Hospitality Income Units (HIUs)

Transforming hotel cashflows into tradable securities

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The Market Gap We're Solving

Structural Illiquidity

Hotel operating income is predictable but rarely securitized. Owners monetize cashflows indirectly through debt or equity, episodically through refinancing or sales.

Limited Investment Options

Investors must choose between illiquid private equity (multi-year lockups) or public REITs (equity market beta with limited asset-level visibility).

Missing Instrument

No direct, standardized, risk-adjusted, tradable claims on hotel income streams exist in the market today.

What Is an HIU?

Asset HIU

First-priority interest in a defined percentage of property-level NOI for a named hotel or tight pool. Senior claim after taxes and essential OpEx.

  • Direct NOI exposure
  • Defined cash waterfall
  • Reserve protections

Operator Performance Note

Pass-through interest in management and franchise fees from defined contract sets with step-down protections based on performance thresholds.

  • Base + incentive fees
  • Score-based protections
  • Contract diversification

Cash Waterfall Structure

1

Gross Hotel Receipts

All revenue from hotel operations including rooms, F&B, and ancillary services

2

Statutory Taxes

Required tax payments and regulatory fees

3

Essential OpEx

Critical operating expenses needed to maintain operations

4

Reserve Accounts

Seasonality and CapEx reserves with formulaic funding requirements

5

HIU Distribution

Pro-rata distributions to HIU holders

6

Equity Residual

Remaining cash flows to property owners

Bay Street's Quantamental Framework

AHA (Alpha-Hospitality-Adjusted)

Deal IRR minus hospitality benchmark minus illiquidity premium. Measures risk-adjusted returns against sector performance.

BAS (Bay Adjusted Sharpe)

AHA divided by NOI volatility adjusted for brand and market dispersion. Quantifies risk-adjusted performance.

LSD (Liquidity Stress Delta)

Haircut for exit timing risk, CapEx shocks, FX drag, and lender refinancing constraints under stress scenarios.

BMRI (Bay Macro Risk Index)

Weighted composite of sovereign spread, FX volatility, tourism trends, and political risk factors.

Market Opportunity & Sizing

$2.4M

Typical Securitized NOI

Annual cashflow from stabilized hotel at 60% securitization rate

$30M

Average HIU Valuation

Present value at 8.0% investor yield for quality assets

30-60%

Securitization Rate

Percentage of annual NOI securitized, leaving buffers for CapEx and covenants

Serviceable market focuses on stabilized, branded, select-service assets in data-rich markets (U.S., UK, EU, Singapore, UAE). These assets offer tighter RevPAR variance and cleaner OpEx patterns than development or seasonal resort properties.

Regulatory Pathway

01

Phase 1: Private Placements

Reg D 506(c) U.S. and Reg S offshore offerings. Fast time-to-market with accredited investors using standardized PPMs.

Budget: $2.8M (securities counsel, trustee setup, broker-dealer integration, KYC/AML program)

02

Phase 2: ATS Trading

Alternative Trading System for qualified investor liquidity with order matching and market surveillance capabilities.

Budget: $1.7M (ATS application, surveillance tooling, SOC audits)

03

Phase 3: Public Readiness

Optional public venue preparation with enhanced disclosure frameworks and investor relations programs.

Budget: $1.5-2.5M (listing counsel, transfer agent scaling, IR programs)

Technology Platform Investment

Total Platform Investment: $8.0-12.1M for production-grade issuance, reporting, and trading infrastructure with bank-level security standards.

Revenue Model & Financial Projections

Revenue grows from $1.89M in Year 1 to $20.60M in Year 3, driven by increasing float from 6 initial issuances to 61 cumulative HIUs. EBITDA margins expand to 46% by Year 3 as high-margin listing and admin fees scale.

Implementation Roadmap

1

Months 0-3: Program Ignition

Hire core team, define HIU templates, establish vendor contracts. Build operator pipeline of 15-20 candidates.

