Paul Sparks

Paul Sparks is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Insignis Partners, a private equity and real estate investment firm headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. With more than 25 years of experience in banking, structured finance, and commercial real estate, Paul is recognized as a strategic leader and capital markets expert with a proven track record of building high-performing investment platforms.

Before founding Insignis, Paul served as Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of RealOp Investments, a real estate private equity firm that grew to more than $750 million in assets under management with offices across the Southeast, including Greenville, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, and Orlando. Over the course of his career, he has sourced and executed more than $2.5 billion in commercial real estate transactions spanning multiple asset classes and market cycles.

Earlier in his career, Paul was Senior Executive Vice President and Senior Credit Executive for a multi-billion-dollar commercial bank holding company based in Greenville, where he specialized in capital markets, enterprise risk, structured finance, and M&A strategy. His leadership background bridges institutional banking discipline with entrepreneurial investment execution.

A United States Marine Corps veteran, Paul holds degrees in Finance and Accounting from the University of Alabama, a Graduate Degree in Banking from Louisiana State University, and has completed executive education in Leadership in Financial Organizations at Harvard Business School.

Paul remains deeply engaged in his community, currently serving on the board of Upstate Warrior Solutions, having previously served on the boards of The Children’s Museum of the Upstate and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. He is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute and VentureSouth Angel Network.

He lives in the Upstate of South Carolina with his wife, Darlene, and their daughter, Isabella.