Alex Cabria

Continuing with a strategy that could be described as creating a legacy without leaning on one, SMBC showed itself to be a flexible, successful lender amid the roller coaster of 2025. One key has been banking on a 5-year-old portfolio free of the constraints of long-term holds and bets placed in a radically different market environment. Instead, it’s built on adapting amid the recent era of uncertainty.

“We’re about thoughtful, prudent lending,” said Alex Cabria, head of real estate finance. “We’ve always tried to be constructive.”

Last year, SMBC saw $22 billion in origination volume, continuing a massive multiyear growth streak that hit $18.4 billion in loans last year, and $11.6 billion in 2023. Direct lending focused in large part on the industrial sector, including a handful of nine-figure nationwide deals such as providing funding to acquire a $650 million portfolio. But the group’s overall strategy — diversifying across core sectors with a focus on the most liquid assets, like multifamily, industrial, data centers and student housing — led to a portfolio with a balanced mix of stabilized, transitional and construction exposure. 

With so many credit funds flush with capital, Cabria saw an opportunity, surmising it might make sense to get more involved as banks were pulling out. Transaction volume ended up being driven by a warehouse/repo facility business within the real estate finance group launched in early 2025 to serve real estate owners, fund managers and global private capital platforms. 

“It’s been nice seeing liquidity return,” said Cabria. “But it’s a focused liquidity, focused on top clients and top locations, and people are very selective.”

Lots of banks weren’t able to handle underwriting for deals that had dozens of assets spread across the country, but Cabria and his team found ways to craft portfolios with a balance of geographic risks, amid rocky trade policies, to create deals that were “good trades for everybody.”

A commitment to flexibility across loan sizes, structures, asset types and markets helped accommodate both large, complex transactions as well as bespoke financing in a market that became surprisingly competitive. Long-term relationships also helped SMBC stand out and seize on the upswing in activity that arrived last November.

“There’s always something going on,” said Cabria. “But, if you believe in the fundamentals and you know how real estate works, you manage through those things.”