Why Accredited Investors Trust the Integrity Income Fund: A Deep Dive with Jamie Bateman and Marc Blunden
Episode Details
Transcript
In this episode, our host Jamie Bateman and senior fund manager Marc Blunden dive deep into the details of the Integrity Income Fund. This fund is designed for accredited passive investors, offering a lower-risk investment backed by first lien mortgage notes on residential real estate. The discussion covers the benefits, potential risks, and unique features of the fund.
Key Highlights:
- Fund Focus: Accredited passive investors with opportunities for non-accredited active mortgage note investors.
- Track Record: Operational for over 2 years without missing a single payment; monthly investor distributions.
- Investment Strategy: No leverage used; investments in first lien mortgage notes—considered lower risk.
- Liquidity & Commitment: Short commitment period of only 12 months compared to other funds.
- Management Team Expertise: Extensive experience in managing non-performing assets and foreclosure situations.
Benefits of Investing:
1. No Leverage Used: Lower risk profile as no loans are taken out by the fund itself.
2. Monthly Distributions: Preferred return targeted at 8% annually with consistent monthly payouts.
3. High Liquidity: One-year minimum commitment allows relatively easy withdrawal after that period.
4. Experienced Management Team: Proven track record in managing complex loan situations.
Investment Process:
1. Schedule a call or express interest viaLabrador Lending.
2. Review necessary documents (PPM, subscription agreement).
3. Confirm accreditation status as an investor.
4. Execute documents and initiate wire transfer to start earning returns.
Case Studies Highlighted:
1. A heavily delinquent note turned performing through borrower modification—resulting in increased asset value and stable cash flow.
2. Conversion from contract-for-deed to traditional mortgage note—providing immediate equity to homeowners while reducing management headaches.
Investing through self-directed IRAs can provide significant tax advantages when paired with such income-generating assets like those offered by the Integrity Income Fund.
For more detailed information or to begin your investment journey with us, visit Labrador Lending and click on "Invest with us."
Connect with Marc Blunden
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-blunden/
Integrity Income Fund:
https://investors.appfolioim.com/labradorlending/investor/submit_interest/5
—
Labrador Mentorship:
https://labradorlending.com/investors/active-investors/
—
Haven Financial Services:
Learn more: https://jamie.myfinancialhaven.com/
—
Purchase Jamie’s Book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGTWJY1D?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
—
Leave us a REVIEW: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-adversity-to-abundance/id1618672867?mt=2&ls=1
https://www.adversity2abundance.com/reviews/new/
—
Podpage:
Calling all aspiring podcasters and seasoned pros! Transform your podcast with a stunning website in minutes. Sign up for Podpage today to effortlessly grow your audience with our easy-to-use tools.
Sign up here: https://www.podpage.com/?via=jamie-bateman
Connect with us
Website: https://www.adversity2abundance.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089126144055
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adversitytoabundancepodcast/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/89949391/admin/feed/posts/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FromAdversity2AbundancePodcast
Connect with Jamie
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-bateman-5359a811/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/batemanjames
Speaker 0
Alright. In this episode, you're gonna get a chance to hear what our Integrity Income Fund can do for you if you are an accredited investor. Mark Blunden, my senior fund manager, and I go through the details of the Integrity Income Fund and why it may be a a great fit for you. This fund serves accredited passive investors. We also do have potential opportunities for non accredited passive investors, and we do serve, non accredited active mortgage loan investors through our mentorship program. But in this episode, you're gonna hear all about the benefits of the Integrity Income Fund. The fund has been operational for over two years, almost two and a half years. We've not missed a single payment. We do investor distributions monthly, and you'll hear some of the, pros and some of the cons to the fund. And so you can determine whether this investment opportunity could fit your your needs. Very briefly, at a high level, some of the perks to investing in this fund are that we take on no leverage. We invest in first lien mortgage notes. And, therefore, in the grand scheme of things, it's a very it's a it's a lower risk investment. Your investment capital is not subject to the ups and downs and the swings of the stock market, and there is hard collateral that's backing your investment in the form of residential real estate. Again, we have a strong track record in the fund itself as well as beyond the fund with our management team. And, one of the other perks about our integrity income fund as compared to a lot of other mortgage note funds and similar, credit funds is that we have a a short commitment of only twelve months. So if you have capital that you're not sure what you're gonna do with, you wanna park your capital with us, receive monthly payments, and maybe in a year from now you wanna you have a different use case for that money, there's no issue with, getting your funds back. So it's a relatively liquid fund when compared to many other similar funds out there. Again, this fund is for accredited investors, and this presentation that Mark Blunden and I give should not be construed as legal or financial advice, and all investments do carry risk. Enjoy the episode. Speaker 1
