Daniel Ryan joined Atlantic American Partners (AAP) in 2018 as Managing Director of Emerging Markets. In this capacity, he oversees the firm’s EB-5 investor visa private equity fund marketing activities in emerging countries, with a focus on on EB-5 foreign investment immigration opportunities into the USA, with a current focus on India, Middle East/UAE, Eastern Europe, and Africa.

Prior to joining Atlantic American, Daniel lived for 10+ years in Lilongwe, Malawi, where he co-founded and served as Executive Director for Development Consulting Solutions, a management consulting and organisational development firm based in Africa.

Living and working in Malawi for over a decade, Daniel acted as a bridge for Africans wanting to immigrate to the US. He began his career in commercial banking, first completing the management training programme at Bank of America, then working as the real estate lending officer for the multinational investment bank. Later, he shifted his focus to concentrate on larger commercial real estate construction and mini-perm lending activities throughout southeastern United States for Sun Trust Bank.

Ryan then worked as Vice President of Real Estate Development for Green Street Development in Orlando, before relocating to Denver, where he worked as Director of Land Acquisition/Government Entitlements for D.R. Horton, a NYSE-listed national home builder. In 2008, Daniel returned to Florida to work for Forge Capital Partners, where he focused on pre-development entitlement and permitting approval processes for the firm’s development initiatives.

Daniel’s interest and understanding of real estate investment and development started at a young age. He was raised by a local building contractor in California, which helped him to navigate some of the realities of ever-changing markets.

“My father was a small-time home builder/general contractor, and growing up I experienced the ups and downs of real estate investment and development. During up markets, when homes were selling and my father was doing well  we were eating steak once a week as a treat. When the market was down, and my father was not doing well, we ate meatloaf or macaroni and cheese every day for weeks at a time. I understand the risks and rewards of real estate investment.”

This close connection to the real estate investment  industry prompted Ryan to study for a Bachelor Degree in Business Administrative-Finance and a Master’s Degree Organisational Development/Corporate Education. Ryan believes in the value of continuing education within the field, so recently (during the COVID-19 pandemic period) completed the MBA Essentials programme from the London School of Economics, and the Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship executive education programme from Said Business School at the University of Oxford.

Into Africa

In 2006, Ryan left the US to work in Malawi for a World Bank consultancy, initially on a three months contract. The three months turned into a 12 year journey, which Daniel describes as his most significant professional achievement to date. While in Africa, he started a management consulting and organisational development company with his wife, who is a chartered accountant.

“We were well respected and worked with an extensive, highly-respected client list including The Reserve Bank of Malawi, The World Bank, USAID/FHI360, The European Union, and numerous other business organisations, performing various economic development, equity investment evaluations, and capacity building consultancies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The company was profit-able and sustainable for over ten years, competing with large international organisational development, real estate investment and management consulting firms.”

Ryan used the lessons learnt from starting his own business to address wider existing problems within the Malawian real estate sector. “My wife and I built our first real estate investment property from available cash flow and no bank construction loan. It taught me patience, perseverance, and in becoming a watchdog over every dollar/rand/kwacha spent throughout the entire construction process. The residential rental property took three years to build with no debt – we receive positive monthly cash flow from the investment which has given  opportunities for my wife and I to build other development projects in Malawi, for affordable rental housing, which in turn helps through additional construction job creation.”

Moreover, Ryan has worked extensively within the property sector across the world and his humanitarian work is his first passion. He spent three years as an active Board of Trustee Director for Partners in Hope, HIV-AIDS Medical Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, which is recognised as one of the premiere “free” HIV/AIDS full-scale hospitals in the region. He has also been involved in humanitarian-related economic development and educational empowerment activities in other international countries including Indonesia, Taiwan, and Mexico, as well as lower socio-economic areas of the United States.

His vast experience within his field and entrepreneurial skills combined with his goodwill is what drives this humanitarian instinct. “What motivates me is working hard for a cause, task, or project that will make the world a better place and help improve lives. Having positive social and economic benefit to communities and people who live in those communities, while making a reasonable income.”

Daniel Ryan has seen first-hand that there is tremendous opportunity for private equity investment throughout Africa and other emerging markets, in a variety of real estate sectors. This includes student housing, affordable housing for the general public, flex residential mixed-use developments, infrastructure business industries and high-quality hotels in the right locations and market areas – especially in countries that are well governed and have a solid basic infrastructure in place that can adapt and improve as growth occurs.

Atlantic crossing

Atlantic American Partners is part of a 49-year old investment bank (CEA Worldwide) and private equity fund manager headquartered in Tampa, Florida that has completed over 900 investment banking transactions valued at over US$40 billion and managed over US$1.2 billion of capital for institutional investors (banks, insurance companies and pension funds) before moving into immigration-related investments in 2009.

Ryan joined AAP in 2018 as Managing Director of Emerging Markets. Atlantic American facilitates the EB-5 visa programme for investors wishing to immigrate to the US. His time in the role has coincided with a turbulent time for the investment migration industry – the Trump administration, political stasis in the US, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2017, in the wake of President Trump’s travel ban from some Muslim countries, press speculation on subjects around international travel and immigration reached fever pitch. Daniel says this should not dissuade investors and hopeful immigrants. “There was a lot of media attention about America not wanting immigrants and that’s not true. I am a third generation immigrant from Sweden and the UK. 90% of Americans are immi-grants to some degree… EB-5 is legal immigration and it is supported by not only the administration, but its supported by 100% of the population at large.”

Despite the heated political background noise the basics for international investment remained unchanged until COVID regulations impacted the US and the rest of the world in 2020.

