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Updated about 6 years ago on . Most recent reply

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William Coet
  • Lititz, PA
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How to Determine the Credibility of a Syndicator

William Coet
  • Lititz, PA
Posted

As the title states; How can the credibility and reliability of a syndicator be judged?  

What assurances does an investor have that the general partner won't "take the money and run"?

Trying to avoid a Madoff ponzi scheme disaster.

Thanks in advance

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Brian Burke
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#1 Multi-Family and Apartment Investing Contributor
  • Investor
  • Santa Rosa, CA
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Brian Burke
Pro Member
#1 Multi-Family and Apartment Investing Contributor
  • Investor
  • Santa Rosa, CA
Replied

I'm sure you've heard the old saying, "garbage in, garbage out"?  That saying really applies here.

The output is credibility and reliability.  The input is character.  If the sponsor doesn't have good character there can be no credibility and no reliability.

Madoff was a thief.  So what you are asking is, "how do I know if the syndicator is a thief?"  Unfortunately, you don't know and you can't know.  No one thought Madoff was a thief (well, maybe someone did, but enough didn't to give him billions of dollars).  Even people who asked around missed the signals.

But certainly that doesn't mean that blind faith is prudent, either.  There are steps you can and should take to mitigate the risk that your syndication sponsor is a thief, or is of bad character.  

The first step is to learn about the background of the principles.  Where did they come from and what did they do before they became syndicators?  What relevant experience do they have?  What is their track record of prior deals?  The sponsor should have some collateral material they can share with you to answer some of those questions.  Even ask to see a comparison of projected performance versus actual results of some deals.  But that doesn't stop someone with bad character from lying and making it all up, or only showing you the good ones.  And in this business, verification is difficult, if not impossible.

The next step, ask them about their worst deal and what caused it to go bad.  And more importantly, what did they do about it?  And how did it turn out?  Everyone wants to talk about their successes but few want to discuss their failures.  If they are open about it, that's a good sign.  If they acted in the best interests of their investors, that's an even better sign.  If they change the subject or don't want to talk about it, that's a red flag.  If they say they haven't had anything like that happen to them, that just means they haven't been doing this long enough and you probably don't want to invest with them for that reason.  No need to have the learning experience be on your dime.

Next, ask to talk to other investors.  This step sounds more valuable than it is because the sponsor isn't going to refer you to unhappy investors.  Nevertheless the conversations could be telling in some respect and either give you additional confidence or leave you with no information beyond what you had before you made the call.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained though.

Finally, go visit their office.  This is a pain, takes time and costs you money to get on a plane and visit them.  But you are going to invest significant money with these folks and as old-fashioned as it may sound, looking them in the eye and shaking their hand has value.  Plus you get to see if they are running a real business here or if this is a side-gig run from a bedroom.  You are looking for a true business partner here, this isn't buying a stock that you can sell on five second's notice, so treat it like a courtship and save marriage until you are comfortable that you are compatible.  There's no need to rush it.

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