Seminars and Conferences

Earlier this month CREFC held its “Commercial Real Estate Finance Summit – West” in Santa Monica, CA, which – while not nearly as large as the annual conference in New York – was still very well attended (roughly 175 attendees, an increase over last year).

Given the sentiment earlier this year in Miami, the fluctuation in spreads over the past couple quarters, and the (now undeniably) slow start to 2016 for many in the industry, the two topics du jour for the Summit should come as no surprise: risk retention and the state of the market.
Continue Reading CREFC Commercial Real Estate Finance Summit (West) 2016

That whole alternate universe thing, the conceit of so many sci-fi novels, is clearly not merely the product of fevered minds.  It’s real.  Or, at least it seemed awfully real after having been at the CREFC meeting in Miami and the MBA/CREF meeting in Orlando during the past month.
Continue Reading CREFC and MBA/CREF: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Alternate Universes

An increase of defaults and rising debts have Business Development Companies (BDCs) concerned as the trend may lead to a number of distressed credits within their portfolios. Specialists from Dechert and Houlihan Lokey will address these concerns and potential solutions which matter to BDCs during a webinar taking place on Wednesday, September 9. The webinar will focus on structuring issues  (e.g., portfolio eligibility, valuations, MIP implications, etc.), tax considerations (e.g., distribution requirements, qualifying or good income test, asset diversification, etc.) as well as bankruptcy and restructuring concerns.
Continue Reading BDCs As Creditors of Distressed Companies: What You Need to Know

93850823-1More than 100 senior executives participated in Dechert’s Risk and Rewards of CRE-CLO and CLO Securitizations: Navigating the Capital Markets seminar.  The half day event, supported by  CRE Finance Council (CREFC) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), focused on themes important to the CLO market and the CRE securitization market.  Panelists addressed

iStock_000009267719_DoubleToday, there appears to be an ever-expanding number of sponsors and markets for crowdfunding.  Commercial real estate is no exception. At the recent IMN US Real Estate Opportunity & Private Fund Investing Forum, Elizabeth Braman, Chief Production Officer of Realty Mogul, presented at a session focused on crowdfunding for real estate.  It was very well attended.  Dechert and CRE Financial Council (CREFC) recently hosted an equally well attended seminar in San Francisco featuring leaders in the field to discuss the current state of crowdfunding debt and equity real estate investments and that discussion, in our thinking, was illuminating about this fascinating, and perhaps fraught, new business.
Continue Reading Current Marketplace Trends in Real Estate Crowdfunding

nyseThe 16th Annual U.S. Real Estate Opportunity & Private Funds Investing Forum was held in New York City on June 15 and 16, bringing together private real estate fund sponsors, limited partners, and other industry participants. Over two packed days of panels, networking, and “shark tank”-style panel demonstrations, industry participants shared their views on the current state of the commercial real estate market, fund raising and predictions (from a fund investor’s perspective) for the near future.
Continue Reading US Real Estate Opportunity & Private Funds Investing Forum Recap

rooftopFor all of us in the commercial real estate industry, June has become synonymous with summer CREFC, a mid-year industry check-in and opportunity to mingle with industry participants.  Like past conferences, this year’s conference, which was held earlier this week, was once again filled with informative industry updates and lively panel discussions.

On Monday, much of the morning and early afternoon was devoted to various industry forums.  The day culminated with a panel titled “What Industry Titans Think of the Markets,” moderated by Citigroup’s Thomas M. Flexner, and panelist Richard LeFrak of the LeFrak Organization, Stephen M. Ross of Related Companies, and Robert S. Taubman of Taubman Centers, Inc.  Monday evening was filled with receptions hosted by a number of industry players, including Dechert’s own reception at the Refinery Hotel Rooftop.
Continue Reading CREFC New York City (June 2015) Conference Recap

A securitization community coming off of record issuances in 2014 has entered the new year with a mixture of nerves and optimism.  An estimated 6,500 finance professionals and attorneys converged for the 2015 ABS Las Vegas conference.  The new risk retention rules, and their impact on CLOs in particular, were on everyone’s lips – to the point that one panel moderator opened his remarks by saying that he was narrowing the stated discussion topic to focus exclusively on CLO risk retention, at the urging of the panelists and audience.
Continue Reading ABS Las Vegas 2015