New RealtyMogul CIO Praises the Company’s Avoidance of Land, Hotel and Development Investments

Los Angeles’ RealtyMogul promoted Chris Fraley from interim chief investment officer to permanent CIO, earlier this month. After the announcement, Fraley told commercial real estate publication, Bisnow, that the company’s “fairly conservative approach” has put it in an optimal position at this point in the current real estate cycle.

“There is certainly a feeling that we are at the top of the cycle given this is one of the longest economic expansions in the past century, from a time perspective,” he told Bisnow. “It is a relief that RealtyMogul has taken a fairly conservative approach by focusing mainly on income investments and light value-add and avoiding traditionally riskier assets like land, hotels and development.”

In 2017, RealtyMogul eclipsed several internal records and finalized transactions holding $566 million worth of capitalization.

Fraley believes that the company can “significantly increase” that number this year.

The Yale grad joined the company in June, bringing over 20 years of experience to the role. Former posts include a tenure as partner at Rockwood Capital, which preceeded the launch of his own real estate investment company, Evolve.

“Being on the operator side of the business really helped me appreciate all the hard work that goes into managing a real estate project,” Fraley said while discussing Evolve with Bisnow. “It has certainly given me greater insight on how to evaluate a potential operating partner as an investor.”

Fraley also shared that when he initially joined the company in an interim capacity in June, he did not intend to stay on full-time.

He gave partial credit for his decision to become a permanent member of the team to the company’s ability to merge research and data with technology.