Portugal GV Fund Comparison?

The building website makes no mention of the two gentlemen on the call. It refers to Debate Legenda as the developer?

Does anyone know if an investor chooses to cash out after the fund closes, that they can repatriate all the returns to their native country if they are not Portuguese residents at th time. Any restrictions on this?

1 Like

Thatā€™s the only one Iā€™m aware of in that sector. The PE universe in Portugal seems very small, so I wouldnā€™t be surprised if itā€™s the only one. Would be very curious for your thoughts on it if you look into it!

They said it was their project (and they highlight it in their brochure). I donā€™t know what their role was, but I assume that Pedro was the architect overseeing the redevelopment.

Hi all - great thread! Very helpful. Curious your thoughts on how to read one fund I have had some conversations with so far. Portugal Yield Fund by Iberis Capital. Any insights into that one? They have an up front fee of 7.5% but that also includes legal assistance (only for main member and 1 fam member though) to get the GV. They are more VC by focusing on investing in companies with RE assets rather than buying them on their own, it seems. They distribute their interest annually and a 4%/20% hurdle. Only have 1 investment to date with a lease of 12y, They sent me all the prior work of the key partners and they seem very experienced. Thoughts and other ideas of what else to ask? Thanks

Hi Peter. I posted about that renewable fund. As @william.reichert noted as well, I have seen only this in the market. They have seemingly a few other funds including an art fund wherein they liase with curators and experts to buy up/invest in up and coming artists in Portugal with the aim to sell them at a profit in the future. As part of that fund, they also stated that they will use their sphere of influence to market the work of such artists. Anyways, one for the eclectic investor!

Back to the renewable fund, I am hoping to speak to them at some point at which time happy to update. I liked the idea since I am a sustainability supporter and that could cause me to overlook returns to a degree.

As an aside, I would definitely not invest and not recommend to invest in funds which are highly reliant on golden visa investors as most are truly unsophisticated. There should be some anchor investors for sure.

1 Like

Does anyone know how long one can wait after making an investment to apply for GV. I have no intention of traveling for an appt with SEF till The pandemic settles down But wish to make An investment now.

A fund that isnā€™t included in the list is the Portugal Gateway fund which is managed by Portugal Ventures, the largest and most established fund manager in Portugal. This invests in expansion capital for already successful businesses, so is lower risk than a normal VC fund.

4 Likes

Thanks Gavin. By what measure do you consider Portugal Ventures the ā€œlargest and most established fund manager in Portugalā€? Could you elaborate? For example, how many funds have they established? How many assets do they have (and have they had) under management? What have been the returns on their funds?

Many thanks,

Bill

Hi Bill,

I believe that they have been around since 1989 (although they have gone through a couple of mergers/name changes since then). They are owned by a group of the largest banks in Portugal (including Millennium, Santander, Citibank) and the Portuguese government also has a stake. They have well over ā‚¬350m of AUM ( I couldnā€™t find the exact amount)and have a portfolio of over 300 investee companies. They have always traditionally focused on institutional investors and this is their first retail fund (although over half of the capital for this fund is coming from institutional sources which does lend credibility). Most of my information is from their website which has a pretty comprehensive English version as well as a Portuguese version.

One possible negative - they donā€™t take US investors because of the regulatory burden of remaining FATCA compliant with the IRS. As an aside. it is always worth checking if a fund which says it does take US investors is in fact FATCA compliant.

2 Likes

Thanks very much Gavin. Thatā€™s very helpful. Unfortunately, I am a US citizen, and so would thus not be eligible. Oh well!

1 Like

Iā€™m new to this site and string. Iā€™m having trouble getting comfortable with these funds in general. I went here https://www.cmvm.pt/en/ which I think is the equivalent of the SEC and couldnā€™t find information on Iberis, for example. If this isnā€™t off topic, has anyone considered the transfer of capital of 1 million euros option? Interactive Brokers has offices in pt. I guess Fidelity does as well. Maybe you can just move assets between branches and qualify? Not sure what PT would get from this. Any ideas?

2 Likes

Thanks everyone for assembling this cornucopia of research and guidance! The quality of information I was finding out on the web was pretty discouraging; Iā€™m so glad I found this site today! Iā€™ll be following this thread with tremendous enthusiasm and curiosity. I also wonder if itā€™s feasible to tabulate perspectives on the quality of interactions we collectively encounter with various agencies and service providers.

Letā€™s all meet up for a celebration in beautiful Lisbon when COVID is a bad memory and weā€™re all safely established as Portuguese people! :smiley:

7 Likes

Hi, I may be alone in this, however, I am looking to fund my GV investment by way of a solo 401K with checkbook control as the bulk of my wealth is in my 401K. This 401K allows foreign investment, however, for every GV program Iā€™ve researched I see that the funds for the GV (and any returns) must be through a PT bank. Thatā€™s where Iā€™m stuck. Iā€™ve done significant research, but cannot figure out how to get the funds from the account named ā€œMargaret M. Surname - 401Kā€ into a PT account named similarly (note that I could also name the account MMJ Retirement Trustā€ or Margaret M. Surname - 401K Plan or similar. As I am not yet 59.5 years old the PT acct must, like the US acct, clearly show that this is a retirement account not a personal account or the IRS will consider the funds transfer a taxable distribution. Has anyone solved for this? Appreciate any insight. Thanks in advance. Margaret

1 Like

This may not be cause for optimism but hereā€™s a related link:

Nonetheless, I would love to fund my Portuguese investment with 401k money rather than cash if a legal and tax-efficient recipe can be found. Good luck and keep us posted!

1 Like

Will do! :slightly_smiling_face:

Dunas Golden Bridge fund vs Lynx NEST fund vs Rock Capital? Iā€™m torn. NEST closes in 6 weeks, btw, but has what I think is a good focus on high end Lisbon retail RE and a balance of safety vs decent return. Iā€™m speaking with the Rock and Lynx people this week.

1 Like

If you are considering NEST, you would need to decide ASAP. I understand that it closes 10 October, but also understand that you need at least four weeks to set up an account, comply with KYC requirements, etc. So if this is an option that you are seriously considering, I would ask them now what the deadline is to get started.

I have decided that I will pass on NEST mostly because I have not yet made up my mind. (I also am hoping that the USD/EUR exchange rate will take a more favorable turn in the coming months, as euros are very expensive right now.) I prefer the economics of both Golden Bridge and Rock, and also have a preference in terms of sector. So for now, those two are at the top of my list personally. However, I am going to investigate more, and am also going to see what other funds come on line.

4 Likes

This link should show all funds: CMVM - Sistema de difusĆ£o de informaĆ§Ć£o - Venture Capital. However, there is not necessarily a whole lot of information there. I am also having some trouble getting comfortable with these funds, however, that is because I am used to working with funds established in the Cayman Islands, where there is little regulation. Here, these funds are subject to various EU directives, which I think should provide additional protection, although I am not sure what sort of protection this is to be honest.

2 Likes