The syndicator scene is like the Wild West! Each sponsor vying for investor money claiming that their deal is great, that “their underwriting is conservative, that they have X amount of experience which will translate into success for you.”

But the transparency behind all of this is limited and often times risks, weaknesses, and aggressive assumptions can be found which a passive investor might not see. 

As someone who holds the CFA Designation and with years of institutional real estate experience doing the actual underwriting, due diligence, and asset management for billion dollar funds, I really feel sorry for investors getting taken advantage of by all these syndicators.

To aid the investors, each time I come across a syndicator and their deal I screen them using my own an due diligence process that I have developed and I grade the syndicator and the deal opportunity and rank them compared to others.