According to Sá, Fictor already operates in the residential segment in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In Rio, the company plays a more active role as both investor and developer. In São Paulo, its function is strategic, acting as an investor and supporting Brio in decision-making.

Rodolfo Senra, founding partner at Brio Investimentos, believes this is the ideal time to enter the multifamily market, as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and other major cities are reaching an ideal point of maturity.

Additionally, the core thesis of the FII is that there is a gap in the housing sector: the middle class. While higher-income groups have money to spend and lower-income groups receive subsidies, the middle class lacks housing programs and sufficient resources to purchase property — and this is where multifamily steps in.

“We realized that Brazil, especially São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the main urban centers, have reached a maturity point where multifamily rental housing is a solution to serve this niche, helping to reduce a significant portion of the housing deficit in these cities. Another important factor is the generational shift in habits; the current generation no longer wants to own property. They want flexibility — they live here, then live there, return an apartment. Within Greystar’s own system, for example, a tenant can move from neighborhood X to neighborhood Y", Senra explains.

Fictor is initially injecting R$250 million into the acquisition and development of assets that will total 700 residential units in São Paulo. Currently, São Paulo has the largest stock of multifamily properties in the country, accounting for 84.4% of all such units in Brazil. However, according to Kim Azevedo, Investment Director at Greystar, the market still has room for growth.

Azevedo notes that about 20% of São Paulo residents rent their homes, while the remaining are owners. He explains that in more mature markets, this figure typically ranges from 30% to 40%, and in some countries, it reaches as high as 50%.

Thus, he says, there is still a long road ahead, especially with the growing trend of people choosing to rent rather than buy — a movement that Greystar is already familiar with through its Ayra-branded developments, aimed at the upper-middle segment.

“The segment we are focusing on with Brio and Fictor is the middle-income population — people who rent out of necessity because they genuinely cannot afford to buy a house or apartment. We understand there is enormous demand. In fact, we’ve already conducted studies on the income pyramid here in São Paulo. If I’m not mistaken — I can share the exact data later — but around 30% to 40% of families fall within our targeted income segment, compared to the upper-middle bracket, which represents less than 10%. So, as you go further down the pyramid, the potential demand scales up with people who truly need housing,” he explains.

The nature of multifamily assets is advantageous for FIIs; this is precisely why this model is one of the most popular in the United States, for instance. Due to the highly diversified tenant base, turnover is less impactful for shareholders once the asset is operational, notes the founder of Brio Investimentos.

“Multifamily properties are efficient in terms of operations, construction costs, and with that we can generate a yield that is very competitive compared to other asset classes, but with lower risk, because you’re diversified. In a logistics warehouse, you’re either in heaven or in hell: either it’s fully leased or it’s entirely vacant. Sometimes a single tenant can occupy 50% or even 100% of the property. Corporate assets are similar: you may have an office building with four or five tenants, and if one leaves, you immediately have 25% vacancy. In multifamily, this doesn’t happen. We are highly competitive in terms of yield compared to other income-producing asset classes,” Senra explains.