IPSX hopes to grow with Snuggs fit

IPSX has hired Rupert Snuggs as head of origination, charged with bringing more assets onto the world’s first real estate stock exchange. IPSX said the appointment was a response to rising demand for the platform. Snuggs, a former director in global banking at HSBC, will support real estate owners and investors who want to access investment and liquidity opportunities on IPSX. IPSX said he will work closely with issuers wanting to float their assets on a public market, or portfolios seeking to raise capital from new funding sources. Chief executive Roger Clarke said: “Rupert’s institutional experience will be valuable to asset owners and investors as trading volumes increase on our platform.” He added: “Issuers demand access to a wider pool of capital sources and speed in execution, while investors are increasingly seeking liquidity. In response, we are growing our team to ensure that IPSX is the capital markets venue of choice for owners looking to fractionalise or investors wanting to trade income-producing institutional-grade real estate.” Snuggs began his career in NM Rothschild & Sons’ equity capital markets team, before moving to Royal Bank of Scotland to advise corporate and real estate institutions on equity and debt capital market transactions across Europe and the Middle East. IPSX said it had witnessed a “noticeable uptick” in asset owner interest in the platform. This was being driven by the access to liquidity, the speed of admission, access to investors, streamlined valuation processes and flexible public ownership options around individual assets. Currently the platform only hosts two entities, Birmingham’s Mailbox REIT and M7’s Regional E-Warehouse REIT. M7 Real Estate has also announced plans to admit Bridgewater Place, a landmark office development in Leeds, on IPSX very soon. Snuggs said: “IPSX is shaping the future of real estate investment by providing issuers with flexible financing options and enabling investors of all types to own a share of liquid, income producing assets. As a stock exchange dedicated to real estate, the securities admitted to trading on IPSX are not correlated with the volatility impacting the broader equity market. There continues to be appetite for real estate-backed income as well as an alternative capital markets venue offering real estate owners the opportunity to release equity from their assets to a wide pool of investors.” To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews