Hello everyone, i am starting this now (probably quite late) and found this thread very useful. i have started some interviews with some of the funds to finalise 2-3 that will go with. I am happy to contribute to the spreadsheet with the missing infoā¦
Cheers
Hi Susan, could you please pm me for more info?
Thanks
Hi Johnson, Are you planning to go with a single fund ? I am asking this because iberis minimum investment required is quite highā¦
-Divyesh
Divyesh, yes Iām planning to go with one fund only. Risk may be higher, but it will be simpler to manage it - unfortunately I donāt have the time to manage/follow multiple options.
Just dropping this here for people to draw their own conclusions (use google translate):
Thanks for sharing. This is very important news for Iberis and C2 investors and prospective investors like me. Google translate is not perfect but as far as I understand these companies are (allegedly) used for some kind of fraud and their offices are searched by officials.
So this is interesting. When I was doing DD, I found some articles about some āissuesā with the Benefica board that lead to them all resigning and one of the partners of C2 was on that board. It was slightly concerning, but there wasnāt any documented wrongdoing. These were two of the three funds I was looking at investing. Fingers crossed this isnāt a bigger issues with more of the investment firms. . . .
The above is alleged and hopefully nothing is wrong. But I will not be committing ā¬350K for almost a decade, for the sake of good nightās sleep.
Furthermore CVMV is now investigating the two firms, and perhaps they may come through without any wrong doing - however it is in the next few years, during the course of investigation, that the firm may suffer any restraint or fines, then my investments would get affected.
ah, the risks of investing in a foreign not-well-developed country 
Or: why not to put your eggs all into one basket. Though itās hardly a guarantee.
Fraud (alleged or otherwise) only happens in other less developed places? Youāve never heard of Carillion? Or Enron? (Plus numerous others we never hear about or remember )
It happens everywhere and good for the authorities for investigating and seeking prosecution.
Itās a bigger deal when you are required to put your 350K into one or two of a short list of āapprovedā funds and then one of them has an issue.
The article does sound more like tax evasion though, so hopefully it isnāt something that ends up affecting anyoneās GV investment.
It does happen everywhere, sure. But.
Because itās a foreign country, the outside investor is simply not going to be as familiar with what is going on there. So you donāt know what to look for, who the players are, etc. DD is harder when you are attempting to read through what news you can get through Google Translate. For all we know, the average Portuguese already has an eyebrow lifted when they hear āIberisā.
The systems of governance and oversight arenāt going to be as well developed. Heck, the whole FCR VC construct being used is only a few years old, and none of these money managers have been around that long either. The capital market regulator itself, CMVM, only dates to 1991. You can borrow the rulebook from a developed country, but it takes a while to implement it and have it soak into everyoneās bones that We Mean It.
And thereās simply less of a pool of investments to spread your capital out across - both because of the ARI situational rules and because the countryās not that big; your EUR350k vs the entire nationās market valuation is a fair bit bigger percentage than against the US/Germany/UK. So the likelihood of any given instance of fraud affecting you is quite a bit higher than the average US/UK/DE investor investing in passive index funds.
Itās certainly better than other places Iāve put money, though. Theyāre trying.
I have spent some time with the Iberis General Partner discussing this episode in a lot of depth and have walked away assured enough (not without some apprehension still) that I will likely invest with them. If you have concerns, please do spend the time digging a little deeper. There is a lot of intricacy on what is going on in Portugal with this episode. And of course some of the other funds are jumping on this to create more FUD as well. 
For all those that have asked about the IMGA fund. Just an update. We received our SEF approval today. Took about 7 weeks from the time it was submitted. So, for those looking for an open end fund, it is one to consider.
I greatly appreciate the update. Iāve been looking into purchasing real estate at the ā¬350K level but you have me reconsidering. Thatās a fast approval.
Dhaval, could you point me to the source that states that the CMVM is investigating the firms? I was unable to find via a Google search. Thanks.
I looked at Indico in some depth and spent time with one of the partners. Really good fund with a great track record of investments - though they do startups - so much higher risk with potential for much higher return. That said, their āgoodā funds are closed - the open fund is a Blue fund for ocean economy startups that I cannot get excited about.