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

<p>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. </p><p><br></p><p>Episode Notes </p><ul><li>CRE lending through market cycles (2:51) </li><li>Stressed assets vs. stressed sponsors (7:07) </li><li>Evolution of insurance company lending (8:15) </li><li>Bridge, transitional, and core debt strategies (10:36) </li><li>Office market risks and recovery outlook (14:47) </li><li>Industrial real estate opportunities (18:01) </li><li>Capital markets and borrower flexibility (21:24) </li><li>Career advice, relationships, and industry shoutouts (23:29) </li><li>AI and technology in CRE finance (25:43) </li><li>Closing remarks and contact information (27:13) </li></ul><p><br></p><p>Questions or comments? Contact us at <a href="mailto:podcast@trepp.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">podcast@trepp.com</a>.      </p><p><br></p><p>Follow Trepp:   </p><p>X: <a href="https://www.x.com/TreppWire" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.x.com/TreppWire</a>  </p><p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/trepp" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">www.linkedin.com/company/trepp</a>   </p>