"Our emphasis remains on building relationships based onintegrity, responsiveness and transparency," says Roger Crandall,chairman and CEO of Babson Capital, in a prepared statement. "[Ken]has worked closely with Rob for two decades, so we expect anexceptionally smooth transition."

REFG has five regional offices located in Chicago; Dallas;Newport Beach, CA; Springfield, MA; and Washington, DC. The capitalprovider has products that include permanent mortgages, mezzanineand high-yield products, affordable housing, fixed andfloating-rate debt, portfolio lending, acquisition financing,bridge loans, forward commitments, Canadian financing,construction-permanent lending and public market REIT and CMBS debtinvestments, according to a release.

Little acknowledges uncertainty in the market, with no oneknowing "how this stuck CMBS market becomes unstuck" but isconfident that Babson's portfolio will not flag under his watch.Little notes that, generally in the market, "there was a lack ofalignment of interest among players" and feels there will be a moveaway from this in the coming quarters. But as far as the Babsonportfolio is concerned, "our basic focus won't change" Little tellsGlobeSt.com. Babson will "continue to be in the commercial loanbusiness and continue to have a local presence in markets."