Best innovation by a bank, broker or futures commission merchant
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Deep crisis, deeper liquidity
Is bringing liquidity to a stilted market the definition of financial innovation? Certainly, it requires a good deal of nous to get out of a hole like the 2007 global housing crash if you’re an investor in an unlisted property fund.
But as with many of FOW’s Awards this year and last, those in the market who saw opportunities to find an innovative way out of a crisis have found rewards.
When the credit crunch really started to bite in the US, interdealer broker GFI Group saw an opportunity to reach investors willing to take hits on their unlisted property portfolios in exchange for seeing the return of liquidity.
In partnership with LA-headquartered international property adviser CB Richard Ellis, GFI set about creating an electronic auction mechanism for real estate.