Bridge Investment Group Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
May 9, 2023

There are 8 speakers on the call.

Operator

And welcome to the Bridge Investments Group First Quarter 2023 Earnings Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Bonnie Rosen, Head of Shareholder Relations.

Operator

Thank you, Madam. You may begin.

Speaker 1

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Bridge Investment Group Conference Call to review Q1 2023 financial results. Our prepared remarks include comments from our Executive Chairman, Robert Morse Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Slager and Chief Financial Officer, Katie Elsnab. We will hold a Q and A session following the prepared remarks. I'd like to remind you that today's call may include forward looking statements, which are uncertain, We do not undertake any duty to update these statements.

Speaker 1

For a discussion of some of the risks that could affect results, please see the Risk Factors section of our Form 10 ks. During the call, we will also discuss Certain non GAAP financial metrics. The reconciliation of the non GAAP metrics are provided in the appendix of our supplemental slides. The supplemental materials are accessible on our IR website at ir.bridgeig.com. These slides can be found under the Presentations portion of the site along with the Q1 earnings call event link.

Speaker 1

They are also available live during the webcast. I will present our GAAP metrics, And Katie will review and analyze our non GAAP data. We reported a GAAP net loss to the operating company for the Q1 of 2023 $67,000,000 The net loss was driven by an unrealized loss of $107,000,000 related to our Accrued performance allocation due to valuation reductions to selected real estate assets. Basic GAAP income per share for the Q1 of 2023 was $0.03 with a loss of $0.13 on a diluted basis. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Bob.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Bonnie, and good morning all. In the 3 months since our last earnings update, market volatility has continued across a number of fronts. 3 bank failures, continued interest rate increases by the Fed, coupled with substantial quantitative tightening, Ongoing concerns about GDP growth, the state of the labor markets in the context of numerous layoff announcements and possibility of a hard landing. That's a long list of domestic issues and added to the list are accelerating global tensions centered around the U. S, China, Taiwan And Russia, Ukraine situations and the implications for global peace, growth and prosperity.

Speaker 2

These macro themes have both chilled short term investment appetites in a risk off environment and prompted a reset in asset values across many of the markets in which Bridge operates. We believe this has set the stage for a rebound in activity and attractive investment opportunities in the current environment. Through these volatile times, Bridge remains focused on the central theme of conviction highlighted earlier this year in our 2020 market outlook. We believe that investing with conviction requires the acknowledgment of the facts in today's turbulent markets, While focusing on both long term secular trends and tactical opportunities created by ongoing market dislocation to create value for Bridge's investors. Our perspective is informed by extensive research, deep analysis of both public and proprietary data sources And ongoing dialogue with investors, banks and other constituencies with whom we act on a regular basis.

Speaker 2

Importantly, we believe that in a volatile environment, specialization is more important than ever as it relates to strong deal flow and careful selection of opportunities. And in the case of more operationally intensive real estate strategies, forward integration into property management to drive Alpha at the asset level. In addition, the benefits from the use of leverage in the current environment is neutral at best, negative in many cases. A different paradigm is required to invest successfully going forward, one that focuses on the investment merits of selected asset classes And creating alpha at the asset level to drive return premiums for equity investing. Our conviction is premised on the resilience

Speaker 3

of the U. S. Economy across many metrics, growth, strengthen the

Speaker 2

labor markets, across many metrics, growth, strength in the labor markets, on shoringreshoring and a manufacturing renaissance. The unemployment rate has been below 4% for over a year now and wage growth by many measures has been strong, Accelerating throughout 2022 and holding near 5% year over year. These wage increases have disproportionately benefited those in The lower half of the income band with low and middle skilled occupations actually outpacing higher skilled occupations. These U. S.

Speaker 2

Residents are the cohort which serves in much of our leading residential rental investments. We've seen such resilience play out in past cycles. As one point of reference, we compared unlevered NCREIF investment returns for the multifamily sector against U. S. Equities and fixed income over the last several decades, which can be found in our investor presentation on Slide 15.

Speaker 2

Key findings from our analysis include, First, the intrinsic value of commercial real estate investments withstand even the deepest recessionary periods, including the 2,008 recession, Better than these major indices. For multifamily specifically, we believe this speaks to the persistent need for housing and consistent rental income, As well as the enduring value of commercial real estate assets. 2nd, although this multifamily index isn't a perfect presentation for the entire real estate industry. It is one of the largest real estate asset classes and serves as a robust benchmark for the industry. And in our view, our own portfolio, given the high concentration of residential rental assets, we believe the same principles of durable value Apply to our logistics investments and all of our residential rental strategies.

Speaker 2

Our fixed income strategies have been a bright spot in an otherwise difficult We have and continue to raise and deploy meaningful capital across our fixed income strategies at targeted returns that often mirror and sometimes See projected equity returns. Each of our Debt Strategies Fund IV, AMBS and Net Lease Industrial Income Vehicles has deployed meaningful capital. As banks and other balance sheet lenders reduce CRE exposure, we believe these opportunities will continue to multiply in the short to intermediate term at least. We expect to report strong performance for each of these vehicles to our investors and continue to see solid demand for performing credit products. Credit represents about 23% of our fee earning AUM and should continue to grow in importance.

Speaker 2

Bridge's highly experienced management team has navigated prior cycles and we are well positioned with cycle tested specialized leaders in each strategy to make the most of And navigate the challenges of the current market. During the Q1, we continued to build momentum in our business Fee earning AUM increasing 51% year over year, recurring management fee revenue increasing 15% And we completed a record close for Multifamily V at $2,300,000,000 We also completed acquisition of Newberry Partners on March 31, 2023, a leader in the secondaries market. Including the record close of Multifamily Fund 5 During the quarter, we raised a total of $674,000,000 across our investment vehicles with most of that capital oriented towards our credit strategies. Importantly, we did not have any outflows in the Q1. We continue to enjoy the benefits of long term stable capital, which We manage on behalf of our limited partners.

Speaker 2

Our capital base has an average duration of 7.4 years and is comprised almost entirely of closed end vehicles with no redemption features. During the quarter, we continued to execute on our strategic vision to combine organic growth with The acquisition of Newberry Partners closed on March 31 and integration efforts have been seamless by all accounts. We acquired Newberry at a price that projects to immediate substantial accretion in earnings and at a value that compares well to precedent transactions. We Created a transaction structure that aligns, encourages and incentivizes management performance and embraces the 1 bridge philosophy by which we guide our efforts. We have assigned some of our best and brightest at Bridge to manage the integration along with our partners at Newberry.

Speaker 2

The acquisition of Newberry further diversifies our investment platform, builds on our highly specialized focus and provides some modest countercyclicality in our revenue base. Newberry is a leader in the secondaries market with a focus on acquiring limited partnership interests In established buyout, growth equity and venture capital funds, consistent with the way Bridge operates in its real estate investment funds, Newberry's focus has been on small and middle market transactions where there is less competition and more attractive pricing. We're excited about the growth potential for Newberry over both the near and long term as we scale the platform's existing product offering, While developing plans for expanding into adjacent strategies, the outlook for the secondary sector has never been brighter With limited partners seeking liquidity solutions to achieve their goals. And specific to our business, we're already seeing great dialogue from Newberry's and Bridges LP bases, which have less than 3% overlap at the time of transaction. The opportunity for cross sell is enormous.

Speaker 2

We expect to report more on these revenue synergies and other initiatives as we make further progress. With that, I will turn the call over to Jonathan.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Bob, and good morning. I will walk through what we are seeing in Broader commercial real estate transaction markets, Bridge's deployment efforts and performance and our investment outlook and opportunities in 2023. 2022 was a year in which U. S. Real estate transaction volumes started very strong, but finished slow, Down just 13% overall for the year, but Q4 was down more than 60% from Q4 'twenty one As interest rates rose and debt markets tightened.

Speaker 4

Thus far in 2023, we've seen the continuation of depressed transaction volumes. For the latest Real Capital Analytics data, Q1 industry transaction volume is down 56% year over year. And in the multifamily sector, Which is typically the highest volume sector, transactions were off 64%, representing 1 of the largest drops since Q1 'nine following the great financial And between various private market participants and public REITs. We believe this reflects the dislocation of capital markets at this moment in time Rather than a fundamental shift in the long term value of assets, the lack of trades makes valuation a much more challenging exercise. With that backdrop, Bridge deployed $866,000,000 in Q1 2023.

