Kwasi Benneh

Morgan Stanley achieved another year of high originations numbers in 2025, bolstered by a robust securitization market and a jump in balance sheet lending.

The investment bank executed $14.1 billion in U.S. originations and $17.3 billion globally, both nearly on par with 2024 levels. Around 70 percent of Morgan Stanley’s 2025 lending activity was derived in the CMBS market, but the firm has seen an uptick in balance sheet loans in early 2026. That suggests a more balanced split could be in store for this year.

“A year ago, balance sheet lenders were still very tentative, and during the past year they came back into the market in a big way,” Kwasi Benneh said. “A lot of what was driving that was net interest margin had been low over the last three years, and people needed to make some NIM for revenue. So the CRE markets being healed, asset valuations being reset, and the demand for NIM was a pretty good combination for balance sheet lenders to come into the market.”

One of Benneh’s signature deals closed during the past year involved Morgan Stanely leading a lending syndicate for a $850 million CMBS loan to fund Blackstone’s 49 percent acquisition of the 50-story 1345 Avenue of the Americas office tower. That closed in May 2025. The deal combined $650 million of CMBS with balance sheet future funding of $200 million, underscoring Morgan Stanley’s lending versatility.

Morgan Stanley also led a $2.4 billion CMBS loan in May 2025 to refinance Brookfield Properties’ Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, which marked the largest retail-focused SASB offering of 2025.

In addition to its flexibility closing both CMBS and balance sheet loans, Benneh said Morgan Stanley’s durability lies in its ability to originate on a global scale.

“I think the biggest distinguishing aspect of our platform is the global nature of it,” Benneh said. “Being able to dominate the CRE CMBS market in Europe, but also be pretty big here, I think just shows the strength of the platform.”