Interesting! Iām also less keen on real estate-focused funds. IMGA AƧƵes Portugal isnāt on Nomad Gateās list of GV-eligible funds. May I ask how you checked or confirmed that it qualifies for the GV ?
Bison Bank and the fund manager confirmed that it meets the requirements. Each bank seems to have their preferred funds that they sponsor/market. There are a couple out there that focus on innovation and traditional Portuguese companies that arenāt real estate based.
1 Like
interesting. that one is even listed on the market and has a long track record - FT tracks it - and returns arenāt terrible if perhaps not stellar either.
https://markets.ft.com/data/funds/tearsheet/performance?s=PTAFIALM0006:EUR
Yes, it is listed in Bloomberg, FT and a few others. Our goal was not to lose money on any investment since we are doing it mainly for the GV residency. But this one seems stable and is listed on the Portuguese Stock Exchange.
Many thanks for the info, opens up another possibility I hadnāt come across in months of research (and lurking on these extremely educational forums). Our goalās capital preservation too with eventual residency and ultimately citizenship the main motivation. So you opened an account with Bison and their investment folks marketed this fund among others to you? Funny I didnāt even think of approaching the banks for fund options 
We are the same, ultimately citizenship is our main goal for the entire family. Bison Bank was introduced to us as one of the banks that accept US citizens due to the reporting requirements. Bison Bank had a list of all the funds eligible for the GV, we only had a few of them sent to us. Here is a partial list:
- Greytech II
- ActiveCap ā Portugal Growth Fund
- Eqty Capital
- BlueCrow
- IMGA AƧƓes Portugal
I also have the presentations for all of these.
2 Likes
Yeah, there are a surprising number of other funds out there that havenāt gotten named here yet-
- inception 1 by magnify partners (life sciences) - but it just closed
- explorer IV by explorer investments (typical VC, broad based)
- shilling founders fund (tech VC/incubator, rather like Portugal Gateway)
- villanova (senior housing)
- IMGA mondego (real estate)
- the others Joe mentioned
Geez. a whole wealth of options. Good in a way, frustrating in another. More research! And still just a crapshoot in the end.
Bison sounds like easiest bank to open an account with remotely too.
What interests me about IMGA AƧƓes Portugal is itās open-ended & traded on the stock exchange - presumably youād have more control over your exit strategy after the GV-requisite 5-6 years if you can sell the units on the open market at a time of your choosing? Rather than wait out the full 6++ or 8 or 10-year term or stress over the voting at the general assembly of the closed-end funds.
If you have the IMGA AƧƓes Portugal presentation handy to share, Iād be grateful; if not no worries, Iāll contact IMGA or Bison - I should be doing my own legwork anyway!
I am intrigued by this option also. Open ended, diversified, liquid, and low fees.
The IMGA fund information page is here.
Prospectus can be found here: English Version or Portuguese Version
This fund is also appears to be available through Millennium. I have read that opening an account with Millennium as an American is hit-and-miss, but it is a full service bank so you can get an ATM card and such as well. You can get some basic fund info and performance history on Millenniumās website here by searching āPortugalā in the āSearch by nameā section.
Hi Kim,
Sure, here is the document Acoes_Portugal_EN_Mar2021.pdf (596.6 KB)
We liked the fund because if we want to liquidate after 5 years, we can sell the shares. Other funds were a bit more difficult in that you needed to find a buyer and sell them directly to them.
Bison was easy to open an account. We are US citizens but UK residents, so we had documents that need an Apostille from 2 different countries and it was still pretty easy to do.
1 Like
Hi Kevin, I have heard mixed stuff about Millennium also. I wouldnāt worry about ATM cards and such, just get a Transferwise account and you can keep various currencies and access any ATM.
@joseph.c.lapierre can I know why you choose IMGA AƧƵes Portugal fund ? do you have more reason ? would love to hear your opinion! too many fund, and so difficult to choose!
I Canāt Find IMGA listed with the Security Regulator as a legitimate fund for GV on their site.
https://web3.cmvm.pt/english/sdi/capitalrisco/pesquisa_nome_fcr.cfm
Have you been able to confirm they are listed?
Many thanks, Joe. Appreciate your bringing up the open-ended fund option. Will look into it more. As Jeff B says: More research! But thereās still some time before a decision has to be madeā¦
That list is private equity/venture capital funds. The IMGA AƧƵes Portugal fund is an investment fund, not a private equity fund. You can find a list of CMVM registered investment funds here and it includes the IMGA funds.
You should confirm with your lawyer, but what makes a fund qualify for GV purposes isnāt simply that it is registered with CMVM, but rather that at least 60% of the value of the investments be made in commercial companies based in the PT as required by the law.
1 Like
IMGA funds are listed under Securities investment funds:
https://web3.cmvm.pt/english/sdi/fundos/app/pesquisa_nome_fundos_shp.cfm?nome=&src=shp
And the IMGA AƧƵes Portugal fund:
https://web3.cmvm.pt/english/sdi/fundos/app/ficha_fundo.cfm?num_fun=%23%23%24_T
But yes, Iād ask your lawyer to double check itās legit for GV.
I can confirm a letter was generated to our lawyers for SEF with the details that meet the ARI (Golden Visa) program for investment. Not sure why it isnāt listed on the site?
1 Like
Correct, this one is 100% invested in Portuguese Stock exchange companies and meets the GV requirements, but isnāt just a āGV Fundā.
@Azar we chose it because we can exit it any time we want. Also because it is open-ended and has a history since 1995.
1 Like
Thanks Joseph,
Question, I donāt know if you are a US Citizen, but if so does the fund provide a PFIC statement for US Tax filing purposes?
Examples of a PFIC statement from Vanguardās Canadian funds is here: Vanguard Canada
Wow i dont know there are website to check fund qualify or not , so useful