RealVantage becomes first digital fractional private equity real estate platform to receive Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore

Singapore-founded and -domiciled RealVantage, the region’s fastest growing real estate investment platform bringing investors access to global investment opportunities across different sectors, and co-founded respectively by former C-suite investment management and technology executives Keith Ong and Mao Ching Foo, is now fully regulated by Singapore’s central bank to deal in capital markets products and more critically, open the heavily-gated world of private equity real estate investments to Singapore-based retail investors, with immediate effect.

Prior to being granted the Capital Markets Services (“CMS”) licence, RealVantage could only seek investment capital directly from accredited investors in Singapore, and investors outside of Singapore. With the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”)-issued CMS licence in the bag, Singapore-based retail investors will now be able to gain access to a multitude of real estate investment opportunities such as a stable income-producing office building in the United Kingdom, a townhouse development project in Australia, or a multifamily asset repositioning project in the United States of America, to name a few.

Despite the pandemic, RealVantage increased its investor base six-fold, funded 23 deals across the UK, Australia, US and Singapore; and successfully realised 4 deals in all of 2021.

“As a regulated entity, RealVantage is now able to provide access to attractive real estate opportunities to a larger audience bracket, allowing the man on the street to diversify his real estate investments across various geographies, sectors and strategies. The CMS licence grants us the ability to pool capital together as one significant property investor; and  position ourselves on a level playing field with large institutional investors of the real estate world, so as to secure even better deals,” states Keith Ong, co-founder and chief executive officer of RealVantage. “With a deeper capital base, RealVantage will be able to provide investors with a wider range of investment options. These include co-investment mandates, managed funds, greenfield development projects, income-producing commercial assets, or secured debt instruments; deals which were previously confined to institutional investors. With flexible investment quanta, our retail and institutional clients can diversify their exposure to various global real estate opportunities; and customise their own portfolio of properties according to their individual risk appetites. Our goal is to ultimately unlock a world of institutional real estate investing for all client verticals.”

RealVantage has adopted strong corporate governance practices and put in place, secure proprietary digital systems since inception in 2019. Today, RealVantage applies a rigorous process of checks and balances and robust transactional protocols across deal evaluation, finance and cyber security; in order to sustain the highest levels of protection for its investors. All deals on RealVantage are reviewed and vetted by an investment committee comprising a panel of renowned industry captains. Anthony Ang (“Anthony”), advisor and board member of RealVantage: “I am glad the RealVantage team has met the MAS’ stringent criteria for the CMS licence. As custodian of investors’ funds, I am confident the team will uphold the highest compliance standards and governance”. Anthony was formerly chief executive officer of first outlet mall Sasseur REIT, Hong Kong Fortune REIT and ARA Fund Management's flagship USD1.3 billion Asia Dragon Fund. Anthony has held executive positions across GIC Real Estate, Vertex Management and the Singapore Economic Development Board.

RealVantage’s other advisors are borne from a diverse range of industry sectors across real estate, corporate finance, technology, venture capital and start-ups; providing RealVantage’s leadership with cross-functional, multi-disciplinary expertise. They include independent real estate advisor Richard Tan Liat Chew, former chief financial officer of Sasseur REIT and ARA Private Funds, senior finance executive in Suntec REIT, Hewlett Packard and Schroders, and country operations manager at American Express Bank; and angel investor Kuok Meng Han (“Meng Han”) who is currently chief executive officer of bio-tech company Camtech Diagnostics, as well as board member of a property investment holding company with a substantial UK-centred portfolio. Meng Han brings to the table, more than 15 years’ experience in corporate finance, internet mergers and acquisitions, technology consulting and start-up investing.

Mao Ching Foo, co-founder and chief operating officer of RealVantage chimes in on being awarded the CMS licence: “We have been working diligently in the last year to ensure that our processes are robust and secure; and that it meets MAS guidelines. RealVantage’s proprietary technology stack and architecture have been key to us scaling rapidly. We pride ourselves in providing users with a seamless online experience across investing, performance tracking and portfolio overview – all of which can be done at one’s fingertips. We are disrupting traditional real estate investing by giving today’s modern investors better access to opportunities worldwide, by helping them diversify their portfolio and achieve better risk-adjusted returns ”