Teresa Zien, Yorick Starr and Charlie Rose

Like many firms on this list, a true accounting of Invesco’s exceptional 2021 — the firm’s $4.1 billion in originations exceeded the previous record set in 2019 by 33 percent — starts in 2020. Invesco invested in 10 of 12 months that year despite reduced deal volumes, laying the groundwork and ramping up production to enter last year’s rebound; and seized on hot sectors amid a larger expansion of debt funds’ power in the market.

Roughly 80 percent of activity was concentrated in residential, life sciences, industrial and self-storage, including a $240 million whole loan to finance the acquisition of a portfolio of five Houston-area apartment complexes by a joint venture between Partners Group and Knightvest Capital. It was a contrarian market for multifamily at the time, Charlie Rose said, but it was a great example of the firm’s flexibility, which allowed it to move quickly and “sprint through” the year.

“We’re fully embedded in markets around the country, and would typically pursue loans our equity colleagues would own,” he said. “It’s a very bottom-up approach to real estate investing in the credit position in the stack. And it’s truly a relationship approach.”  

Invesco sees its strategic strengths as both speed and finding a middle ground. As a “property-first” lender that approaches lending as a real estate investor first, Invesco says it aims to offer the flexibility of a responsive, creative non-bank lender, and the tight pricing that institutional investors expect.

Diversity also plays a crucial role, with a completely diverse class of managing directors, including Rose, one of the few openly gay portfolio managers in the industry. The firm’s broad diversity commitment includes a targeted mentor program with 45 mentees and a diverse suppliers initiative pilot program. It’s the right thing to do, and also does right by investors, Rose said.  

“I’m accustomed to being the only gay person in the room throughout my entire career,” he said. “My team doesn’t think in one way, and, because we’re able to avoid groupthink, that drives better performance for our investors.” 

Invesco entered 2022 knowing the wind wasn’t at its back in today’s more tactical and volatile environment, with negative leverage on many deals. Nonetheless Rose and his team see an opportunity to expand their business once again, and focus on basics, such as core life sciences hubs with Longfellow, a long-time partner, and aggressively expand their activity in Europe with existing clients. 

“Being the steady hand in the credit market and there consistently for our clients is the right thing to do for our business, and [will] reap benefits in increased market share over time,” Rose said. —P.S.