Life Insurance Company Expands Underwriting Criteria

George Smith Partners Founding Principal Steve Bram met with senior decision makers of a National Life Insurance Capital Provider last week seeking to take advantage of Dodd/Frank regulations and expand their concentration of CRE debt. Priced closer to Wall Street than competitive LifeCo executions, this stabilized portfolio advisor will fund transactions to 75% of actual market value on a 5, 7, 10 or 15 year term. Floor cap rates and debt yields are not part of their sizing equation. Spreads over corresponding Treasuries (not the greater of SWAPs) range from 200 to 300 over. Requests on core assets, hospitality and self-storage are considered from $8,000,000 to $120,000,000. Moving pieces including potential tenant roll, that traditionally precludes balance sheet lenders from quoting, are underwritten to the market and sponsorship experience.