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Private debt

Access commercial mortgage and high yield debt strategies
Our capabilities

With more than 65 years of private debt investment experience, over 30 years providing private debt advisory services, almost a decade of operating a multi-investor Private Debt Strategy series, and more than 100 private debt investment professionals, we’ve earned a reputation as a leader in the private debt market.

Over that time, we’ve found that delivering the desired outcomes for private real estate debt investors means controlling the timing and quality of every aspect of a private debt investment transaction. We deliver that through our vertically integrated debt platform, which includes underwriting, closing, appraising, engineering, researching, and servicing.

As the complexity of real estate transactions has increased, we’ve upgraded our skill set to specialize in intricate transactions. These enhancements allow us to offer our clients an even broader set of private debt opportunities from core and core-plus, through value-add.

Fixed- and variable-rate loans

B-Notes

Construction lending (conventional and participating)

Lending across property sectors—industrial, multifamily, office, retail, hospitality, and niche property sectors

Mezzanine debt

Senior Mortgage Bridge loans

Preferred equity (typically structured like debt)—part of either existing property or construction loan capital stacks

U.S.-focused investments

The opportunity for investors

The market dynamics today favor the real estate credit market: There is a large supply and demand mismatch; Traditional lenders are not as active as they deal with legacy real estate exposures and liquidity issues. Learn more about the market environment and the versatility of real estate credit, as well as where it fits in and the potential benefits it can bring to a portfolio.

Why it’s (still) a good time to invest in private real estate credit

We believe it’s a good time for debt. Given current market opportunities, private real estate credit looks particularly attractive today.

Attractive opportunities for diversification with private real estate credit

Historically, the best performing investment vintages have often followed periods of distress and volatility. However, in our view, the stage is now set for real estate credit to generate attractive income returns with favorable risk tailwinds.

What’s after “higher for longer?”

In this paper we explore whether interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer or revert to the mean—and the impact it could have on real estate credit returns.

Unpacking the $2 trillion wall of maturities

The looming wall of maturities is looking to cause hundreds of billions of dollars in deals within certain sectors and provide opportunities to deploy capital as supply remains constrained.

Explore our featured strategy

U.S. High Yield Real Estate Credit

Principal’s High Yield Real Estate Credit seeks to provide current income, while aiming to preserve capital and mitigate downside risk.

A broad range of real estate investment solutions

Our experienced investment teams provide comprehensive, specialized, and sustainable capabilities across all four quadrants of commercial real estate—public equity, private equity, public debt, and private debt—as well as infrastructure investing. Whatever real estate strategy or combination of strategies you believe is right for your objectives, we can help.

Private equity Core, Value-add, and Opportunistic Strategies
Private debt Commercial Mortgages and High Yield Debt
Public equity Listed REIT Securities
Public debt Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities
Listed infrastructure Listed Infrastructure Securities
Financing solutions Private Debt Origination
Additional capabilities
Real estate for Defined Contribution (DC) plans Real estate operating company (REOC) investments Responsible property investing
Get the latest insights
Private Real Estate Debt: A banner 2025, with more room to run
We believe CRE debt offers compelling risk-adjusted returns in today’s environment, find out why.
February 13, 2026
2026 Inside Real Estate outlook
Strategic selection will be key to thriving in a recovering, but divergent market. Read our 2026 Inside Real Estate outlook.
January 5, 2026
Steady returns, strong foundations: The case for commercial real estate debt
The U.S. CRE debt market presents a compelling opportunity for investors, particularly through...
August 1, 2025

Footnotes

As of 30 September 2025. Principal Real Estate Investors became registered with the SEC in November 1999. Activities noted prior to this date above were conducted beginning with the real estate investment management area of Principal Life Insurance Company and later Principal Capital Real Estate Investors, LLC, the predecessor firm to Principal Real Estate Investors, LLC.

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

Real estate investment options are subject to risks associated with credit, liquidity, interest rate fluctuation, adverse general and local economic conditions, and decreases in real estate values and occupancy rates.

Investments in private debt, including leveraged loans, middle market loans, and mezzanine debt, second liens, are subject to various risk factors, including credit risk, liquidity risk and interest rate risk. Commercial mortgage is subject to the basic risk of lending and direct ownership of commercial real estate mortgages.

Principal Real Estate is a trade name of Principal Real Estate Investors, LLC, an affiliate of Principal Global Investors.