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Cypress Tree Investment Management
Cypress Tree Investment Management was founded in New York in 2018 by Stephanie Drescher, a former Apollo Global Management principal who spent over a...
Cypress Tree Investment Management
Cypress Tree Investment Management was founded in New York in 2018 by Stephanie Drescher, a former Apollo Global Management principal who spent over a decade originating and structuring commercial real estate debt at the firm. The launch represented a move from institutional-scale credit to a more direct, principal-led model focused on opportunities below the radar of Drescher's prior employer — typically loans of $10 million to $50 million where speed and structural flexibility carry a premium. The firm originates and manages senior mortgages, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity across the United States, with a concentration in the Sun Belt and major Northeast corridors. The strategy targets value-add and transitional assets — multifamily, industrial, and select retail — where short-duration capital can unlock yield through lease-up, renovation, or recapitalization. Drescher's underwriting emphasizes in-place cash flow coverage and sponsor track record, avoiding ground-up development unless a completion guarantee is in place. Cypress Tree acts as a direct lender, not an intermediary, holding positions on its own balance sheet through committed discretionary capital. Cypress Tree operates from a single New York headquarters. Team size and total deployment have not been publicly disclosed. The firm does not run adjacent vehicles, a philanthropic foundation, or an open co-investor network — a deliberately lean structure that contrasts with the multi-product credit platforms Drescher previously navigated. In March 2023, the firm closed a portfolio recapitalization for a Georgia-based sponsor refinancing three workforce-housing communities, per public record. The structural distinction is balance-sheet agility. Unlike a fund model with rigid deployment windows, Cypress Tree evaluates each loan as a standalone risk decision, enabling same-week term sheets on clean collateral packages — a posture that competes more with family offices and high-net-worth capital than with institutional debt funds.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2018
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Principals
Stephanie Drescher
Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Cypress Tree?
Stephanie Drescher, the founder and Chief Investment Officer, retains final authority over all credit decisions. Before launching the firm in 2018 she spent over ten years originating and structuring commercial real estate loans at Apollo Global Management, which gives her a deal-by-deal underwriting discipline uncommon in smaller credit shops.
What loan size and asset types does Cypress Tree target?
The firm focuses on loans between $10 million and $50 million secured by value-add or transitional multifamily, industrial, and select retail properties. It structures senior mortgages, mezzanine debt, and preferred equity, avoiding ground-up development unless a completion guarantee from a known sponsor is in place.
How does Cypress Tree source its deal flow?
Deal flow comes primarily through direct sponsor relationships Drescher cultivated during her Apollo tenure, supplemented by referrals from brokers and legal intermediaries in the Sun Belt and Northeast corridors. The firm does not run a formal broker outreach program or advertise its rate sheet.
Does Cypress Tree operate a fund structure or invest balance-sheet capital?
Cypress Tree deploys committed discretionary capital on a balance-sheet basis, not through a closed-end fund with a limited partnership structure. That architecture allows the firm to issue term sheets on a shorter timeline than fund-based lenders because it bypasses fund-level concentration limits and deployment pacing requirements.
How is Cypress Tree different from the credit platform at Apollo?
Where Apollo's real estate credit platform operates at institutional scale with diversified capital sources and a broad product set, Cypress Tree makes fewer, smaller loans as a principal. The resulting speed advantage — same-week term sheets on clean collateral — is the firm's stated competitive rationale for middle-market sponsors who lose deals to cash buyers in competitive processes.
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