Speaker 4

As mentioned, most of this deployment has been in our credit We have been patient and continue to be disciplined in our underwriting, but we are cautious about trying to be market timers. Opportunistically, we bought $368,000,000 of floating rate investment grade real estate CLO and CMBS bonds at a weighted average Of SOFR plus 506 basis points. In addition, we bought a small amount of fixed rate investment grade CMBS bonds Significant equity cushions and subordinate debt below them, but have exhibited outsized yields due to continuing illiquidity in the securitization markets. We've also started to see a slight pickup in the transactions on the equity side. These are coming from investors who are harvesting older vintage funds that have performed well and a handful of assets with broken capital structures.

Speaker 4

With $4,400,000,000 of dry powder, of which the majority is related to multifamily, workforce and affordable and debt strategies, We are well positioned and expect deployments done in 2023 to generate positive outcomes for these strategies. On the operating side, the underlying fundamentals of our portfolio investments remain healthy. For example, Our multifamily and workforce assets, which represents 39% of our real estate fee earning AUM are 93% occupied. Our same store effective rent growth for Q1 increased 7.4%. While the sector is experiencing supply issues in some markets And slowing rent growth across the board.

Speaker 4

Demand remains strong and collections are recovering toward pre pandemic levels resulting in NOI growth Across the portfolio of 6.5%. Fundamentals in our single family rental portfolio are similarly strong With 10.25 percent year over year rent growth and in Q1 occupancy at 95%. Logistics, which is a growing component of our AUM, continues to experience historically low vacancy rates. The infill coastal gateway markets in which we primarily invest have less than 2% vacancy and much of that availability functionally obsolete product. With these pressures on availability, our leasing performance over the last 12 months has exceeded original acquisition underwriting by 24% on a net effective rent basis.

Speaker 4

Now turning to investment performance. Despite strong operating performance and NOI growth across our equity real estate funds, our values depreciated slightly by 1.6% in the quarter, The higher current income was offset by slightly more conservative terminal values and cap rates. We have the ability to hold assets market volatility and believe our funds are conservatively and appropriately capitalized. Bridge mostly employs a single layer of leverage at the property level for our real estate equity funds and does not employ additional leverage at the fund level other than short term operating and subscription lines. Over 83% of the asset level debt is either fixed or hedged with more in process of being hedged While evaluating the return on costs and benefits given where the property is in its life cycle.

Speaker 4

This helps insulate the funds from higher interest rates. Further, these hedges have appreciated Over $24,300,000 in the last 12 months, providing additional portfolio value even when factoring in a decrease $4,700,000 during Q1 as benchmark interest rates declined during the quarter. We also seek to ensure each fund operates Plenty of liquidity, which we constantly monitor. The strength of our lender relationships combined with generally cautious leverage levels puts us in a Solid position to hold and continue to operate our assets while the debt and transaction markets recover. Longer term, we have strong conviction in the select thematic areas, which serve as the backbone for the majority of our AUM.

Speaker 4

Housing is critically undersupplied and propelled by demographic tailwinds. Near term supply pipelines are likely to wane Due to higher rates, limited availability of construction debt and equity as well as continued inflationary cost pressures. Logistics and manufacturing demand remains robust, particularly in infill locations as on shoring, e commerce And supply chain resiliency are durable demand drivers with staying power. Private credit strategies Our position to take market share as conventional lenders are sidelined due to deposit funding issues and regulatory constraints. Secondary strategies are poised to grow rapidly as private markets become increasingly dynamic and complex, Driving LP demand for sophisticated liquidity solutions.

Speaker 4

We believe any deployment we execute in 2023 will be highly attractive as we navigate As we work through a slow and choppy transaction market, Rich has historically originated some of its best investments during the most challenging times, and we remain well positioned to do so again. I will now hand the call over to Katie to discuss our financial results and the stability of our business.

Speaker 5

Thank you, Jonathan. We continue to advance our efforts of steadily building durable recurring fund management fees Even in the face of a more dynamic macro environment. In the Q1 of 2023, recurring fund management fees Total $51,100,000 up 2.4% from last quarter and 15% year over year. The Newberry acquisition will further add to this beginning in the Q2. On a pro form a basis for Q1, including Newberry's fund management fee revenue, All of which is recurring, would push the total to $61,600,000 up 28% year over year.

