflicts. Market participants have indicated a slow down on CRE CLO transactions is the likely result.

Credit Strategy & Risk Appetite

Despite the "chase" for yield and volume, the Forums expressed a disciplined approach to credit:

• Tier 2/Secondary Markets: Lenders are selectively exploring secondary markets to capture better spreads, but asset quality concerns remain a significant barrier.
• No "Race to the Bottom": There is little to no appetite among Forum members to lower credit standards or loosen underwriting discipline to secure deal flow.

Outlook: The Forums expect spreads to remain compressed in the near term until a meaningful pickup in transaction volume rebalances the supply/demand for debt capital.

Contact Rohit Narayanan (RNarayanan@crefc.org) with any questions.

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Shape the Future of CREFC: Call for Forum Chair-Elect Nominations

March 3, 2026 

A vital part of the CRE Finance Council’s mission is driven by our Forums—specialized peer groups that serve as the engines of industry progress. Beyond providing a platform for discussing sector-specific trends and regulatory shifts, these groups are instrumental in tackling systemic issues and driving tangible change in how the industry operates, including the development and widespread adoption of market-leading best practices.

To ensure these groups continue to lead the industry conversation and catalyze meaningful change, we are officially opening nominations for our next class of Forum Chair-Elects.

This is a unique opportunity for members to take a leadership role within the Council, helping to curate programming and advocate for the interests of their specific market segment.

About the Forums

Our Forums are divided by constituency and asset focus to ensure relevant, high-level engagement across the CRE Finance industry. We are currently seeking leadership for the following groups:

• Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors
• B-Piece Investors 
• GSE/Multifamily Lenders
• Investment-Grade (IG) Bondholders
• Issuers
• Portfolio Lenders – Bank & Insurance Company
• Servicers – Master and Special

Nominee Requirements

To maintain the high caliber of leadership our members expect, we invite nominations for individuals who meet the following criteria:

• Member Alignment: Nominees must be current employees of a CREFC member firm.
• Sector Expertise: Candidates should demonstrate significant professional experience and a proven track record within the specific Forum’s sector.
• Commitment to the Industry: A desire to contribute to the collective voice of the CRE finance community and a willingness to collaborate with fellow industry leaders.

Submit Your Nomination

Whether you are interested in stepping into a leadership role yourself or would like to recommend a colleague who has demonstrated exceptional insight and dedication to the industry, we want to hear from you.

The nomination process is straightforward and can be completed via the link below: SUBMIT A NOMINATION 

For a detailed breakdown of each Forum’s mission and current activities, please visit our Forums Overview page.

Join us in steering the future of CRE finance—nominate a leader today.

Contact Rohit Narayanan (RNarayanan@crefc.org) with any questions.

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