Article Excerpt:
TWST: Could we begin with a brief historical sketch of RAIT Investment Trust and a picture of the things you're doing at the present time?Ms. Cohen: RAIT Investment Trust is a commercial real estate structured finance lender that provides an alternative to equity for owners of real estate who otherwise have limited access to the capital markets. We've been doing this since 1998. When we began mezzanine financing, which is the technical term for what we do, it was viewed as exotic and an unusual product to have in the market. Today both the good and the bad news is that mezzanine financing has been accepted in the marketplace. The good news is that it provides RAIT with a better opportunity to both raise capital and get financings. On the other side, it involves and introduces more competition into the business. Most of the competition that has entered our business has entered it at dollar levels above the level we usually do. We're focused on bridge and mezzanine loans, mezzanine loans that range between $4 million and $6 million, and bridge loans that may range between $5 million to $30 million. But we continue to feel that the greatest opportunity for profitability exists at these levels.
TWST: And the larger institutions don't want to deal with that level?
Ms. Cohen: The larger institutions like more zeros.
Tickers included in this excerpt: RAS
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