When Assistant Manager Kim Bought Coffee, I Bought 5,000 Won Worth of Building [Practical Investment]

MZ Generation Investment Method 'Real Estate Fractional Investment'

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Number 1 Real Estate Fractional Investment Platform 'Casa'

Total Public Offering Amount of 26.4 Billion KRW · 160,000 App Members

TE Logistics Center Public Offering Scheduled for the 16th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Fractional investment is a model where an asset is purchased to generate profits and then divided into small shares distributed among multiple investors. High-value assets such as buildings, cars, luxury goods, and even music copyrights are investment targets. It is similar to the concept of equity investment, but literally allows investment in high-value assets by dividing them into pieces, gaining attention recently especially among younger generations. In particular, real estate fractional investment has been designated as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, issuing profit securities through securities firms and trust companies. A notable feature is that it allows real-time trading like securities via mobile devices.

Casa, the first domestic real estate fractional investment platform company, has a total public offering amount of 26.47 billion KRW. As of May, the application (app) has been downloaded over 330,000 times, and the number of registered members reaches 160,000. Casa is a platform where commercial real estate can be invested through 'Real Estate Digital Profit Securities (DABS)'. Investors can earn three types of profits: rental dividends, DABS trading gains, and building sale gains. Casa has evolved into a trustworthy investment platform through collaboration with appraisal institutions certified by financial authorities and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as well as leading domestic trust companies and Hana Bank.

Casa plans to conduct a public offering for the 'TE Logistics Center' over two days from the 16th to the 17th. The total public offering amount for the building is 12 billion KRW. Comprehensive logistics company Taeun Logistics Co., Ltd. has signed a long-term lease contract for 7 years, enabling stable rental income averaging over 4% annually. The TE Logistics Center, the subject of the public offering, is located in Cheonan and is connected to Mokcheon IC and National Road No. 21, making it convenient to access the metropolitan area and provinces via the Gyeongbu Expressway. The second Gyeongbu Expressway section from Anseong to Sejong is under construction near the logistics center, and the Dongcheonan IC is also scheduled to be newly established.

Recently, logistics centers have attracted attention as investment products due to the expansion of the online commerce market and the need for fast delivery. According to Genstar Mate, the transaction volume of logistics centers in the metropolitan area in 2021 increased by 37.1% compared to the previous year, recording the largest transaction volume ever, and the newly supplied logistics centers nationwide this year are expected to reach approximately 2.35 million pyeong.

The sale profit rate is also remarkable. The Yeoksam Korea Technology Center, listed on the Casa platform in September last year, was sold for 9.3 billion KRW. The final dividend yield from the sale profit compared to the public offering price (8.45 billion KRW) was 10.16% (pre-tax, after expenses), and considering the accumulated regular dividends for initial public offering participants, the investors’ annualized return reached 21.07% (pre-tax, after expenses). The sale dividend was paid in cash to investors holding Yeoksam Korea Technology Center DABS until the closing of the final liquidation trading on April 29. Casa’s first public offering building, Yeoksam Londonville, is planned to be sold for 11.7 billion KRW. The public offering price for Yeoksam Londonville was 10.18 billion KRW. Based on investors who participated in the Yeoksam Londonville public offering, the cumulative return, including operating dividends and sale proceeds paid so far, is expected to be 19.78% (before tax and expenses).

Lucent Block, designated as an innovative financial service in the building fractional investment sector by the Financial Services Commission in April last year and launched the 'Soyo' service in April this year, is conducting subscription for its first public offering building, Anguk Downtowner. The building houses the handmade burger specialty brand Downtowner, and the public offering amount is 5.3 billion KRW. The minimum investment amount for the subscription on the 9th is 5,000 KRW (1 share), allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. This means you can invest in this building for the price of a cup of coffee.

As such, Soyo offers high accessibility by allowing small investments in real estate, with fast buying and selling like stocks. It also allows investors to enjoy rental income and sale gains from building investments even with small amounts. Soyo allows investments from a minimum of 5,000 KRW up to a maximum of 20 million KRW for general investors and up to 40 million KRW for qualified investors. A Soyo representative said, "We want to give the feeling of being a building owner receiving monthly rent," adding, "The target users are mainly the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), and they are segmented diversely by occupation and gender."

However, experts advise caution when investing in fractional investment methods like Casa and Soyo, noting that although the investment barrier is lowered by small investments, market protection measures are insufficient. They recommend thoroughly examining the platform’s responsible assets and expertise before investing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.