2020 NMHC Top 10 Syndicators

Matthew Reilein took over as president and CEO of the National Equity Fund (NEF) in June 2019, following the retirement of longtime leader Joe Hagan.

As the new year began, Reilein, who previously served as managing director at private equity firm Cresset Partners and led the firm’s community development work, was thinking about the geographic expansion for NEF.

“We have a national footprint and made investments in 48 states and two territories,” he said. “We’ve been spending time identifying where we have less market penetration and market share in certain states and looking for where there may be some good opportunities.”

NEF, a Chicago-based low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) syndicator, is an affiliate of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., which has also been expanding its network, with recent office openings in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C. That’s led Reilein and his team to also look at increasing its reach, particularly in the Southeast.

NEF is third on the NMHC’s 10 largest apartment syndicators list for 2020. The new list remains pretty consistent from the prior year. PNC Real Estate remains in the top post this year, followed by Raymond James Tax Credit Funds. The only new entrant is Hunt Capital Partners.

At the start of this year, many syndicators were feeling pretty good after a solid 2019. However, the COVID-19 crisis has since hit every industry, and the full impact on business, including the affordable housing industry, remains unknown.

It’s widely expected that COVID-19 will increase the already high need for affordable housing across the country as millions of people have filed for unemployment after losing their jobs during the pandemic.

The LIHTC program stands as the signature program for financing affordable housing, and advocates are calling for its expansion as well as other housing resources to help with the recovery.