Meet the Team: A&S' Chief Credit Officer Martin Bedecarratz

A&S’s Chief Credit officer talks about the main takeaways of a challenging 2022, things to focus on for 2023, what are the main highlights that set our company apart from the competition, and more. Check the Q&A below.  

What's your main goal for the company as A&S' Chief Credit Officer?
It is to build and grow a reliable bridge lending platform for true real estate operators investing in the Resi/MF space. Our goal has always been to have a controlled but sustained growth. 

What's the main thing that sets A&S apart from other lenders?
We are a true balance sheet lender which means we have full control of the deals we do, we can be faster and more flexible than most lenders. We manage the construction in-house and we service the loans in-house, so the process for the borrower is smooth from the beginning of the loan until they pay off. 

What are the key factors that A&S takes into consideration when closing a deal?
Probably the main factor is experience, our goal is to build a solid lender/borrower relationship with true real estate operators. Then we obviously care about the collateral, it has to be a Resi/MF property in a location where we feel comfortable. Exit strategy is another key point, we always try to have a clear understanding on how the borrower will be able to pay us back. 

What were the main industry takeaways of 2022?
Definitely a tricky year, we had the steepest-ever recorded rate increase by the Fed. The first half of the year we were still really busy, but then as the Fed started to aggressively raise rates to try and get inflation under control, the deal flow started to decrease. I don't think we are out of the woods yet, but hopefully the market will stabilize in the first half of the year, so business can pick back up in the second half. I believe that the economic future really depends on what the Fed does, they are in control of the global economy.. but given the historically high debt/GDP, I think it's unlikely they'll be able to keep rates high for too long even if inflation persists. 

What are the kind of deals that A&S will be focusing on in 2023?
Same type of deals.. so long we have a true real estate operator that needs a short-term loan on a Resi/MF property, we are interested in taking a closer look! That said, we plan to maintain tighter lending guidelines and requirements until the market finds some stability.