Updated:
Arborstone Financial
Steven Chaben's Arborstone Financial, founded 1994, pairs multi-family wealth management with direct private real estate lending out of Detroit.
Arborstone Financial
Steven Chaben launched Arborstone Financial in 1994 following a seven-year tenure at Price Waterhouse, establishing the firm as a registered investment advisor with dual operating tracks: a wealth management practice serving affluent families and a specialized real estate lending division, Arborstone Capital. The firm is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, and built its early reputation on direct private debt — originating short-term, first-position bridge loans secured by commercial and investment residential real estate across Southeastern Michigan and select secondary Midwest markets. Arborstone's investment strategy revolves around direct origination of private real estate credit, deploying capital into bridge loans, construction financing, and opportunistic debt secured by hard assets. The firm does not operate as a traditional fund manager but rather syndicates individual loan participations to its wealth management clients, acting as both originator and servicer. Loan durations typically span 12 to 24 months, targeting risk-adjusted yields for accredited investors seeking income uncorrelated to public markets. Confirmed asset classes include commercial bridge lending, single-family fix-and-flip financing, and multi-family construction loans. The geographic footprint concentrates on Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. The firm's leadership includes President Steven Chaben and Managing Directors Daniel Raubinger and Brian Baker. Arborstone's adjacent vehicles include a property management arm that services distressed or transitional assets tied to its loan book, creating a closed loop for its credit exposure — the firm can step in operationally when borrowers falter. This operational adjacency, combined with its co-investment syndication model, means the firm typically retains a minority participation in every loan it places with outside capital, aligning incentives with its client base. Arborstone's structural differentiator is its vertically integrated origination-to-servicing model: the firm underwrites, funds, and services its own loans, maintaining control over the collateral through resolution. Unlike an allocator that funnels capital into third-party private credit funds, Arborstone is the direct lender, drawing borrowers from a regional network of developers, brokers, and property owners built over three decades. This operating-company approach to private credit — inside a multi-family office wrapper — is rare at the firm's scale.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
1994
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Detroit
Corporate office
Detroit, MI, United States
Principals
Steven G. Chaben
President and Managing Partner
Daniel J. Raubinger
Managing Director
Brian H. Baker
Managing Director
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Arborstone Financial?
President and Managing Partner Steven Chaben leads the firm's overall investment strategy and credit committee. He founded Arborstone in 1994 and oversees both the wealth management and direct lending divisions. Managing Directors Daniel Raubinger and Brian Baker support deal origination and client relationships, with Chaben retaining final authority on loan approvals and portfolio construction.
How does Arborstone source its private credit deals?
Arborstone originates loans directly through a regional network of developers, commercial brokers, and property owners in the Midwest. The firm has operated in the Detroit metro and surrounding markets since 1994, generating deal flow from repeat borrowers and referral relationships rather than competitive auctions or intermediary platforms. This direct origination model allows Arborstone to structure loans with terms that institutional lenders often cannot match on speed and flexibility.
Does Arborstone operate as a family office or a private credit fund?
Arborstone is structured as a registered investment advisor (RIA) with a multi-family office wealth management division and a private real estate lending arm under the Arborstone Capital umbrella. It does not run a blind-pool private credit fund. Instead, it syndicates individual loan participations to its wealth management clients on a deal-by-deal basis, retaining a minority co-investment in each loan it places.
What types of real estate loans does Arborstone typically make?
The firm focuses on short-term, first-position bridge loans secured by commercial and investment residential properties. Common use cases include fix-and-flip financing for single-family homes, acquisition and renovation of small multi-family buildings, and construction completion loans. Loan durations are generally 12 to 24 months, with lending concentrated in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.
How does Arborstone manage distressed loans?
Arborstone operates an affiliated property management and servicing arm that can take operational control of troubled assets within its loan portfolio. This vertical integration — underwriting, originating, servicing, and asset managing in-house — gives the firm a direct path to resolution when borrowers default, rather than relying on third-party special servicers. This operating model is a key structural feature separating Arborstone from conventional private credit funds.
Where does Arborstone's underlying wealth base come from?
The firm does not publicly disclose the specific wealth origins of its underlying families. However, its Detroit headquarters and nearly 30-year history suggest deep ties to the Midwest's manufacturing, automotive, real estate development, and professional services communities. The firm's wealth management division serves multi-generational families, often business owners and real estate operators who also intersect with its lending platform.
Does Arborstone participate alongside external institutional investors?
Arborstone's known posture is to co-invest its own principal capital alongside its wealth management clients in every loan it syndicates. The firm does not appear to raise capital from external institutional limited partners in a traditional fund structure, instead maintaining a closed-loop ecosystem where its own balance sheet and its client base are the sole capital sources for its lending activities.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on family offices?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: