We see things from the ground up. It’s how we find opportunity and manage returns.
Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC (“Bridge Debt Strategies”) invests in commercial real estate-backed fixed income, offering attractive current pay and risk metrics. The opportunity to achieve enhanced risk-adjusted yields is driven by a differentiated focus in underserved debt markets where Bridge employs local resources to analyze deals and can thus carefully manage risk. We bring an “owner’s mentality” to our efforts and only lend against assets we would be comfortable owning. Our strategy consists of two primary components: Freddie Mac K-Series B-pieces, and first mortgage lending on transitional opportunities.
We are the largest acquirer of Freddie Mac K-Series B-pieces and have developed a strong partnership with Freddie Mac.
Over the past two years, we have been Freddie Mac’s largest counterparty in the K-Series B-Piece program. Furthermore, we generally acquire these securities through a direct placement process and not an auction. Freddie Mac is the largest U.S. multifamily lender, with highly conservative underwriting standards and has an exemplary track record in multifamily lending.
Additionally, we originate first mortgage loans to finance assets primarily in areas where Bridge has operating capabilities: multifamily, office, and seniors housing. The first mortgage loans are LIBOR-based (floating) and are collateralized by properties in light transition where there is a “value add” opportunity. Given these properties resemble the type of assets our operating platforms invest in, we believe we have a distinct competitive advantage in assessing the risk of these investments.
Bridge Agency MBS Fund Manager LLC
Bridge Agency MBS Fund Manager LLC invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (“Agency MBS”) guaranteed by U.S. Government Sponsored Enterprises (“GSE”), in a proprietary structure designed to mitigate market dislocations and preserve principal. The GSE guarantee of principal and interest mitigates underlying borrower credit risk in the Agency MBS market. Bridge’s deep relationships with the GSEs dates back to the early 1990s.
James Chung serves as Partner and the Chief Investment Officer of Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC, as well as Head of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. James has experience in real estate, securitization, and financial services beginning in 1999. Prior to joining Bridge, James was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and was the head of the Commercial Real Estate Loan Desk within the Fixed Income Division from 2004 to 2013. He had direct oversight of the pricing, hedging, structuring and securitization of the Morgan Stanley commercial real estate loan portfolio. James received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and his Master Degree in Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Jeehae Lee serves as Partner and Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in real estate, securitization, and financial services since 2004. Prior to joining Bridge, Jeehae was an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley from 2004 to 2014. Jeehae was the senior manager responsible for loan pricing, hedging, and structuring for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income division. Jeehae was a voting member of the U.S. Credit Committee and was deeply involved in creating loan pricing models, managing the securitization pipeline, interfacing with rating agencies and investors, and originating loans for securitization. From 2004 to 2009, Jeehae was involved in loan acquisitions, underwriting and restructuring of loans, as well as risk management and risk reporting. Jeehae received her Bachelors of Arts from Brown University and her Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University.
Mohit Chandarana serves as Partner and the Chief Investment Officer of Bridge Agency MBS Fund Manager LLC and has experience in mortgage-backed securities portfolio management, trading and risk management beginning in 2003. Prior to joining Bridge, Mohit was a Portfolio Manager at Fannie Mae responsible for managing Fannie Mae’s Agency MBS and CMO portfolio. Additionally, Mohit led the creation of RPL MBS, a new class of MBS that are backed by Reperforming loans. Prior to his role as Portfolio Manager, Mohit was a Senior Risk Strategist responsible for recommending risk management and hedging strategies for Fannie Mae’s portfolio. Mohit began his career in fixed income as an Analyst in 2003 at Fannie Mae. He has a Master of Science in Finance from the George Washington University and a Master of Business Administration from University of Missouri. He also holds Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and Chartered Accountant (CA) designations as well.
Teresa Mireles Hough serves as Partner & Chief Asset Officer at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate since 2001. Prior to joining Bridge, Teresa was a senior underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley from 2004 to 2015. During this time, Teresa performed all aspects of due diligence related to structuring and underwriting $2 billion of loans in over 100 transactions targeted for securitization. From 2007 to 2011 she was responsible for managing, restructuring, and reporting risk of unsold loans valued at over $21.2 billion. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Teresa was a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Advisory Services group of PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York, NY and Houston, TX. Teresa received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.