Speaker 5

The earning AUM, which represents most closely the true underlying growth and stability of our business, increased 51% year over year To $22,200,000,000 including the acquisition of Newberry. This represents tremendous growth of 115% In the short period of time since our IPO, when our fee earning AUM stood at 10,300,000,000 Over 98% of our fee earning AUM is in long term closed end funds that have no redemption features And a weighted average duration of 7.4 years, adding to the foundational stability of our business. This purposeful map of long duration capital with our long term investment strategy significantly insulates Bridge from the redemption risk, we're still seeing an open end and retail vehicles in the market today. Approximately 90 of our real estate related to fee earning AUM is invested in high conviction themes, which include residential rental in the U. S.

Speaker 5

Across multifamily, Workforce and Affordable Housing, Single Family Rental, Senior Housing and in our Private Credit Strategies, where the majority of the collateral is multifamily related. 19% of our fee earning AUM is in our newest secondary vertical. Office represents a small portion at 4%. Our central theme of the year is conviction, and we have thoughtfully positioned our investor capital to benefit from or to be resilient to a downturn in the economy. Fee related earnings to the operating company were $30,900,000 in the quarter, slightly down from Q4, Mostly driven by a $2,800,000 decrease in catch up fee revenue, along with lower transaction fees resulting from the broader market slowdown.

Speaker 5

These were partially offset by higher recurring fund management fees And positive attribution from fee related earnings attributable to non controlling interest. The non controlling interest in FRE relates to investment team profits interest verticals, which tends to be seasonal and that they are more likely to keep profitability hurdles as time passes over the course of the year. Additionally, our more nascent strategies are not driving positive FRE, but have tremendous built in growth drivers that will be well positioned as they grow in scale. The year over year FRE comparison was impacted by the $20,000,000 decrease in transaction fees. Operating expenses were relatively stable compared to Q4 and down year over year as we've maintained cost discipline on employee compensation and other expenses.

Speaker 5

This also helps protect margins, which have been impacted by lower catch up fees and transaction related revenue. Real estate transaction volumes will likely remain depressed in the short term, and this will continue to impact FRE margins. As transaction markets rebound, our record dry powder will be put to work and that revenue will push up margins. This is simply a timing element. We've always cautioned investors on the quarterly news.

Speaker 5

Instead, we recommend focusing on the margins long term, Which tend to average 50% plus or minus. For example, the margin in Q1 was 43%, but 49% on a trailing 12 months. Distributable earnings to the operating company for the quarter were $33,400,000 with after tax CE per share of $0.19 Net realizations declined to $1,000,000 in the quarter, reflecting the general market pause and our prudent management in the protection of Sun performance. We expect to remain selective on monetizations in the near term. Unrealized carry decreased to $447,700,000 which represents a 19% decline after adjusting for realization.

Speaker 5

As a reminder, accrued carry on the balance sheet is recorded 1 quarter in arrears. The decrease was driven by more conservative asset value assumptions that were disclosed in the previous quarter. Our crude carry is up 82% since our IPO in 2021, and we are well positioned when markets ultimately stabilize. Our Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.15 per share, which will be paid to shareholders of record as of June 2. This amount is based on distributable earnings adjusted for transaction and non recurring costs incurred during the quarter, mostly related to the acquisition of Newberry Partners, which represents $4,100,000 While Jonathan discussed the conservative nature of how we employ leverage within our funds, we also maintain that same mentality with Brisk employs a prudent risk management process, and our banking relationships are highly diversified.

Speaker 5

We are an asset light manager with low leverage and an investment grade rating. As discussed last quarter, We funded the Newberry acquisition using existing balance sheet resources, including $150,000,000 of proceeds from our recent private placement of debt. The private placement was priced in January and included the issuance of $120,000,000 of 7 year notes and $30,000,000 of 10 year notes With a weighted average interest rate of approximately 6%. The notes funded with the closing of Newberry on March 31, And Q2 will be the Q1 reflecting the resulting interest expense. We also expanded our revolving credit facility to $225,000,000 was $80,000,000 strong.

