We have focused on attracting and retaining the requisite human and intellectual capital which we deploy in key markets to assist in the appropriate risk-adjusted return analysis of the investment opportunities we review.
Our leadership team has been together for over 20 years and successfully built one of the largest fully-integrated real estate services companies, Insignia Financial Group, Inc., prior to creating C-III. Founded on that deep industry expertise, C-III is focused on using its platform to meet the needs of all constituents in the commercial real estate industry. We are confident that our products, services and strong relationships will make valuable contributions toward enhancing the financial returns of our clients’ commercial real estate portfolios.
In the current lending landscape, it is a good time to be an investor and a lender; we are both. Volatility in the current environment is making it challenging for borrowers to get a firm quote. Due to new CMBS risk retention rules that are set to take effect in December 2016, investors’ yield expectations are set to widen and borrowers are concerned their costs will increase. This prospect is driving many borrowers to refinance prior to December 2016, resulting in a significant increase in volume. Only a relatively finite number of investors and lenders that have a fully integrated real estate platform – like C-III’s platform – can manage this increased volume to properly underwrite and manage risk.
To be innovative within the industry and tailor our solutions, we scale our fundraising to closely align our ability to deploy capital with the available investment opportunity. Fixed income markets in particular have cycles of price volatility that influence the pace and returns associated with capital investments. Our equity funds are sized relative to the opportunity set we see for the next two to three years. Since 2010, our investors have committed over $1.3 billion to our debt and equity strategies.
Our equity funds focus primarily on opportunities where we are able to enter at an attractive basis relative to replacement cost, often times by purchasing a defaulted loan and securing a fee simple title through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, and taking over management of the property with the goal of improving operations. We improve operations in numerous ways, such as reducing bad debt collections, eliminating unnecessary expenses and passing on reimbursements to residents where applicable. Through this strategy, we seek to achieve outsized returns relative to the risk of the investments.
With a broad range of activities, C-III Investment Management currently manages 26 investment vehicles, separate accounts and CRE-CDO/re- REMICS. The responsibilities of the vehicles include principal acquisition, financing, asset management, property management, disposition, administration, surveillance and workouts.
Our investors include some of the largest pension fund plans, university endowments and insurance companies in the United States, as well as private equity firms, private pension plans, fund-of-funds and high-networth individuals.
What are the primary target investments for funds and accounts managed by C-III Investment Management?
Target investments include commercial real estate equity, distressed commercial real estate mortgage loans, CMBS (including newly issued B-Pieces), CDOs, whole loans, B-notes and mezzanine debt.
Our success as an investment manager is based on several key qualities:
Firstly, our basic skill set enables us to identify and execute on investment opportunities amid challenges and volatility – this includes the expertise to underwrite assets brick-by-brick; to accurately assess risk; to capitalize on opportunities at the ideal time; and to scale fund size to meet the available market opportunity.
Secondly, we have the resources to distill data into valuable information and use that information to drive effective decision making. Thirdly, we possess the discipline to exit investments when our business plan has been met. Finally, we have the discipline to not invest when opportunities do not exist within the investment strategy.
In 2015, we launched a new series of debt funds to focus on newly issued unrated and non-investment grade CMBS. With our expertise in the space, we have a good track record of investing in CMBS B-Pieces that dates back to some of the first issuances back in the early 2000s. Our deep understanding of these assets enables us to see that the market was too risky from 2005 to 2007, so we chose not to invest over that timeframe.
With significant opportunities available going forward, we are well-positioned with adequate capital available to make the most of these opportunities. Specifically, we expect numerous acquisition opportunities to arise out of the current volatility in the capital markets, as well as over $1 trillion of commercial real estate loans scheduled to mature in the next four years alone.
We are honored to be named the 2015 Real Estate Investment Manager of the Year. When we formed C-III Investment Management in 2010, there was a fair amount of pessimism in the market about the wisdom of starting a new investment management business. Conventional wisdom at the time indicated that institutional investors were generally focusing on working with a small set of existing managers, not new, “first time” managers. Over the past six years, it’s been gratifying to witness our investment management business grow from a standing start to achieve this level of performance. Our principals’ 25+ years of experience in the real estate investment and management space enabled us to create a truly new, different model that has delivered strong results. We are eternally grateful to our entire investor base for their confidence in and support of our firm.
Name: Robert C. Lieber, Executive Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
Web Address: www.c3cp.com
Address: 717 5th Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10022
Telephone: 212.705.5000
