Client Success
Syndication Group ($25 million EUM)
Client Challenge
We were engaged by a commercial real estate syndicator with $25 million in equity under management that was managed by a single general partner and comprised of forty-five limited partners. Prior to our involvement, the general partner was handling all fund administration activities in addition to acquisition sourcing, capital strategy, and property management oversight. The general partner relied on a part-time bookkeeper and had no other staff. As a result, he lacked the bandwidth necessary to issue regular communications to the investor base, and this resulted in communication gaps exceeding eighteen months.
Our Action
We met with the general partner to understand the challenges he was facing in running a fund with assets in multiple markets and without a staff dedicated to investor relations and reporting. We worked with him to design a monthly investor reporting cycle focused on providing investors with property-level updates. As part of this work, we have access to the client’s property management application, and this allows us to gather data from the source system and create investor-friendly data visuals to include in the reporting package.
Additionally, we meet with property management stakeholders on a monthly basis to gather qualitative data on recent, key events that have taken place at each property in recent weeks. Based on these discussions, we provide investors with information pertaining to capital projects, notable occupancy events, and upcoming capital improvements and tenant relations activities.
Client Outcome
Our client has benefited from: (1) Our firm as an ongoing, dedicated resource to ensure that investor reporting adheres to a regular cadence and conforms to an investor-friendly format; (2) Enhanced general partner bandwidth to focus on acquisition sourcing and property management oversight; and (3) A reliable pathway to market upcoming syndicated deals to the existing investor base as part of regular reporting.
Commercial Real Estate Fund ($50 million EUM)
Client Challenge
Our client is a commercial real estate fund with $50 million in equity under management. The fund is managed by a single general partner with a support staff consisting of an Accounting Director and a part-time bookkeeper. A third-party property manager oversees the day-to-day operation of the portfolio and is also responsible for calculating property-level distributions and transferring capital to the fund entity. Due to priorities competing for the property manager’s time, distributions were being made on an irregular, ad hoc basis, and there were instances where incorrect calculations led to further delays in payment.
Our Action
Our team took ownership of several key responsibilities and formalized the fund administration function for our client. First, our team reviewed the foundational documents to understand the waterfall structure in order to ensure the proper allocation of distributions. On an ongoing basis, we oversee fund-level capital call and distribution calculations, and we disseminate investor communications to coincide with capital events.
Client Result
Cash flow is being transferred from the properties to the fund entity on a regular basis, which allows for routine distributions to be made from the fund entity to investors. Our team verifies that calculations are performed in accordance with the waterfall structure and provides a confirmation report to the general partner prior to the initiation of distribution payments. Additionally, we created a template for capital call notices to provide investors with a summary view of committed capital, contributed capital, the upcoming call amount, and an overview of planned capital uses.
Connect with Lexcraft
Contact us to learn more about our service offerings and to discuss how our team can assist your firm with meeting objectives.