Justin Wang’s professional journey certainly hasn’t been devoid of challenges. The Founder and Managing Director of Property Investors Alliance (PIA) moved to Sydney as a Chinese migrant in the 90s, at the time working incredibly hard in a variety of roles just to make ends meet.
After putting in the hard yards for ten long years, he recalls he felt like he just couldn’t get ahead. “I needed to secure a better future for myself and my family,” he says. “In talking to people in my local community, I found this was not uncommon — many were continually concerned about their futures, struggling to navigate a path forward.”
Struggling to get ahead
With this in mind he decided it was time to forge his own destiny, to make something for himself in Australia’s biggest city. He noticed the property market in Sydney was strong so he started to invest in some small units. Before long he had accumulated a little property portfolio of his own. “When the market turned particularly difficult in 2003, I took time out to reflect, undertake further study, and consider my next steps,” Justin says.
“I spent a short time working for other real estate companies and I found that while there was an appetite to invest in property, there was a real lack of knowledge and confidence in the market. Plus there was a particularly strong distrust of real estate agents. I discovered there were very few people trying to help consumers navigate the property market and I knew I could play a pivotal role. I could be someone who could bring together supply and demand, but in a way that both sides were equally informed and came away with a positive experience. A win–win strategy.”
Transparent property investment for long-term wealth
Justin set out to create a property investment platform that was not only highly transparent and education- and consumer-orientated, but one that also focused on securing the future wealth of prospective investors and achieving their long-term wealth creation goals. This led to the foundation of PIA in 2005. Since then, the business has experienced year-on-year growth and in the 2016 financial year it hit a turnover of $1.6 billion.
“From operating as a sole employee in 2005, PIA now employs more than 400 staff,” Justin shares. “The business has expanded to include many new divisions and it has nearly 300 property sales consultants, all working tirelessly to create and foster long-term customer relationships. I am most proud of the culture and environment we have created for our employees and our clients.
“Our unique value proposition offers clients a vertically integrated property investment solution; clients can purchase a property, arrange finance, manage the settlement, resolve defects and even engage us to manage the property once it’s being rented. We streamline the entire process and make it far easier for investors. PIA is essentially a one-stop-shop for property investment.”
“I discovered there were very few people trying to help consumers navigate the property market and I knew
I could play a pivotal role.” – Justin Wang
For Justin, the focus now is on the long-term prosperity of the business. PIA is currently working with industry players on key issues such as housing affordability, supply and industry reform. “Property is often considered a slow moving industry when tackling fundamental change,” Justin says, “but PIA works to continually canvas industry partners and stakeholders to tackle the broader issues at play.
Keeping up ‘continual dialogue with the finance sector’
“We work closely with all stakeholders to achieve a successful outcome. Restrictions on foreign investment, investment caps and restrictive lending policies all mean that we at PIA are ever vigilant in ensuring continual dialogue with the finance sector — identifying any early or critical issues to ensure smooth settlements. Our business and client relationships are built upon transparency, education and knowledge sharing. This has served us well over the past decade, and continues to be a core area of focus. Finally, we will continue to expand our property investment and technology platform, extending our e-commerce platform.”
Thanks to its commitment to putting customers first and nurturing relationships, the future for PIA looks incredibly bright. It has been a successful innovator and operator in the Australian market for more than a decade and for the company to achieve its next goals for expansion and growth Justin knows he must secure the right partnerships. For this reason, in September, Justin returned to his home country of China. While there he discussed opportunities with successful entrepreneurs and companies across the finance, investment and property sectors in Beijing, and also attended The China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen.