In this Commercial Observer: Leaders 2025 feature, Abbe Franchot-Borok, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Debt at BGO, reflects on a dynamic year marked by disciplined growth and technological advancement. She highlights the successful investment of BGO’s first U.S. Value Add Lending fund and the strong launch of its second, emphasizing the firm’s resilience amid market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. Leveraging artificial intelligence and data science, BGO has refined its ability to analyze markets efficiently and identify investment opportunities across asset classes with long-term structural tailwinds.
Looking ahead to 2026, Borok underscores BGO’s focus on residential and industrial assets—particularly multifamily, logistics, student housing, senior living, and manufacturing—while remaining agile in addressing emerging niches like data centers and cold storage. She notes that despite challenges in liquidity across real estate debt and equity, BGO continues to be a consistent, reliable provider of capital through all market cycles.