Welcome to From Adversity to Abundance, the go to podcast for real estate entrepreneurs seeking not just to thrive, but to conquer with resilience and mental sharpness. Each week, join us as we dive into the compelling world of real estate through the lens of mental fitness, where challenges transform into opportunities. Get ready to transform your mindset and expand your understanding of what it takes to succeed in real estate. Let's explore these stories of triumph and resilience together. Speaker 0
Welcome, everyone. My name is Jamie Bateman, and I am joined by my senior fund manager, Mark Blunden. We are here to provide an overview of our Integrity Income Fund, which is for accredited investors. We're gonna get into a little bit of our background, so I won't go too far into introductions here. But, Mark, briefly, who are you and how are you doing today? Speaker 2
Hi, Jamie. Thank you. I am, as you said, the senior fund manager at Integrity Income Fund. Been in the mortgage notice space for about a decade in various roles from document custody to fund management to servicing, and it's great to be here today. Speaker 0
Absolutely. Alright. K. You can take this one. Speaker 2
Here's our disclaimer. We're not gonna read through it, but just be aware that all investments carry risk. We're not an investment adviser, and you should seek legal advice for your investments. And you can pause if you want to read through it. Speaker 0
Alright. So our Integrity Income Fund management team, this is, more on the ops side of things. We you can read about me there, and and you can go to our website and read even more about me if you'd like to. I've been a real estate an active real estate investor since two thousand ten and, have held various leadership roles, within the Department of Defense, in the military, etcetera, and, have been actively investing in mortgage notes since two thousand eighteen. And this has been, my primary focus since then. Also have started and run a a loan servicing company, which has given me quite a bit of experience, and, this is my second note fund that I have managed. Mark already introduced himself and gave a little bit of his background. Mark, did you wanna add anything there? Speaker 2
Yeah. I could add that I'm currently a real estate agent in California and also been consulting with loan servicing companies lately. Speaker 0
Absolutely. Both relevant. And Raj is, does a lot of, back end work for us, and she's been with the team for almost a year and a half and does a fantastic job, making us look good. Speaker 2
Yes. Speaker 0
Alright. Next slide. Go ahead. Speaker 2
Okay. And then to continue with the team, we have Aliza who is an administrative assistant and helps out with marketing. She brings a lot of experience with content creation. And then we have Jess Gold. She is our marketing specialist. She brings a wealth of experience in digital marketing and content creation. We're really lucky to have both of them on board. And then we have our company mascot, Bluebeam. Speaker 0
That's right. Alright. So getting to the the meat of the presentation, which you all may care about a little bit more than the information about the team. But, our our we launched this fund over two years ago in June of twenty twenty two. We, had been working on the fund in the beginning parts of twenty twenty two. We actually activated the fund in June. You can see more of the details, about the fund here. The fund is for accredited investors, and it is an income fund. It's not a growth fund. So we're focused on producing monthly distributions, preferred returns to our passive investors, and we've done so we'll get into this. We've done so consistently for the entire period that the fund has been operational. The fund has a one year minimum commitment. So upon, twelve months, you can request your funds back, and we have, in all cases, delivered those funds back well within, the time frame a lot allotted. It's an evergreen fund, so there's not a a determined predetermined end to the fund. So the fund just keeps keeps going and keeps, producing income. We target a preferred return for our investors of eight percent annually. And, again, those distributions are are made monthly, and we've made them each month since the beginning of the fund. Again, targeted eight percent annually, and we'll get into some more of the reasons to invest in the fund in a minute. Speaker 2
Okay. Fund objectives. So fund acquires assets with the goal to effectively deploy all proceeds as quickly as possible. Our goal is to preserve and protect everybody's contributed capital. That's number one. Our goal, as Jamie just mentioned, is to provide members, investors, with a targeted eight percent return, which is paid monthly. We also aim to generate excess cash flow or profits and then, of course, provide investors with full return of capital that they contribute upon liquidation of their individual investments or upon liquidation of the fund. Speaker 0
That's right. Okay. So we invest primarily in first lien mortgage notes. This has been my wheelhouse and our wheelhouse, for for years now. First lien mortgage notes, senior debt on owner occupied single family residences. We do occasionally buy contracts for deed. We do occasionally buy land notes. We do occasionally lend. And so we have some discretion with regard to our buy box, if you will, as far as the assets owned by the fund and the assets that we invest in. But our wheelhouse and our bread and butter, it's first lien mortgage notes, and there are a lot of reasons for that. We purchase assets nationwide. Oftentimes, that that's actually limited by where the where the notes are available. And so, we've purchased notes in well over twenty states, probably twenty five at this point. And this fund in particular is aimed is is, the goal is to invest in performing and reperforming or income generating assets. So we may, on occasion, purchase a nonperforming or subperforming loan, but that's not the, primary makeup of the assets of this fund. Mark, anything to add here? Speaker 2