Speaker 5

The duration of our outstanding private placement is in excess of 7 years And is well staggered with no maturities until 2025. We are well positioned to navigate the current environment and are confident in Bridge's long term vision and strategy for success. With that, I would now like to open the call for questions.

Operator

We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. The first question is from Michael Cyprys from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Just Given the what we're hearing around banks pulling back, given some of the challenges that they're facing, banks pulling back from financing of the real estate Can you talk about what you're seeing on that front? How do you expect that to play out over the next couple of years? And what does this mean for Bridge as you access leverage Across your business, how do you navigate that?

Speaker 6

What are some of the levers? Maybe you can remind us how much in financing you access from the GSEs versus different other Funding sources including the banks and then what's the opportunity setting catalyst that this could help with on your credit business? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Michael, for the question. And it's a very topical question. Of course, I think everybody knows that The banking sector has become much more conservative and commercial real estate has been an area of focus for bank exposures. We think it's a double edged sword in some respects. There are a number of sectors of investment where banks are still Either willing to lend and in some cases enthusiastic to lend.

Speaker 2

We think that residential rental and logistics are 2 of those Sectors where there's a willingness to lend. Some sectors are out of favor. Office This is the poster child of a sector that currently is out of favor. We do some borrowing from banks. We do a lot of borrowing from the federal agencies, particularly as it relates to our multifamily and workforce Strategies, we characterize the tightness in the bank markets as a double edged sword Because it, of course, opens up significant opportunities for private credit.

Speaker 2

And we have Again, business in the private credit sector, I can give you An example of how the market has changed in our favor in private credit, A year or so ago, if we were to look at a loan against a transitional multifamily asset, it probably would be at a Spread of 3.25 basis points plusminus over SOFR at a leverage point of 70% to 75%. Today, those same metrics would be changed. The spread would be higher at probably 3 And 75 basis points over SOFR and the leverage point would be lower, so more conservative, less risk, higher spread that translates to really Positive opportunities as it relates to private credit. And I think that that's indicative of some of the opportunity That's out there. Thanks.

Speaker 2

At the end of the day, we'll review their portfolio of loans They'll end their balance sheet and at some point, presumably start lending again. But right now, it's A bit more difficult to navigate through. Credit, of course, is an important part of the overall capital stack. And with some very modest exceptions, mostly focused on the office sector, we've been able to adequately access Debt, whether it be from banks, agencies or elsewhere in order to fund our activities.

Speaker 6

Great. And just a follow-up question on the deployment backdrop. You mentioned seeing a potential slight pickup here and transactional On the equity side, maybe you could elaborate a bit on that. And as you think about the constraints on putting capital to work, how does that differ across the different strategies that you operate and how much of that would you say is just from the lack of financing versus the actual higher absolute cost of financing versus the lack of sellers?

Speaker 2

Jonathan, you want to address that?

Speaker 4

Yes. I mean, we are starting to see A little bit more, I guess, we call it green shoots of activity in our broader equity business. And there's still it's still a very spotty market, right, because there are sellers who are going out, sellers who have Owned assets for a while and have by definition made money on those assets because even at the reduced valuations are still Going to have great returns and they're evaluating whether or not they want to sell. So they'll put stuff out, Then we're beginning to see what we've been expecting to see for a long time, which is some of the stress that's been put on to, Call it regional sponsors who can be very sizable regional sponsors who have co invest from equity allocators And they simply don't have the capital to take and support a debt service level that has gone on an IO basis up 3 times and then in addition, they've had to put reserves for rate caps that have now exceeded the Challenging. So we're starting to see a little bit of that start to break our way.

Speaker 4

And one of the great things about Bridge is that we have such deep relationships. We're such an active buyer in the markets that we're in that we sort of get this kind of very, Very clear look into what it's going to take to do the transaction. So again, broadly speaking, yes, we are starting to see a little bit of Opportunity coming from a moment when things have been super closed. But before the market really starts to fully recover, We need to see the Fed stop raising rates. We need to see a little bit more stability in the underlying debt markets.

