PGIM Real Estate, already the largest alternative lender in the US, sees room to grow market share as traditional lenders scale back.

But the Newark, New Jersey-based manager sees growth as a way to enhance its existing lending programs and relationships, rather than entering areas that are not part of its expertise, says Bryan McDonnell, head of the US debt business and chair of global debt at PGIM Real Estate.

"Our goal is to almost be a market clearing house. I do not want to originate CMBS, and PGIM Real Estate is not a bank, so I am not going to get those sorts of products," McDonnell says. "But everything else from mezzanine, preferred equity, transitional lending, senior financing, short, fixed, float, construction - I want to have the ability to do most of it."

This kind of selectivity has been key as PGIM Real Estate has grown its business globally, McDonnell notes. And part of scaling a platform includes offering the right products to the right borrowers. In Europe, for example, the firm has the most conviction on senior mortgage and higher-yielding loan opportunities, he adds.

"There is a mistake in trying to be everything to everyone," McDonnell says. "We do not want to be that. What we want to do is when we go into something, have the conviction that we can build market share and scale, and that has really played out now."