James Dunn is Senior Managing Director, President, and Head of ORIX Corporation USA’s Real Estate Capital (REC) business. In this role, Mr. Dunn leads and manages proprietary commercial real estate balance sheet investment activities for ORIX Corporation USA, which includes direct origination of bridge and construction loans backed by commercial real estate properties in the U.S. and Canada. Prior to founding ORIX USA’s REC business, Mr. Dunn founded ORIX Real Estate Holdings, which successfully invested over $4 billion in construction, bridge, and mezzanine loans; preferred equity and JV equity; and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) secured by commercial real estate. As Senior Managing Director, Mr. Dunn served in a variety of leadership roles, including Chief Investment Officer for ORIX Corporation USA Real Estate, a Board Member of ORIX Commercial Mortgage Servicing Holdings LLC, and as the Collateral Manager for ORIX’s first commercial real estate managed CLO.
Prior to his appointment as Senior Managing Director, Mr. Dunn served for more than 10 years as Chief Credit Officer (CCO) and Head of Commercial Real Estate Risk for ORIX USA. In that role, he oversaw the credit and evaluation of all commercial real estate investments proposed by ORIX Municipal Finance, ORIX Capital Markets, ORIX Corporate Capital, ORIX Real Estate Capital, ORIX Real Estate Equities, and Red Mortgage Capital. As CCO, Mr. Dunn led the underwriting efforts on many large investments for ORIX, issued ORIX’s first Re-REMIC, served as the Directing Class Certificate Holder for over $10 billion in CMBS bonds, actively oversaw the portfolio risk management for ORIX’s commercial real estate investments, and earned delegated authority to approve investments up to $15 million.
Prior to joining ORIX USA, Mr. Dunn was a Director of Securitization at GE Capital Commercial Real Estate. In this role, he managed the successful disposition of over 700 commercial loans for a combined balance in excess of $5 billion. He worked at GE Capital for 10 years in a variety of roles, including Senior Underwriter and Team Leader, Asset Manager for Distressed and Participating Debt, and as a Portfolio / Acquisition Analyst. He began his career working for Northcorp Realty Advisors, an RTC contractor, where he was responsible for modeling the acquisition of troubled debt portfolios.
Mr. Dunn earned two BBAs in Finance and Accounting and an MBA from Texas A&M University. An active community member, Mr. Dunn serves on the Executive Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Formerly, Mr. Dunn served as President of ORIX Foundation for two years, as Executive Vice President of ORIX Foundation for five years, on the Regional Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters for seven years, and on the nonprofit advisory board of Planned Living Assistance of North Texas for nine years.