No. I think that covers it well. Speaker 0
K. Okay. Go ahead. Speaker 2
So a little bit more about our background. So Jamie, as he mentioned, he's been in the space for a long time, actively buying, managing, and selling mortgage notes and servicing over two hundred and fifty notes, principal balances of around thirty million across more than thirty states. As I mentioned, I've been in the space about a decade, and I've also been heavily involved in acquisition management and disposition of mortgage notes. Speaker 0
Absolutely. Alright. So as I mentioned, the Integrity Income Fund, we have an excellent track record with consistency, of monthly payouts, and distributions for our investors. Just a a hypothetical example, if you invest fifty thousand dollars over two years, you can see here how much income would would be generated, presuming we, the the fund performs as we anticipate and as as we have shown it has thus far. Again, no guarantees. There are risks with all investment all investments, but this track record is something that we are absolutely proud of. Frankly, there are a lot of funds and syndications that are struggling right now, whether we're talking about note funds or not. I know of several funds that have paused distributions or, you know, real estate syndications that have gone, are requesting are putting into effect capital calls, etcetera. So a disruption of performance for the investor, and we feel that our fund, while it does carry risk, is certainly on the safer end of the spectrum, and we'll get into, more of that here in a in a minute. Speaker 2
Okay. And just to follow on from that, you can see a couple of charts on this slide. The chart in the top left corner just shows the monthly payout for three different investments, And the chart in the bottom left shows the cumulative payout for those three different investments, twenty five thousand, fifty thousand, and a hundred thousand. Speaker 0
And just to be clear, these payments are interest only payments. So the entire principal is kept invested in the fund. This is a pretty straightforward fund, all things considered. There's no option to compound or reinvest your distributions. The distributions are made, interest only, and the principal is preserved in the fund. Mhmm. Alright. So key reasons to invest in the Integrity Income Fund. Our fund does not take on any leverage. So there may be some other note funds out there, frankly, that may be offering a higher targeted preferred return. A lot of those are able to do that because they take on debt. So although we buy debt, we don't actually take on any leverage in our fund. In other words, we don't take on any loans as a borrower to juice the returns, so to speak. So that creates a lower risk profile for the fund and for the passive investor. We have a strong management team as we've already covered. We have a lot of experience in managing nonperforming assets. Currently, our nonperforming note fund is wrapping up. We have a lot of experience in dealing with foreclosures, bankruptcies, first lien, second lien, lots of messy situations. And, that's why we feel quite confident that if and when some of these assets do go nonperforming for a brief period of time, hopefully, we have plenty of experience in dealing with those those scenarios. Also, we do have co investment in alignment. I personally am invested in the fund as a limited partner or investor. There's clear diversification in this portfolio, that's that comes in many forms, comes geographically, and, also with borrower type and even asset class as we went over a little bit earlier. We offer a relatively high yield, targeted yield, and there's a relatively low risk in relation to other investments as you can see here in the capital stack, graphic to the right. Again, there's always risk, but in comparison to some other asset classes out there, senior debt on owner occupied properties with no leverage, it comes at a a pretty pretty low on the risk profile in the in the capital stack. Investor friendly open ended fund structure like we covered, and, again, we covered the short time commitment already. Speaker 2
Okay. Investor characteristics. What do you need in order to invest in the fund? You need to be an accredited investor, and, hopefully, you'll be looking for steady, relatively high yielding investment with relatively low risk and targeted monthly payments. And maybe you're also looking for a short time commitment. Our lockup period is just one year, and that's low by industry standards. So if that's what you're looking for, the Integrity Income Fund could be a a great fit. And then, of course, you're looking for capital protection. As we mentioned, all assets are backed by US residential real estate. We've also got non dilutive as another feature of the funds, so new capital is quickly deployed into interest bearing assets. And as Jamie mentioned, we don't have we don't use any leverage to acquire assets. Speaker 0
