Bridge Investment Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BRDG) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

So the markets are starting to open up a little bit again. I think what we really need is a little bit more stability in the debt markets. And then our assumption is that there’s really kind of a stability to kind of the steady growth in transaction volume in commercial real estate over time, especially in the segments like multifamily and industrial that we focus in. And so this kind of pause in the market will probably be followed by a very active period in the market, which we hope will happen in the second half of the year. Of course, we don’t know for sure exactly when that resurges. But what we do know is there’s a lot of capital and a lot of focus and these, call it, long-term secular demand benefits that we see between supply and demand have not changed.

So at this stage, we still have a very bullish outlook on the segments — the real estate segments that we operate in.

Robert Morse: I would only add, I think we feel quite comfortable and responsible having been patient in the fourth quarter. Asset prices continued to adjust in many markets, and we were appropriately cautious. We have approximately $3.5 billion of dry powder across our various funds. We think that 2023 will be a very attractive vintage, if you will, in order to deploy some of that capital. And our specialized investment teams are in the markets all day, every day, looking for opportunities. As Jonathan said, there are some green shoots and more that are beginning to surface, and we think that the combination of dry powder, the ability to accurately analyze and assess assets in the markets that we prioritize is going to create some really good opportunity in 2023.

Operator: Our next question is coming from the line of Adam Beatty with UBS.

Adam Beatty: A fair bit of discussion. Much appreciate around the idea of product extensions with Newbury. So I just wanted to — just a quick follow-up on timing around that. If we were to think about sort of — assuming a transaction closed first half of this year, if we were to think about sort of mid-’24 for some kind of product extension launch. Is that conservative? Is that aggressive? How are you thinking about timing on that?

Robert Morse: I think that without committing to a particular time zone, job #1 is closing the transaction. Job #2 is a successful launch and capital raise for Fund VI — Newbury Fund VI. And so that will be the immediate focus. We’re not going to take our eyes off the ball as it relates to that. Having said that, the dialogue with investors, the dialogue with traditional Bridge investors, the dialogue with traditional Newbury investors shows a strong demand in alternative secondaries products, shows a strong interest in working with our combined firm to access that demand. So we’re going to be commercial as it relates to launching new products as we think that the organization has evolved and is capable, and our first 2 jobs are completely done. Richard or Chris, anything you’d like to add there?