Fairfield investment advisor rings Nasdaq closing bell

CINCINNATI - It’s not every day you get to ring the closing bell on Wall Street.

For Rik Saylor, that day is March 1, 2013.

“Have you ever had something in your life where you can’t stop smiling? I got a smile on my face right now that’s been there for two weeks,” said Saylor, founder of Rik Saylor Financial, a registered investment advisor based in Fairfield.

Saylor sold about $12 million in private-placement shares in American Realty Capital Trust III, Inc., a real estate investment trust that merged into a Nasdaq-traded company this week. The surviving company, American Capital Properties Inc., was invited to ring the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York’s Times Square.

Saylor was invited to join American Realty CEO Nicholas Schorsch in the Nasdaq closing bell ceremony, which is webcast live at http://www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsitetowervideo.asx and sometimes is carried live on business cable networks.

American Capital Properties invests in single-tenant commercial real estate properties, including drug stores, grocery stores, restaurants and distribution centers. The company raised millions from investors to buy properties when the real estate market was weak and capital scarce.

It’s one of several real estate investment companies established by Schorsch, who also partnered with Blue Ash based Phillips Edison & Co. to raise capital to purchase grocery-anchored strip centers.

Saylor liked the investment because it focused on necessity-based businesses that were likely to fulfill their lease terms.

“They were collecting revenue that was covering the dividend from day one,” he said. “I have to say it’s one of the best offerings I’ve ever seen in my career.”

Saylor sold shares at $10 each to roughly 90 clients last summer. He said they generated returns of more than 30 percent, including dividends. They all had the option of cashing out when the merger was finalized this week but chose to retain stock in the new company, which trades on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol, ARCP. It closed at $13.23 Feb. 28.

Saylor added one full-time employee and promote another because of increased demand from clients. He also doubled the size of his Nilles Road headquarters to 7,000-square-feet, building in a 50-seat classroom, radio and TV studio and an event center that looks like a sports bar for client use. All of which explains why Saylor has been smiling for two weeks.

"The smile is contagious," he said.