Companies that originate and invest in commercial real estate debt remain on the hunt for top talent to fill strategy-focused roles as they work to adapt to a landscape that is shifting quickly.

Recruiters interviewed for Commercial Mortgage Alert’s second annual survey of executive-search firms said the hiring activity reflects a range of factors, including growing interest in commercial-property debt from firms active in the private-credit space. At the same time, however,
an uncertain market outlook and possible disruptions stemming from the implementation of artificial intelligence have cut into some players’ recruiting of employees needed to process loan volume – especially underwriters and analysts.

In private credit, real estate debt has attracted investors who see other fixed-income products as offering insufficient yields to counteract inflation. That contributed to a record equity-raising haul of $75.24 billion by planned or active high-yield debt funds this year, with that figure representing a 5% increase from the prior 2025 peak and a 75% moon shot from 2023, according to a separate Commercial Mortgage Alert survey.

As those vehicles put money to work, they’ve sought experienced originators and asset-management pros. Recruiters said in some cases, operators that historically invested mainly in corporate credit products also have piled into real estate debt while bringing aboard senior talent to lead the initiatives.

“The private-credit space is still very active to the point where it’s almost overcrowded, and many investors are now gravitating back to real estate private credit due to the certainty and security of physical collateral,” said Kate Keller, founder and principal of Boston-based Keller Augusta. “There are a lot of groups playing in that space and trying to get that capital out the door, so they need to fill roles to do that.”

Other industrywide trends have contributed to demand for executives who can direct strategy. As the largest buyers get even bigger, some have established portfolio companies to manage their investments across multiple funds. Blackstone stood up its Brio Real Estate arm last year, for example, while KKR launched its K-Star Asset Management unit in 2022.

“As opposed to being at the fund level, you are seeing significant hiring at the portfolio-company level,” said Gemma Burgess, co-lead of the global real estate practice at Russell Reynolds Associates. Burgess also highlighted an influx of insurance capital into real estate as a driver of new searches, both for those companies’ internal investment teams and for third-party real estate specialists that manage money for them.

Interest also is emanating from outside the credit sector. Some equity-focused investment firms see debt returns as an attractive alternative on a risk-adjusted basis. Further, as the portfolios of some owner-operators expand, those businesses have launched searches for in-house capital markets professionals to handle financing needs rather than relying on outside brokers.

“More of our business recently has come from credit funds and boutique family offices or partnerships that have an equity business and now are looking to add a credit business,” said Iggy Yulis, chief executive of Resolution Search of New York.

On the other hand, some recruiters have seen a drop in new search volume from certain lenders over the past month. While those shops have plenty of capital to deploy, some borrowers have set aside financing requests amid unease about interest-rate volatility. That has translated to less need for underwriters and analysts.

AI rollouts also have softened demand for professionals who process loans. John Rosata, president of Capital Strategies Advisory Group, said his firm’s monthly searches for underwriters have dropped to a handful compared with 10 to 15 in previous years.

Rosata attributed the decline both to weaker new-origination volume and optimism that AI will materially boost the productivity of existing staff. That said, the trend does not appear to have resulted in the culling of any staff.

“It might take underwriters two days to get a narrative done, where AI can do it in 30 minutes or less,” Rosata said. “We’re seeing that become more pervasive, and it’s somewhat correlated with lesser demand for underwriters.”