Watch: Fred Matera Shares Market Insights Ahead of ABS East Conference 2025
As we head into ABS East, one of the year’s biggest structured finance conferences, Redwood Trust’s Head of Investor Relations, Kait Mauritz, sits down with CoreVest CEO, Fred Matera, to discuss the themes shaping today’s market—from the search for assets and evolving interest rate trends to demographic shifts driving housing finance.
CoreVest CEO Fred Matera’s Thoughts Ahead of ABS East Conference 2025
Note: The following Q&A has been edited for brevity.
Q: ABS East is one of the biggest structured finance conferences of the year. What topics do you expect to dominate the conversation?
A: It’s amazing how much business gets done at these conferences, and ABS East is certainly one of the biggest. The main theme this year is the search for assets. Right now, the demand for assets far exceeds supply, driven largely by insurance money. Annuity sales are expected to top $400 billion this year, and all of that capital needs to be invested to fund future payouts. That’s fueling activity across fixed income, particularly in the real estate and residential mortgage markets.
Q: Interest rates have been a major focus this year. What kind of messaging do you expect around that?
A: Rates are always a topic, but even more so this year. We’re coming off a long period of restrictive monetary policy. Even with the easing in September, rates are still viewed as high. There’s a strong sense of anticipation that rates will begin to fall, and most market participants are hoping for that. Lower rates would spur more activity across commercial and residential real estate, leading to more loans, more assets, and more opportunities for investors to deploy capital.
Q: The CoreVest team will be out in full force at ABS East. What key messages are you and the team bringing to the conference?
A: Our message is simple — whatever your investment needs are—duration, yield, or convexity—CoreVest likely has or will create a product for you. We lend to a diverse range of borrowers with different business models. Whether it’s a single-asset loan, a portfolio acquisition, a renovation, or stabilized term financing, we can provide it. That diversity translates into a broad range of investment opportunities for investors. So if you’re at ABS East, you’ll probably want to be talking to CoreVest.
Q: The housing market has evolved significantly over the past year. What new opportunities are you seeing?
A: The biggest opportunity right now is the shift toward rental housing. Over the past year, about 1.3 million new households were formed, and 70% of them were renters. In total, there are around 40 million renting households, about 35–36% of all U.S. households, and that number keeps growing. Within the next decade, we could see half of all households renting. CoreVest is focused on this space, and we’re very well positioned to create assets for investors based on that demand.
Q: How does workforce housing fit into CoreVest’s strategy today?
A: It continues to be a core focus for us. Workforce housing generally means infill locations and older, more affordable properties that provide essential housing for communities. These assets tend to have strong occupancy and consistent pay histories, making them a great fit for insurance company portfolios and term loans. They align well with annuity investments and will always remain an important part of our lending strategy.
Q: As the industry adapts to lower rates, liquidity shifts, and continued innovation in securitization, how is CoreVest positioning for what’s ahead in housing finance?
A: Our role is to connect global investors with borrowers and provide the liquidity to make that possible. Borrowers need capital, investors need to deploy it, and we’re the intermediary that brings it together—through whole-loan sales and securitizations. Our business has been growing rapidly, we had a record breaking Q2 and have distributed more than $1.5 billion so far this year through two channels. Ultimately, we’re focused on delivering the best solutions for both investors and borrowers—that’s really the art of what we do.