Built a One-Stop Shop Powering a Multinational Investment Bank’s Lending Operation

When CRE loan origination and commercial mortgage-backed securitization (CMBS) began to show signs of life after the Great Recession, this Client identified an opportunity to restructure its operations to win more deals.

The Investment Bank had to size multiple loan opportunities in order to secure a single deal, then underwrite the loan and manage the securitization process. The client sought an operational platform that provided:

• a faster, more efficient and less costly process to help find the needle in the haystack of potential opportunities;
• the opportunity to outsource the underwriting, securitization and loan servicing to provide more balance-sheet flexibility;
• nimble, just-in-time support, so it could quickly scale production up or down in response to shifting economic cycles and market demand;
• and a full-service, strategic partner who could help it build and support new lines of business as the economy expanded and its operations grew.

Solution & Outcome

A one-stop, full-service shop powering the client lending operation.

In 2010, the Investment Bank engaged SitusAMC to provide a range of advisory services, including loan sizing, loan underwriting and securitization support. SitusAMC began reviewing loan requests, to include portfolios, for all property types and geographic locations across the U.S. from $1.0 million to several hundred million dollars. With a highly trained analyst pool based in Robbins, NC, SitusAMC offers the client a faster, more cost-effective solution that enables a higher volume of reviews when sizing a loan request, which includes a 24-hour turnaround to the originator. Upon the Client winning a deal, SitusAMC underwriters and securitization support continue the in-depth analysis required to take the loan request from origination through securitization. Given the comprehensive approach, SitusAMC tracks and analyzes operational data to help the client gain insights into the market and continually improve its origination process.

In 2012, SitusAMC formally launched a dedicated “Advisory Platform” for the client, which included hiring some of the Client’s own underwriters, giving the Client more flexibility to execute its business plan. A year later, SitusAMC began providing staffing solutions to the Investment Bank’s residential warehouse lending business line. By 2014, the Advisory Platform had expanded to over 65 employees which was a combination of dedicated teams in SitusAMC offices and “on-loan” or “seconded” employees in Client’s offices.

The Platform evolved into a fully integrated partnership. In 2017, the Client engaged SitusAMC to provide strategic consulting to help launch a CRE balance-sheet lending program within its Wealth Management division and adopted CLOSER, a SitusAMC software tool that manages a loan from origination through close. In 2018, the Platform began supporting balance-sheet origination and loan servicing functions.

Today, SitusAMC operates as a full-service back office for the client, with over 100 dedicated professionals and flexibility to ramp-up or ramp-down based on workflow needs. SitusAMC reviews loans for acquisition and refinance of stabilized, income-producing properties intended to be sold into the CMBS market; as well as more complex balance-sheet loans that require more attention. SitusAMC supports every aspect of sizing, underwriting and securitizing loans, maintaining a dedicated staff at 75 to 80 percent of maximum flow, with the flexibility to quickly leverage more resources when demand surges.

At a time when many companies want better, more secure control of their processing supply chains, SitusAMC offers a high-quality alternative to offshoring. The firm’s experienced analysts provide more thorough color, identify red flags and ask insightful questions that drive better results. In addition, the client benefits from SitusAMC’s technology innovation.