Speaker 4

We need to start to see the securitization markets open back up. And our view is That the fundamentals around the sectors that we're in, which we enumerated in our talking points Are so strong and continue to be unchanged and there's so much Kind of demand and call it dry powder beyond just our own dry powder in the sectors that we will see values recover Both because of just the underlying growth in net operating incomes and operations, but also because of the supply demand In favor of demand for the product. So again, between now and then, we're going to be looking anything we Anything we think we can find that we deploy, we're going to be very excited about and we'll have, we think, good values. The underlying unleveraged returns we're starting to see are Incredibly attractive. So we just stay active.

Speaker 4

We stay busy. We do what we do, and we think things will Start to populate.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you.

Operator

The next question is from Kenneth Workingtone from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Speaker 3

Hi, Bernstein. This is Alex Bernstein on for Ken. For taking my question. Great to speak with you again. Wanted to double click on deployment in 1Q of 'twenty 3, we saw $866,000,000 which was A modest step down from the $980,000,000 we saw in Q4.

Speaker 3

It was actually both Q3 and Q1 levels of last year. Noted several times now that deployment was mostly driven by credit strategies. Can you elaborate around what parts of credit you're seeing the most opportunities in going forward? And do you expect a change in equity versus credit shift going forward? Just going through the broader alternative asset management earnings, it sounds like that's been A theme happening more broadly in the market.

Speaker 3

So wanted to check that if that was the case with you as well and how do you look at deployment going forward? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thanks for the question. And I think your observations are spot on in a lot of respects. Credit products have been very attractive, both from the perspective of investors committing capital As well as deployment opportunities, our deployment in credit has been reasonably broad based. In our flagship debt strategies suite of vehicles, we were able to Complete the deployment of that vehicle pretty ahead of schedule in a lot of respects. We've also been able to find opportunities for deployment in AMBS as well as Net Lease.

Speaker 2

The deployment that you referenced in the Q1 was in part done in the public markets with in public securities that were Trading at levels that we thought offered very good value and in part represented more of our core Direct lending business and buying K Series B pieces as well. I think Going forward, of course, we would expect that, in addition to the continued opportunities to deploy in credit, As Jonathan said, we'll see opportunities on the equity side as well. We frankly Tried to and have been quite patient over the course of the Q4 and the Q1 in terms of looking at equity opportunities. We always Try to employ a great deal of price discipline. I believe on average, we buy 1 out of every 20 deals That we carefully do diligence and examine.

Speaker 2

So we have something around a 5% hit rate. We've continued that seal activity. We think that we've been paid, our investors have been paid for that patience as asset values on the equity side have reset a bit, Continuing to reset a bit in the Q1, and we think we're well poised to Assess and hopefully execute on opportunities as the second and third quarters unfurl.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Bob. It's very helpful. And if I could hit on one more topic quickly, just talking about fundraising, we noticed 72% of the capital you raised this past quarter came from international investors. But if we look at your total AUM, it's only comprised of 41% international Versus 58% for the U. S, just looks like another trend that's happening in the market more broadly and looks like one that you're experiencing as well, Where it sounds like there's more available capital from an LP perspective to deploy in areas such as MENA and APAC rather North America and EMEA, is this part of a broader trend or are there sort of one off type instances that drove that shift in this past quarter?

Speaker 3

Thanks again.

Speaker 2

I think in general, having a global presence in terms of fundraising It's very valuable because capital is more or less available in different areas depending Who's investing and who's taking a pause and we've worked hard over the last several years to meaningfully diversify our fundraising efforts. We've opened and staffed offices in Europe. We've now for Several years had an office in Korea. I'm actually taking this call from Korea today. We continue to have a broad coverage effort across both the U.

Speaker 2

S. As well as Other parts of the world across both institutions as well as the wealth management channels. It's interesting. We have I would characterize our dialogue today with our both existing LP investors And prospective LP investors as stronger than it's ever been. Investors are looking For guidance, they're looking for clarity.

Speaker 2

They're looking for interpretations of the market. We've hosted a number of events, Including recently our LP Annual Meeting, which was held for the first time in a couple of years as a physical meeting with record attendance. And the dialogue has been really strong, really powerful, and we hope and expect that it will Continue to produce very strong results from a capital raising perspective. The percentages that you quote are a bit a function of what happened in this past 3 months versus what happens long term. We do think whether a U.

Speaker 2

S. Investor, a North American investor, Offshore Investors, a lot of folks believe that the U. S. Is a preeminent investment destination And many investors think that the thematic and specialized approach that we take We'll pay dividends in the short term and long term. So we're seeing some really positive traction in that regard.

