Brandon L. Raatikka, JD
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
• Private Placements
• Delaware Statutory Trusts
• 1031 Exchange Process
• 721 Exchanges
• Regulation A+
• UPREITs
Brandon Raatikka has served as an alternative investment analyst and project leader at FactRight for nine years. His current role is Chief Operating Officer.
Brandon’s areas of expertise include real estate syndications, Regulation A, project management, and professional business communication. Brandon is passionate about distilling complex ideas so they can be communicated clearly. This passion drives his work to identify, assess, and plainly communicate the material risks of an investment offering.
He is also passionate about people, ideas, and continuous improvement, which has helped to make FactRight the market leader in alternative investment due diligence and a great place to work. Brandon is adept at making connections between seemingly disparate concepts, and he contextualizes due diligence findings so that FactRight’s clients can make optimally-informed investment decisions. Law school emphasized the paired importance of both the details and the larger picture, and Brandon engages with that paradigm every day at FactRight.
Prior to joining FactRight, Brandon oversaw telecommunications facility site identification and analysis through due diligence, leasing, and land use planning.
Brandon is most proud of being key player and influencer on the team that has adapted, grown, and thrived during difficult economic and regulatory environments — less than 10% of companies survive for 10 years in normal conditions — and the mark he continues to make on FactRight’s culture.
- J.D., Law, cum laude, Minnesota Law Review, University of Minnesota Law School, 2003-2006
- B.A., History, magna cum laude, honors program, Bethel University, 1999-2003
- Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Keble College, University of Oxford, spring 2002
- Member and/or Chair of Editorial Subcommittee – Alternative & Direct Investment Securities Association (ADISA)
- Member – State Bar of Minnesota
Recent Blogs from FactRight
- How to Assess Affiliated Transactions in Private Placement Programsby kemp@factright.com (Kemp H. Hanley) on October 19, 2022 at 5:37 pm
Affiliated transactions can be thorny. They raise conflicts of interest and create additional governance challenges and risks. The relative fiduciary duties (or lack thereof) that the manager owes to each side of the transaction complicates the picture. Investors are understandably apprehensive about the conflicts in such deals because there is a higher likelihood that value is being shifted to the affiliated party inappropriately.
- The 1031 Show Features FactRight's Brandon Raatikkaby brandon@factright.com (Brandon Raatikka) on September 28, 2022 at 5:00 pm
One of the most prominent products in the alternative investment space in recent years have been DSTs/1031 Exchanges, which has grown to become an annual $8 billion to $10 billion industry. However, with recent trends in rising interest rates and cap rate compression for many asset classes, due diligence on DST programs in the market has never been more important. With that in mind, FactRight’s chief operating officer (and resident DST expert) Brandon Raatikka joined Ridgegate Financial’s Wallace Smith on the 1031 Show to discuss the importance of 1031 due diligence. The podcast, which you can check out below, covers several topics that broker-dealers and RIAs should consider when evaluating the 1031 space, including the following: The benefits of a third-party due diligence report Trends in the 1031 space An overview of DSTs and key benefits of DST investments Key differences between TICs and DSTs, including the Seven Deadly Sins A primer on 721 UPREITs Areas of focus for evaluating a DST sponsor
- FactRight's Annual Due Diligence Conference Takes Music Cityby Kate@FactRight.com (Kate Stephany) on August 31, 2022 at 6:46 pm
We came, we saw, we diligenced.
- What is ESG and Where is it Headed?by Julie Olsen on July 27, 2022 at 6:36 pm
Background
- Evaluating Cap Rates Through a Due Diligence Lensby kevin@factright.com (Kevin Kirkeby) on July 13, 2022 at 4:27 pm
I’m going to get this out of the way right now. I don’t know where cap rates will end this year, and certainly can’t predict where they will be in five years or in ten. What I do know is that cap rate compression has provided a notable tailwind to real estate performance for the past several years. With cap rates for most real estate sectors touching record lows during fourth quarter 2021, I also know that investors should be more closely analyzing each driver of projected investment returns and determining the margin for error embedded in each one. It seems unlikely that cap rates will be below current levels in five or ten years when investment programs currently on offer are looking for an exit.