Critical sectors of the U.S. economy should see continued or renewed strength in 2014, according to business leaders at CIT Group.
Bob Bielinski, Managing Director, CIT Corporate Finance, Retail and Restaurants; Matthew Galligan, President, CIT Real Estate Finance; and Steve Warden, President, CIT Corporate Finance, Healthcare, share their 2014 outlooks for their respective industries in “Thoughts On: 2014 Commercial Financing Trends,” the latest piece of market intelligence to be featured in CIT’s Executive Insights series.

The executives each offer key insights into the top trends they see ahead in their industry:

Bob Bielinski — Restaurants

Improved economic data, including resilient consumer spending, rising home prices and continued job creation, suggest sales should increase in 2014. The most notable growth will continue to come from fast casual brands, which are taking market share.

The current favorable lending environment will continue into 2014. Large and middle market restaurant companies, as well as franchisees of top-tier brands, will have ready access to capital for acquisitions, remodels and/or new builds.

Matthew Galligan — Commercial Real Estate

As investors search for returns in a low-interest-rate environment, where bonds are out of favor, and bargains are getting harder to find in the stock market, real estate is back in vogue. The flow of abundant investment dollars into the sector from banks, insurance companies, commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and foreign investors have fueled the sale and refinancing of properties during a recent wave of maturities in the CMBS market.

Steve Warden — Healthcare

M&A in middle market healthcare is likely to pick up in 2014, after two consecutive years of decline — the drivers will be consolidation pressure and continuing Affordable Care Act implementation giving better visibility into the future.

Healthcare companies that are focused on growth and margin expansion are going to see increasing pressure to evolve from “fee for service” models to “fee for value” models with an emphasis on quality, low-cost outcomes.

To read more from each executive, visit http://www.cit.com/2014trends.