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Forum Spotlight: Portfolio Lenders

November 4, 2025

Together, Melissa Farrell and Bridget Scanlon (Forum Chairs), Kevin Catlett and Mauricio Duran (Chair-Elects), and Robert Grudzinski and Kevin Pivnick (Past-Chairs) form the Leadership Working Group for CREFC’s Portfolio Lenders Forum. They are supported by Farran Brown, the Young Professionals (YP) Representative for the Forum.

Chair duties include setting agendas and priorities for the Forum and representing the constituency on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

Why it matters: Each Forum interacts and addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. 

• 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
• Develop new best practices and monitor old ones.

Key Portfolio Lender Focus Areas

Valuation and Rates: 

• Declines in valuations have continued to slow throughout 2025 with the bottom approaching.
• Supply has moderated as absorption continues.
• Loan risk ratings have largely stabilized.
• Overall transaction volume has increased in 2025 but still remains muted.
• Despite the rate declines throughout the year, interest rates remain elevated.
• Underwriting standards continue to be disciplined.
• Operating expense increases, particularly insurance and real estate taxes, have moderated but remain elevated compared to transactions acquired/underwritten several years prior.
  

Lending Pipeline and Appetite: 

• Capital is plentiful with significant focus on private credit.
• Lending volume increased driven mainly by refinances with acquisition volume still muted.
• Increased competition is causing spread compression.
• Capital markets lending remains open from multiple sources and pipelines slowly continue to build heading into 2026. An uptick in refinancing activity has resulted in some portfolio lenders becoming increasingly focused on retaining existing loans and winning new quality business.
• Despite the rate decreases throughout 2025, shorter-term floating-rate and fixed-rate deals with prepayment flexibility remain the most attractive products for borrowers in the market.
• Rates continue to be a high focus with a current market expectation for at least one additional cut prior to the end of the year.

Asset Management: 

• Recent improvement in capital markets conditions has created more tangible financing options for borrowers and increased refinancing activity, alleviating pressure on portfolio lender’s balance sheets.
• Lenders continue to address maturing or challenged loans with a variety of strategies, including loan sales, cooperative asset sales with seller financing, and modifications.
  

• Year-to-date SASB issuance is at a record pace ($76B through October 2025) and lenders are open for business as both transaction activity and loan refinancing pick up pace. 
• Material increase in office loans ($25B of office issuance ytd 2025 vs. $8B of office issuance over the same period in 2024).

What They’re Saying: The effects of shifting policies on interest rates along with economic growth will materially influence lending strategies and market liquidity in 2026, but the expectation is for increasing growth targets for portfolio lenders.

Key Policy Committee matters:

• Basel Capital Proposal
• GSE Changes
• Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) Reauthorization
• Bipartisan Housing bills and Road to Housing Act

What's Next? Forum Leaders look forward to presenting CREFC members with an update on their forum at the CREFC January Conference in Miami. As June 2026 approaches, the chairs will seek nominations for the next Chair-Elect to join their leadership slate.

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The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums 

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual June Conference

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced new Chairs for the 2025-2026 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was elected at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City on Tuesday.

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 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 their business sector, while working to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. 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 improve the entire commercial real estate finance market.
  
The incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

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Forum Spotlight: Portfolio Lenders 

December 10, 2024

Robert Grudzinski and Kevin Pivnick (Forum chairs), Melissa Farrell and Kristin Khanna (chair-elects), and Scott Dixon and Chris Miculis (past-chairs) form the Leadership Working Group for CREFC’s Portfolio Lenders Forum. This working group sets agendas and priorities for the Forum and represents the constituency 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,
• Sharing those views when appropriate with regulators and legislators, utilizing CREFC’s experienced Government Relations Team, and
• Develop new best practices and monitor existing ones.

