Running Start: A Day in the Life of CBRE’s Henry Fenmore

Henry Fenmore has developed a vast background in commercial real estate finance since embarking on his career in 2019 after graduating from Southern Methodist University. Fenmore spent three years as an analyst with Deutsche Bank’s commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) group before joining CBRE in 2022, where he has found a niche as a debt broker on the firm’s large loan team. The 28-year-old has executed large transactions totaling $14 billion, including $6 billion of CMBS volume, working out of CBRE’s Midtown Manhattan office in the MetLife Building on Park Avenue. 

Commercial Observer tagged along with Fenmore on June 16 to observe what a typical day looks like at the brokerage giant.

 6:15 to 8 a.m. 

It’s 6:15 a.m. and Henry Fenmore is up and at ’em. He often begins his day with a morning run with colleague Arman Samouk, fellow senior associate at CBRE.

The Southern California native typically leaves his apartment in the Financial District just after 6 a.m., and meets Samouk at CBRE’s office. The duo then embarks on a jog through Central Park — three to five miles, depending on the day — before returning to CBRE to shower and change.

“It helps clear my mind and gets me into the swing of things,” Fenmore said of his running routine. “It gets me into my work mindset.”

8:30 to 9:30a.m. 

Fenmore often finds his way over to Pershing Square, a restaurant directly across the street from Grand Central Terminal, to meet with clients or visit with his younger brother John, an associate at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. In his three years at CBRE, Pershing Square has become Fenmore’s go-to for a number of meals and meetings. 

“Every week or every other week I try to have breakfast here, either with a client or a lender, and catch up about what we are working on and what they are seeing in the market and potentially trying to bring in new business with them,” Fenmore said. “This is definitely my spot, as it’s very centrally located.”

10 to 11 a.m.

After breakfast, Fenmore puts on his headset and gets fully into work mode with a confidential client call to go over term sheets and negotiate a deal. Fenmore’s workspace typically features at least five other brokers, and the room is busier in June with five or six college interns working alongside the team.

“I go through term sheet discussions with clients and lenders, discussing different provisions in the loan documents that we are negotiating,” said Fenmore. “This involves a good part of our day.”

11:30 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. 

Just before noon, Fenmore gathers interns and junior analysts together in a conference room for a training session he organized as a way to educate the team about various aspects of the commercial real estate market. For Monday’s meeting, he gives an overview of the CMBS market. Fenmore got his expertise in the subject while working as an analyst on Deutsche Bank’s CMBS group prior to arriving at CBRE in June 2022.

Fenmore credits Tom Traynor and Tom Rugg, CBRE’s vice chairs and co-heads of U.S. large loans, with being instrumental in teaching him the ropes to climb as a broker. Fenmore pays it forward not only by training CBRE staff but also with his involvement on a mentor real estate associate board at SMU’s Cox School of Business.

“I do a lot of those teach-ins and classes and try to help people get up to speed and have a general understanding of what we do,” Fenmore said. “It’s really rewarding for me.”

12:30 to 1:30 pm. 

After walking three-fourths of a mile to the Rockefeller Center area, Fenmore meets with Erik Swenson, a lender at Nuveen Real Estate, and two originators from a European bank for lunch at Avra restaurant. The group, all good friends, discuss market observations, how recent deals are getting structured, and potential future financings.There’s also non-business topics, like planning a golf outing. 

“It’s a good mix of personal stuff while also talking about deals,” Fenmore said.  “It’s fun to have those relationships.”

1:30 to 2:30 p.m. 

Fenmore arrives back at CBRE’s office for a weekly meeting to go over the team’s deal pipeline and reflect on transactions closed over the last week. Much of the discussion at these meetings centers around the status of loans in the works and strategizing how to get them over the finish line. The meetings are always held on Mondays as a way to kick-start the week. 

“It’s a way to prime the week,” Fenmore said. “It is a way of making sure all of our deals are up to date and everything is moving forward.”

2:45 to 5 p.m.

With no additional meetings or building tours scheduled (as will often happen on a typical workday) Fenmore takes advantage of the day’s first down time to catch up on emails and follow up with clients about deals. Fenmore always tries to slot some part of his day to allow for time to respond to around 300 emails he receives each day. 

“It is good to set aside an hour, maybe two hours, just to get caught up,” Fenmore said.

5:15 to 5:30 p.m.

After responding to the deluge of emails, Fenmore leaves his office for a business dinner with Peter Griesinger, who joined CBRE’s institutional debt advisory team in May after six years at Newmark, where he facilitated a number of large multifamily loans. Fenmore has struck up a close relationship with Griesinger in his short time at the firm, and he converses with his new teammate during the half-mile walk to the Monkey Bar on 54th Street. 

“He’s bringing strong multifamily execution expertise from Newmark where he was focused on agency and other multifamily loans,” said Fenmore of Griesinger. “His background gives the team experience that will give us the competitive edge in executing multifamily transactions.” 

5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Fenmore and Griesinger arrive at Monkey Bar at 5:30 and walk past the darkly lit bar area toward the back dining room to grab a table for four. A few minutes later, Ryan Naumes and Emmy Cross from Barings arrived to kick off a drinks and dinner outing that features deal talk combined with lighthearted conversations on various topics. 

“We’re in the process of closing a couple of deals with Barings, and it’s good to catch up during those processes,” Fenmore said. “Industry connections and friendships are the main reason I joined the industry, and CBRE has given me the platform for building meaningful relationships with clients and lenders that are important for my team and personal success.”

Fenmore heads home at 7:30 p.m. and typically hits the hay around 11, although sometimes he works later so he can hit the ground running the next day. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com