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Who We Are

We provide our private community of family offices, RIAs, and high-net-worth individuals with premium access to the exclusive deals and funds of leading real estate managers across the United States. Leveraging over a decade of industry expertise, we deliver a unique blend of deep market insights, compelling investment outcomes, and personalized service to our investor community.

$0M+

Investor Capital Placed 1

0%

Oversubscription Rate 2

0

U.S. Geographic
Markets

$0B+

Value of Transactions Funded 3

Why UCG

Connected

Our team of private equity real estate veterans have worked at renowned investment firms and have deep relationships with talented managers across the country that specialize in various property types and strategies. We are the first call when they have new, unique investment offerings.

Our manager requirements

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Curated

Our rigorous sourcing and due diligence processes allow us to analyze hundreds of investment offerings each year. We then curate a select few investments that not only possess compelling risk-return profiles, but are also structured fairly and transparently.

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Confidential

We work with leading real estate managers on an exclusive basis, so we are the only place to find their coveted offerings. We have established ourselves as a preferred partner to leading managers because we are their peers and consistently perform.

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Recent Investments

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Exclusive GP Fund with seasoned manager focused on Class A industrial, multifamily and student housing developments in core U.S. markets.

$76,300,000

CLOSED | OVERSUBSCRIBED

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Proprietary fund with vertically integrated manager focused on state-of-the-art industrial developments in primary logistics markets across the U.S.

$270,200,000

CLOSED | OVERSUBSCRIBED

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A private co-investment opportunity with a leading developer in a 1 million SF, Class A industrial project.

$19,400,000

CLOSED | FULLY SUBSCRIBED

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Exclusive GP Fund with veteran manager focused on industrial and multifamily projects in rapidly growing markets in the Southeastern U.S.

$13,800,000

CLOSED | OVERSUBSCRIBED

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We are transforming private real estate investing and who gets access to the most exclusive investment opportunities.

Ben Harris

Founder of Uncommon Capital Group

Our Story

Uncommon Capital Group was founded with a mission to deliver premium investment access, due diligence, and service to a premier community of private investors.

Ben Harris, the founder, began his career at a subsidiary of Starwood Capital, one of the largest real estate private equity firms in the world, where he conducted investment analysis for the company and its sovereign wealth fund investors. He then joined Origin Investments as one of the first employees where he created and led the investor relations and business development team. Under Ben’s leadership, the firm grew to more than $1 billion in assets under management and became one of the nation’s preeminent direct-to-investor platforms.

Uncommon Capital Group was born out of these experiences and the belief that private investors deserve an institutional experience at every step of the investment process. Harnessing more than a decade of industry expertise, we offer a distinguished combination of personalized service, comprehensive market insights, and a proven track record of success for investors.

Resources & News

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Is Bigger Better? Not For Real Estate Funds.

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Private Investors Surpass Institutional Investors.

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Is Industrial Real Estate Up, Down, or All Around?

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1 Reflects capital raised by Ben Harris since 2016, including capital raised at previous investment firms. Data as of March 31, 2023.

2 Oversubscription rate is calculated by dividing total equity raised by the initial equity target for associated capital raises since inception of Uncommon Capital Group LLC. Data as of March 31, 2023.

3 Value of transactions funded represents the underwritten peak all-in cost of real estate investments for which Ben Harris raised the capital. This is calculated by dividing capital raised by Ben Harris since 2016, including capital raised at previous investment firms, by the weighted average equity ratio of the investments. Data as of March 31, 2023.

4 Percentage reflects number of investments offered to investors divided by overall number of investments reviewed. Data reflects period of April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023.

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Resources & News

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Resources
June 6, 2023

Is Bigger Better? Not For Real Estate Funds.

For the past decade, the same real estate fund managers have been sucking up the majority of investor capital into their mega funds. In fact, only a quarter of total capital raised in recent years has gone to smaller managers (Preqin Global Real Estate Report, 2021).

But why? Are larger funds better or are they simply more convenient to invest in? In 2017, Preqin, the premier database for private real estate, conducted a comprehensive study to help answer this question.