Key Portfolio Lender Focus Areas

Valuation and Rates:

• Declines in valuations and loan risk ratings have moderated over the last few quarters.
• Overall transaction volume remains muted.
• While the Fed has cut rates, interest rates remain elevated.
• Underwriting standards continue to be disciplined.
• Operating expense increases, particularly insurance and real estate taxes, have moderated but remain elevated compared to transactions acquired/underwritten several years prior.

Lending Pipeline and Appetite:

• CRE transaction and lending volume increased slightly leading up to and following the recent interest rate cuts in September and November, but activity is still muted overall.
• Capital markets lending remains open from multiple sources and pipelines slowly continue to build heading into 2025. An uptick in refinancing activity has resulted in some portfolio lenders becoming increasingly focused on retaining existing loans and winning new quality business.
• With the recent jump in longer-term rates in Q4, coupled with the expectation for additional interest rate cuts on the horizon, shorter-term floating-rate deals with prepayment flexibility remain the most attractive products for borrowers in the market.

Asset Management: Recent improvement in capital markets conditions, most evidenced by strong CMBS market issuance, has created more tangible financing options for borrowers and increased refinancing activity.

• Still, elevated interest rates and high cap costs continue to require substantial liquidity from many borrowers and generate elevated overall refinancing risk.
• Lenders continue to address maturing or challenged loans with a variety of strategies, including loan sales.

Capital Markets: Year-to-date SASB issuance is at near-record levels ($68.7 billion vs. previous high in 2021 of $76.5 billion for the same time period) and lenders are open for business as both transaction activity and loan refinancing pick up pace.

What They’re Saying: Lenders spent much of the pre-election period awaiting 2024 election results to best understand ramifications for the CRE market. The effects of shifting policies on interest rates, economic growth, and regulatory considerations will materially influence lending strategies and market liquidity in 2025.

Key Policy Committee matters:

• Basel Endgame: Bank Capital Requirements
• Foreign Investment
• Beneficial Ownership Reporting
• SEC Climate Reporting
• NAIC Ratings
• National Flood Insurance Program

What's Next: Forum Leaders look forward to presenting CREFC members with an update on their forum at the Annual January Conference in Miami. As June 2025 approaches, the chairs will seek nominations for the next Chair-Elect to join their leadership slate.

• To join the Portfolio Lenders Forum, please register here.

Contact Rohit Narayanan (rnarayanad@crefc.org) for any Forum related questions. 

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The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

June 11, 2024

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual June Conference

NEW YORK, June 11, 2024 – The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was introduced at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City.

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
• B-Piece Investors
• GSE/Multifamily Lenders
• Investment-Grade Bondholders
• Issuers
• Portfolio Lenders
• Servicers

Each of these Forums interacts and addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. 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 toward the betterment of the entire commercial real estate finance market.

The Incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

Alternative Lenders & High Yield Investors. CREFC welcomes Rachel Hunter-Goldman (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Samantha Rotchford (MSD) as Chair, and Samir Tejpaul (Square Mile Capital Investments) as Past Chair.

B-Piece Investors: CREFC welcomes Frank Yin (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Peter Lindner (Rialto) as Chair, and Jason Nick (LNR) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Lyndsay Stephenson (Prime Finance Partners) served as Past Chair.

GSE/Multifamily Lenders: CREFC welcomes David Haynes (CBRE) as Chair-Elect, Ahmed Hasan (Capital One) as Chair, and Kate Whalen (BMO) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, the Past Chair was Emily Schultz (Berkadia Commercial Mortgage). Alonzo White (Fannie Mae) and Jason Griest (Freddie Mac) serve as government-sponsored enterprise representatives.

Investment-Grade Bondholders: CREFC welcomes Adam Smith (DWS) as Chair-Elect, Rajesh Bansal (Quiq Capital) as Chair, and Richard Razza (Webster Bank) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jane Rivers (T. Rowe Price) served as Past Chair.

