Patrick Mattson, president and COO of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE: KREF), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITworld: 2021 Annual Conference.
Mattson discussed the KKR real estate platform and how it allows the REIT to work in large loans, noting the company’s “connectivity really leads to differentiated outcomes on both our assets and our liabilities.” He said this includes the ability to transact at scale and exposure to a greater number of opportunities in different asset classes.
Mattson also said that KKR is growing its exposure in the industrial and life sciences sectors, and that the REIT is a thematic investor across the real estate industry.
“In the industrial space on the equity side, we purchased more than 400 industrial assets globally, and in the U.S. manage over 30 million square feet,” he said.
Mattson talked about the importance of strong sponsor relationships for KKR when it comes to earning repeat clients and other business aspects.
“We believe that having the right sponsorship leads to better outcomes,” he said. “Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen that in times of volatility, that statement’s even more true.”