Matthew Stabel.
Matthew Stabel, 32
Vice President and Team Leader at M&T Bank
It may always have been written in the stars that Matthew Stabel would someday join M&T. He’s originally from Buffalo, N.Y., where the bank is headquartered, after all.
But, the proximity to his now-employer’s homebase was the only simple aspect of his current role. Today — despite the fact that his lending portfolio spans all asset types in various stages of stabilization — he’s “by far” drawn to the most complex, complicated deals.
As a vice president and team leader, Stabel originates, underwrites, negotiates and closes transactions within M&T’s $8 billion commercial real estate portfolio. Managing a team of three relationship managers, he oversees a $2 billion portfolio of his own, and lends to some of New York City’s most prominent owners, developers and operators.
While the past 18 months have been tough, there have been plenty of silver linings too. “I’ve been able to spend a lot more quality time with family members,” Stabel said. Indeed, he spent the first part of the work-from-home mandate juggling one-bedroom apartment space with his wife, a public school teacher. “It also gave us some good opportunities to help our customers during a difficult time period,” he noted.
When COVID-19 hit, M&T put its employees to work processing PPP, or Paycheck Protection Program, loans. “Working with small businesses was something totally outside of what I would typically be involved with, but it was a very rewarding experience,” he said.
Fast forward 18 months and he said he’s now “trying to read through the tea leaves of when things will recover. We’re trying to project when in the pandemic people will feel comfortable returning full force to offices and what their space needs will be.”
Despite the ongoing uncertainty around certain asset classes, year-end is turning out to be even busier than expected. “There continues to be asset classes that are favored, in terms of heavy competition — notably industrial and multifamily — but we’re actively in the market and doing as much as we can do.”
Not that a little competition scares the M&T team, though.
“People have done business with us for many, many years,” Stabel said. “They know they can trust us and that we will always stand by their side when times get tough, and be flexible when something like COVID-19 or Hurricane Sandy or other downturns happen.”—C.C.
