Fund Managers Leverage Technology to Land New Investors

Fund managers are leveraging technology in a multitude of ways to land new investors. Trion Properties has slowly added technology and social media strategies to gain new investors—while also continuing to utilize more conventional methods. The strategy has helped the firm to grow significantly in its three year history, and it plans to continue to add social media tactics in 2019.

“In 2018, we have done a lot of crowdfunding and added Internet market, like Google Ad Words and Facebook marketing. That has definitely been different from what we did in 2016 and 2017,” Max Sharkansky, managing partner at Trion Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. “These are new avenues. Because of the JOBS Act, which adds general solicitation, we can advertise on Google and Facebook, and we can advertise our funds. It is definitely a brave new world with how sponsors can correspond with investors. We have also continued to do the usual stuff, like attending conferences and real estate events.”

Next year, the firm plans to investor more in digital strategies. “We are looking to grow on the digital strategies,” says Sharkansky. “We will use the same kinds of platforms that we used this year, and we plan to add social media, we recently created a YouTube channel and blogging.”

The digital strategy has not only helped to gain new investors and promote the platform and its offerings, but it has also improved communication with existing investors. Specifically, Trion has built out an online platform for existing investors. “We went away from communicating via email, and now we are communicating through software,” says Sharkansky. “We now have a built-out online platform, and investors can see all of our offerings and view investments, financial statements and quarterly reports.”

The online portal has also helped to walk new investors through the investment process, give them more transparency, and ease access to the firm’s offerings. “It is built out for existing investors with existing investments, but it is also built out for syndicating new investments,” explains Sharkansky. “If we have a new deal, we send it out to all of our investors, both prospects and existing investors. They can then click all of the way through and can even invest seamlessly online.”

While these methods have helped to build a strong rapport with existing investors and bring in new prospects, Sharkansky says that many companies are still doing business the more traditionally. “You can still do business the old fashioned way, but it is definitely an advantage when investors are comparing sponsors,” he says. “All things being equal, investors would prefer to invest with us and our system.”