CASE STUDY: KEEN CAPITAL
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The Secret to Differentiating an RIA Firm? Commercial Real Estate
Posted by Chris Pachinger on 11 September 2018
How RIAs like Keen Capital are using CrowdStreet to add greater value to client portfolios
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What makes an investment advisor stand out?
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Advisory firms throughout the United States are finding it harder and harder to answer the question. Today’s registered investment advisors (RIAs) face mounting pressure from all sides. There are the Securities and Exchange Commission rules that substantially restrict marketing efforts. There’s the pattern of mergers and acquisitions sweeping through the industry. There’s the volatility of the stock market and other correlated assets.
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On top of it all, RIAs must continue to follow their fiduciary duty—at a time when clients expect more from their advisors than ever before. Highly educated and empowered to self-manage their investments, clients are looking beyond the baseline of objective, strategic asset allocation. They want more than a handful of opportunities to diversify. They want their advisors to connect them with the kinds of alternative assets that offer a personal sense of ownership and prestige in a community. In other words, they want to invest in commercial real estate.
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Pioneering RIAs like Keen Capital, LLC are demonstrating how technology has finally made client-centric direct CRE investments possible. The Denver, Colorado-based wealth management firm is part of a new breed of financial advisors using CrowdStreet to invest in CRE deals on behalf of the high-net worth individuals they advise. According to Tom Jennings, Keen Capital’s Managing Partner and Co-Founder, the properties available on the CrowdStreet marketplace fill an important alternative investment category for clients.
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“CrowdStreet is absolutely a differentiator for us,” he says. “They disclose how much capital is available throughout the fundraising period. There are no side deals or handshake agreements to disrupt the investment process or experience. Other than a REIT, I can’t imagine a more scalable way to invest in CRE.”
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Read Tom’s story, and learn how any RIA can tap into online CRE investment opportunities to meet investors’ needs and truly stand out, in our latest case study: “Differentiating Your Firm with Commercial Real Estate.”
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