What Gets a Life Company Loan Approved
Life company credit committees are predictable once you know what they hold: boring, durable income, conservative leverage, and sponsors who can carry the loan if the market turns. Here is what actually moves a committee, ranked, from the same process behind our life company closings.
The five factors that move a credit committee
Life companies reward boring, durable income. Ranked by how much weight the desks actually put on each:
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01
Stabilized, documented NOI
What the desk wants to see90%+ occupancy, in-place leases supporting underwritten NOI, clean trailing financials
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02
Institutional-quality asset in a proven market
What the desk wants to seeClass A or B+ multifamily, industrial, anchored retail, or net lease in primary or strong secondary markets
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03
Conservative leverage
What the desk wants to see55% to 65% LTV and 1.25x+ DSCR; 70% only for premier sponsors in gateway markets
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04
Sponsor net worth and liquidity
What the desk wants to seeNet worth equal to the loan size or better; liquidity covering carry, TI/LC, and reserves
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05
Clean leverage story and marketable rollover
What the desk wants to seeNo near-term cliff tenancy; rollover staggered inside the term; assumptions a committee can defend
What the structure looks like when it is approved
- Fixed-rate terms out to 25 or 30 years, the longest private-market duration available, funded from the insurer's general account
- Non-recourse standard with negotiated, limited carve-outs
- Prepayment flexibility structured to the business plan: yield maintenance, declining penalty, or defeasance
- Future funding facilities and earn-outs on lease-up assets
- Amortization that beats the banks: 25- and 30-year schedules materially outperform bank 20- or 25-year balloons on cash flow
Fully amortizing 30-year schedules, negotiated interest-only periods, forward commitments that lock today's spread for future delivery, and prepayment structures built around your hold period: these are the terms banks and debt funds cannot match, and they are what we negotiate on every life company execution.
What gets a deal declined
Most declines are not about price. They come from lease rollover concentrated inside the term, sponsor liquidity that only covers the closing, markets the desk has stopped lending in this quarter, or special-use assets outside the desk's box. When we see those issues in underwriting, we either fix them before submission or route the deal to the market that fits. The qualification thresholds are laid out in our qualification guide.
The trade, stated plainly
Life companies underwrite to hold the loan to maturity, not to sell it. That is why they concentrate on institutional-quality assets, proven sponsorship, and conservative leverage, and it is why, when a deal fits the box, the pricing is consistently the tightest available in the private market. Current execution sits 120 to 180 bps over the matching-term Treasury; the rates and spreads guide and the spread calculator show how that translates into an all-in rate at today's yields.
Frequently asked questions
What DSCR do life companies require?
Most life company desks want 1.25x or better on amortizing permanent debt. Stronger sponsors in gateway markets can sometimes hold 1.20x at lower leverage.
What leverage is too high for a life company?
Above 70% LTV is generally outside the box regardless of sponsor quality. Life company economics depend on holding conservative positions to maturity.
Do life companies lend on special-use assets?
Select desks do, and it is a differentiator: Symetra financed two of our special-use office closings. Expect deal-by-deal pricing and lower leverage than standard product.
Have a deal one of these desks should see?
Share the property and financing request. We will respond with the desks whose current appetite fits, and indicative terms for each.
Get indicative terms →