News Updates

Bob Carroll Joins GSO

Investment firm Blackstone has added to the leadership team of its global credit platform, GSO Capital Partners (GSO). Bob Carroll has been hired as a managing director and head of distressed trading. He will oversee all trading activity related to GSO’s expansive public distressed efforts. Carroll most recently worked with hedge fund Smith Cove Capital, where he was responsible for all trading activity. Before that, he spent 10 years at Perry Capital as head of trading. Previously, Carroll was a trader at Litespeed Partners and Imperial Capital. GSO also announced that Adam Maitin joined the trading desk as a vice president. Adam joins from BlueMountain Capital where he spent two years trading high-yield, distressed and investment-grade credit. Before his stint at BlueMountain, Maitin was an associate at Alliance Bernstein. Author admin View all posts

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Housing Industry Responds to Calls for Housing Finance Reform

On March 27, President Trump signed a memorandum issuing “overdue reform of the housing finance system” and calling for an end of the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The move was announced during the second day of Senate Banking Committee hearings on GSE reform. According to the president’s directive, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury Department will be tasked with drafting proposals for reform, with the Treasury detailing Fannie and Freddie plans while HUD lays out a plan for the housing finance agencies it oversees. The memorandum details programs and objectives that the government agencies are asked to analyze for reform, but it doesn’t provide many other specifics. Most groups in the housing space applauded the president’s move as an official step forward to instigating long-awaited change, including The Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Union. Author admin View all posts

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PeerStreet Completes Software Integration with Liquid Logics

PeerStreet, a platform for investing in real-estate backed loans, has completed a system integration with Liquid Logics’ loan origination software platform. The move is in line with PeerStreet’s mission to build a stronger, more modern and more transparent marketplace for private lenders and accredited investors. Approved lenders can submit loan information and documents directly to PeerStreet for evaluation—and potential sale—with a single click, streamlining the loan submission process. “By creating this seamless integration, the loan submission process is easier,” said Brew Johnson, co-founder and CEO of PeerStreet. “And when that process is easier, there are more opportunities for lenders to sell their loans to a diverse pool of investors. That stands to benefit our entire marketplace: more loans from our lender network means more opportunities for PeerStreet investors to better diversify their investment portfolios. That demand for diversification then increases the overall demand for investments in loans, which further fuels lenders who in turn work with more high-quality borrowers. It is a virtuous cycle that benefits all participants.” According to Liquid Logics founder and CEO Sam Kaddah, the integration is an ideal opportunity for the company. “We’re very excited about this partnership, as it solidifies next-generation technologies in the fintech space by merging loan origination directly into PeerStreet’s investor marketplace,” said Kaddah. “With this partnership, Liquid Logics helps lenders achieve faster and more efficient lending cycles by connecting them to additional sources of capital from PeerStreet—allowing them to do more business and to do it better.” This system integration is the first of more potential loan origination software integrations for PeerStreet this year. In 2018, PeerStreet surpassed $1 billion invested on its platform. Author admin View all posts

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Higher Contribution Limits for Self-Directed IRAs

The IRS has announced an increase in the amount of allowable contributions for Self-Directed IRAs for 2019. Traditional IRAs, including Self-Directed IRAs, saw increases from $5,500 in allowable contributions to $6,000 per year. The same was true for Roth IRAs, which includes Self-Directed Roth IRAs. The annual catch-up contribution allowance for those aged 50 and older remains unchanged for the tax year 2019. The change marks the first increase in limits since 2013. Author admin View all posts

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Measurabl Raises $18 Million for Expansion

Measurabl, providers of software for commercial real estate ESG (environmental, social, governance) data management, has closed $18.7 million in Series B funding. Sway Ventures led the round after participating in the Series A. Other repeat investors include Salesforce Ventures and real estate technology specialists Camber Creek, who led the Series A, Building Ventures, Concrete Ventures, Impact Engine and DivcoWest. Major new investors included Constellation Technology Ventures, the venture investing arm of Exelon Corporation, and S&P Global, a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets. More than 30,000 commercial buildings representing nearly 7 billion square feet across 70 countries measure, manage and report ESG performance using Measurabl. The database includes everything from traditional office and industrial buildings to major sporting venues, education facilities, government campuses, data and retail centers. Measurabl will invest Series B proceeds into product research and development, partnerships and customer service. The company also plans to expand its platform to Asia, in addition to growing the European and North American markets it already serves. Author admin View all posts

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ALTLOAN Announces Partnership with New Capital Markets Company

ALTLOAN, a dba of BM Real Estate Services, has announced a new capital market partner that will enable the company to widen its non-QM product menu. “Our new partner is able to provide the back-end infrastructure and operating expertise that complements our online pricing eligibility engine and self-service loan portal for Non-QM (non-agency and hard money) mortgage financing,” said Blake Scheifele, ALTLOAN’s co-president. Product offerings include jumbo prime, portfolio full doc and alternative doc, Alt-A and non-prime credit grading, investor DTI, DSCR and no doc, foreign national, bridge and fix and flip and ITIN. Author admin View all posts

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