DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Morris Chen joins Bloomberg’s ETF IQ to discuss DCRE, DoubleLine’s active investment-grade commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) ETF. With nearly a half billion in assets, DCRE has outperformed both the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index and the iShares CMBS ETF beta product since inception with notably lower volatility. Mr. Chen attributes the fund’s results to rigorous bottom-up selectivity across property types and markets, emphasizing that the commercial real estate recovery over the past three years has been highly bifurcated – making careful credit analysis essential to identifying on-time payoffs at maturity. For a deeper look at DCRE's since-inception performance, read "DCRE: Outperformance Measured and Explained."
On data centers, Mr. Morris maintains his skeptical stance from early 2025, arguing that when spreads on data center CMBS are comparable to more traditional property types, there is little reason to take on the additional uncertainty. He sees data center exposure as better suited for the equity side of the capital structure and notes that with a full menu of brick-and-mortar lending opportunities, DoubleLine remains on the sidelines in that space for now – though he acknowledges that a meaningful spread reset could change the calculus.
Investing involves risk including the risk of principal loss. For standardized performance and important information about this fund, please visit the DCRE fund page.
Link to the DoubleLine Commercial Real Estate ETF prospectus
DoubleLine ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.
Mr. Chen joined DoubleLine at its inception in 2009. He is a Portfolio Manager leading the CMBS/CRE Debt Investment team and CRE New Investment Review Group, and is responsible for the oversight and management of all CRE Debt related investments at DoubleLine. Mr. Chen is a permanent member of the Fixed Income Asset Allocation and Structured Products Committees providing valued insight into the CMBS sector. He is also an active participant and speaker at CREFC events. Prior to DoubleLine, Mr. Chen was a Vice President at TCW where he was responsible for CMBS credit analysis and trading from 2004-2009. He holds a BS in Business Administration with concentrations in Business Development and Finance from the University of California, Riverside.
