PAUL SPARKS

Paul Sparks currently serves as Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Insignis Partners, a private equity and real estate investment firm located in Greenville, SC. Prior to forming Insignis, Paul was Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of RealOp Investments, a real estate private equity firm with over $650MM in assets under management and offices in Greenville, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta and Orlando. He has over 25 years of experience in the fields of banking and real estate, including commercial real estate capital markets, structured finance, enterprise risk management, mergers and acquisitions. Over his career, Paul has sourced and invested in over $2.5 Billion in commercial assets. Prior to joining alongside Kyle Putnam at RealOp Investments, Paul was the Senior Executive Vice President and Senior Credit Executive for a multi-billion-dollar commercial bank holding company based in Greenville, SC. Paul is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He attended the University of Alabama where he graduated with degrees in both Finance and Accounting. He later obtained a Graduate Degree in Banking from Louisiana State University and has completed the Leadership in Financial Organizations program at Harvard Business School.

Over the years, Paul has served the Upstate community in a variety of ways as a Board Member for both Upstate Warrior Solutions and the Children’s Museum of the Upstate and prior Board Member of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of VentureSouth Angel Network and the Urban Land Institute.

While residing in the Upstate with his wife, and their daughter, Paul enjoys spending free time golfing and traveling, watching Alabama Crimson Tide football and cheering on his daughter while she competes in her regular horse shows.