New CREFC Forums
January 9, 2023
In December, CREFC announced changes to its industry sector forums. These forums will debut on Monday, January 9th at the CREFC’s January Conference.
Why it matters:
- A new High Yield Investments/Alternative Lending Forum serves debt funds and others that comprise private lenders and investors in commercial real estate debt (whole loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, and sub-performing/non-performing loans).
- An expanded Servicers Forum aligns CREFC members focused on special assets and special situations.
The Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors Forum will focus on the needs of this growing and important source of market liquidity. Alternative lenders now represent 15% to 20% of annual CRE lending activity.
Membership in this forum will include Alternative lenders and High yield investors in the CRE debt and equity space:*
- Lenders and investors include debt funds, public/private mortgage REITs, money managers, separately managed accounts (SMAs), and other public or private entities.
- Investments include bridge and mezzanine loans, preferred equity, and special/distressed situation opportunities.
- Third-party service providers and business partners who work closely with such lenders and investors.
Updated Servicers Forum
The HYDRA transformation shifts the Distressed Realty Assets (DRA) portion of HYDRA to the Servicers Forum. CREFC realigned the Servicers Forum to include two main focus areas:
- Servicing Administration
- Special Situations/Special Assets
The newly cast Servicers Forum represents market participants with separate leadership teams in the servicing of performing asset and non-performing/distressed assets, and include primary servicers and the GSEs.
The combined and expanded Forum creates a collaborative environment to focus on all servicing and trust administration issues within a single forum, while recognizing the diverse issues associated with servicing performing and non-performing loans.
CREFC Member Action Required:
- Forum sessions at the January Conference will incorporate the new Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors Forum, as well as the newly expanded Servicers Forum.
- Conference attendees will be asked at registration to make new forum selections based on their role in the industry and on which forums are of most interest to the member.
- Members not attending the conference can click here to sign up for a forum.
For any forum related questions, please reach out to either Lisa Pendergast or Kathleen Olin.
* Does not include (is not intended to replace) lenders/investors that are served by the Investment-Grade Bondholders, B-Piece Investors, Portfolio Lenders-Bank, Portfolio Lenders-Insurance Company, or Issuer forums