Hi all, this forum is really helpful. We are in the process of evaluating Portugal Golden Visa funds in which to invest. But there are so many funds to choose from and their investing strategies are so diverse and several are unfamiliar… investing in Portugal small businesses, relying on EU energy subsidies, — even the Portugese economy and equities are new areas for us! So we are overwhelmed.
How have others coped with this? Has everyone just done all their own analysis, or are there advisors available who are sophisticated enough to understand all these Portugese-specific investment strategies?
It might help to know better your rough position as an investor at home (sophisticated with complex holdings, basic retirement plus a little savings, so on.). Absent that, if you have sufficient wealth at home to use a decent investment advisory firm that you evidently trust, and that you pay fees on a percentage of managed assets basis (Morgan Stanley, Merrill, UBS, etc.), that advisor ought to do you the favor of helping you interpret the relative risks and potential rewards of various favored options that you narrow down. It’s hardly too much to ask, they guys don’t work very hard for their fees relatively speaking and ought to be expert at analyzing and explaining funds (!). Plus, in any case your paid advisor should know your exposures outside of their managed assets in order to themselves properly manage your asset allocation and overall personal portfolio risk level to your tolerance. Expecting to hire an independent advisor who specializes in PT fund options and who is not beholden to any of them for commissions or other income, and for this person to do your processing, that might be too tall of an order.
In the end, it all necessarily starts with you figuring out what interests you and what risks you prefer over others: open vs. closed funds; venture capital, private equity, etc.; big firm managers or small firm; diversified investments or specialized sector focus…
One simple view: if you’ve never considered any private equity investment or entered into any closed funds at home, never read a private placement memo or scanned a prospectus, then maybe stick with what you know and look toward the open funds / publicly traded securities route for the PT GV. At least that way if they’re down, it’s easy to understand as part of some general economic trend. PT GV may not be the best opportunity to begin your first deep dive into closed fund, private equity experiments.
Probably best to simply avoid “guaranteed buybacks” and “buildings with beds” in any of their overt or cloaked forms.
Hi, I have used the services of Valerio Partners. Kurran, has been extremely helpful handholding me through the entire process of selcting funds, lawyers, etc through this entire journey. We received our residency cards in March this year, and they helped nudging lawyers till we received our cards.
Again, such “services” are not unbiased or neutral. They earn fees and commissions, often on top of charging the applicant directly. For some, perhaps, this process is too daunting to rely only upon an independently selected lawyer beholden only to them along with their own trusted or inherent resources, so they find useful a packaged service like this Valerio and the others (GCS, Holborn, Astons, etc.) that provide a lawyer and suggest investments, despite the inherent conflicts and profit motivations that may give rise to bias or limitations. Not saying it won’t work, as it does for most (except, maybe be vary wary of offers for new-fangled yet still property-tied investments that have not yet been proven to result in a GV). Just saying, the intermediary and their chosen partners may be less beholden to you directly compared to going without a referring servicing agent in the middle.
I would say hire someone out of Portugal, someone who basically understands valuations, ETFs. In the end, you have accept the fact that investing in Portugese funds is an opportunity cost. I’d say just try to minimize the risks rather than go for gains.
rvnjoel: Thank you for the comment. This person (or organization) out of Portugal is exactly what we want recommendations for. Some of the other people recommended here sound good, but then others say they are not unbiased sources.
PGV24: Inasmuch as it does not cost you anything other than an appointment, may I suggest you speak with some of the folks that have been recommended (mine included on the PM reply). These folks function like what one would expect of a mortgage broker / commercial real estate agent, etc. in the US. They work on your behalf on the premise of earning a commission.
Are they incentivized to see you commit to someone? Of course, that is how they make their earnings. However, the ones noted here are not known as shills for specific funds. Their ongoing ability to attract new business is based on doing a credible job. Ours did so for us. We were lost in a number of choices. We are not the upper echelon of “Qualified Investors”, but we knew a bit about private equity and early stage investing.
Having a local resource that is fluent in the local businesses, funds and dynamics - I think - trumps the “out of country” expert that you expect to find who will have to school up on these matters. Keep in mind that that GV requirements stipulate a significant portion of the Fund must be focused on PT businesses.
Take the call, have a discussion, and draw your own conclusion. You will gain a sense of who is trying to spin you and who is looking to find a good match.
Also, ask each for names of 3 (or n) attorneys ( or pick them off this very excellent forum). Call and interview each. Then make your own choices and decisions.
As in most of life, there is no “best choice”. There is only what is good for you and matches your requirements/circumstances.
We are able to help. Our team has been helping investors over the last 6 years with Portuguese Golden Visa Investment Fund options (since this option became available for the Portuguese Golden Visa back in 2018. Feel free to connect.
Yes I can recommend myself, after a few years of in-depth research and evaluating more than 30 funds, as well as interviewing multiple law firms, visa options, business plans, fund managers and actual GV clients, I have a lot of information and data points. You already know how to reach me.
Can you send me a direct message on this platform? Or can you do a google search for my name? You will find multiple ways to reach me. I am not sharing my email here because of spambots.
We finished our vetting of funds and finally decided and invested in two, which our attorneys also checked out for us, plus cross checked through various sources.
If you have established attorneys who have worked successfully in doing this for other clients, they also may be able to suggest some of the funds that they have found stable and easy to work with.