CRE FinanCE W Rld

CRE Finance World
CREFC Leadership Talks Markets, Mandates,
and Muddled Regulations
Lisa Pendergast
Executive Director
CRE Finance Council
Mike Flood
Deputy Executive Director
CRE Finance Council
MF: Lisa, welcome to CREFC. You’ve been a member, CREFC
President, and in the industry since the beginning. What’s it
like to run CREFC, and why make the change?
LP: It was the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association when
I first got involved in the organization back in the late-1990s. Prior
to focusing on CRE and multifamily securitizations, I spent time in
the residential MBS marketplace. Back then, private-label RMBS
deals were few and the market was comprised largely of Ginnie Mae,
Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae RMBS. Frankly, it was a bore — all
you needed to know was where rates, market volatility, and the
single-family housing market were going — and you had all the
answers. I jumped at the opportunity to focus my career on
commercial and multifamily real-estate related securitizations as
the various asset classes and economic drivers that affect them
were far more interesting. I started early on with the Resolution
Trust Corporation transactions that came out of the failed S&Ls,
and then moved onto the early days of the CMBS marketplace. It
was CMSA back then that helped me to better understand the ‘ins
and-outs’ of the burgeoning CMBS marketplace. I’ve enjoyed every
minute I’ve spent in this sector ever since– okay maybe not in
2009 when 10-year AAA CMBS spreads gapped to 1,500+
over and the DJIA fell around 6,300 points.
The opportunity to serve our community today not just as a business
unit head and analyst but also as an advocate called out to me.
CREFC is a special organization, and this is a case where the
moment for the organization and for me personally converged to
create an opportunity I couldn’t pass up the chance to help not
just the organization but the industry evolve to the next level.
The commercial real estate finance sector is as vibrant as it has
ever been, but it is not without its challenges. I’m excited to help
lead the organization — and be led by the industry leaders who are
our members — to ensure that this important sector of the U.S.
economy continues to thrive in the years and decades ahead.
LP: Mike, you are also back at CREFC. What’s it like to return
to the association as a senior member with a keen focus
on advocacy?
MF: First off, I’m so excited to be back. CREFC is home to me. The
CRE finance industry, and therefore CREFC, has always felt like
a family to me. We may fight amongst ourselves from time to time
about what is best, but at the end of the day everyone knows that
we are all trying to do the right thing, and we come together as an
industry to help move CRE finance forward. That said, of course it
is a huge change and learning experience for me personally. Much
like many of our members who have made the jump to a larger role,
I’m learning the right way to delegate! Thankfully we have a great
team in Lisa, Ed, Marty and Christina, who can both bear with and
CRE Finance World Winter 2017
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