2

Months 4-6: MVP Development

Build issuance portal, integrate PMS data, complete PPM templates. Achieve SOC 2 Type I readiness.

3

Months 7-9: Pilot Launch

Launch 2-3 HIUs, close subscriptions, run first distribution cycle. Execute secondary trades via BD partner.

4

Months 10-12: Scale Motion

Expand to 6 total issuances, tune market-making, submit ATS filing package. Establish monthly reporting cadence.

5

Year 2: Growth Phase

20+ new HIUs, upgrade to SOC 2 Type II, add FX hedging. Target $750M float with institutional investors.

6

Years 3-5: Maturity

ATS approval, live order book, operator fee streams. Achieve $1.5-2.0B float with 40-60% EBITDA margins.

Risk Management Framework

Regulatory Delay Risk

ATS approval delays of 12-18 months mitigated through private placements, BD partnerships, and pre-filing regulatory dialogue.

KPI: Regulator RFI cycles < 2 per filing

Adoption Shortfall Risk

Low issuer/investor participation addressed via anchor program with fee discounts and guaranteed market-making presence.

KPI: ADV/float ≥ 0.20% by Month 18

Income Volatility Risk

Distribution variability managed through dynamic reserve algorithms and transparent "deferral mode" triggers.

KPI: Distribution coverage ratio ≥ 1.20×

Macro Shock Risk

BMRI spikes handled via FX hedging requirements, IRR haircuts at pricing, and country allocation caps.

KPI: Hedged % of BMRI>50 flows ≥ 80%

Competitive Advantages

First-Mover Regulatory Credibility

Establishing regulatory precedent and relationships creates significant barriers to entry for competitors in this nascent market.

Proprietary Quantamental Scoring

Bay Score framework integrated into legal terms provides unique risk assessment and pricing capabilities competitors cannot replicate.

Exchange-Grade Technology

Bank-level security and institutional-quality market operations infrastructure creates sustainable competitive moats.

Market Precedents & Validation

Successful Models

  • Music Royalties: Hipgnosis and KKR/Blackstone ABS demonstrate SPV cashflow securitization works
  • Insurance-Linked Securities: Parametric triggers and modeled frameworks prove institutional appetite for event risk
  • Consumer ABS: Standardization and trustee oversight create secondary liquidity
  • Creator Securitization: GigaStar shows SEC approval for fractionalized future income streams

Key Lessons Applied

  • Valuation transparency and independent audits are non-negotiable
  • Predictability and market-making are essential for liquidity
  • Template term sheets and identical reporting schemas enable scale
  • Robust disclosures and KYC/AML standards mirror public-quality requirements

Strategic Execution Paths

46%

Path A: In-House Build

Full control and margin capture. Year-3 EBITDA margin with complete fee stack retention and roadmap control.

35%

Path B: Exchange JV

Faster ATS access with revenue sharing. Lower risk profile but reduced upside through partnership economics.

25%

Path C: REIT/Fund First

Familiar wrapper for LPs to build track record. Delays liquidity vision but provides credibility foundation.

Modeling favors Path A with near-term BD/ATS partnership to accelerate liquidity, then graduate to full ATS control. Decision criteria prioritize time-to-credibility, capital efficiency, and long-run margin preservation.

Investment Thesis & Next Steps

Market Transformation

HIUs convert structurally illiquid hotel NOI into transparent, risk-scored, tradable securities addressing a multi-billion dollar market gap.

Proven Economics

Year-3 base case produces $20.6M revenue with 46% EBITDA margins, demonstrating sustainable unit economics and scalable growth.

Defensible Moat

First-mover regulatory advantage, proprietary scoring framework, and institutional-grade technology create sustainable competitive barriers.

Recommendation: Proceed with Phase-1 private placement program, secure 2-3 anchor issuers and 3-4 anchor LPs, target $750M float by Year 2 and $1.9-2.0B by Year 3 with EBITDA breakeven in late Year 2.