Posted on Oct 29, 2021 in
COVER STORY
Team Dhanani: Aisha Chanda, Ahsan Daredia, Omoniyi Akindoju, Narmeen Walji, Muhammad Aslam Ansari, Nikhil Dhanani, Ola Akindoju, Nick Dhanani, Bimbo Akindoju, Ali Wadhwani, Innara Velani, Adedoyin Siwoniku and Jaiedan Correa.
FOCUS COVER STORY | By M.G. Angulo
Photos by Kelley Sweet Photography –
Larger institutions may consider Dhanani Private Equity Group (DPEG) to be a minor syndicate, but its CEO and founder, Nadyrshah “Nick” Dhanani, would firmly caution against such an assumption. Especially considering the private equity group’s remarkable returns to its investors.
Since 2011 Dhanani Private Equity Group has been operating in real estate development and private equity while offering investors the chance at equity partnerships in researched, feasible and high-return projects. In the years since its launch, the company has acquired and developed a range of properties in high-traffic areas. To date, the company has built hotels, developed 50-plus shopping centers, another 50-plus convenience stores, and recently added multifamily property developments to its repertoire.
Team Dhanani conferring on a project at their Houston-based headquarters.
The company’s first completed multifamily project, The Territory at Greenhouse in Katy, Texas, resulted in an internal rate of return or IRR of 30% for its investors. In the last decade, with 100-plus projects, “Nothing has gone south,” Dhanani said. “My profit is all over the map.” The lowest return to date is 7.7% and the highest is 137%, but Dhanani remains both honest and humble about those examples.
“Those returns, the lowest and the highest, are not common. Those are not happening all the time,” he said. “Our typical sweet spot is in the 20% to 35% IRR return.”
In its initial years, the deals DPEG made were worth a couple of million dollars, but it did not take long for the deals to get bigger year over year and gain momentum and increase.
The first jump was to the five million dollar project range, followed by gigantic leaps of $25 million and then $75 million projects. The DPEG team most recently launched a $91 million project, the largest in the company’s history.
“I would like to see my company on a larger platform – to keep it growing, to keep adding more people to our investor group.” Dhanani also pressed that the priority, without question, is to continue increasing his investors’ investment returns within a three to five year time frame.
Under his management and vision, DPEG, as a company, has more than $700 million in assets under management and remains vigilant in searching for opportunities to help its investors maintain capital and reach their financial goals.
“We may not look like the larger institutions,” Dhanani said. “But we act like it.”
Standing Taller Than the Rest
Dhanani Private Equity Group’s Leadership Team: Nick Dhanani, Ali Wadhwani and Nikhil Dhanani.
Dhanani did not just want DPEG to stand out from the crowd; he wanted it to rise above it: “Our company stands on a three-legged stool that lets us stand taller than the crowd,” he said.
First, Dhanani Private Equity Group does not charge promote fees, which allows investors’ bottom line to be maximized on every project. “The bottom line is the most important thing to consider, because that is what I pass onto my investors.”
Secondly, the company thrives on transparency. “We share our bank statements with our investors every month,” Dhanani said, stressing the importance of trust when developing a track record as a private equity group.
And bringing in the last guide of DPEG’s approach as a private equity group is its support of collective decision making. “It is a true partnership with us,” Dhanani said.
As a salt-of-the-earth kind of man, Dhanani sees his role as CEO as a profound responsibility. “My job,” he said earnestly, “is to educate people about what wealth is, and how I’m taking their money and converting it into more money and wealth for them.”
Dhanani started with educating his family, then his friends and associates in his circle about capital, investments and savings. “This company wasn’t planned,” he said. “It was born out of helping people.”
Dhanani’s mindset anchored itself in each aspect of the company and fuels his philosophy behind what a “good deal” means. “If everyone wins and the bottom line makes sense, then it is a good deal. With us, everyone joins hands in doing bigger and better deals.”
And this approach is working for the Houston-based private equity group. For example, Dhanani recalled the difficulty of raising money in his company’s infancy. “Now it’s like a cakewalk,” he said. “For one project, I was able to raise $17 million in 32 minutes.” For this $91 million deal DPEG just launched, the company raised $37 million in four to six hours.
Such a strong response in raising capital, he stressed, is because of DPEG’s impressive track record, its impact on the local economy and the relationship it is building with the community. When DPEG was building apartment complexes, “almost 200 contractors were working every day,” and because of the demand for material, “a lot of local, small businesses got our support,” Dhanani said.
DPEG also decided that when they exit a project, a portion of the proceeds will fund the company’s foundation. “God has given us so much, and we need to raise our hand in support,” Dhanani said. “Our checkbook is open for our community.”
The Salt of the Earth
Adedoyin Siwoniku, Omoniyi Akindoju and Nikhil Dhanani.
Like countless souls around the planet, when the pandemic hit, Dhanani Private Equity Group faced terrifying times just like any other company. But Dhanani ensured his company would persevere. Not only were safety and business protocols implemented to protect investors and team members, when any of his team members, who he refuses to call employees, are in a dire situation, he reaches out like a family member.
“They are not my employees; they are my family, and this is how I treat them,” he kindly explained.
During the recent storm that caused a few of his team members to be without water, Dhanani immediately invited them to his home. They arrived, but sensing they would be more comfortable in a hotel, Dhanani booked their rooms. “They are my family,” he said. “If they are suffering, I don’t like it.”
That support is not limited to the DPEG team, however. During the onset of the pandemic, DPEG reached out to tenants at their rental properties to assure them they would not lose the roof over their heads because of their loss of income.
“I told them: ‘We are married,’” Dhanani said. “In a marriage, one spouse cannot be happy if the other spouse is not.” So Dhanani worked out a plan that allowed tenants a rent-free break for a few months and then stretched out the outstanding balance in reasonable terms.
“We stretched it out with $20 or $25 pay back a month with no interest,” Dhanani said. “And that’s no big deal, no big deal at all. I told them, as desperately as they needed their space, I desperately needed them.”
He paused thoughtfully: “And all of the tenants are happy and back on track.”
Secure Your Future
It could be Dhanani’s humble beginnings that make him the type of CEO that he is — a man who wants to help as many people as possible “build their wealth and their futures.”
After immigrating to Houston in the 1980s, Dhanani began working as a night cashier at a convenience store. He had plans of running his own company and after a few years of experience, he began to buy and operate his own stores. He then took proceeds from those businesses and began investing in real estate and developing properties — and that is how DPEG came into existence.
When sharing his origins of progressing from an associate to CEO of a booming private equity group, Dhanani’s tone is one of encouragement, and whoever he is speaking with feels his honest desire to build financial foundations for his investors.
Dhanani does not speak with gimmicky catchphrases or promises of quick, massive returns. While he takes pride in his work, he is not boastful. While notably successful, he is not greedy. He is, however, happy at the lucrative returns for his investors. Dhanani Private Equity Group is set to close more than $250 million in deals in 2021 alone.
“Whether it is with me or with someone else, please do it, invest,” Dhanani stressed. “Don’t spend all of your money. Continue to earn money, invest it first and live off the remaining funds.”
“Spend only a little bit,” he advised. “Slowly and surely you will be able to secure your future one investment at a time. It takes steps, small steps, but this will solidify your foundation, and you’ll be on your way to financial freedom.”
For more information about Dhanani Private Equity Group, visit dhananipeg.com.
