Professor Venkatesh is Faculty Head of the Real Estate Research Initiative at IIM, Bangalore and someone who has been very closely associated with the SM REIT industry. Professor Venky (as he's fondly known) has been working with SEBI and key industry players like Property Share to ensure that the new regulations help develop a successful market for the new asset class. He has more than 20 years of experience in academia and in the global financial services industry including the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates and Goldman Sachs in New York, where he worked prior to joining IIM Bangalore. Prof. Venkatesh is a Chartered Accountant by training with an MBA from IIM Calcutta and a Phd in Finance from the University of Southern California.

With the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) intervention in the fractional ownership market to regulate the sector, this is an appropriate opportunity to delve deeper into the evolving landscape of fractional ownership in India. We explore the challenges and potential of fractional ownership, as well as the necessity for regulatory oversight to ensure organized growth of the market.

Indian regulators drive real estate sector transformation with progressive reforms including RERA Act, GST, and REIT regulations. SM REITs democratize access to real estate investing, offering transparency, liquidity, and diversification for retail investors.

Real Estate as an asset class has long been a mainstay for investor portfolios, both small or large. While it has mostly been focused on residential real estate, the turn of the century brought in another sub-asset class in the form of commercial real estate, which became the go-to product for high net-worth individuals (HNIs), since the rental yields were far higher than residential real estate. However, the large ticket size meant that the asset class was always exclusive to HNIs or institutional investors. Over the last half a decade, with the advent of tech platforms like Property Share and listing of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), this asset class has become more accessible to the general public due to smaller ticket sizes in which investors can invest. In order to further stimulate the growth of this asset class, SEBI plans to introduce SM REITs – a new way to invest into commercial real estate.

Commercial real estate (CRE) has long been an attractive investment avenue for those seeking to diversify their portfolios and capitalise on the stability and income potential of real property. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have been a game-changer in the global investment landscape, providing investors with a unique proposition to participate in the commercial real estate market. In a bid to catalyse the growth of the real estate sector in India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has plans to introduce an innovative concept – the SM REITs.