I would agree that a Portugal tech fund is âinherently more riskyâ than real estate. Real estate is not going anywhere. Tech is highly competitive and one or two bad moves and your investment goes to 0. That same thing is much less likely in a real estate venture. Thatâs not to say that Portugal Gateway is a bad investment. It could have one great idea and get bought out by Apple for 10x the initial investment. I donât know enough about it to comment intelligently. I will say that I think your post raises the right questions and understands the risks correctly.
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They should have track record of their past managed funds. You can base on that and then the industry / companies/ sectors they invest in, their risk level, returns, the fees they charge and so on to select a fund. A totally different concept/ approach as per investing in real estate.
For us, openning an account with Novo Banco is easy too. We sent back the original signed document and was validated, and they opened an account for us. Then, when we moved forward with the investment, they decided that they will not open a securities account to hold the participation units of the fund for U.S citizens.
Hmm⊠It is not clear if your post is sarcasm. You might want to clarify. You also might want to look into Novo Banco.
From todayâs news:
In last-minute amendments, the centre-right main opposition Social Democrats sided with the hard left and blocked an injection of an extra 476 million euros into Novo Banco, which emerged from the collapsed Banco Espirito Santo in 2014. The transfer, from the state-backed Resolution Fund, has been suspended pending the results of an audit.
Hi Michael, It wasnât sarcasm. I can see why it sounds like sarcasm, though 
I was just describing what happened to us with Novo Banco. The account opening process was easy (signed the forms and mailed the forms to them via UPS), but when we moved forward with fund subscription, the bank said they would not open a securities account because we are US citizens.
Note that I edited this post again. There have been a lot of miscommunications throughout this process with the people helping me out. The advice that I received did not have to do with funds, but rather vested interest.
Iâm very sorry for the confusion. Itâs difficult not speaking Portuguese. A lot is lost in translation.
Would be very curious to know why if you donât mind sharing.
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I donât feel comfortable writing anything down here.
No problem at all.
Serious question - why are people so secretive here? What is the danger in knowing this information or knowing what funds you invest in, or donât invest in? Isnât that the point of this board? To share this info and if there is some major reason why you chose not to, it is just an opinion but one that others may benefit from knowing. We each have to come to our own conclusions obviously but why post a definitive conclusion and then not give any hint how you decided that? It is of course your right to do so ââwhy why post it then on a community board??
Tip to those reading - most people here learned about these funds via this board. Some posters may have motives that are not exactly pure. I would suggest significantly discounting any positive or negative comments on specific funds unless they are accompanied by a clear rationale, so you can make your own decision on the topic.
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For me, I havenât even wanted to use my full name for privacy reasons.
I have been concerned that someone from a fund or lawyer may read what I have written and be biased by it, or get upset, or even come after me in some way. So I have been very careful to write in careful terms things I can prove.
The tax stuff I have shared but I put a ton of caveats on because I donât want to have someone run afoul over the IRS because of something I have said. Even so. I want to help but I am concerned.
Not all readers of what you write will be very sophisticated and not all will take what you write with a grain of salt, and it is the internet, it lasts forever.
It would be nice ifâŠbut.
Agreed. A certain amount of discretion is generally advisable in all electronic communications, particularly in an open forum like this. Group members can always have more detailed discussions amongst themselves privately.
Everyoneâs got great points on privacy. I think from a more pessimistic standpoint, Iâve been pretty cautious about disclosing too much in case there are bad actors looking to provide âservicesâ. Thatâs not to say Thomas doesnât moderate people trying to sell services, however they could build a pretty detailed profile on you just scraping different social media sites.
Iâd push back on the premise that âpeople are so secretive here.â Looking over the discussion, a lot has been shared for the sake of contributing learnings to the community.
As most of us are âforeignersâ looking to benefit from Portugalâs hospitality, being respectful to businesses [some of which are watching] in a large public forum seems inline with Portuguese etiquette as I understand it.
This has been a wonderful forum and a great thread. I appreciate everything that people have shared.
Remember that anything that you post online will be part of the public record. It is one thing to express your feelings about the merits of investments or public facts, and another altogether to make an accusation.
BlueCrow is established. They are not as as accessible as POF, but answer questions honestly, clearly, and consistently. (And yes, they do have a 5% entrance fee, but they also paid out 5.1% NET of all fees this year.) Edit: someone pointed out that the high NAV means share are already diluted, and that most of the returns were based on one really good investment. Still looking into the implications of this.
I agree with Larry. Anyone can be posting with any sort of motivation. Do your research. I have found the a lot of locals have been open to talking about the merits or pitfalls of different funds, and will even do research for you just because they are nice or because a friend of a friend is a client.
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petermuennig, thank you for sharing your opinions regarding certain funds. But to make investments is only the first step.
If I am not wrong, you are the first golden visa investor who splits investments between two funds. It would be very appreciated if you share with us any your experiences with SEF during their review of your application.
There are many people here which prefer to diversify their investments, if it is not only possible, but eligible by Portugal authorities. And you can help them a lot.
Thank you. I will let you know how it goes.
Also, I have edited my comments above.
Hi Jeff,
Can you clarify what you mean by âsubscription fees only show up when your not dealing with the fund manager directlyâ? Does that mean we can avoid the 5% entrance fee by going through a 3rd party?
Thanks,
Peter
Iâm rereading this whole thread and just want to ask if anyone has looked at Iberisâ new fund, Greytech II? Iâm interested in Greytech II in addition to BlueCrow because I personally am not interested in investing a lot in RE right now. BlueCrow has other industries for diversification which I like, and Greytech II doesnât invest in RE at all. The fund will invest in mid-market Portuguese companies in luxury apparel production (this company is a High-end apparel manufacturer catering top international brands (the fund managers added that during the pandemic, the company quickly switched over to producing masks. ), agroindustry (Fresh salads and fruit producer and processor) and dried fruit industry. I also like the fact they have some skin in the game, 4 Iberis partners invest âŹ1M combined. And BlueCrow has the 6 brothers investment (not quite the same as having your own money invested, but I see it as somewhat positive).