The TreppWire Podcast: A Commercial Real Estate Show 341. The CRE CLO Comeback Story: Market Trends & Execution Strategies with Steve Chow, Prime Finance
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Jul 15, 2025 Steve Chow, Principal at Prime Finance, shares insights from his journey in commercial real estate and structured finance, drawing from his tech background. He discusses the remarkable resurgence of CRE CLOs, with issuance doubling in 2025, and the appeal of middle market lending to crossover investors. The conversation delves into multifamily market trends, the importance of transparency in deal structuring, and strategies for navigating changing investor concerns. Steve provides valuable outlooks on asset class diversification amid evolving market dynamics.
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Steve Chow's Career Journey
- Steve Chow transitioned from a computer science major to a CRE CLO expert after joining Credit Suisse as a programmer.
- His early interest in securitization came from seeing its structure like programming code, leading to a career in structured products.
Resilience of CRE CLO Market
- CRE CLOs never really lost investor interest, demonstrating resilience across market cycles.
- Stable pricing and better deal performance in 2024-2025 have boosted liquidity and investor confidence in the CRE CLO market.
CRE CLOs Offer Spread Premium
- CRE CLO AAA bonds currently offer 30-50 basis points higher spreads than corporate CLOs and other securitized products.
- The 2025 market attracted many crossover investors from corporate CLOs, enhancing market depth and demand.