Debt Fund Leverage

Hi all currently work at an equity and high yield debt provider. We are looking to maybe go into the multifamily bridge lending space. I am looking to develop a model with a note-on-note financing structure. Have a few questions for the debt fund guys here on how to model this out and what to be looking for here. We have historically taken everything down on our balance sheet but on senior side would want to juice yields. 

1. What kind of returns can i expect with this additional leverage, is this significantly lower the the CRE CLO structure where the originator keeps the B-piece and sells of the A? Really we are targeting yields in the 12%+ range. Is this even possible without running it as a fund and charging fees?  

2. Is there a typical debt fund structure that most use to finance these types of deals to generate the highest returns? 

Avoiding CLOs as we do not have the capacity to run securitizations with the current size of our team and do not want to run into additional mark to market risk. 

5 Comments
 

While I can't speak directly on CLO, I did work at a private credit fund who used a note-on-note structure. We had a handful of warehouse lines with banks or family offices that would allow us to lever our note up to ~80%. We paid interest at slightly above market (~WSJP+1-2) on our note and charged a handful of points higher on our underlying senior + origination/exit fees. All in, we retained debt service, fees, etc. from the senior while only putting in a fraction of our balance sheet. All in yield was constantly 20%+, but this was a specialized product that we were very selective on. The main downside was that our credit box and our warehouse line credit box frequently differed, causing us to lose good deals. 

Retail Development
 
Most Helpful

I think above is pretty much the standard. Set up an SPV to put the bridge loans in and then you can borrow against that at the SPV level (the lender will tell you exactly what you need to do). If you are borrowing 75%+ then you're probably going to need a non-bank lender and will pay SOFR + 5 handle most likely. A lot will depend on what LTVs you are bridge lending at. It's been a while since I did anything like that, but 12% seems a little low for interest yield on that product, especially in the current environment. 

 

To #1, CRE Debt Funds today are levering new investments/positions somewhat in the 70%-80% advance range and getting priced by WH providers in the 170-190 spread range. With that kind of leverage, assuming you are pricing deals somewhat in the 300-350 spread context, you should be landing in the ~11-13% return range, GROSS (assume no fund structure). If you bake in fund expenses/charges, i.e fund structure, you're probably losing 1-2% to gross returns and getting to around 10% Net. Truth be told, each fund has its own/differing fee structure so multiple shops running/UW the same investment could land differently.

To #2, not sure If I'm getting the question right, most closed ended CRE debt funds are structured as REITS.

 

Sit odit et eligendi velit in. Voluptatem consequuntur perspiciatis laudantium minima ab dolor autem. Voluptas et molestiae quaerat in eligendi recusandae omnis.

Rerum a id adipisci dolores. Dolores fuga dolorem unde eligendi consequatur. Quis dolores ea totam dolorem natus vel magnam. Reprehenderit dolor in cumque iste delectus voluptatem libero dolore. Adipisci quis nesciunt sint veniam. Animi adipisci eius dolores ullam.

Aliquam perferendis officiis ex quasi at. Aut a ut cupiditate maiores perspiciatis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”