News Updates

SiteSeer Technologies Named Preferred Vendor of SVN Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firm

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SiteSeer Technologies, creator of SiteSeer Professional site selection software, has been named a preferred vendor of SVN International Corp. Founded in 1987, SVN is a globally recognized commercial real estate brand. SVN will use SiteSeer’s Void Analysis tool to identify retail demand gaps and fill shopping centers with quality retail tenants. The company also intends to use Retail Match Analog Model, Model Builder, demographics tools and mapping tools in SiteSeer. SiteSeer provides a suite of software, professional services, consulting and support for site selection and market analysis. SiteSeer Professional is a web-based analytics platform that helps businesses make data-driven location decisions through mapping, demographics, custom reporting, analytics and predictive modeling tools.

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Worley Claims Services, which provides insurance claims services in North America, has acquired Alacrity Renovation Services from Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1999, Alacrity provides managed home, property restoration and commercial property repair and emergency services to insurance carriers, financial institutions, property asset management firms and the real estate market. Through its experienced workforce of approximately 150 employees and credentialed network of more than 2,500 contractors, Alacrity specializes in providing property restoration and repair solutions in all markets throughout the United States. Jim Pearl, CEO of Worley, said: “This acquisition expands Worley’s position as one of the largest providers of managed repair services in the property insurance market and aligns with our long-term strategy to continue making investments and strategic partnerships that will allow us to be a more comprehensive service provider capable of meeting the needs of our clients throughout the claim lifecycle.” Worley provides property, auto and casualty claims adjustment services and staffing solutions to national and regional insurance companies, MGAs, TPAs, self-insured corporations, as well as clients in the federal/state government sector. Alacrity is Worley’s eighth acquisition since 2015. In addition to the Alacrity acquisitions, Worley has also acquired Nexxus Solutions, NCA Group, RJMW Claims Services, Summit Independent Claim Services, Apex Claims Services of New England, Audit Services and Replacement Source of America.

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Investment firm Blackstone has added to the leadership team of its global credit platform, GSO Capital Partners (GSO). Bob Carroll has been hired as a managing director and head of distressed trading. He will oversee all trading activity related to GSO’s expansive public distressed efforts. Carroll most recently worked with hedge fund Smith Cove Capital, where he was responsible for all trading activity. Before that, he spent 10 years at Perry Capital as head of trading. Previously, Carroll was a trader at Litespeed Partners and Imperial Capital. GSO also announced that Adam Maitin joined the trading desk as a vice president. Adam joins from BlueMountain Capital where he spent two years trading high-yield, distressed and investment-grade credit. Before his stint at BlueMountain, Maitin was an associate at Alliance Bernstein.

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On March 27, President Trump signed a memorandum issuing “overdue reform of the housing finance system” and calling for an end of the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The move was announced during the second day of Senate Banking Committee hearings on GSE reform. According to the president’s directive, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury Department will be tasked with drafting proposals for reform, with the Treasury detailing Fannie and Freddie plans while HUD lays out a plan for the housing finance agencies it oversees. The memorandum details programs and objectives that the government agencies are asked to analyze for reform, but it doesn’t provide many other specifics. Most groups in the housing space applauded the president’s move as an official step forward to instigating long-awaited change, including The Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Union.

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PeerStreet, a platform for investing in real-estate backed loans, has completed a system integration with Liquid Logics’ loan origination software platform. The move is in line with PeerStreet’s mission to build a stronger, more modern and more transparent marketplace for private lenders and accredited investors. Approved lenders can submit loan information and documents directly to PeerStreet for evaluation—and potential sale—with a single click, streamlining the loan submission process. “By creating this seamless integration, the loan submission process is easier,” said Brew Johnson, co-founder and CEO of PeerStreet. “And when that process is easier, there are more opportunities for lenders to sell their loans to a diverse pool of investors. That stands to benefit our entire marketplace: more loans from our lender network means more opportunities for PeerStreet investors to better diversify their investment portfolios. That demand for diversification then increases the overall demand for investments in loans, which further fuels lenders who in turn work with more high-quality borrowers. It is a virtuous cycle that benefits all participants.” According to Liquid Logics founder and CEO Sam Kaddah, the integration is an ideal opportunity for the company. “We’re very excited about this partnership, as it solidifies next-generation technologies in the fintech space by merging loan origination directly into PeerStreet’s investor marketplace,” said Kaddah. “With this partnership, Liquid Logics helps lenders achieve faster and more efficient lending cycles by connecting them to additional sources of capital from PeerStreet—allowing them to do more business and to do it better.” This system integration is the first of more potential loan origination software integrations for PeerStreet this year. In 2018, PeerStreet surpassed $1 billion invested on its platform.

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The IRS has announced an increase in the amount of allowable contributions for Self-Directed IRAs for 2019. Traditional IRAs, including Self-Directed IRAs, saw increases from $5,500 in allowable contributions to $6,000 per year. The same was true for Roth IRAs, which includes Self-Directed Roth IRAs. The annual catch-up contribution allowance for those aged 50 and older remains unchanged for the tax year 2019. The change marks the first increase in limits since 2013.