In this special guest episode of The TreppWire Podcast, we are joined by Stefanie Stewart, Senior Vice President and Head of Real Estate Investments at Voya Investment Management. Drawing on nearly two decades of CRE lending experience, Stefanie discusses how lessons from the GFC continue to shape lending decisions and how Voya’s platform has evolved to meet today’s market. She shares the firm’s approach to deploying capital across stabilized, transitional, and floating-rate debt strategies, why industrial remains a core conviction, and why today’s market requires a stressed-sponsor rather than a stressed-asset approach. We also explore opportunities and headwinds across office and data center lending, as well as the growing role of AI in market analysis and investment decision-making. Tune in now. Episode Notes CRE lending through market cycles (2:51) Stressed assets vs. stressed sponsors (7:07) Evolution of insurance company lending (8:15) Bridge, transitional, and core debt strategies (10:36) Office market risks and recovery outlook (14:47) Industrial real estate opportunities (18:01) Capital markets and borrower flexibility (21:24) Career advice, relationships, and industry shoutouts (23:29) AI and technology in CRE finance (25:43) Closing remarks and contact information (27:13) Questions or comments? Contact us at podcast@trepp.com. Follow Trepp: X: www.x.com/TreppWire LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/trepp

 426. CRE Lending Through Cycles: Stressed Sponsors, Industrial Conviction, & Today’s Debt Market with Stefanie Stewart, Voya Investment Management

The TreppWire Podcast: A Commercial Real Estate Show

[SPEAKER_01] And you know, real estate cyclical, we all know that, but sometimes those cycles run long. Hopefully the good ones run longer than the bad ones.

[SPEAKER_00] Welcome to the TreppWire Podcast, the show where commercial real estate needs data and insights. This is a special guest podcast. I'm Haley Keen with Trepp, a data modeling and analytics firm for the CMBS, commercial real estate and CLO markets. I'm with Stephen Bushbaum, Head of Applied Research and Analytics. Today we are joined by Stefanie Stewart, Senior Vice President and Head of Real Estate Investments at Voya Investment Management, where she is responsible for managing all origination efforts.

[SPEAKER_00] Over the course of her 19 years with Voya, Stefanie has headed an origination team that produces approximately $4 billion of commercial mortgages annually across the nation, spanning Voya's lending platform of fixed and floating rate core debt, construction, and bridge value add. Stefanie also spoke at our TreppConnect conference in May, sharing insights particularly on industrial assets on our bifurcation and recovery panel.

[SPEAKER_00] Stefanie, we are so excited to have you back in front of the Trepp audiences. Thank you for joining us today and welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. So we always like to start our show asking how people really found their way into this commercial real estate lending industry. So you've been at Voya for nearly two decades now, but maybe you can take us back. How did you get your start in the business world or commercial real estate in the first place?

426. CRE Lending Through Cycles: Stressed Sponsors, Industrial Conviction, & Today’s Debt Market with Stefanie Stewart, Voya Investment Management

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

426. CRE Lending Through Cycles: Stressed Sponsors, Industrial Conviction, & Today’s Debt Market with Stefanie Stewart, Voya Investment Management

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.