SMARTCROWD – Records First Exit with Market-Beating Returns to Its Investors

SmartCrowd, the MENA region’s first and largest real estate crowdfunding platform, has delivered its investors an impressive 39.25% total net return (rental income + capital gains) over a 17-month period, and 27.92% return on an annualized basis, after recently exiting a Dubai Marina property investment.

The studio apartment in Marina Bay Central, Dubai Marina, was purchased by 53 investors through the SmartCrowd platform for AED 530,000 in February 2021, and sold for AED 780,000 in July 2022, resulting in a 47% gross capital appreciation. The property had generated a net income to its investors of AED 74,330, representing a net annualized yield of 10.04%, compared to Dubai Marina’s market average of 6.20%.

SmartCrowd, the Abu Dhabi-headquartered Hub71 fintech firm, which is registered with the DIFC and regulated by the DFSA, presents a simpler, smarter way to access prime Dubai real estate, allowing everyday investors to diversify their portfolios with ease.

SmartCrowd CEO and Co-Founder, Siddiq Farid, says: “The real estate industry remains a tangible and stable asset class in the UAE, and as such, SmartCrowd strives to educate and empower people to invest in real estate to diversify their portfolios, starting from AED500. Our mission is to democratize access to alternative asset investment opportunities for every investor.

“In these uncertain economic times, it’s gratifying to see our vision producing results and overcoming some of the current market uncertainties. As an investor, it’s difficult to time the market. As Warren Buffet says, it’s not when you enter the market but rather how long you stay in the market. We allow investors to access the real estate asset class and be patient to ride the market waves to ensure their capital is put to good use to generate returns. Investments in un-correlated assets allow you to build a strong investment portfolio that can withstand  market conditions.”

Since its launch, the market-disrupting platform has crowdfunded more than 75 properties, valued at over AED 55M. The company has distributed more than AED 3.2million in rental income and established a strong investor base that continues to grow rapidly.

SmartCrowd investor, Bruno Massera, says: “I’m extremely excited to receive the cash in my bank account from the first exit with the SmartCrowd platform. In less than 18 months, I was able to get a total return of over 39% showing that the business model can truly deliver value to the investors.

“Since my first investment in 2019, I was able to build a diversified portfolio with almost 30 properties bringing in regular rental returns. I’m a believer in the power of crowdfunding and diversification, especially in countries such as UAE with so many real estate opportunities.”

With global financial markets in complete disarray and almost all investment classes down significantly in 2022, it is prudent for investors to diversify across alternate asset classes that are less correlated with stocks, like real estate, as well as top-performing commodities like gold and oil.

Dubai’s real estate market continues on a positive growth trajectory, with recent figures suggesting the market’s price growth is set to increase by about 5 percent to 7 percent this year for Dubai’s mainstream market, and 12 percent to 15 percent for prime properties.

Since February 2021, at the time when SmartCrowd investors bought into the Dubai Marina property, S&P 500 is down 3.30%, Nasdaq 19.46%, Bitcoin 61.35%, while oil is up 57.65.

Past results are not indicative of future results, but diversifying your investments across uncorrelated asset classes pays off when other assets underperform, which is key to wealth preservation and accumulation.

A newly launched SmartCrowd mobile application, now available on iOS App Store and Google Play, makes real estate investments even easier and more accessible.

About SmartCrowd

SmartCrowd is the MENA region’s first regulated real estate investments platform and a pioneer in bringing alternative investments to the mass market. SmartCrowd is excited to continue that mission and to expand the offering even further by giving everyone a chance to build well-diversified portfolios beyond just stock, bonds, and cryptos. Its mission is to level global income inequality by providing universal access to solid rental property investment.

The business was established in UAE in 2018 and quickly attained recognition as the recipient of the Accenture Innovation Award. The business was granted a sandbox license from DFSA in 2018 and was one of the first to graduate to a fully licensed and regulated platform in November 2019. SmartCrowd is also a Hub 71-sponsored start-up and was part of the inaugural batch of 11 start-ups selected to set up a tech ecosystem in Abu Dhabi. They have been part of the program for the last two years and are one of the longest-serving start-ups within the fast-growing tech hub.

INFOGRAPHIC: Comparing the following asset returns from 17 Feb 2021 until 13 July 2022