Issuers: CREFC welcomes Shaishav Agarwal (Deutsche Bank) as Chair-Elect, Brigid Mattingly (Wells Fargo) as Chair, and Jane Lam (Morgan Stanley) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, David Schell (BMO Capital Markets) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Banks: CREFC welcomes Kristin Khanna (Barclays) as Chair-Elect, Rob Grudzinski (U.S. Bank) as Chair, and Scott Dixon (Truist) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jonathan Salzinger (Bank of America) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Insurance Company: CREFC welcomes Melissa Farrell (PGIM) as Chair-Elect, Kevin Pivnick (Blackstone) as Chair, and Chris Miculis (Nuveen) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stefanie Stewart (Voya Investment Management) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Servicing Administration: CREFC welcomes Dana Jo Martino (Berkadia) as Chair-Elect, Adam Fox (Fitch Ratings) as Chair, and Leslie Hayton (Wells Fargo) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stacy Ackermann (K&L Gates) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Special Situations: CREFC welcomes Alex Killick (CWCapital) as Chair-Elect, Pam Dent (Freddie Mac) as Chair, and Tony Yousif (SVN) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Andrea Helm (Midland Loan Services) served as Past Chair.

“We want to welcome the new members of our CREFC industry Forums and thank existing and past Forum members for their dedication and excellent work,” said Lisa Pendergast, Executive Director of CREFC.

“For 30 years, CREFC has served as the voice of the now $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry and CREFC’s industry Forums continue to play a key role in ensuring all industry voices are heard and respected. CREFC’s Forums serve a vital industry function, as they represent key components of the CRE finance markets. A core function of Forum leaders is to work toward consensus among their constituents and then advocate those positions to other market segments and to policy and lawmakers. Forum leaders are also charged with assisting the development of industry best practices and implementing new initiatives critical to their business sectors. I and the entire CREFC community are grateful for our Forum leaders and their contributions and dedication to CRE finance.” 

Contact:

Mary Beth Ryan
Senior Director, 
Communications
646.884.7567
mryan@crefc.org

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The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

June 11, 2024

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual June Conference

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was introduced at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City.

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
• B-Piece Investors
• GSE/Multifamily Lenders
• Investment-Grade Bondholders
• Issuers
• Portfolio Lenders
• Servicers

Each of these Forums interacts and addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. 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 toward the betterment of the entire commercial real estate finance market.

The Incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

Alternative Lenders & High Yield Investors: CREFC welcomes Rachel Hunter-Goldman (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Samantha Rotchford (MSD) as Chair, and Samir Tejpaul (Square Mile Capital Investments) as Past Chair.

B-Piece Investors: CREFC welcomes Frank Yin (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Peter Lindner (Rialto) as Chair, and Jason Nick (LNR) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Lyndsay Stephenson (Prime Finance Partners) served as Past Chair.

GSE/Multifamily Lenders: CREFC welcomes David Haynes (CBRE) as Chair-Elect, Ahmed Hasan (Capital One) as Chair, and Kate Whalen (BMO) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, the Past Chair was Emily Schultz (Berkadia Commercial Mortgage). Alonzo White (Fannie Mae) and Jason Griest (Freddie Mac) serve as government-sponsored enterprise representatives.

Investment-Grade Bondholders: CREFC welcomes Adam Smith (DWS) as Chair-Elect, Rajesh Bansal (Quiq Capital) as Chair, and Richard Razza (Webster Bank) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jane Rivers (T. Rowe Price) served as Past Chair.