Yeah. And those two bullets that Mark skipped over, I think they really should be sub bullets under the assets backed by US real estate, bullet. And, essentially, what we're trying to say here is the the assets the collateral that is is backing these, notes that we purchase. So the real estate that's backing the notes that we purchase is substantially higher in value than the note itself, and that provides a level of protection, because of that that collateral and that equity that's standing that's backing the note that we purchase. And, yeah. So so, again, always risk, but this is fairly low on the risk spectrum, all things considered. Anything else to add here, Mark? Speaker 2
No. No. No. That's it. Speaker 0
Alright. Not gonna go through each one of these, but we have a a robust team and set of, vendors and people we work with. This can be serviced loan servicers, attorneys, in different states. Again, this type of thing is always changing, quite frankly, and this is why you if you're gonna be an active note investor, you've gotta really be, you know, plugged into the, kind of the the industry as far as who who's doing well, who's not, who's who's responsive, who's not, who's providing a high level of service, who's not, and we're on top of this, every day. So, this slide could look very different in six months from now, but this is a snapshot of some of the vendors, who we work with. Okay. So some of the reasons to invest either in a note fund or in notes in general. This is an alternative asset class, so it's not your typical stocks and bonds. So it's insulated from a lot of the volatility of the stock market and, some of the other markets, frankly. Your investment is backed by brick and mortar, so so we are purchasing as we covered first lien mortgage notes backed by US residential real estate, and investing in notes can be passive. And one way probably the most passive way to invest in mortgage notes is through a fund like the Integrity Income Fund. One thing that we really enjoy, about investing in mortgage notes is the fact that we often have a very positive social impact. So we're able to work with borrowers who this is their home, and, you know, we're not trying to kick people out of their homes. We will use foreclosure, as a last resort if need be, but we'd much prefer to work with a borrower and keep them in their home. And, honestly, that's typically more profitable for us as investors and for the fund as a whole anyway. As a side note, I just did a a case study presentation a couple of weeks ago on the be the bank podcast. That's something if you're really interested in the social impact and how we were able to keep actually, in that case, we were able to rescue kids from a bad situation. But the fact that we have this discretion as active managers of mortgage notes, essentially as the lender or the bank in working with these borrowers is a is a real positive thing about this asset class. And you can read that second, bullet there. Essentially, we're we're trying to work toward a win win for the borrowers and us as investors. Multiple exit strategies. Again, I covered the fact that we have a lot of experience in dealing with nonperforming notes, and, we can't always predict exactly how each note is gonna go. We do thorough due diligence and and underwriting on the borrower, the property, and the paper, but we can't always control exactly how it's gonna go. The fact is, though, if we purchase correctly, we're okay with pivoting and going toward a different exit strategy depending on how things unfold, and we have a lot of experience in that area. So notes in general allow you to be a the lean lean lord versus a landlord. It's a little bit more passive, in that sense. And one of the greatest things about investing in a note fund, like ours is that you can invest through your self directed IRA, and a lot of people don't even know that a self directed IRA is a thing. Any, self directed retirement account you can use to invest in mortgage notes and in our integrity income fund, and we've worked with numerous IRA custodians and have lots of experience in that arena. Quickly on that point, mortgage notes inherently don't offer any tax advantages, and that's why pairing investing in mortgage notes with a self directed account can be a powerful combination. K, Mark. Speaker 2
Okay. Here are some macroeconomic considerations for, investing in a no fund. So we're we're relatively insulated from external factors such as interest rates, inflation, and income levels. As Jamie hinted at, we're insulated from stock market volatility or bond market volatility, and that volatility is much higher than, in the stock market than it is in real estate and notes. So relatively safe in that regard. Real estate has historically been a good hedge against inflation over the long term. And by extension, notes mortgage notes are as well since they're backed by residential real estate. And if a loan turns nonperforming, our fund management team has significant experience dealing with such loans as we talked about earlier in the presentation. Speaker 0
And one thing I would just wanna add to the third bullet is that with performing notes where the borrowers are actually making payments, the value of the note itself over time goes down. But in general, the value of that collateral goes up. And so what that allows for is equity protection. So since you're not, as an investor in this fund, purchasing an individual note, you may not care as much about the the value of the note going down. But what you do care about is the protection of your capital and preservation of your capital. And so over time, the assets that we purchase and that we invest in actually get less risky, because of that equity protection that is inherent in this asset class. Alright. So note fund FAQs. Again, we've covered some of this already. When you invest in a note fund, you're making a passive investment, and we you're leaving the management of the notes, to us as the experienced fund