OUR STRATEGY
Cycle-Resilient Real Estate Debt.
Senior secured diversified commercial real estate debt in the lower and middle market, designed to perform across cycles.
Scythian's Strategy.
Scythian’s strategy is to originate and acquire senior secured commercial real estate loans in the lower and middle market, a segment Scythian believes most large lenders can't efficiently reach.
First-lien, senior secured positions diversified by property type, loan size, vintage, transition, markets, pricing, sponsors and tenants
Target loans generally range from $5 million to $75 million, with a target average around $20 million
Primary and secondary U.S. markets, not just gateway cities based on geographic tiering via Scythian’s GEOCipher model
Market opportunity.
Lower and middle market CRE lending is a large fragmented and underserved segment, estimated $250 billion in annual lending activity, historically dominated by banks and credit unions that are slow, regulated, and increasingly constrained.
Borrowers often need capital that is faster, more flexible, and more tailored than what banks or large private-credit funds can efficiently provide
The result is a persistent gap between market need and available capital
Regional banks and credit unions hold a large share of CRE mortgages outstanding, a position Scythian believes is strained by deposit and regulatory pressure
Why this market
$500-800B
total annual U.S. CRE originations; we estimate the lower middle market comprises roughly 37.5% of that activity.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association, May 2026
~32%
of all CRE mortgages are held by regional banks and credit unions, increasingly constrained by deposits and regulation.
Source: Cohen & Steers – 2023, FDIC 2025 Risk Review
~$3T
approximately $600 billion a year in CRE loans are scheduled to mature on average over the next 5 years, creating persistent refinancing demand.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association, March 2026
Where Scythian seeks to invest
Target Loan Size
$5–75 million, averaging ~$20 million
Markets
Primary and secondary U.S. markets, not just gateway cities. Tier 1–3 markets scored via GEOCipher, Scythian's market scoring model covering 40,000+ zip codes.
Property Types
Multifamily
Retail: grocery-anchored and necessity-based strip
Industrial (traditional/IOS/small bay)
Student housing
Self-storage
Limited-service hospitality
Manufactured housing
Mixed-use, considered case by case
Structure
First-lien, senior secured positions in stabilized through stabilizing to transitional assets, avoiding ground-up construction and land. Structural features including future funding, performance or paydown triggers, select recourse backstops, cash management, and earnouts, amongst other features designed to align borrowers and strengthen credit features of the loans.
The strategy is built around three components.
Core
Bridge loan origination and third party loan acquisitions, the primary initial drivers of the portfolio.
Adjacent
Capital-light, government-licensed businesses and products that generate fee or yield income opportunities . Adjacent strategies are expected to be limited to a minority share of a portfolio’s equity, keeping the portfolio anchored in its core lending strategy, but provide the optionality for growth in economic down-cycles.
Diversification
Diversified by property type, loan size, vintage, transition, markets, pricing, sponsors and tenants.
The combination is designed to produce current income through direct lending while the adjacent businesses continue generating fee income when credit markets tighten.
Success stories from our
Sarah Brown
“The accounting team transformed our financial operations, providing invaluable insights and solutions that have significantly boosted our profitability. Their expertise is unmatched!.”
Sarah Brown
“The accounting team transformed our financial operations, providing invaluable insights and solutions that have significantly boosted our profitability. Their expertise is unmatched!.”
Sarah Brown
“The accounting team transformed our financial operations, providing invaluable insights and solutions that have significantly boosted our profitability. Their expertise is unmatched!.”
Why this approach?
01
In Scythian’s view, granular portfolios allow for optimized permanent financing and no single loan defines outcomes. Historical CRE CLO loan pools originated under the Founders’ purview at prior platforms averaged over 50 loans per pool.
02
In Scythian’s view, smaller loan sizes are typically the only debt present and create more resolution options if a loan underperforms, including note sales, modifications, and restructuring, without the constraints of a single oversized position as part of a debt stack.
03
Capital-light adjacent businesses can continue generating fee income and growth when direct lending slows.
Let's talk.
If Scythian’s approach lines up with what you’re looking for, the fastest next step is a short conversation.