According to the report, smaller funds (less than $500 million) consistently outperform their larger counterparts. From 2005 to 2014, small funds generated a median return of 10.9%, while mid-sized funds ($500 – 999 million) generated 9.1% and larger funds ($1 billion or more) earned 6.9%. This study proves that larger size is not necessarily correlated with larger profits, and investors should be taking a closer look.

How do the top and bottom performers compare?

Smaller funds in the top quartile generated a median net IRR of 15.8%, outperforming the 12.4% and 12.0% median net IRRs produced by mid-sized and large funds, respectively. No one year buoyed the overall median net returns either. Top quartile small funds outperformed top quartile larger funds in 8 of the 10 vintages examined.

Even the worst of the smaller funds outperformed the worst of the larger funds. Smaller funds in the bottom quartile earned a medium net IRR of 6.2%, beating the 2.8% return generated by both mid-sized and larger bottom quartile funds.

Do smaller funds mean more risk?

Generally speaking, yes. Smaller funds are more volatile than larger funds. While these funds typically demonstrate higher net IRRs than larger funds, the returns typically have a higher standard deviation around them.

Is the risk worth the reward?

According to Preqin data, the best risk/return profile is offered by smaller funds. The higher variability around returns is worth it to generate the highest absolute returns.

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If larger funds underperform smaller funds, why do they attract the most capital?

Most capital invested in private real estate funds comes from institutional investors (pension plans, endowments, sovereign wealth funds) who often allocate between $100 million and $1 billion per fund. These institutional investors usually have internal governors preventing them from being less than 40% of the capital in any one fund. This means they are not even able to consider most funds that are smaller than $500 million. This is one primary reason why large funds attract more capital than smaller funds – big begets big.

Secondly, it is more convenient to invest in larger funds than smaller funds. It takes more work to conduct due diligence on a smaller fund manager because their track records are usually more limited than larger fund managers. Often, the institutional investment teams do not view the extra work to be worth it. After all, no one gets fired for recommending an investment in a large, trusted fund that other institutions are investing in as well.

The advantage for private investors.

Private investors do not have rules preventing them from investing in certain funds. Because of this, they have a much larger investment universe. After all, there are hundreds of small funds in the United States and only a small handful of large funds.

And private investors do not have to worry about losing their job for making a less “safe” investment decision. Private investors can take calculated risks to grow their own wealth instead of just investing in what is most convenient.

How can Uncommon Capital Group help?

We realize it is difficult for private investors to access differentiated, smaller funds, let alone determine which ones are better than others. Our team of industry experts has worked at private real estate firms for nearly a decade. We have deep relationships with talented fund managers across the country, resulting in unrivaled access that we share with our community of private investors.

We are also skilled at analyzing real estate offerings, allowing us to curate opportunities with strong risk-return profiles that are structured fairly and transparently for our community.

More Resources & News

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Resources

Private Investors Surpass Institutional Investors

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News

Is Industrial Real Estate Up, Down, or All Around?

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Resources & News

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Resources
May 2, 2023

Private Investors Surpass Institutional Investors

After years in the making, private investors have officially surpassed institutional investors as the largest capital source in commercial real estate for the first time on record, according to a recent report by Knight Frank.

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What caused this shift?

In recent years, top investment managers have been trying to diversify their sources of capital, like how businesses aim to diversify their sources of revenue. This strategy has led to new opportunities for private investors and has enabled them to play a more substantial role in the private real estate market.

Another factor contributing to this change is technological advancements have made it easier to manage large investor bases. This has led to increased adoption from leading managers who were previously concerned about the administrative burden of having so many investors.

By the numbers

Over the last decade, private capital invested per year has grown from $187.7 billion in 2013 to $454.8 billion in 2022 - an incredible 142% jump in the last decade.

What could the next decade look like? Applying the prior 10-year average growth rate of 10.3%, total private capital invested per year could grow to $1.2 trillion by 2032. This would dwarf institutional capital, which has historically grown at a much slower rate.

Bottom line

With more investment opportunities available from better investment managers, individuals, family offices, and RIAs can expect to participate in funds and deals that were previously inaccessible. As we move forward, it will be interesting to see how this shift continues to reshape the investment landscape.

