California property lending firm gets huge backing

Elliott Investment Management has announced its partnership with Ascent Developer Solutions (AscentDS), a lending company created by Robert Wasmund, the former chief executive officer of Genesis Capital, targeting the release of $3 billion to $5 billion worth of short-term, secured property loans, annually.

According to Wasmund, the move will help people acquire the necessary capital for purchasing, renovating, and building housing properties – from single-family homes to apartment buildings – and post-completion bridge financing.

Wasmund founded AscentDS only this year, to capitalize on the need for financing across the property market since many lenders have pulled back recently as borrowing costs surged and property prices plunged, creating a gap for companies willing to provide credit. Wasmund said that with the current challenging economic landscape, AscentDS is uniquely positioned to provide customized lending solutions that offer speed, reliability, and added value to borrowers.

"There's a shortage of construction capital in the country given the bank retraction, and there's a shortage of housing," Wasmund said. "We're well-served and well-positioned to take advantage of that."

Meanwhile, Eliott's senior portfolio manager Neil Barve said that AscentDS was an "attractive" addition.

"We believe AscentDS has many attributes that make the company an attractive addition to our mortgage and specialty finance investing strategy, including a high-caliber management team led by Robert Wasmund, as well as an analytical and disciplined approach to underwriting and portfolio management, strong and multi-faceted relationships with its customers, and a creative approach to meeting the needs of customers. We are pleased to partner with Robert and his talented team in building a market-leading developer finance business," said Barve in a statement.

Wasmund came from Genesis Capital, a private lender, which catered to residential property developers and was backed by affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. However, in 2021, the bank sold Genesis to New Residential Investment Corp., now known as Rithm Capital Corp.

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