In our special series profiling Robb Report Singapore’s inaugural Thinking Luxury award recipients, we speak with Keith Ong and Foo Mao Ching, co-founders of RealVantage, and recipients of the Business Innovation award
In real estate investment where risks and volatility are par for the course, credibility is the strongest currency one can accrue. Even with this singular virtue, however, there is a lot to unpack, say the co-founders of RealVantage, Foo Mao Ching and Keith Ong.
For one, both men are hyper aware of the importance of trust and transparency, and demonstrate it by literally putting their money where their own interests are. “Alignment of interests is very important to us. All parties involved, including Mao and myself, invest in the deals that we structure,” says Ong, CEO of RealVantage.
Besides personal buy-ins, both men bring a wealth of experience to the table. Foo, who is the company’s chief operating officer (COO), has been in the start-up space since 2014, “building, scaling and angel investing in technology start-ups”. Ong held senior positions in various real estate investment firms for over two decades before coestablishing RealVantage with Foo in 2019.
“(In my previous positions), where we were serving large institutional clients, I realised that the options were limited when it came to individual investors. That was when we realised that there was a huge gap in the market,” says Ong.
RealVantage’s fractional investment model makes commercial real estate investment a feasible option for a larger group of investors. “We serve investors from a wide spectrum, including mass affluent accredited investors, family offices, corporates and listed companies,” says Ong.
“(With us), they can build a global portfolio, diversify their capital by putting smaller amounts into each deal, and reduce the risk by choosing the types of projects that suit their risk profiles.” As a proptech platform, technological innovation naturally drives RealVantage’s operations.
From a smooth onboarding process for the investors and keeping abreast of their portfolios to how they conduct their entire investment flow and annual penetration tests, the company’s proprietary technology and safeguarding measures allow it to “serve our customers in a secure, seamless and cost-effective way”, says Foo.
“At the same time, we are continuously adding features to the platform, improving the investor experience. Our systems are also now more tailored to the needs of each individual investor through the use of generative artificial intelligence and large language model technologies,” he adds.
Resilience and innovation
Both men smile emphatically when it is suggested to them that RealVantage’s five-year journey must have been full of challenges so far. At the same time, they are evidently proud of their milestone achievements.
Despite the advent of COVID-19 soon after the company was established, the team took the opportunity to fortify the platform by enhancing its cybersecurity features and elevating the user experience. In 2022, the company obtained a capital markets services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, allowing it to provide Singapore-based retail investors with access to private equity real estate investments globally. In that time, the company’s investment committee was also bolstered by experienced and esteemed advisers, including Ng Beng Tiong, former deputy group CEO and group COO of ARA Asset Management; Ang Wee Gee, former CEO of Keppel Land; and Richard Tan, former chief financial officer of Suntec REIT.
In June, RealVantage formed a consortium for a new real estate-focused private equity fund with Paragon Capital Management, a Singapore-based asset management firm. Named Global Real Estate Alternative and Tactical Fund (GREAT), it has a target fund size of US$50 million, and completed its first close on 31 May with a 75 per cent subscription volume within a month of its launch. A diversified portfolio of real estate investment, the GREAT Fund targets an overall net internal rate of return of 12 to 15 per cent over five years, including a projected 4 to 5 per cent cash yield to be distributed quarterly.
As for RealVantage’s road map for the near future, the company is looking to create a special reserve tier for its most esteemed customers as well as gear up for expansion into markets such as South Korea and Japan, adding to its current markets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the US and the UK.