“Because of our Diversified Fund Approach to EB-5 equity investment, our portfolio of projects have perform-ed much better than most. Once again, risk reduction and property type diversification is key to success in real estate development and investment.”

About the EB-5 Investor Visa

Over the last few years EB-5 has travelled via a winding route which has confused some investors, but Daniel Ryan now feels it has reached a good place which can be built upon for the future.

“We welcome the new and more stringent ‘Integrity Measures’ included in the recently approved EB-5 Regional Center Reauthorization legislation. We have been doing what is now required for years, and the industry and our investors will benefit from these adjustments. We welcome the change, and the change will filter out any remaining ‘bad actors’.”

Whatever the status, whatever the programme, Ryan always counsels of the possible perils for investors who do not fully comprehend what they are doing. “If investors do not properly investigate or understand the schemes that are being promoted to them as potential investors, their money could be at risk. Several people have lost significant portions of their investment and have, therefore, not been successful in their Green Card application due to investing in the wrong project with the wrong bad actors.”

Acting as a watchdog and improving lives is what motivated Ryan to join AAP and help investors to earn their Green Cards. “We are not the property developer; but rather a private equity fund money manager and watchdog for EB-5 investor’s investment and in making sure they obtain Green Cards. We have a proven track record with EB-5 Private Equity management and 100% approval rate for our investor’s receiving conditional and permanent Green Cards; return of principal on multiple offerings, received by our EB-5 investor’s by owing a limited partnership position in each of our diversified commercial real estate investment funds made up of 34 properties from mixed property investment types.”

There are many benefits to dual-citizenship. “I would say 90% of the people are doing this for their children and for their education. This is high quality public education at low to no cost, that’s a huge plus. The money you would spend on private schools here is what you can invest and receive returns on and educate your kids for free.”

Ryan is very proud of the clients who’ve taken advantage of the dual-citizenship awarded by the EB-5 visa programme. “We have some incredible stories of people who have come to America. The folks who end up coming to America have succeeded quite well and so have their kids, they end up becoming PhD holders.”

“Even from personal experience I know the value of the opportunity of immigrating to the US. I  lived in Africa, married a Malawian-born woman, then brought my wife and now five year-old daughter, who was also born in Malawi, back to the States. Since arriving back in 2018, my wife has finished a Master’s Degree in Professional Accounting from a high-quality, low-cost public university, and our daughter is now enrolled to start attending high-quality, low cost, public elementary school. In essence, doors have opened and and there are many opportunities for a bright future. By contrast, Malawi is the fifth poorest country in the world, so I’ve seen real poverty and what immigrating to the USA (or another developed country) can do help improve a family’s life.”

A diversified fund approach to EB-5 investing

Atlantic American Partners is dedicated to helping clients and their families achieve their immigration goals, while providing one of the safest investment solutions in the EB-5 industry. The team has well over 100 years of combined experience and have structured, completed, managed and exited investments through multiple business and economic cycles.

With a history of managing capital for banks, insurance companies and pension funds, AAP brings an institutional quality investment option, based on the principles of diversification and asset allocation. They have been sponsoring EB-5 investments since 2009, and mainly focus on the quality of projects rather than quantity of investors.

As a people and investment orientated company, AAP intentionally invests in smaller and more manageable projects which have a higher probability of success and profitability, With 100% project approvals to date this has helped over 700 families with their immigration process.

They are definitely NOT developers trying to raise money for their own projects, but rather a team of real estate investors and asset managers who source only the highest quality opportunities from some of the best developers in America and then negotiate terms that benefits investors.

AAP’s EB-5 Business Model is different from more traditional models. Clients invest into a diversified fund instead of the more traditional single asset investment entity model, so lowering the risk for investors. EB-5 investors own an equal share of all projects in the fund, and return of capital comes from across the portfolio of assets.

AAP does extensive due diligence of all aspects of these projects, conservatively underwriting and ensuring the key aspects of the programme’s stipulations are fulfilled, in particular the job creation requirements. This due diligence encompasses the absolute need for the projects to be market-driven and set up to respond to a clear need. AAP also stays actively involved in every step of the process and monitors construction and spending in the projects, with transparent, audited financial statements. The company prioritises and makes sure the needs of investors align with its own, the structure being set up to generate profits and incentivise return of capital and a structured exit.

Past successful AAP investments include Yoo on The Park, Atlanta, Nine 15 and 500 Harbour Island, Tampa, all luxury multi-family rental; and Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Rivers Run, Boone, North Carolina, both purpose built student housing at Appalachian State University.

AAP’s most recent offering is a university campus facility in Gainesville, Florida. ‘The Swamp’. With a record-setting 56,000+ students enrolled for Fall 2020, the University of Florida is a Power Five university, located in one of the fastest growing states in the country and the third largest state overall. The living space will have 181 one- to five-bedroom units with 604 total student bedrooms – located adjacent to the campus and football stadium. The units will be fully furnished for the students, with individual leases, study rooms, a computer lab, a student lounge, a rooftop amenity deck with swimming pool, a fitness centre and parking garage. With student numbers growing 1.3% annually, a strong market together with constrained land supply translates to 96% occupancy off campus, strong pre-leasing and rent growth.

AAP has made a $13.5m preferred equity investment, bridging 15 future EB-5 investors and the project is estimated to provide 444 jobs (29.6 jobs per investor).

“Our Diversified Fund Approach to  the EB-5 foreign investor process has a stellar track record and our portfolio of investments and team that make it all happen are getting stronger as we expand into the future.” 

Is EB-5 right for you? What are my next steps?
Find out more about the options available at www.atlanticamericanpartners.com