Daniel Hedgepeth, 35

Daniel Hedgepeth knew early on as a working professional that he wanted to be involved in real estate finance. 

“I was really drawn to the combination of finance, investing, and tangible assets,” he said. “Commercial real estate combines analytical decision-making with something you can see and understand in the real world.”

As the senior real estate debt originator for Barings’ U.S. Real Estate Debt platform, Hedgepeth leads the asset manager’s Midwest coverage, where he sources, structures and underwrites different types of debt packages that range from senior mortgages and construction financing bridge loans to mezzanine debt and preferred equity, all while being asset-type agnostic and open to any market.  

“Regardless of the market environment, there’s always a lot of deal flow in debt,” he said. 

“People need to refinance,” he continued, “so you see more opportunities, and there’s a big focus on structuring around risk and finding creative financing solutions.”

In his first full year on Barings’ originations team, Hedgepeth helped close $830 million in loans and was promoted to senior director. In the last year, he closed a $550 million bridge loan secured by a national multifamily portfolio of nine assets and more than 2,500 units in several different U.S. markets. He also closed a $170 million refinancing for a mixed-use office and retail project in Nashville, Tenn. 

We should note: The $550 million financing represented the largest real estate debt execution in 2025 for Barings and is one of the largest bridge loans closed by the firm’s debt platform since its inception.

Hedgepeth credits the diversity of Barings’ business model for allowing him to grow as a professional and gain origination experience across markets and asset classes. 

“Looking back, what’s helped me most is exposure to different parts of the industry and seeing transactions from multiple perspectives,” he said. “Barings has given me the opportunity to work across property types, and markets and transaction structures, which has been valuable from a learning perspective.”