Hi Faizal,
I see Portugal Gateway is not on your table. It is managed by Portugal Ventures (the most active and established VC investor in Portugal), invests broadly in technology, the fund managers have over 150mā¬ of AUM, the Mgmt fee is 2%, the performance fee is 20% above a hurdle rate to 5% per annum of distributions back to the investor, term is 10 years and it is FATCA compliant.
I donāt think the tableās been maintained in a while, unfortunately. Itās a little unclear the best way to run something like that with this software.
That number is the number of applicants who received their residence permit. So they made the application much before. And as the fund investment route is new, that is normal. I suppose applications through fund investments increased drastically this year.
Hi @gavin4 - thanks for pointing this out. I invite you to click the request access button and Iāll glad you grant you permissions to update the table for the benefit of the community.
I see Portugal Gateway is not on your table.
Thanks Faizal, I have done so, and will update. I know of two more funds, Shilling and August One, and will try to add their information as well. I will also try to update the IMGA row and move the cancelled funds to the bottom of the spreadsheet. I hope this is OK?
Is it OK if I add a column regarding first close? I think this is important as if the fund does not reach first close it will probably be cancelled and the investment returned. Whilst this does not result in a financial loss it may mean that the investor will not have an eligible investment at the end of year and will need to find a new investment at the 500 000 level next year - I donāt know how SEF will treat this but better safe.
Could anyone who knows of other funds, or know which funds have been cancelled, please let me know so I can update accordingly? Or send me any other update information. And most importantly, please check the spreadsheet to make sure I have made no errors!
Gavin, thank you for updating the table. I am not sure what you mean by āfirst closeā. Could you explain? when I asked funds representative how do I know if the fund passed the āpoint of no returnā they said that once a fund gets the āactiveā status at CVMV then it is there. Is that the field we should indicate?
Funds have an approval date (when they are approved by the CMVM and are active and able to raise capital), a first close (at the point where they are large enough to be viable), and a final close (at which point they will no longer accept new capital).
First close is normally indicated by a quantum to be reached by a certain date. For example, 5m euro by 1st of September 2021. If they do not reach that quantum by that date all capital will be returned to investors. After the active date but prior to the first close date they cannot invest capital but need to hold it so that they can return to investors in the event that they do not reach first close.
First close quantum and date is set by the manager (but needs to be approved by the CMVM). Typically a fund needs at least 5 million euro to be viable and cover its costs.
It is not clear what will happen with regard to the GV to investors who invest 350 000 in a fund that fails to reach first close after the 1st of next year. They will no longer have a qualifying investment, but will they have to find a new investment at the 500 000 amount? I would assume so.
Given that we have less than 5 months before the deadline I would suggest that it is safest to go with funds that have met their first close target.
Thank you Gavin for the clear explanation. Is the first close details publicly available by CMVM? or should be asked from the Fund manager? many funds told me that the CMVM only requires a minimum of EUR 1 million
It is best to ask the fund manager. The CMVM reports if the fund is active, but not if it has reached first close. The fund manager should let you know.
I believe you are correct and the CMVM does only require a minimum of EUR 1 million. However, that will typically provide the fund manager with fees of EUR 20 000 per year which will not cover rent, let alone salaries, and only EUR1m to invest, which doesnāt allow much investment scope. Most funds I believe feel that if they canāt cover costs it is better to return all capital to investors and put a minimum of around EU5m for first close.
@william.reichert Iām new to this process, Canadian and looking at real estate versus fund for the Portuguese GV. Your posts have been so informative and helpful - thank you! Iberis Capital so far is my leading candidate, though Iāll keep exploring.
As Iām catching up on all of the posts now, can I ask where you are leaning to at the moment? It sounds like funds > real estate, but any particular one?
Guys what is the most reliable fund?
The company that have been long in this line of work in Portugal and with a track record of a good reputation?
Looking at this too! Anyway, feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Anyone heard about OxyCapitalās Vesta Fund and ECS Capitalās Portugal Strategic Growth Fund too? Iām having a hard time finding material online.
You can either go on promises or on track record. The only one of these two that is quantifiable and open to scrutiny is track record.
There are several independent databases that provide you with information on the various VC funds. The best is probably Deal Room at https://startupportugal.dealroom.co/investors/f/all_locations/allof_Portugal?prominence=emea_seed_prominence_2021_unique&sort=emea_seed_prominence_2021_unique .
One that is not independent but is very good and impartial is Portugal Start Up Scene
Most active Venture Capital Firms And Business Angels In Portugal . It is run by a partner in Armilar, one of the big 3 VC firms (the others are Portugal Ventures and Indico) and it shows every vc transaction and the activities of every fund that was active in VC over the last year.
If you do find any information on Vesta or Portugal Strategic Growth please update Faizalās table near the top of this thread (Portugal Golden Visa Fund Comparison - Google Spreadsheets).
In general you need to talk to the fund and get the materials directly. Most private equity does not, for various legal/marketing reasons, actually publish very much information for public viewing.
Hi there tdanda,
I represent a fund called Pela Terra Farmland.
Your question is a great one. If a fund does not manage to reach the threshold, it will have its regulatory approval revoked and will need to return the capital to the investors from which it came from.
In theory, your capital is not at risk during this process although the inconvenience to you would be large as you would have to start again, choose another fund, and your time would be lost. Right now, that would be extremely inconvenient as you would then - more than likely - be nudged over into next year and have to invest ā¬500k rather than ā¬350k.
Regarding the stats of investors into the funds, I can not sure where those numbers are taken from. Compared to what I am seeing on the ground, they sound like they are being reported with a significant delay. We are younger than some other funds (although catching up in scale) and in the short months since we launched our numbers make up a not-insignificant percentage of the number you mentioned.
I hope that is helpful!
Hi all, thanks everyone for the fantastic information youāve provided. I havenāt chimed yet. But I did want to say that I met today with a rep from Iberis and got good information about both Greytech II and the Portugal Yield Fund. What struck me was the significance to the firm of Greytech succeeding.
They also said that there were 76 GV investors and 18 had completed the process, 42% were US investors. Theyāve raised 20M on the way to 40M, likely to go beyond, they believe. Theyāre getting back to me on the numbers in the Yield Fund. It sounds like the 80% GV investor percentage for Greytech II is lower now.
Very curious if anyone else has info and/or if anyone on the thread had invested and can share. If I get more, I can share as well.
Oxy Capital Vesta is another real estate fund, targeting residential development and logistics dev+yield, smattering of other stuff. Kind of a mishmash of stuff, but another RE fund. target 50mm, 10yr fund term, 3.5% subscription fee, 2.0% p.a. mgmt fee, 6% p.a. hurdle, 20% carried interest, min sub 350k on a 5yr lockup, no guaranteed exit til wind-down at year 10, but guaranteed redemption if GV not pre-approved.
I looked at it before, wasnāt exactly compelled. It feels tangential to the mainstream of their other funds except for Aquarius and even then Aquarius is distressed-debt, not the same thing. I never talked to them, this is just the term sheet.
Yes, I am one of the 18 that has completed the process of investing in Greytech II. It has been a month since I have been in, so not a lot of feedback to give.