Built a One-Stop Shop to ​Power a Multinational Investment Bank’s Lending Operation

Coming out of the Great Recession, a multinational investment bank saw an opportunity to restructure its operations to win more deals, sizing multiple loan opportunities in order to secure a single deal, then underwriting the loan and managing the securitization process. The client wanted to reinvent their process to: create a faster, more efficient and less costly process to help find the needle in the haystack of potential opportunities; outsource the underwriting, securitization and loan servicing to provide more balance-sheet flexibility; and create a nimble, just-in-time support structure , so it could quickly scale production up or down in response to shifting economic cycles and market demand. They wanted all this in a full-service, strategic partner who could help build and support new lines of business as the economy expanded and operations grew.

SitusAMC had been providing a range of CRE advisory services to the bank, including loan sizing, underwriting and securitization support.  To support the client’s growing needs, SitusAMC launched a dedicated Advisory Platform for the client, the first of its kind in the industry. The platform combined SitusAMC professionals with the client’s own underwriters, giving the client more flexibility to execute its business plan. Within a few years, the Advisory Platform had expanded to over 65 dedicated employees. The relationship kept expanding: the client leveraged the platform to help launch and execute its CRE balance-sheet lending program; and onboarded CLOSER, a SitusAMC software tool that manages a loan from origination through close, to streamline its loan management activity. 

Today, the platform operates as a full-service back office for the client, with more than 100 dedicated professionals and flexibility to ramp up or down based on workflow needs. The platform sizes up to 3,500 loans representing ~7,000 properties annually. It underwrites and provides securitization support for up to $6 billion in CRE loans every year. The platform has helped the client expand its business in a highly flexible manner while maintaining operational controls, growing assets under management from $1 million to $105.5 million in seven years.