Kris Upton, 46, is president of the RPM Group, where he’s worked since 2003, and previously has served the company as treasurer, chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
Upton has a bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Arkansas and has studied at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He’s a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Commercial Investment Member and a licensed Realtor.
RPM Group is a holding company for several real estate operating companies, including Coldwell Banker RPM, RPM Commercial, RPM Management Co. and RPM Investments.
We understand that Rector Phillips Morse Inc. is doing some rebranding. Tell us about that.
We rebranded Rector Phillips Morse Inc. to the RPM Group for a couple of reasons. One, RPM will celebrate 60 years of doing business in Arkansas in 2016, which may be the longest run of any real estate firm in the state. We’re proud of our reputation as the most experienced real estate services provider in the marketplace and very appreciative of our clients and 300 employees and sales associates for making us the No. 1 firm over the years in total sales volume and closed transactions.
Two, our business has grown considerably in the past decade as we’ve entered into strategic franchising relationships in residential and commercial brokerage and structured a number of new joint venture investments.
Which of your lines of business show the most growth potential and why?
Our residential sales division, currently aligned with the national Coldwell Banker franchise, has great upside. We have a talented and experienced group of brokers who understand how to support sales agents, and we’re bullish on central Arkansas. The Little Rock MSA has grown by 20 percent since 2000 and is poised to surpass 1 million in the next few years. Seven of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the state are in this area, and we’ve positioned branch offices in six of these locations.
Also, demand for commercial and investment properties is at a seven-year high. We have a strong track record of successful investment management that produced four decades of annualized double-digit returns for hundreds of investors in the RPM Realty Fund.
What external factors are you watching and how do these affect your business plan?
Service to clients and associates is our business plan. Right now, I’m focused on the real and perceived value of franchise relationships and whether decisions made at the national level enrich the value proposition we offer to associates. We continually seek out and refine the most competitive combination of compensation and support services to help agents grow their business.
At one time big data tool sets empowered a competitive advantage, or at least that was the perception. Fast-forward to today and search optimization, virtual tours, creative marketing and lead routing engines are commonplace. And with a target audience of over 1 million real estate agents nationally, I expect a continuum of application development will essentially commoditize — and neutralize — advantages on this front. If this proves correct, or even if it doesn’t, the most accurate indicator of success as an independent sales contractor will always revert to quality of relationships and level of service.
Separately, we’re following the growth of crowdfunding platforms closely and evaluating best practices for online investing. Jumpstarted by passage of the Jobs Act, favorable amendments to securities regulations have produced an environment that welcomes emerging growth companies and smaller individual investors to the real estate investing table.