When it comes to offering real estate investments, Dennis Kiefert, Chief Sales Officer of quirion Sachwerte, values stability more than maximizing returns. Why the seasoned real estate expert sees this as a competitive advantage – and what fascinates him about the digitalization of real assets.
Dennis Kiefert had actually already been on his way to the mailbox. Back then, in his early 20s, he had applied for two positions and had interviewed for both. He had already received the employment contract from a large, internationally renowned real estate broker. But just before giving his final acceptance, the second prospective employer called to make him an offer as well. In the end, that one was more tempting after all. And so his sales career began with alternative investment funds instead of in the real estate segment.
Two things can already be read from this career start: Kiefert has the power to persuade. And he is a fan of real assets. They run right through the CV of the 44-year-old, who today is Chief Sales Officer (CSO) at quirion Sachwerte. "They are a sensible addition to diversifying a portfolio," Kiefert says. That is especially true of real estate. "When liquid markets like equities are going up, real estate also has potential for gains in value." And when things get hectic on other markets, real estate is often a stabilizing factor, precisely because it isn't traded as quickly. "I would advise anyone to at least think about it."
When considering real estate investments, however, many people quickly run into certain hurdles. High minimum investments, for example. Kiefert is aware of this too. Together with the team at quirion Sachwerte, he is working to break down such barriers. This is made possible by the use of blockchain technology: through digital securities, known as tokens, the minimum investments are low.
Making real assets digitally accessible
Kiefert is "fired up," as he puts it, about the idea of making real assets like real estate easily and digitally accessible. That was the case straight away when Marc Drießen offered him the role of CSO at Bloxxter, the real estate platform he had founded, in 2019. "I've known Drießen for about 20 years, and we had already worked together successfully on real estate investments before," Kiefert says looking back. "I had gotten involved with blockchain early on, and at the time I was busy building a platform that brings investors and asset managers together digitally." With the opportunity to work for Bloxxter, he could now combine two of his passions – digitalization and real assets. "I'm convinced that digitalization can help make real assets accessible to a broad investor audience."
In the meantime, quirion has acquired Bloxxter. What has remained is the ambition to give private investors access to real estate that is otherwise reserved for professionals. Fulfilling this ambition is very important to Kiefert. Because in his view, that is a key difference from many other offerings. "With real estate, we focus on the premium segment in the top ten German cities," Kiefert explains. "Core real estate" refers to properties characterized by good locations, a diversified tenant structure, and tenants with strong credit ratings. These properties have comparatively low probabilities of default.
A focus on stability
Aspects like these are the priority for Kiefert and the team at quirion Sachwerte. But of course, many investors are interested in top properties in top cities with promising, long-term usage potential, professional investors in particular. That's why such properties can't achieve the same returns as riskier alternatives. "But paying attention to realistic, stable returns is especially important in the comparatively illiquid real estate sector," the experienced real estate expert says. "We want solid real estate investments, not returns at any price."
Finding such investment properties requires a great deal of expertise. That's why the quirion Sachwerte team includes experienced specialists who carefully analyze and filter the offerings. Kiefert already knows many of his current colleagues from earlier stages of his career. "That helps with day-to-day collaboration; we can trust each other blindly." Kiefert also wants to convey this trust in the outcome of this work and in solid investments to investors. And not only at quirion LIVE or in special webinars. "We are always happy to be available for a personal conversation whenever someone has questions."
Do you have questions about the real estate offering from quirion Sachwerte? Our customer service will gladly arrange a personal conversation with CSO Dennis Kiefert and his team.
