San Diego Entrepreneurs Breaking Down the Barriers to Alternative Investments for Retail Investors

Three San Diego-based entrepreneurs are creating a new option for individual investors looking to diversify their portfolios out of the stock market and into alternative investments.

Historically, institutions, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices often invest in the ‘alternative asset classes’ (Alts) often a lot more than individual retail investors. This is mainly because individual retail investors typically don’t have the same access to these Alt investments.

Caltier Alternative Investments Team

Matt Belcher, Parker Smith, and Travis Hook didn’t think that was fair, and in 2019, they launched their startup, CalTier, an alternative investment platform making alternative investments available to the everyday investor.

“We didn’t think it was right that only certain people or companies had access to certain alternative investments just because of their wealth or contacts. We wanted to level the playing field for retail investors,” says Matt Belcher, CEO.

They have done just that. Since their inception, the trio has built a platform with over 31,000+ registered users and a portfolio of cash-flowing real estate both directly and with their real estate partners.

For as little as $500, retail investors can start their journey into alternative investments with CalTier and take advantage of their auto-invest feature for as little as $50 a month.

“We started with multi-family because of its strong fundamentals and demand.  We also had a strong network of real estate partners, and it was an asset class that we were very familiar with,” says Co-Founder and COO Parker Smith.

He continues, “Multi-family is very desirable to a lot of people, including the wealthy, because of the cash-flow and value-add potential, but it has traditionally contained many barriers to entry such as the rather substantial upfront capital required, knowledge and ability to manage the properties, and difficulty of accessibility and knowing where to find them!”.

What are alternative investments?

Alternative investments are investments outside traditional categories like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cash. They cover a wide range of assets such as collectibles (art), commodities, private equity, and private real estate, for example.

An article on InstituationalInvestor.com states that:

“In 2024, KKR’s network of family offices expect 52 percent of their portfolios to be invested in alts, up from 42 percent in 2022.”

Now, retail investors can allocate parts of their portfolio in a similar way to professionally managed family office funds.

Today, CalTier’s portfolio includes 16 multi-family assets across 5 states. They focus on investments that are already cash-flowing with typically high occupancy and potential for additional value-added upside through renovations, repositioning, adding amenities, and improved management.

Sometimes this is just a ‘light touch’ such as new paint and surface work, or it can be deep renovations such as interior unit remodels, kitchen upgrades, new flooring, and adding a gym, for example. 

While past performance is not a guarantee of future performance, as of today,  CalTier Fund I has paid investors 28 straight monthly distributions from the investment portfolio returns.

Making it simple to get into alternative investments

“We have a platform that makes it pretty simple for people to get involved. $500 gets you in the door, and then you can make additional investments from as little as $50. Many of our investors use their Self Directed IRA and retirement accounts to roll over 401K money for tax benefits,” says Co-Founder and CIO Travis Hook.

“I’m also really proud of the great support team we have built. Our investors want a great product and a top-level customer service experience, which we take very seriously,” he says.

Matt goes on to explain that there are many parts to making this all work for investors: “You have to blend a number of different elements from technology, investments, legal, compliance, and partners.”

“For example, our FINRA Member Broker-Dealer, Dalmore Group, is considered one of the leaders in the online investment space for compliance services. We use highly skilled technology partners for investor management and escrow solutions, and legal and compliance are at the forefront of everything we do.”

“We use Regulation A, which allows non-accredited investors to join. This requires a lot of adherence to SEC regulations and guidelines,” he explains.

You can learn more about CalTier at www.CalTier.Fund


This is a paid advertisement by CalTier Inc and related companies. CalTier Inc does not provide investment advice.

Investment advice is provided via an online process by CalTier Advisors LLC (“CTA”). CTA is a Registered Internet Advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Advisory services are provided to investors who become clients of CTA (“Clients”) and agree to the Investment Advisory Agreement when creating an account on the CalTier platform. CTA is paid by CalTier for these services.

Form ADV Part 2A can be viewed here.


Disclaimers

IN MAKING AN INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS MUST RELY ON THEIR OWN EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUER AND THE TERMS OF THE OFFERING, INCLUDING THE MERITS AND RISKS INVOLVED. REGULATION A OFFERINGS ARE SPECULATIVE, ILLIQUID, AND INVOLVE A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK, INCLUDING THE POSSIBLE LOSS OF YOUR ENTIRE INVESTMENT. 

CalTeir Inc (and companies) is offering securities through the use of an Offering Statement that the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC”) has qualified under Tier II of Regulation A.

While the SEC staff reviews certain forms and filings for compliance with disclosure obligations, the SEC does not evaluate the merits of any offering, nor does it determine if any securities offered are “good” investments.

Securities offered via Regulation A through Dalmore Group LLC, registered broker dealer, member of FINRA (www.finra.org) , member of SIPC (www.sipc.org) acting as broker of record.

This profile may contain forward-looking statements and information relating to, among other things, the company, its business plan and strategy, and its markets or industry.

These statements reflect management’s current views regarding future events based on available information and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially.

Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as they are meant for illustrative purposes, and they do not represent guarantees of future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements, all of which cannot be made.

Moreover, although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, neither CalTier Inc nor anyone acting on its behalf can give any assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct nor do they have a duty to update any such statements to conform them to actual results.

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Securities by CalTier Inc are offered and distributed pursuant to Regulation A through the Dalmore Group LLC, a registered broker dealer, member of FINRA (www.FINRA.org) and member of SIPC (www.SIPC.org). These Securities being offered are highly speculative, you can lose your investment.

Please see the Offering Circular here: Offering Circular.

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