RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES

FactRight is seeing a trend in non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) that are seeking to diversify their funding sources by offering 1031 exchange investment opportunities with the potential to be UPREITed into the sponsoring REIT at some later date. The UPREIT transaction would be done under section 721 of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides for continued tax deferral of the original capital gains. These investment opportunities provide a significant opportunity to the right investors, and long as they understand the ramifications of such investments. Let’s look at the main considerations for determining whether investing in a DST program with an UPREIT option is appropriate for your client.

As far as true confessions go, this is rather lightweight: I love spreadsheets and financial models. There’s something about the designing, linking and debugging that is satisfying, even after several decades. There are always new analytic approaches and different formulas, not to mention Excel updates that add even more features.

Broker-dealers and RIAs need to have a robust due diligence process to satisfy regulatory requirements and make informed investment decisions with respect to private placements. And let’s face it, thorough due diligence of private placements does not always take a straightforward route. Investment strategies are wide ranging, transparency is typically limited, and offering structures often vary significantly, even for “similar” deals.

I’ve always been a big proponent of ongoing due diligence coverage on direct participation programs. Back when I was an assistant portfolio manager for a large mutual fund company, our coverage of a company certainly didn’t stop after the buy trade was processed. Later, as a product sponsor in the independent broker-dealer channel, I was struck by the disinterest in our selling syndicate once the selling agreement was executed.

Today, we’re talking about a place where the due diligence knowledge flows like wine, where the RIAs instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. Are we talking about a little place called Aspen? No. We’re talking about the Fulfilling Your Fiduciary Responsibility—Research and Due Diligence for Alternatives panel at the Sealy Investment Securities virtual RIA Summit.

Trigger warning: use of the phrase "unprecedented times." Remember precedented times? Yeah, me neither. You were all set to go to that due diligence meeting or industry conference in March or April. Plane and hotel booked. Then, it all changed. I bet that until mid-March, you never thought about the term force majeure. Or tried to spell it (bless the god of spellcheck). Or heard it pronounced. If you had, it was years ago summarizing your law school contract professor's entire two-minute discussion as something like "boilerplate provision - FM = act of God - impossibility defense - rarely brought up - remember for the bar exam."

We’re excited to announce the launch of FactRight’s new, enhanced Report Center website!  

Advisory practices of all types have been growing steadily over the past several decades through applying various practice approaches and structures that emphasize their fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of the client. As fiduciaries, most advisors have utilized primarily or even exclusively public market securities such as individual stocks and bonds, mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) to deliver their professional investment services.

As we continue to meet with registered investment advisors that want to enhance client service and grow their assets under management through alternative investments, we pick up more critical insights that will help us deliver the right solutions to this group.

Through FactRight’s TrueDiligence platform, we help broker dealers and registered investment advisors select best-in-class programs for their alternative investment platforms. We also work with our clients to ensure that they have time-tested processes and procedures in place for when the regulators come knocking. When it comes to processes and procedures, some of the very first questions our clients ask us relate to the role and composition of the investment committee for alternative investments. Let’s tackle some of the most common questions here.