IMS and RealCrowd Form Strategic Partnership

SAN FRANCISCO—Investor Management Services and RealCrowd are teaming up to meet the growing needs of both firms’ respective clients through a targeted partnership, GlobeSt.com learns in this exclusive. The aim is to provide a seamless end-to-end process for raising capital online and manage investors.

“By establishing a partnership with RealCrowd, our clients will have access to an investor base throughout the world that they would not otherwise have a relationship with,” says Ron Rossi, vice president of business development at IMS. “CRE sponsors have had continued success with crowdfunding, and the execution is very efficient–especially when working with a team like RealCrowd that has deep real estate and finance experience.”

IMS identified a partner in RealCrowd, real estate equity crowdfunder, to provide national real estate investment access and eliminate the overlap that previously existed in the client base. As such, commercial real estate sponsors and their investors will have a seamless and integrated online experience during the fundraising process through the full life cycle of an investment.

“The expectations and demands in the industry have changed; crowdfunding is no longer viewed as an experiment on the side but has become an integral part of the overall capital stack,” adds Adam Hooper, CEO of RealCrowd. “Investors will continue to allocate capital to real estate and expect access to transparent reporting of their investment performance through IMS’ investor portal.”

Hooper says this trend is the lifeblood of a real estate manager’s business and will be key in the near term. Not only will the process be efficient and provide a benefit to clients on both sides of the marketplace, there will be little transition between real estate managers and investors.

In addition, another aspect of the reasoning behind the partnership stems from an imminent wealth transfer within two specific generations. During the next 30 to 40 years, $30 trillion in financial and non-financial assets is expected to pass from Baby Boomers—the wealthiest and one-time largest generation in US history—to their heirs, the Millennials (those born between 1981 and 2000). This so-called great wealth transfer is creating challenges for boomers, their heirs and the financial advice industry alike, GlobeSt.com learns.

“It will be a staggering amount of capital,” Hooper tells GlobeSt.com. “Moreover, the investor habits of these younger investors is totally different from their parents. They are not going to find financial advice playing golf with their dads’ buddies. All of their research is done online.”

Indeed, the demographic inheriting this windfall loves technology, and embraces change and disruption. Yet at the same time, wealth management is one of the least tech-literate sectors of financial services. This is a clear red flag for old-school service providers who are unable to evolve, according to PWC.

Millennials surged past Generation X this year to become the largest segment of the American workforce, according to Pew Research Center. There are more than 80 million US Millennials, compared to 74 million Baby Boomers and 66 million GenXers, according to Goldman Sachs and the Census Bureau.

And, Accenture estimates Millennial buying power will increase to $1.4 trillion annually by 2020. In the years ahead, the influence of Millennials in the workplace, in communities and in capital markets will continue to grow.

Here’s the problem: the real estate investment community isn’t ready. Most commercial real estate owners, operators and developers don’t have the technology, tools and acumen to engage or manage the 5 million Millennial investors with net worths exceeding $1 million. This makes them an emerging source of capital as accredited investors, says the Shullman Research Center.

“This younger generation expects an investor experience that offers on-demand access 24/7 from a mobile app to get the best solution,” Rossi tells GlobeSt.com. “Our partnership provides access to data and transparency from real-time sources, with the best of both sides of IMS and RealCrowd.”

The commercial real estate industry also has benefited tremendously from the JOBS Act as well as the demographic shift of investors. The Internet and crowdfunding have disrupted the industry and enabled individuals to invest in real estate, startups and businesses.

This is where RealCrowd and IMS come in to influence the process to ensure relevancy within capital sources. RealCrowd and IMS are meeting all of these demands through innovation to add value to both firms’ respective clients.