Any payments made to the sponsor for the 1031 exchange must reflect the fair market value of the services rendered.There are some disadvantagesShared risk means a shared reward - Sharing a portion of the risk for the investment means you're also required to share any rewards from it as well.

What're some best practices when looking for a sponsoring broker or at least one that will "supervise" me at the start?

You can still view the 2021 Conference website which has all of the sponsors listed.

Is it necessary to have a sponsor as part of your GP?

The mitigations I use are to only invest with deal sponsors that I personally know and have seen their work, also diversify geographically and with different operators. 

Simply put, real estate syndication is an effective way for a syndicator/sponsor and a group of investors to pool their financial and intellectual resources together to invest in properties and projects much bigger than they could afford or manage on their own.

If you are seeking to invest the gains from the sale of your property and do not want to use the 1031 strategy, look for a passive investment with a sponsor who is utilizing the cost segretation/bonus depreciation strategy. 

But wondering if you anyone has any other companies or sponsors that are able to accommodate 1031 exchanges through TIC.My investment would be over a Million.Thanks

I am picky about my investments based on the sponsor and I have my own philosophy of risks and market outlooks, but returns are returns.

Hope some of the 401k sponsors here can add their opinion.