management team. When you're actively buying notes, that's a different, different thing entirely. Some people do both. I do both, but they're different, they're different. So, a lot of, frankly, a lot of gurus out there like to, paint the picture that all note investing is passive, and that's just not true. We do a lot of work on our end in managing these assets, and that is so that you don't have to. There are risk factors in with any investment like we've covered, but there's a lot of diversification, when you're investing in a fund as compared to putting all of your eggs in one basket and buying a a single note. And, again, we covered the fact that an IRA is a great way, a great vehicle to invest capital into a note fund. Here are some of the pros and cons, to investing in a note fund as compared to mutual funds. Alright. Case study one. We've just got two case studies very quickly for you. These are intended to simply give you a high level snapshot of the type of asset that we invest in and that we purchase in the Integrity Income Fund. Although these notes are actually owned by the Integrity Income Fund at this time, these are just example, case studies. Mark, can you handle this first case study? Speaker 2
Sure. So this first one is on a property in New York, and we bought a heavily delinquent nonperforming note, and our strategy was to modify that note. So the end result, we enabled the borrower to stay in their home, get back on track, and start, performing. We significantly increased the balance of the note by incorporating a lot of the fees, charges, and accrued interest, unpaid interest into the principal balance. We generated consistent cash flow for the fund, and we ended up with a much more valuable and liquid or saleable asset should we wish to sell it. Yeah. Exactly. Some some data points. The UPB went up from thirty to thirty five thousand. We did a pretty significant debt forgiveness for this borrower, twenty thousand dollars of charges and fees. But what's the the key point here is that we purchased this note for five k, and we're able to, liquidate it for twenty one thousand five hundred. Speaker 0
Exactly. And just this is again, just gives you a snapshot of the type of asset that we like to purchase and how we like to keep borrowers in their homes. In this case, there was a lot of communication between the borrower and, actually, there was an inspector that went out into the property, and the borrower indicated he wanted to speak to the lender. And, the the servicer just hadn't done a good job of communicating with the borrower, and so there was a lot of opportunity here to work with the borrower who was very motivated to stay in his home. He's been on consistent scheduled ACH ever since for for several years now since the modification occurred. And so, again, yes, we forgave a lot, and but but in the end, we kept the borrowers in their home and, produced a much more valuable asset in the note itself. Case study two, I'm gonna fly through. It's hard to read this, graphic, but, essentially, what we did with this this, contract for deed or land contract was that we converted it to a note in mortgage, which instantly provides equity to the occupant, or the the, buyer of the home and, also lowers our risk and our level of headache and work, that is inherently associated with CFDs or contracts for deeds. So we were able to work with the borrower. In this case, keep the same, terms, meaning the same principal and interest each month, same payment amount, but convert from a contract for deed to a mortgage note in Michigan. And, again, that adds value to the note itself so that when we go to sell this note, it has more value, and it instantly provides immediate, home ownership and equity to that to to the occupant. K, Mark. Speaker 2
Alright. So here's a an overview of the investment process for the fund. So step one would be to, schedule a call with the management team or notify us of your interest, and you can easily do that by heading to our website and clicking on the big invest now button. Speaker 0
Yep. Labrador lending dot com is where you wanna head and click invest now and submit, your information, and we will get back to you. Speaker 2
Yes. Thank you. And then more formal procedure would then be to review the the fund documents, the private placement memorandum subscription agreement. You'd confirm that you are an accredited investor, which is, important for this fund. You then execute your, fund documents. You'd initiate wire of monies over to the fund, and then you'd be earning your targeted eight percent monthly return. Speaker 0
Exactly. And we walk you through this process, so it may look a little bit overwhelming at this point. But we will hold your hand through this process, and we also, like I mentioned, we work with many different IRA custodians, if you're investing with through a custodian. So first thing is to head over to labrador lending dot com and click invest now to get started. And that would be it. Mark, anything to add? Speaker 2
No. I don't think so. I think we covered all of the main points, and we're excited to hear from some of our viewers. Speaker 0
Absolutely. Well, thanks for joining us, everyone. This has been great. We appreciate your time. Take care. Speaker 1
Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance. We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice to elevate your real estate journey. For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w dot adversity to abundance dot com. If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could also benefit from our conversation. Together, let's turn adversity into abundance. Until next time, keep building your mental fitness and your real estate empire. 
