Shivam Shah, 30

Even as far back as his undergraduate days, Shivam Shah knew he wanted to work in commercial real estate finance due to the tangible nature of its hard assets and the intensity of its deal flow. Little did he know that at Hillcrest Finance, an alternative asset manager that Shah joined seven years ago, he’d work directly under Kathleen Corton, who pioneered commercial mortgage-backed securities in the 1990s with Ethan Penner at Nomura Holdings. 

“She really has been a great mentor to me,” said Shah. “I was assisting her as an analyst in an associate position on deal originations, and as I’ve grown more into the role, I took on more responsibility in the closing and origination of loans.” 

Today, as a vice president and a senior originator, Shah works hand in hand with Corton, the firm’s chief investment officer and co-CEO, on middle-market mezzanine loan opportunities, as well as on subordinate debt deals and even large first-mortgage loans, an origination volume that has given Shah the rare opportunity to understand every level of CRE debt.

“Starting off in higher leverage positions has gotten me to see all spectrums of the capital stack, which has been pretty interesting,” he said with a smile.

Deals of note that Shah has closed in the last year include a $60 million first mortgage to convert a 268,000-square-foot office in San Mateo, Calif., and a senior mezzanine loan within a $430 million acquisition debt package of a nine-asset multifamily portfolio across four states. All told, since joining Hillcrest, Shah has closed $1.4 billion in financings across 21 transactions. 

“Everyone in CRE is a deal junkie,” he said. “It’s about figuring out the best use of capital for your investors — time is money.”