Speaker 2

The other thing I can't help but mention and we mentioned this in our talking points, there's very little overlap between the Newberry investor base And the Bridge Investor Base. And we think the cross sell of providing solutions to those investors, Whether it be real estate equity, real estate debt, secondaries exposure, that cross sell opportunity will continue to be really substantial Going forward, we're already seeing some evidence of that and we think that that will snowball over the coming months.

Speaker 3

Thanks so much. Really appreciate the color.

Speaker 2

Thanks for the question.

Operator

The next question is from Bill Katz from Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you very much

Speaker 7

for taking the Questions. First, maybe move around a little bit, just focusing on Newberry. So congrats again on that transaction. Could you give us a sense Where you stand in terms of deployment on Fund 5 and when the timing might take place for Fund 6 and I think about Successor sizing relative to Fund 5? Thank you.

Speaker 2

We can't really comment on specific funds in the market, But we can certainly talk about some of the themes that we're seeing. Jonathan, do you want to handle that? Do you want me to handle that?

Speaker 4

Sure. Yes, I mean, I think today we're still Well under 50% deployed on that fund. So there's still some run rate, but And that's a positive. But candidly, we're I think I mentioned it just a little bit earlier, but we're really starting to see some Practically priced, assets from the standpoint of the underlying unlevered returns as a kind of a, Call it a consistent benchmark over time in terms of valuation. And I think that we do continue to Believe in the sector, as I think we've talked about, we see a tremendous amount of growth, continued growth in our underlying net operating incomes, our rents continue to grow, although again at a sort of more mean reverting level than The craziness during the pandemic and our belief is that we're significantly undersupplied in the sector.

Speaker 4

So And of course, last but not least, we kind of look at it as being an area where The ability to operate at the property level is a huge differentiator and a huge value creator. So For all those reasons, we remain optimistic there. But the volumes, when I read that statistics, it said we're kind of down. This quarter, the point that Bob made earlier about continuing to be selective in investing and not trying to be market timers, The volume being down means our volumes are down for a little while. And I think that we expect Two things.

Speaker 4

1, we expect to see a little bit more capital distress, not necessarily asset level distress because The fundamentals, as I said, are kind of solid in across the sector. And then so we hope we'll start to be able to take advantage of some of those And we're starting to see some now for it takes a little while. There's a delay in that actually coming to market. And Again, the belief is that hopefully the Fed is nearing the end of their raising period And we'll start to see some stability in interest rates, which will open up the opportunity for the broader debt markets To create more liquidity into the space and candidly, I think, Bob, you mentioned it as well. We're starting to look at every single deal on an unlevered and levered basis.

Speaker 4

On an unlevered basis, In theory, we can go out when debt markets get better and place debt on and recycle that capital then. But for now, We're seeing the opportunity perhaps to just take some of that powder and just deploy it into assets without applying leverage. And our returns are equal at This moment in time within a reasonable assumption about putting financing on the assets at a later time and recycling that capital. So Some really interesting opportunities in terms of how long it will take. I don't think that's something that we're Able to kind of give you a hard number on right now, but we have initially set up a 4 year deployment Period for Fund 5 and hopefully we make it in order Ahead of what's been put forward.

Speaker 2

Bill, I would add, as it relates specifically to Newberry that We spent the better part of 2 years looking carefully at the secondary space. We met, It's not every player in the secondary space. We met an awful lot of them. And from that Time that we spent analyzing the sector, we came away with the view that the Newberry team, The professionals, the culture, the sense of partnership, the middle market approach to investing Fit really hand in glove with how we've found success at Bridge in deploying investor capital as well. So we're really excited about that partnership.

Speaker 2

We think that Newberry will make us better, We will make Newberry better. We've had a really intensive and comprehensive integration program since we closed the transaction just a little bit more than a month or so ago. We have certainly seen as we've traveled the world talking to investors that demand for secondaries It's very strong in the markets today. And as the private markets become increasingly dynamics and complex, There is expected to be more, not less, LP demand for sophisticated liquidity solutions of the kind that Newberry and others, but we think Newberry provides in a really comprehensive way. So as part of our overall arsenal Products in our solution set, we think that Newberry will create meaningful Additional capability at Bridge, we think that our infrastructure will allow Newberry to service the investors who choose to invest in Newberry vehicles better than ever.

