With investors in search of healthy possibilities amid the market’s many risks, the premium on access to fast, accurate information has only increased. REIT sponsor Behringer Harvard\u2019s affiliation with financial information processing and software firm DST Systems Inc. is helping it provide just that for potential investors.In February 2008, Behringer Harvard became the first direct participation sponsor to have its funds listed on TA2000, an online data transfer and record-keeping system, as well as DST Vision, the firm\u2019s account management platform. Behringer Harvard\u2019s goal at the time was to offer the financial advisors and clients invested in Behringer Harvard-sponsored REITs the same level of record keeping and reporting that had been common in mutual fund and other financial service sectors. And it has paid off.DST was no stranger to that industry, having expanded its presence in the mutual fund space to the point of controlling 60 percent of the outsourcing software market share for the industry, according to its operations officer, Chris Shaw, who noted that many users had been suggesting similar coverage for non-traded REITs as that investment area grew in popularity among investment managers.For Behringer Harvard, partnering with DST was a natural choice to allow its clients access to information on its sponsored REITs. \u201cWe began to pour the foundations of this relationship in mid-2006,\u201d noted the REIT sponsor\u2019s chief administrative officer, Jason Mattox (pictured). \u201cDST had superior offerings in the marketplace, and they were quite willing to explore how to modify (their system) to fit REITs in the space.\u201d The firms spent about six months on the transition, and Behringer Harvard made its debut on DST Vision last February.With the system up and running, financial advisors whose clients are invested in Behringer Harvard-sponsored REITs can easily access and work with the program, which is an Internet-based browser accessible directly from the REIT sponsor\u2019s Web site. \u201cOnce you\u2019re in there, there\u2019s a page that lists all of your customers in a global client list and whether they are invested in Behringer,\u201d said Shaw. \u201cThere are various tools for clients to use, all of which are self taught and intuitive.\u201dAccording to Mattox, the new system has been very popular with clients and represents a new level of prominence for the non-traded REIT market. \u201cI think there\u2019s excitement that non-traded REITs have the kind of visibility that mutual funds have had,\u201d he said. \u201cThis robust platform that we\u2019ve been able to provide has been very well received.\u201dClient Brett Ellen, president of American Financial Network, a financial planner advising investors in Behringer-sponsored REITs, praised the system. \u201cThe DST information is able to be downloaded directly into our database,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s really helpful for getting the latest data and keeping up on things as they happen.\u201d Ellen said that his clients have become more concerned about their investments and have taken a more hand-on approach. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from having semiannual meetings (with clients) to monthly meetings,\u201d he noted, adding that the access to DST Vision\u2019s data is more important now than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With investors in search of healthy possibilities amid the market’s many risks, the premium on access to fast, accurate information has only increased. REIT sponsor Behringer Harvard\u2019s affiliation with financial information processing and software firm DST Systems Inc. is helping it provide just that for potential investors.In February 2008, Behringer Harvard became the first direct…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003950317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n