Issuers: CREFC welcomes Shaishav Agarwal (Deutsche Bank) as Chair-Elect, Brigid Mattingly (Wells Fargo) as Chair, and Jane Lam (Morgan Stanley) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, David Schell (BMO Capital Markets) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Banks: CREFC welcomes Kristin Khanna (Barclays) as Chair-Elect, Rob Grudzinski (U.S. Bank) as Chair, and Scott Dixon (Truist) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jonathan Salzinger (Bank of America) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Insurance Company: CREFC welcomes Melissa Farrell (PGIM) as Chair-Elect, Kevin Pivnick (Blackstone) as Chair, and Chris Miculis (Nuveen) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stefanie Stewart (Voya Investment Management) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Servicing Administration: CREFC welcomes Dana Jo Martino (Berkadia) as Chair-Elect, Adam Fox (Fitch Ratings) as Chair, and Leslie Hayton (Wells Fargo) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stacy Ackermann (K&L Gates) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Special Situations: CREFC welcomes Alex Killick (CWCapital) as Chair-Elect, Pam Dent (Freddie Mac) as Chair, and Tony Yousif (SVN) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Andrea Helm (Midland Loan Services) served as Past Chair.

“We want to welcome the new members of our CREFC industry Forums and thank existing and past Forum members for their dedication and excellent work,” said Lisa Pendergast, Executive Director of CREFC.

“For 30 years, CREFC has served as the voice of the now $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry and CREFC’s industry Forums continue to play a key role in ensuring all industry voices are heard and respected. CREFC’s Forums serve a vital industry function, as they represent key components of the CRE finance markets. A core function of Forum leaders is to work toward consensus among their constituents and then advocate those positions to other market segments and to policy and lawmakers. Forum leaders are also charged with assisting the development of industry best practices and implementing new initiatives critical to their business sectors. I and the entire CREFC community are grateful for our Forum leaders and their contributions and dedication to CRE finance.”

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Forum Spotlight: Portfolio Lenders

October 24, 2023

Together, Scott, Robert, Jonathan, Chris, Kevin, and Stefanie form the Leadership Working Group for CREFC’s Portfolio Lenders Forum. Importantly, this group sets the agendas and priorities for the Forum, as well as represents their constituencies on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

Key Portfolio Lender Focus Areas

Valuation and Rates. Declines in valuations and loan risk ratings continue, due to higher interest rates, disciplined underwriting, and challenging market fundamentals.  Increasing operating expenses, particularly insurance and real estate taxes, continue to impact more asset classes and submarkets.

• While the largest value declines are in office, declines in trading activity across all property types make valuation difficult in many markets. Loan sales and CMBS markets are providing insight on value and pricing.

Lending Pipeline and Appetite. Despite the slower pace of rising rates, the market continues to adjust to expectations of ‘higher-for-longer’ rates.

The result:

• CRE transaction and lending volume are likely to remain muted. 

• Floating- and short-term fixed-rate loans remain the most attractive products to borrowers in the current environment.  

Asset Management. Maturing loans are facing refinance risk from increased cap costs and tight debt yield and DSCR metrics. 

• Liquidity constraints in the debt capital markets, combined with borrowers’ reduced willingness and ability to invest capital, requires incumbent lenders to face difficult choices.  Health of the CMBS market remains important to the industry, as it’s the only source of takeout debt in some cases.

Capital Markets:  Members are monitoring stress in the banking sector closely, given dependence on banks for a fully functioning marketplace and sensitivity of the sector to interest rates. 

What They’re Saying: Conversations at CREFC’s June conference focused on both macro-economic considerations and micro matters affecting the availability and appetite of banks and insurance companies to make loans, including the:

• Regulatory environment,

• Balance sheets, and

• Capital treatment.

Mortgage-loan exposure often presents lower relative value versus liquid CRE investments, while long-term loans are difficult to source.

Key Policy Committee matters:

• SEC’s C&DI Letter regarding timing of filings

• Bank Capital Requirements

• SEC Climate Reporting

• Beneficial Ownership Reporting

• NAIC Ratings

• Fed Guidance

• FDIC monitoring

What's Next? Forum leaders look forward to presenting CREFC members with an update on their forum at the Annual January Conference in Miami. Soon after, the chairs will seek nominations for the next Chair Elect to join their leadership slate.

To join the Portfolio Lenders Forum, please register here.  For any forum related questions, please contact Lisa Pendergast at lpendergast@crefc.org. 

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