Securities Lawyers Blog
The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating recommendations by brokerage firms for their clients to invest in RW Holdings NNN REIT Inc., formerly known as Rich Uncles NNN REIT Inc.,- a non-traded real estate investment trust (non-traded REIT). RW Holdings originally sold shares for $10.00. The fund claims to have an estimated net asset value per share of $6.00. However, secondary market trading would likely value this REIT substantially lower in value.
As a background, RW Holdings NNN REIT’s real estate portfolio totals 2.4 million square feet, 45 properties divided into 19 retail properties, 14 office properties, and 12 industrial properties located in 14 states. The portfolio also includes approximate 72.7 percent tenant-in-common interest in an office property in Santa Clara, California.
In May 2020 The REIT said that it was suspended its offering and its plans to declare a revised net asset value per share later that month, as well as a revised distribution rate. RW Holdings expected that both will be lower due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement the REIT claimed “Given our inability to collect 100 percent of contractual rents, we are re-evaluating our current distribution rate…,”
More recently, the REIT published the new share valuation showing substantial losses and write downs and reduced its dividend ratio from $0.7 shares per ordinary share to $0.35 shares – a substantial decline.
Our firm often handles cases involving direct participation products (DPPs), private placements, Non-Traded REITs, and other alternative investments. These products are almost always unsuitable for middle class investors. In addition, the brokers who sell them are paid additional commission in order to hype inferior quality investments providing perverse incentives for brokers to sell high risk and low reward investments.
According to studies, non-traded REITs have historically have underperformed even safe benchmarks, like U.S. treasury bonds – meaning that non-traded REITs provide paltry investment returns considering the risk an investor takes. Alternative investment products like oil and gas partnerships, REITs, and equipment leasing programs are only appropriate for a narrow band of investors under certain conditions due to the high costs, illiquidity, and huge redemption charges of the products, if they can be redeemed at all.
However, due to the high commissions brokers earn on these products they sell them to investors who cannot profit from them. These products have become so popular among brokers without providing any benefit to investors that many states now limit investors from investing more than 10% of their liquid assets in Non-Traded REITs. Many states impose these limitations because its understood that that they provide virtually no benefit to investors in relationship to their risks.
Investors often fail to understand that they have lost money until many years after agreeing to the investment. In sum, for all of their costs and risks, investors in these programs are in no way additionally compensated for the loss of liquidity, risks, or cost.
The investment lawyers at Gana Weinstein LLP represent investors who have suffered investment losses due to allegations of wrongdoing. The majority of these claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.