Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, PeerStreet CEO Brew Johnson knew his real estate investing platform needed to get involved with forwarding social change. That led to the launch of PeerStreet’s “Evolving Neighborhood Uplift Fund,” a charitable initiative used for a more purposeful and sustainable way to invest in real estate entrepreneurs from underserved communities.
The E.N.U.F. advisory board reviews and selects ten entrepreneurs who best meet eligibility requirements, including demonstrating a passion for real estate investing and community improvement, while identifying as a member of a minority group and of an underserved community.
The Evolving Neighborhood Uplift Fund is designed to provide funding for would-be entrepreneurs in traditionally underserved communities
PeerStreet, a leading platform for investing in real estate backed loans, announced on Monday the launch of its new investment product, PeerStreet Pocket. According to PeerStreet, the PeerStreet Pocket product allows investors to earn more interest on their cash.
PeerStreet also revealed that PeerStreet Pocket was created in response to investor feedback and requests for an alternative to low-yielding banking rates; it is more liquid than other PeerStreet investment products and not directly tied to any given loan. It offers high-yielding interest and monthly liquidity, all with no minimum balances or fees. While sharing more details about the product, Brett Crosby, Chief Customer Officer and Co-Founder of PeerStreet, stated:
PeerStreet, a Los Angeles-based firm that provides a platform for investing in real estate backed loans, has launched technology to enable accredited investors to earn more interest on available cash, the firm announced today.
PeerStreet Pocket is an investment product that was created to provide an alternative to low-yielding banking rates, the firm said. PeerStreet Pocket is more liquid than other PeerStreet investment products and not directly tied to any given loan. It offers high-yielding interest and monthly liquidity with no minimum balances or fees, PeerStreet said.
“PeerStreet Pocket speaks directly to the needs of our investors who would like to make sure every dollar they have on the PeerStreet platform is working for them,” Brett Crosby, chief customer officer and co-founder of PeerStreet, said in a statement.
Set a vision and establish a plan. Ask people to write down how they are going to support that plan. Then, review, edit it to taste and hold them accountable with regular check-ins. We call it OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), but others just call it planning and managing. It works in person or remotely. - Brett Crosby, PeerStreet
While investment crowdfunding rules initially were targeted at early-stage ventures in need of growth capita,l the new rules have fueled the rise of investment platforms for another asset class: real estate investment opportunities.
The difference between REITs and real estate crowdfunding is that with crowdfunding, investors can choose the specific projects in which to invest. REITs are also more liquid than crowdfunded real estate bonds, which can tie up the investor's money for years.
PeerStreet is a real estate debt crowdfunding site for accredited investors. The company allows investors to create their own portfolio of real estate investments or provides an automated investment option.
Brew Johnson, co-founder and chief executive of PeerStreet, an online platform for investing in real estate debt, says it’s “crazy” that people who are highly educated—such as MBAs, accountants, attorneys and other businesspersons can’t invest in certain offerings simply because they don’t have the income or wealth levels. He takes issue with the fact that he didn’t qualify to invest on his own platform when it was first getting off the ground. Some of his employees today also don’t qualify to invest in the platform they are helping to build, which is troubling, he says.
“You don’t want people to make terrible decisions. But the idea that the average person is too dumb to make decisions with their money…is offensive,” Johnson says. Today, there’s much more readily available information and transparency—a significant change from when the rules were first put in place—when only the largest investors had access to the types of information necessary to make critical investment decisions, he says.
“I DON’T BELIEVE WEALTH IS A DETERMINER OF SOPHISTICATION”
PeerStreet plans to use proceeds from the Series C round of funding to hire more employees and scale its marketplace. That means adding more lenders, expanding the number of investors and continuing to build out the technology and automation for lenders. It's also working on technology aimed at improving the entire process. “Our vision is to open the asset class to as many people as possible,” said Crosby. “Historically it was quite complicated and complex.”
According to PeerStreet, CRETech’s RETAS recognizes the year’s most innovative and cutting-edge companies that have played an integral role in advancing tech in the real estate industry.
PeerStreet is named #1 in the "Information & Intelligence" category for crowdfunding companies in 2019.
Congratulations to Rachel Croessmann for being recognized as the Rising Star of 2019 for Geraci Media Group. Read the full article at the link.
“Perspective: gaining it, expanding it and challenging it has always been a key difference maker for me. It is what allows me to be calm under pressure, or try to achieve longer term results when faced with immediate problems.”
"The accredited investor definition effectively categorizes the vast majority of American citizens as less than equal, shut out from many investment opportunities, including platforms like ours.”
Government regulations today are not inclusive for small individual investors. The accredited investor definition effectively categorizes the vast majority of American citizens as less than equal, shut out from many investment opportunities, including platforms like ours.
PeerStreet has been named as one a finalist for the category "Best Alternative Investments Platform."
PeerStreet, a real estate investment platform, has integrated with Mint.
This is the fourth “integration” with PeerStreet already forming partnerships with Betterment, Wealthfront, and Personal Capital.
In the past decade, real estate has shifted from being at the center of a crisis to an era of innovation, having undergone massive changes in how the industry functions.
A Comparably survey asked employees to rate their leaders, starting from the C-Suite and working down to direct managers. Based on anonymous responses over a one-year period, Comparably created a list of the best leadership teams in companies across the United States.
Comparably’s annual Best Leadership Teams 2019 represents the best management teams as rated by their employees. The award winners are segmented into two ranked lists: Top 50 management teams from large companies (more than 500 employees) and Top 50 management teams from small/mid-size companies (less than 500 employees).
The winners have "have very clear visions as leaders. They are empathetic and take in the feedback of their teams. They set very clear goals, and they are hitting and exceeding those goals," Nazar said.
PeerStreet hired nearly 100 employees in the last year, and along with that hiring push it has taken a more active role in promoting and supporting diversity and inclusivity on its teams.
Some of the most successful companies in the world today are two-sided marketplaces: Consider those which are household names, such as Amazon, Uber and Airbnb, as well as niche power players, like Zenefits, Upwork and Seamless. All have had a disruptive impact within their respective industries.
“We are currently experiencing great demand from investors of all stripes, including institutional investors, and we are lucky to be able to bring someone of Deepa’s caliber on board to manage this growth,” said Brew Johnson, co-founder and CEO of PeerStreet.
According to a release from PeerStreet, Wall Street veteran Deepa Salastekar has been appointed as the Vice President of Institutional Sales. Salastekar has a hefty resume when it comes to traditional and innovative finance.