Speaker 2

And so we think that there's a bright future there as well.

Speaker 7

Okay. Thank you for that. And then maybe one quick Katie,

Speaker 4

I apologize. Yes, hey, yes. Sorry, Bill. I just wanted to apologize. I somehow misunderstood that the question was about Fund 5 on Our multifamily side, and so that's why you got the confusing answer.

Speaker 4

So I do want to apologize for that. So thanks for Jumping in there, Bob.

Speaker 7

All good with the extra commentary. So I appreciate that. Maybe one for Katy, just very I apologize if I should know this already. Can you sort of review the seasonal dynamics under the NCI? I was just a little puzzled by what you're saying was Tracking exactly.

Speaker 7

Looks like you had a loss or a version about a year or so ago. I just want to make sure I understand the cadence of how that rolls through the P and L? Thank you.

Speaker 5

Sure. There's 2 things that you need to think about when you're looking at our NCI. First is our profits interest program, which as we've previously announced, The last profits interest program will collapse this year on July 1, 2023. So we won't see that seasonality that you've historically seen. But the way that works is there's an earnings threshold.

Speaker 5

And so normally we don't have an NCI To those profits interest programs until Q3, Q4, you won't see that trend during 2023 because of the final collapse, As well as some of our newer fund managers have not yet reached profitability yet. And so instead of seeing Net income attributable to non controlling interest, you're seeing a net loss and that's what causes the results.

Speaker 7

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you.

Operator

We have a follow-up question from Michael Cyprys from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Great.

Speaker 6

Thanks for Just a question on fundraising. I was hoping you might be able to update us on which funds you have in the market raising capital today, any sort of there, how you're seeing, what many are seeing to be a tougher backdrop for raising capital impacting the timing and magnitude Of your capital raising and then what sort of strategies could we see start to come into the marketplace for raising capital in the coming quarters? I think you mentioned your debt strategy is flagship. You finished deploying that. So can we expect that to come back in?

Speaker 6

And then any thoughts on sizing of that expectation given a tougher backdrop for rate in capital? Or is it because it's dead A little bit more in favor. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Michael, for the question. It's hard given Some of the limitations we have to talk about specific fund vehicles. But I would I think we can say that we have the themes that we're emphasizing at this point Include residential rental in all its different manifestations. As I think we've Announced before, we had a record close for Workforce and Affordable Housing Fund II. We had a record close For Multifamily Fund V and we're busy deploying capital in those Areas where we expect to deploy capital in those areas, better said.

Speaker 2

Credit products Remain strong and now that we're finished with the deployment of the previous vehicle, We hope and expect that there will be continued demand for a new vehicle, new version of that Strategy. The markets that remain really attractive to investors Include logistics, where we've built up very strong teams in logistics, Both on the equity side as well as on the net lease side. And as I think Folks, no, we've tried to certainly communicate. We have a long and abiding commitment to all things ESG. It's really an integral part of our DNA and so finding opportunities to reduce Ours and others' carbon footprint through renewable energy is a strong Initiative of ours as well.

Speaker 2

And Bridge is Unlike many alternative asset investment managers, we think it's important. It's important From a performance perspective, it's important from an execution perspective to deploy specialized teams of investment professionals Against all these areas of focus. So we may, if one were to array everything that We're doing have a broader menu of opportunities available, but we think The challenges of raising capital for that broader menu is more than offset by the advantages specialization and high touch bring in terms of deploying that capital. And so that's And approach to the markets that were that is deeply embedded within Bridge and we're wedded to that going forward.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the floor back to over Robert Morse to Executive Chairman for closing comments.

Speaker 2

Thank you, operator. And I would only add on behalf of all of us at Bridge, a thank you For everybody who's participated today, who's taken an interest in our quarterly update, We strive to have transparent and comprehensive dialogue Communications with all our constituencies, particularly our shareholder constituencies, we appreciate your interest. We as a management team are always available for additional dialogue And we look forward to our continued work together. Thanks so much.

Operator

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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Earnings Conference Call
Bridge Investment Group Q1 2023
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