In a year when public equities surged and AI enthusiasm dominated headlines, raising capital for commercial real estate wasn’t easy. Yet Origin Investments once again emerged as a Juniper Square Top Fundraiser.
We spoke with Michael O’Shea, Head of Private Wealth, about raising in a difficult market, building a data advantage before AI was fashionable, and earning trust in private wealth.
Congratulations on being named a Top Fundraiser for the second time. Tell us about this past year. What gave you and your team the confidence to raise capital?
O’Shea: The capital markets were definitely moving against us. In real estate, we've been in a bit of a recession for the last two and a half years, and when the NASDAQ and S&P 500 are on fire, it’s a tough argument to tell investors to allocate to real estate. AI is revolutionizing many companies; we're seeing demand that's off the charts. But is the AI trade a bubble? Is the AI trade going to be over soon? The market got hammered the other day, right after it reached an all-time high.
So we went back to the high-conviction reasons people invest in real estate in the first place. We put it in perspective, more than anything. Multifamily, specifically, has seen rents increase 96 out of the last 100 years. We’ve just gone through one of the four pullbacks, but when you look at supply-demand fundamentals, tax advantages, and the long arc of commercial real estate, there’s typically regression to the mean.
We reminded our investors: don’t change your thesis just because markets are behaving a certain way in the short term. It wasn’t easy. But high-conviction storytelling, backed by data and performance, made all the difference.
Origin is known for zero losses in multifamily. Sourcing deals and investing well is one thing; is there something about the way your firm operates that has also led to enduring success?
O’Shea: In 2019—before AI became mainstream—we looked at the commercial real estate data available and realized it wasn’t very predictive. So we built our own model.
We hired a data science team and developed Multilytics, a predictive rent model that ingests more than 9 billion data points per month. We analyze historical correlations to identify which variables actually lead to rent growth. But we don’t just say “Phoenix will do well.” We break the US into 100-yard-by-100-yard grids. We can identify which corner of a city is positioned for growth over a five-year period. We also use vector math to understand substitution behavior. If a renter won’t pay $1,200 in Market A, where will they go next—and what will they pay there?
We combine that intelligence with our boots on the ground. We have offices in Denver, Dallas, Nashville, Charlotte, and Miami.
And we operate across the capital stack—equity, value-add, core, and credit. If we pass on a deal on the equity side, it may still come to us on the credit side. There’s very little in our markets that we don’t see.
Tell us more about the credit side of the business.
O’Shea: Our Origin Real Estate Credit Fund lends to multifamily assets nationwide, both through direct originations and by purchasing securitized real estate debt. That breadth gives us visibility into nearly every deal in our markets, and that perspective strengthens our underwriting and keeps us close to the flow of opportunities.
We recently converted the credit fund into an interval fund structure. The strategy generates interest income, which is typically highly taxable—so it tends to be well-suited for IRA investors. The prior structure limited how much IRA capital could participate. By moving to an interval structure, we removed those constraints, simplified reporting with a 1099 format, and enabled daily pricing. It wasn’t about chasing what’s “hot.” It was about making the vehicle more accessible and better aligned with how our investors actually allocate capital.
Origin was built around private wealth long before it became fashionable. How did you earn investor trust?
O’Shea: Origin began as a family office managing the capital of our two principals. Their question was simple: how do we preserve and protect this capital long term? They invested their own money first and built a track record. As the returns became compelling, friends and family asked to invest. Growth followed performance, and today, we have roughly 5,000 investors.
We build our products for taxable investors because our principals are taxable investors. That means depreciation pass-through, tax efficiency, and structures that make sense for high-net-worth individuals, not just institutions.
Alignment is also critical. Our principals have invested nearly $100 million of personal capital in Origin deals since starting the firm. Our fee structures are competitive—often institutional pricing for individuals—and our promote structures ensure we succeed when investors succeed.
Many firms are now entering the private wealth market. What advice would you give them?
O’Shea: There are 20,000 RIAs and over 100,000 financial advisors in the U.S. It takes a long time to earn trust—and a very short time to lose it. Start with why. Many firms enter the private wealth market because it’s growing. Sure, interval funds are “hot.” But are you launching that structure because it’s better for your investors, or just because you think it will raise more capital? When we converted our credit fund to an interval structure, it was about access for IRA investors and simplifying reporting—not chasing a trend.
Private wealth is not easy. Due diligence is intense. Advisors will scrutinize asset-liability matching, custody arrangements, reporting integrations, and servicing capabilities. You might have 500 investors instead of 10 institutions. Can you support that growth?
How has Juniper Square supported your fundraising process?
O’Shea: Operationally, it’s critical. It’s an operating platform and a reporting platform. Investors subscribe through the Portal, upload identification and trust documents, and complete onboarding digitally. We can process tickets, correct issues, and request funding—all within the system.
When you’re servicing thousands of investors, that kind of infrastructure allows you to scale without adding excessive headcount.
Looking ahead, what’s your outlook?
O’Shea: We think 2026 is set up for a recovery. We were early in predicting the recent rent pullback due to oversupply in 2020 and 2021. Deliveries are now slowing. Supply and demand are coming back into balance, and we believe rent growth will return meaningfully in 2026 and beyond.
We’ve launched a new growth fund focused on ground-up development. We converted our credit fund to an interval structure. We’re active in the 1031 exchange space. And we’re watching Opportunity Zone 2.0 for 2027.
It’s been a tough couple of years in commercial real estate, but we’re bullish on what’s ahead.