Brad Nechman serves as Managing Director of Originations for Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate since 1994. Prior to joining Bridge, Brad was a senior loan originator for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group of Morgan Stanley from 2010 to 2015. During this time, Brad originated, processed and securitized over 75 loans totaling approximately $650 million. From 2001 to 2008, Brad worked as a senior underwriter and loan originator with Morgan Stanley, and was involved with over $2 billion of real estate transactions, including securitized loans, note purchases and bridge loans. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Brad worked as a transaction manager and loan originator with Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette in New York City, as well as prior employment with Rockwood Realty Partners and Kenneth Leventhal & Company. Brad received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin as well as a Masters of Business Administration from the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Rice University.
Deepak Peruvemba serves as Managing Director of Originations at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has lending experience in commercial real estate since 1999. Prior to joining Bridge, Deepak ran Rialto Capital’s CMBS debt origination office in Los Angeles from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, Deepak was a senior originator for Morgan Stanley’s CMBS group from 2010 through 2016 and was responsible for originating nearly $3 billion in CMBS and bridge loans. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley from 2008 to 2010, Deepak operated Dorado Capital, a private debt placement company. From 2004 to 2008, Deepak was a Senior Vice President at Countrywide Mortgage Finance. As one of the original members of the Countrywide’s Commercial Mortgage finance team, Deepak was responsible for originating nearly $2.5 billion in CMBS and bridge loans. Prior to Countrywide, Deepak was a Vice President at GMAC Commercial Mortgage. Deepak received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Pace University.
Jay Haberman serves as Managing Director of Originations for Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate experience, resulting in billions of dollars of CMBS and balance sheet debt origination since 1989. Prior to joining Bridge, Jay was the founder and manager of Morgan Stanley’s CMBS debt origination Washington, D.C. office. In addition to his 10+ years with Morgan Stanley, Jay sourced mortgage loans for A10 Capital, KeyBank and General American Life. Debt originated during this time included whole loans, floating rate bridge and mezzanine loans, as well as Freddie Mac, FHA and Fannie Mae agency originations. Jay received a BA in Economics from Colorado State University and an MBA from George Mason University.
Krishna Gudavalli serves as a Managing Director of Portfolio Management for the Agency MBS Fund Manager LLC and has 24 years of experience in the hedging and risk management of mortgage assets. Prior to joining Bridge in March 2020, Krishna served as Director and Senior Director at Fannie Mae from 2007 where he was primarily responsible for the balance sheet hedging and market risk management, as well as supporting the funding and liquidity management activities. He has also represented Fannie Mae at the Alternative Reference Rates Committee working groups on matters related to LIBOR transition. Krishna earned his Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with honors and a concentration in analytical finance.
Scott Miller serves as a Managing Director of Originations at Bridge Debt Strategies LLC. Prior to joining Bridge, Scott was Managing Director and Head of Originations for Redwood Trust. While at Redwood Trust, Scott had direct involvement in the creation and growth of the commercial real estate platform, including being responsible for originating over $450 million of subordinate debt and $2.5 billion CMBS whole loans. Prior to joining Redwood, he held commercial real estate roles at Keybank, Deutsche Bank and Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. Scott holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and is a graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Matthew A. Bavoso serves as Director of Transaction Management at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in real estate law and real estate finance beginning in 2001. Prior to joining Bridge, Matt was a closing coordinator in Morgan Stanley’s commercial real estate lending group and, prior to that, practiced law with a focus on zoning and land use matters, real estate development and commercial and residential real estate transactions. Matt received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Binghamton University, a Juris Doctorate degree from Pace University School of Law and a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Finance from New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.
Misong Kim serves as Director of Asset Management at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in commercial real estate and securitization beginning in 1998. Prior to joining Bridge in 2016, Misong was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley where she worked from 1999 to 2008 and 2011 to 2015. During her tenure at Morgan Stanley, she was responsible for all aspects of the securitization of Morgan Stanley collateral, including production and distribution of investor materials, loan and collateral disclosure for Morgan Stanley’s public and private CMBS offerings, and support of sales and marketing efforts. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Misong was an analyst at Nomura Asset Capital Corporation from 1998 to 1999 in the commercial mortgage securitization group. Misong received her Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College.
Patrick Petersen serves as Director of Originations at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience working in real estate, financial services and consulting beginning in 2009. Prior to joining Bridge, Patrick was an underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley. During that time, Patrick underwrote loans for CMBS securitization with a total loan volume of over $400 million in over 50 transactions. In addition, Patrick was responsible for coordinating the negotiating, underwriting and diligence process for each loan, as well as preparing and presenting detailed credit memos to the internal Credit Committee for loan approval. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Patrick worked for Stewardship-Austin Equity, LLC from 2009 until 2011 as an Associate supporting the capital raise and portfolio management efforts. From 2005 to 2007, Patrick worked as a Consultant for Protiviti in their Business Risk and Internal Audit practices. Patrick received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his Master in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business.
