Capital Sources

Bernard Financial Group arranges loans ranging in size from $1M to $500M+, on commercial properties (office, industrial, retail, multi-family, and self-storage, etc…) that generate income. Our success comes from the wide range of lenders we regularly utilize:

Life Insurance Companies

The investment objective of Life Insurance Companies is to balance an investment portfolio amongst stocks, bonds and real estate. With regards to real estate, Insurance companies can invest equity in real estate or in real estate mortgages. Typically an Insurance Company will want approximately 15% to 20% of their portfolio invested in real estate and real estate mortgage investments. By lending money on commercial real estate the insurance company is looking for current yield on its investments. BFG has developed long-term, exclusive correspondent relationships with multiple Life Insurance Companies. It is important to have the right mix of Life Insurance Companies in that each has its own lending preferences; BFG has the right mix.

AEGON Realty Advisors, Inc.

Based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, AEGON is the US presence of a very large Netherlands based insurance compa...

Genworth Financial, Inc.

In 2004 GE Capital spun off their insurance company arm and took them public. The result, Genworth Fina...

Assurity Life Insurance Company

Assurity Life is based in Lincoln, Nebraska. They make loans ranging from $500,000 to $4.5 million. Ass...

Ohio National Financial Services

Ohio National Financial Services is the marketplace name for the affiliated companies of The Ohio Natio...

One America Financial Partners, Inc.

One America is a small life insurance company designed to produce between $100 million and $200 million...

Protective Life Insurance Company

Protective Life is based in Birmingham, Alabama. They are a credit-oriented lender who finances assets ...

Prudential Mortgage Capital Company

In 2003 Prudential Insurance “de-mutualized” the company and sold stock to the public. Today they a...

StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC

StanCorp was established as a holding company in 1998 to facilitate the demutualization of Standard Ins...

Ameritas Investment Partners

The merger of Summit Investment Partners and Ameritas Investment Advisors in 2006 united seasoned teams...

Symetra Life Insurance Company

With roots dating back to 1957, Symetra Financial has grown to become a family of companies that togeth...

Securian Life Insurance Company

Securian has over 40 years of experience in commercial mortgage lending. This service allows clients to...

Nuveen- A TIAA Company

In 2019, TH Real Estate renamed and rebranded as Nuveen Real Estate, in order to consolidate under the ...

CMBS (Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities)

The investment objective of CMBS lenders is to fund a loan (usually off a line of credit) with the specific intent of selling the loan after it has closed. CMBS lenders are both very rate and loan dollar competitive and are willing to lend on a non-recourse basis to more types of income-producing commercial properties than traditional lending sources.

The CMBS historical drawback is that loan servicing, post-closing, is done by non-caring third party partners. BFG solved this issue by creating a platform to Primary Service all of our originated CMBS loans, Bernard Financial Servicing Group (“BFSG”). BFSG handles approval of disbursements, offer above market rates on reserve funds, transfer funds, handle assumptions and manage other servicing duties, all in-house at BFSG.

Banks and Credit Unions

Bernard Financial Group will in many circumstances work directly with banks to fund loans. In instances where a project isn’t necessarily ready for a permanent fixed-rate loan, BFG will work with banks to get construction or redevelopment loans funded. A bank’s process differs from a life insurance company or CMBS lender in that banks focus more underwriting on the credit of the borrower than the quality or story of the asset. Due to our long history and high volume, BFG’s banking relationships many times are at the highest level.

Agency Lenders

Some of the largest agency loans in Michigan have been originated by Bernard Financial Group. After billions of dollars in loans, Dennis Bernard and his team are well-known among the nation’s largest agency lenders. For Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and HUD loans, Bernard Financial Group has a deep roster of lenders who work with our unusual approach. Borrowers are able to have all of BFG’s services with no added fee.

Debt Funds

The Bernard Financial team brings a deep network of bridge lenders and debt funds to bear for clients. We have worked with the largest debt funds in the world to originate loans in and around metro Detroit and the greater Midwest. We know the difference between the bridge lenders that are for real and those who won’t produce.