Sterling Management

What Sterling Management does

Sterling Management, LLC is a Fargo, North Dakota-based private advisory firm founded in 2003 that serves as the external advisor to two SEC-registered, non-traded real estate investment trusts: Sterling Multifamily Trust and Sterling Office & Industrial Trust. As advisor, the firm is responsible for asset management, accounting, marketing, investor relations, financial analysis, acquisitions and dispositions across the two vehicles, and additionally runs in-house construction, project management, and building engineering functions that operate the underlying real estate. The firm's property footprint spans 17 states, primarily through the central corridor of the United States and concentrated in the Upper Midwest, making Sterling Management one of the larger REIT advisors in that region.

The company generates revenue by advising the two affiliated REITs, charging fees tied to managing each portfolio's multifamily residential and net-leased office/industrial assets on behalf of individual investors who buy into the non-traded vehicles. The go-to-market is direct and relationship-driven: the firm runs an investor relations function that liaises between corporate management and individual investors, uses a Computershare-hosted investor login portal for transaction processing, and provides deal and property information through its corporate website. Pricing and advisory fee schedules are not publicly disclosed. End customers of the REITs are individual investors seeking income-producing real estate exposure with reliable dividends and portfolio diversification; the firm's direct paying clients are the two REIT vehicles themselves.

Operationally, Sterling Management employs roughly 11–50 people organized into a full leadership team including a CEO (Ken Regan), President (Megan Schreiner), General Counsel & Secretary, Chief Investment Officer, Chief of Staff, Chief People Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, and senior VPs covering Commercial Portfolio, Acquisitions, Real Estate, Finance, Construction, and Accounting & Financial Reporting for both multifamily and commercial lines. The firm discloses no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML capabilities, no API, and no app products — its competitive position is built on integrated in-house operating capability and regional brand recognition rather than software or data assets.

Name

Sterling Management

Legal name

Sterling Management, LLC

Website

https://sretrust.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sterling Management is a Fargo-based private LLC that serves as advisor to two SEC-registered non-traded REITs — Sterling Multifamily Trust and Sterling Office & Industrial Trust — managing income-producing real estate across 17 states for individual investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. REIT Advisory Services: Sterling Management serves as the advisor to two REITs, responsible for managing all matters including asset management, accounting, marketing, investor relations, financial analysis, acquisitions and dispositions. The company generates revenue through advisory fees for managing the Sterling Multifamily Trust and Sterling Office & Industrial Trust portfolios.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sterling Management, LLC serves as the advisor to two real estate investment trusts (REITs)—Sterling Multifamily Trust and Sterling Office & Industrial Trust—managing all matters including asset management, accounting, marketing, investor relations, financial analysis, acquisitions, and dispositions. The firm manages properties across 17 states primarily in the central corridor/Upper Midwest of the United States, providing individual investors access to income-producing commercial real estate through a full-service investment firm structure.

Product overview

Sterling Management operates as a unified REIT advisory platform managing two distinct real estate investment trusts: Sterling Multifamily Trust (focused on multifamily residential properties) and Sterling Office & Industrial Trust (focused on office and industrial commercial properties). The company provides integrated comprehensive services including asset management, accounting, investor relations, financial analysis, and real estate acquisitions—all delivered under one roof through its full-service investment firm structure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sterling Multifamily Trust: A real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on multifamily properties providing stable cash flow and reliable dividends to investors.
• Sterling Office and Industrial Trust

Products and services

• Sterling Multifamily Trust

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Inland Real Estate Group: One of the largest non-traded REIT sponsors and advisors in the US, with a multi-vehicle, multi-property-type structure highly analogous to Sterling's model of serving as advisor to multiple REITs across diversified real estate strategies.
• CNL Financial Group: Long-standing alternative investment firm that has sponsored and advised numerous non-traded REITs across real estate sectors, with an advisor platform model directly comparable to Sterling Management.
• Black Creek Group: Real estate investment firm that sponsors and manages multiple non-traded REITs across industrial, office, multifamily, and retail, with an advisor role structure closely mirroring Sterling Management's relationship with its two REIT vehicles.
• Griffin Capital: Alternative investment sponsor that advises multiple non-traded REITs and interval funds, providing a directly comparable multi-vehicle advisor business model with similar distribution and asset-management focus.
• Lightstone: Privately held real estate company that sponsors and advises multiple REITs and real estate funds across hospitality, residential, and commercial property types — a directly comparable multi-REIT advisor business model.
• KBS Realty Advisors: Private real estate investment advisor that sponsors and manages institutional and non-traded REIT vehicles, with a vertically integrated platform and investor-relations function paralleling Sterling's structure.

Broad incumbents

• W. P. Carey: Large, publicly traded net-lease REIT with a historical advisor arm. While much larger and more diversified, its business model — owning/managing income-producing commercial real estate via a publicly distributed structure — overlaps with Sterling's advisor-and-REIT platform.
• AvalonBay Communities: Large publicly traded multifamily REIT. While Sterling is an advisor rather than a REIT, the Sterling Multifamily Trust is a direct competitor for capital and assets in the multifamily sector AvalonBay dominates.
• Realty Income: Industry-leading publicly traded net-lease REIT. Although Sterling's office/industrial strategy is similar in tenant type, Realty Income operates at a vastly larger scale and serves as a broad incumbent in the income-REIT category Sterling targets.

Emerging players

• Gladstone Commercial Corporation: Smaller publicly traded REIT focused on office and industrial net-leased properties — directly overlapping with the Sterling Office & Industrial Trust thesis, though at a smaller scale and with public-market distribution rather than Sterling's private advisor model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sterling-management-llc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sterling Management