Thank you to everyone who attended IPAVision 2018 last week in Chicago! This year’s event brought together over 450 IPA industry professionals, representing 68 Sponsor, 67 Broker-Dealer/RIA and 34 Associate member firms. IPAVision would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. We truly value your active membership and continued leadership and we hope everyone enjoys this special conference recap.

The Institute for Portfolio Alternatives is proud to honor James M. Seneff, Jr., Founder and Executive Chairman of CNL Financial Group, with its Lifetime Achievement Award.  The award was recently presented at the IPAVision 2018 conference in Chicago.  The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has accumulated a body of work throughout their carer and has significantly contributed to the betterment of the industry and the IPA.

“James Seneff reflects the best of our industry,” said Tony Chereso, President and CEO of the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives.  “He has consistently demonstrated the highest level of commitment to the retail investor and to the power of commercial real estate investing over the course of his entire career.  Furthermore, his civic and business leadership in the Orlando community will be felt for generations to come. The IPA is honored to recognize Mr. Seneff with our Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The IPA also honored three individuals with Outstanding Service Awards.  The award honors an individual IPA member who demonstrates exceptional qualities of leadership within our association, and displays consistent dedication of time and effort to the advancement of Portfolio Diversifying Investments.

Dan Wagner and Kamal Jafarnia were recognized for their continued leadership of the IPA’s Policy & Government Affairs Committee and their unwavering commitment to public advocacy of PDIs on behalf of the entire industry. Daniel Cullen was recognized for his leading role throughout the recent tax reform legislative process, fighting for fair tax treatment of commercial real estate investments on behalf of the IPA and its entire membership.  Congratulations to our award recipients!

In an industry first, the IPA Board of Directors honored Tony Chereso with an Outstanding Service Award.  They acknowledged Tony’s tireless efforts over the past three years to transform the IPA into the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives, while raising the positive awareness of the organization among regulators, legislators and the media.  With more hard work ahead of us – and on behalf the entire IPA membership – we’ll take this opportunity to simply say: thank you, and congratulations Tony!

Finally, the IPA recognized the important work and leadership of our 2018 Chair, Nathan Headrick.  Over a period of nearly ten years, Nathan has methodically and selflessly advocated for the democratization of investment opportunities for retail investors.  As a member, as a creator of the IPA’s policy advocacy strategy, as a Board Director and finally as the 2018 IPA Chair, he has committed his time and talents to strengthen the entire industry.  Thank you Nathan, for your continued dedication to the PDI community and to the retail investor.

Kevin Gannon (R.A. Stanger & Co., Inc.), Sherri Cooke (AI Insight, Inc.) and Taylor Garrett (Orchard Securities, LLC) took a deep dive into the data and trends driving the industry, offering the audience a closer look into the continued evolution of PDI products and their distribution.  A few key themes emerged: 1) REIT capital raise was poised for a 4th consecutive quarterly increase, with continued future growth projected – particularly among NAV REITs; 2) Interval Fund offerings are rapidly expanding; 3) new market entrants are widening distribution channels among wirehouse advisors and RIAs; 4) securitized 1031 exchange products are poised to surpass 2017 equity raise totals, projected to top $2.0 billion by year end; 5) Direct Participation Programs in total continue to see growth, with more than $3.5 billion in equity raised as of 8/31.

Expanding investor opportunities through DPPs was expanded upon by Alan Feldman (Resource), Keith Lampi (Inland Private Capital Corporation), Scott Lawlor (Waypoint Residential) and Warren Thomas (ExchangeRight).  They discussed the flexibility and diversification benefits that DPPs can offer clients who are seeking to enhance their portfolios with less correlated assets.

And in an IPA first, attendees were connected live to Washinton, D.C. via direct video feed from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce offices.  Daniel Cullen, Steven Schneider, (Baker & McKenzie) and Anya Coverman discussed the new tax reform package with Tom West, Tax Legislative Counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department.  Tom offered the inside view and updates from the Treasury Department on a range of topics, including Qualified Opportunity Zones and Section 199A.

This year’s event featured four specialized education tracks, offering in-depth expertise and unique analysis on today’s in-demand topics, including: 1) Evolving PDI Strategies; 2) New Distribution Channels, New Opportunities; 3) The Expanding Strategies of Direct Participation Programs; 4) Qualified Opportunity Zones and the Growth of Tax Advantaged Investments.

This year’s Due Diligence Symposium featured a close examination of the expanding platforms of 16 different IPA Sponsor members. This value-add format offered critical analysis and updates on Lifecycle and NAV REITs, BDCs, Interval Funds and Direct Participation Programs.