One thing is for sure though – not all investment opportunities are created equal. At Uncommon Capital Group, we help our private community navigate the complicated investment universe by curating opportunities with strong risk-return profiles from leading real estate managers.

More Resources & News

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Resources

Is Bigger Better? Not For Real Estate Funds.

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News

Is Industrial Real Estate Up, Down, or All Around?

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Resources & News

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Resource
December 13, 2022

Is Industrial Real Estate Up, Down, or All Around?

After stocks and bonds dominated financial headlines for months, it’s now private real estate’s turn. Recent articles about Blackstone and Starwood have caused concern among investors, leading them to ask fair questions about their own investments. Industrial real estate is one of the largest holdings in both portfolios, bringing extra attention to the asset class.

While industrial has been the best performing property type over the last 10 years, some investors worry that what goes up must come down. What’s actually next for the sector? Recently published industry data is starting to provide clues about rent growth and cap rates, two of the most important metrics that determine future investment performance.

Rent Growth

What's happening today?

Rents continue to hit new all-time highs, according to a recent CBRE report. The report highlights how a record-low national vacancy rate of 2.9% has created heightened competition for limited available space, driving rents increasingly higher.



Rent Growth (Year-over-Year %)

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*Source: CBRE Q3 2022 U.S. Industrial Figures

What's next?

More strong rent growth is projected into 2023 with demand continuing to outpace supply, according to a recent Newmark report. This growth is forecasted to be prolonged in the following years, but at a pace more in line with historical averages (4-5% per year before the pandemic).



Rent Growth Forecast (Year-over-Year %)

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*Source: Newmark - The National Industrial Market: Conditions and Trends

Cap Rates

What’s happening today?

As The Fed continues to hike interest rates faster than any time in modern history, cap rates have unsurprisingly increased as well.



Current Fed Rate Hike vs. Previous Rate Hikes

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*Source: Newmark - The National Industrial Market: Conditions and Trends



According to Green Street data, industrial cap rates steadily declined for more than a decade before bottoming out in Q4 2021 at 3.7%. Since then, cap rates have increased to 4.6% to adjust to higher debt costs, causing property values to decrease.



Industrial Cap Rates

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*Chart: Green Street Data (Top 50 Industrial Nominal Cap Rates as of Dec 6, 2022)

What's next?

Cap rates are expected to continue to move with interest rates, so the Fed will dictate what happens next. That being said, there is reason to be optimistic that cap rates may only increase incrementally without rocketing higher.

According to Newmark’s report, there are record levels of capital on the sidelines waiting to be deployed, which will keep cap rates in check and help buoy real estate valuations. In 2021 and through three quarters of 2022, an estimated $1 billion has been raised for investment in real estate.



Dry Powder (in billions) for All Property Types in North America

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*Source: Newmark - The National Industrial Market: Conditions and Trends



Newmark’s report predicts a lot of the “dry powder” is expected to be allocated to industrial real estate because investors continue to be excited about the long-term tailwinds of the sector.

E-commerce still only makes up 15% of total retail sales in the U.S. and this figure is expected to grow to 20% in just the next few years. For comparison, China’s online sales are currently 45% of total retail sales and are expected to grow to 50% in the next few years. The U.S. is still in the early innings of e-commerce, signaling bright days ahead for industrial real estate since every 1% increase in online sales creates 125 million square feet of new industrial demand, according to Cushman & Wakefield.



Projected E-Commerce Growth

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*Source: Cushman & Wakefield US Logistics 4Q 2022

Bottom Line

Rents and cap rates are both up from earlier this year, creating an offsetting effect on investment returns. What happens next will be largely dependent on how high the Fed hikes rates. While it may be tempting to want to regularly track the pricing of private real estate investments, it’s important to remember one of the main benefits of the illiquid, longer-term asset class is its lack of volatility relative to the whipsawing stock market. Embrace the stability and let the sector tailwinds play out.

More Resources & News

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Resources

Is Bigger Better? Not For Real Estate Funds.

thumbnail-image
Resources

Private Investors Surpass Institutional Investors

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Connected. Curated. Confidential.