Real estate crowdfunding platform CrowdStreet says it is working to promote alternative investments in real estate via its CrowdStreet Advisors, a wholly owned offshoot of the investment platform. CrowdStreet Advisors aims to promote private investment opportunities by working closely with financial advisors interested in providing clients with greater portfolio diversification.
According to the company at the end of September, CrowdStreet Advisors had $431 million in assets under management (AUM) across separately managed accounts and more than 25 private funds. The “flagship fund” is the CrowdStreet REIT I or C-REIT.
C-REIT has raised $37 million and has been approved on big platforms, including Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity and 17 self-directed IRA custodians.
Tore Steen, CrowdStreet founder and CEO said their mission is to increase investor access to commercial real estate, especially since this market has historically been the realm of institutional money:
“Financial advisors play a critical role in helping investors grow and preserve wealth, and we’re excited to accelerate our efforts at a time when many investors are looking to their advisors for new ways to navigate a challenging market, including access to alternative investments with the potential to provide some level of downside protection while helping to mitigate the effects of inflation.”
The new vertical is said to be driven by a growing demand by investors to mitigate inflation and add diversification.
CrowdStreet Advisors President Sheldon Chang explained that introducing the service to financial advisors is just part of their mandate.
“In addition to our dedicated teams and rigorous investment selection process, we have a direct line to the latest research and boots-on-the-ground insights from our extensive regional network of sponsors, developers, and operators. We believe our ability to tap into this expertise—and our access to proprietary data and projects available through them—gives us a distinct edge over other investment managers in this space, and we’re passing that on to advisors through our products and services.”
Ian Formigle, CrowdStreet Advisors Chief Investment Officer, added that they select investment opportunities in locations where they believe they have a “discernable edge.”
“Secondary metro markets like Austin, Nashville, and Raleigh-Durham that possess strong market fundamentals, ranking above national averages in key areas such as job and population growth, and that we believe offer attractive, risk-adjusted investment opportunities. Investments that stand out as relatively unique yet still complementary to the typical Core, Core Plus investments you find in many client portfolios today.”