
Julie Olsen, CFA, MBA
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
• Publicly-Registered Investments
• Non-Traded REITs
• BDC Market Research
• Ongoing Coverage
• Private Placements
Before joining FactRight in 2021, Julie Olsen spent over a decade providing due diligence to small independent broker-dealers, primarily focusing on non-traded REITs, non-traded BDCs, and Reg D private placements. She brings the broker-dealer long-term perspective along with her analytical, innovative, and continuous improvement mindset to drive quality.
Julie’s financial services career spans a wide variety of experiences that support due diligence and consulting. She gained foundational accounting, tax, and audit knowledge at a top 100 CPA firm, commercial credit analysis skills at a regional bank, and due diligence expertise at the Alliance of Independent Broker-Dealers. At Foothill Securities, she managed the alternative investment product platform, including screening, reviewing, and ongoing monitoring. When Foothill was acquired by Securities America, Julie led communications to support the financial professionals’ transition. She continued in a similar project management role at Advisor Group, leading the communication workstream for several acquisitions and providing executive reporting for the Enterprise Program Management Office.
Julie became a CFA charterholder in 2009 and earned her MBA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2020.
- M.B.A. Strategic Innovation/Business Analytics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- B.A. Business, Dordt College
- CFA Charterholder
- Member – CFA Institute and CFA Society San Francisco
Recent Blogs from FactRight
- Highlights from FactRight's 2023 RIA Spring Due Diligence Conferenceby sarah@factright.com (Sarah Thommes) on March 23, 2023 at 4:42 pm
We say this every conference, but we are so beyond grateful to all of you for making this Spring RIA Due Diligence Conference in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona such a success! With over 350 total attendees, the FactRight staff cannot be more appreciative of your continued support and participation.
- Due Diligence Considerations: the Continuum from Conflicts of Interest to Alignment of Interestsby Julie Olsen on February 22, 2023 at 6:39 pm
Alternative investments programs involve many conflicts of interest, and offering documents often have an entire risk disclosure section dedicated to this issue. But not all conflicts are the same and vary by product and sponsor. Assessing conflicts really come down to two central questions:
- What a High Home Prices-to-Income Ratio Could Mean for Residential Real Estate Programsby steve.s@factright.com (Steve Sims) on January 26, 2023 at 7:18 pm
Over the past several years, FactRighthas seen a trend in increased demand for residential real estate investment programs (e.g., multifamily, build-to-rent, single family residences).While our offering-level reports provide a market overview at the MSA-level, I wanted to goa few levels higher to the national scale. This blog primarily looks at the relationship of single-family home prices and income in the United States to answer the following question:What are the implications for residentialreal estate programs if housing is overpriced relative to historic norms?
- Lapses in Due Diligence and the Collapse of FTX: How Could so Many Have Missed so Much?by Jeff.B@factright.com (Jeff Baumgartner) on December 13, 2022 at 9:16 pm
By now, you may be generally familiar with the recent collapse of FTX, and some of the reasons for its failures are obvious. But by examining FTX side-by-side with perhaps the most infamous investment fraud ever perpetrated, we can discover some keys as to why lapses in due diligence may never be a thing of the past. These two epic failures bear little factual resemblance to one another at first glance, but this post will look more closely at the more transcendent lessons they hold.
- All Preferred Shares Not Created Equal – Why FactRight Incorporates Scenario Analysis in our Analysis of Preferred Securitiesby kevin@factright.com (Kevin Kirkeby) on November 30, 2022 at 9:21 pm
It should come as no surprise that the old investment adage about getting what you pay for holds true for preferred stock, too. Despite often being pitched as a bond alternative, especially lately, there are multiple factors beyond dividend yield to consider. Among the features, an investor needs to understand are the liquidity provisions, dividend policy, and preferred shareholder rights. Sponsors tend to get irritable when FactRight stress tests their pro forma model or highlights weak investor protections, dismissing the concerns as implicating scenarios highly unlikely to ever occur. However, sometimes the unlikely or improbable does occur. This post will focus on a real scenario involving several preferred securities that underscores the need for due diligence in these areas.