Matthew Masso and Stefanos Arethas

“We’ve done a lot over the past two or three years to target different investor bases and open up different execution channels that we can provide for clients,” Stefanos Arethas said. 

With total originations of $5.3 billion, Credit Suisse’s loan portfolio in 2021 was a blend of multiple asset classes: retail, hotel, cold storage, office, industrial, health care, senior housing and multifamily.

Last year’s notable transactions included a $350 million financing for AECOM Capital and Combined Properties’ Pendry West Hollywood, a condominium development in West Hollywood, Calif.; a $345 million financing for the Four Seasons Hotel at the Surf Club in Surfside, Fla., and the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach in Palm Beach, Fla.; and a $265 million loan for Brookfield Place in Manhattan’s Battery Park City.

Consistent with previous years, Credit Suisse utilized creative distribution strategies. For example, centralizing all CRE mortgage lending under one team provides it with a broader market view. The Swiss bank remained committed to conduit and single-asset, single-borrower deals, but also focused on large bridge syndicated loans, non-rated securitizations, aggregation credit lines and warehouse financing. 

“I think size and speed basically are where we’ve always excelled,” Matthew Masso said. “Because we run lean, we have a team that turns things around quickly for clients that need that and we’re willing to close very large facilities and loans ourselves without putting the syndication risk on our clients.”

In recognition of Credit Suisse’s commitment to gender pay equity, the bank was awarded the quality label from the Social Partnership Center for Equal Pay in the Banking Industry and has been certified with the “Fair Pay” label. Credit Suisse remained a top 100 employer in the 2021 U.K. Workers Equality Index ranking, a survey from the Stonewall organization that highlights efforts to promote LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace. —E.F.