WoI Speaker: "Lending Is an Art, Not Science"
"I’ve seen transactions of every size and shape, dealt with people good and bad, and have been through a plethora of real estate ups and downs," says Karen Case.
➤➤ Join the GlobeSt.com Women of Influence 2019 conference July 10th and 11th in Broomfield, CO, which celebrates the women who drive the commercial real estate industry forward. The event will address the critical role of women in the CRE business. Click here to register and view the agenda.
Chicago, IL—One of the speakers at this week’s Women of Influence conference is Karen Case, executive managing director and president of Commercial Real Estate for CIBC’s US Region. As part of her job, she oversees the groups that develop and manage real estate finance and banking relationships with commercial real estate developers, investors, owners and operators across the country. Case previously was president of Commercial Real Estate for the PrivateBank, which was acquired by CIBC in June 2017.
“I have been a real estate banker for 40 years. Despite its quantitative component, the lending practice is an art, not a science,” she tells GlobeSt.com. “Striking a balance between borrower and bank—maintaining high credit quality standards while meeting a developer’s expectations—has required the building of a number of skills, from negotiating to hand-holding, and knowing when each is appropriate,” she says.
With so many years in this business, Case says she has seen transactions of every size and shape, dealt with people good and bad, and has been through numerous real estate ups and downs. “Having the ability to read people and to understand their intentions has been a critical skill,” she says.
Case finds various aspects of her job gratifying. Developing “smart young bankers into smart experienced bankers” and watching them grow, gain knowledge, develop their analytical and communication skills, insights and most importantly, confidence is one of the high points in her career.
“As deal junkies, we all enjoy meeting a new prospect, tailoring a transaction and closing the sale, but the best ones are those which happen really quickly, usually when a competitor can’t deliver what they’ve promised,” says Case.
Case follows trends in all of commercial real estate’s sectors.
“With a $12 billion portfolio of loans, there isn’t an asset class or geography I’m not watching. Hardly a day goes by when there isn’t discussion around how late we are in the cycle. That said, we haven’t witnessed macro-economic fundamentals that point to a downturn.” Growth may have slowed in some sectors, but Case’s motto is ‘there are good deals in bad markets, and bad deals in good markets.’
For that reason, Case and her team work hard at evaluating each transaction, its sponsorship team, the capital stack plus its structural elements, and building in safeguards to address identified risks.
Case credits the late Jim Tyree, former CEO of Mesirow Financial and one of Chicago’s prolific civic leaders, with enabling her to have a current seat at the table.
“I worked shoulder to shoulder with Jim for a number of years as board members of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation both in Illinois and on the international board. He noted my attention to detail, ability to think on my feet, team play and strong work ethic. When The PrivateBank (now CIBC) was in transformation and in need of someone to establish and lead its Commercial Real Estate line of business, Jim, then a director of the bank, encouraged the incoming CEO to bring me on board.” Volunteer work is about passion, not resume-building, but Case notes her experience highlights how work done outside a professional job can be just as important as one’s ‘real job.’