Stephen King serves as Director of Transaction Management at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC. He has experience in real estate, securitization and financial services since 2003. Stephen worked at Morgan Stanley from 2005 to 2015, most recently as a transaction manager in the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income Division. During his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Stephen worked closely with the securitization and underwriting teams as well as with outside counsel, with responsibilities including drafting term sheets, reviewing all legal loan documentation, negotiating with clients and managing all aspects of closing and risk management of first mortgage and mezzanine loans. Stephen was responsible for closing over $1.75 billion in commercial real estate transactions and managed over $7 billion in capital commitments from warehouse facilities. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Stephen was a Real Estate Finance Paralegal at Cassin Cassin & Joseph LLP, where he was involved in complex real estate transactions for Merrill Lynch and CIBC. Stephen received his Bachelor of Arts, from Fordham University.
Jacqueline Calabro serves as a Vice President of Asset Management at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate since 1999. Prior to joining Bridge, Jacqueline was a senior underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley in New York, NY. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2004, Jacqueline worked as an analyst and underwriter in the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities division at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, NY. At both Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, Jacqueline performed due diligence related to structuring and underwriting over $1 billion of commercial real estate loans targeted for securitization. Jacqueline also worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Boston, MA as a senior associate in the audit division. Jacqueline received her Bachelor of Arts in History from the College of the Holy Cross.
Lisa Dubeck serves as Vice President of Underwriting at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate beginning in 2003. Prior to joining Bridge, Lisa was a senior underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley. During this time, she performed all aspects of due diligence related to structuring and underwriting over $2 billion of loans, and prepared investor files for submission to credit-rating agencies and investors. She was also responsible for actively managing and restructuring a portfolio of unsold loans from 2007 until 2010. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Lisa was a Senior Commercial Real Estate Underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Banking team of JP Morgan Chase & Co. in New York, and for Bank One in Houston, Texas. Lisa received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Texas at Austin.
Martha Agarwal serves as Vice President of Asset Management at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate beginning in 2001. Prior to joining Bridge, Martha has been a senior underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group with the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley in New York, NY, a Senior Associate in the Real Estate Advisory Service group of PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York, NY and Houston, TX, a Vice President with Bank of America in the CMBS Capital Markets group in Dallas, TX and an Independent Real Estate Consultant. She has experience in all aspects of due diligence relating to structuring and underwriting of loans targeted for securitization and has prepared market analysis and feasibility studies, valuations, and merger and acquisition due diligence. Martha received her Master of Land Economics and Real Estate from Texas A&M University and her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Texas A&M University.
Michael J. Hurd serves as Vice President of Underwriting at Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in commercial real estate since 1989. Before joining Bridge, Michael was a senior underwriter for Morgan Stanley’s CMBS platform between 2005 and 2017 and between 1998 and 2005 was a commercial real estate lender with Key Bank and Conning Asset Management (a division of General American Life, MetLife and SwissRE). Michael has originated and serviced loans for all property types and a variety of investors including CMBS, life insurance companies, pension funds and the agencies. Michael received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Finance from James Madison University and a Juris Doctor from George Mason University School of Law.
Sean Kim serves as Vice President of Asset Management for Bridge Debt Strategies Fund Manager LLC and has experience in finance and commercial real estate beginning in 2011. Prior to joining Bridge in 2018, Sean was a Vice President at Rialto Capital Management where he performed all aspects of due diligence related to structuring and underwriting over $600 million of loans. From 2014 to 2016, Sean was an underwriter for the Commercial Real Estate Lending group within the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley where he structured and underwrote over $1 billion of loans. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Sean was part of the CMBS group at J.P. Morgan. Sean received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences from Northwestern University.
As of Q3 2020, Bridge Debt Strategies has raised approximately $7.8 billion in equity capital, across 121 existing investments and 1300+* loans in the current portfolio.
Our acquisition and on-the-ground real estate expertise provides us with differentiated capabilities to assess the quality and risk of underlying collateral, as well as the ability to step in and manage any collateral in distress. Our extensive property management operations, which cover much of the U.S., allow us to due diligence collateral in an in-depth manner and incorporates our company’s knowledge of markets and market trends, assets, and the financial condition of owner/sponsors.
These asset and market capabilities, coupled with the securitized finance, structuring, and capital markets expertise embedded in our management team, provides Bridge Debt Strategies with a differentiated and enhanced approach to evaluating and capturing opportunities in the commercial real estate debt market while mitigating risk.