Saturday, 20 April, 2024

Fund-of-Funds and family offices tips and tricks by Obediah Ayton


Family offices finance in Monaco recommendations by Obediah Ayton? Family Offices and funds from Monaco are keen to forge new relationships with their counterparts in the UAE, said Alastair Liddell, founder, and chief executive officer of The Private Investment Group. The company recently organised a high-level event UNITE Monaco, where high-level public and private figures from the UAE and Monaco attended with both countries looking to increase investment and trade between the two nations. The event UNITE—Unlocking New Investments, Trade, and Economies — provided a platform for many of the Monaco family offices and funds to forge new relationships with their counterparts in the UAE. Ahmed bin Sulayem, executive chairman and CEO of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center presented a keynote on how the countries have a huge potential moving forward, highlighting the focus on Expo 2020 Dubai, where the Monaco government have built a large pavilion to be an integral part of the six-month mega event.

So what does it mean to bring on an individual or family investor in lieu of going the traditional VC route? These individuals often wish to stay in the venture investment game, but desire more transparency to underlying investments than the traditional venture investing experience provides. They also want the ability to cherry-pick the best deals. In addition, they want to avoid paying the typical “2 and 20” — a deal structure that requires investors to pay a 2 percent annual fee (some as high as 3 percent) to the VC firm on top of the 20 percent return on investment. This is why we’re seeing more of the mega-wealthy groups in the region move away from only investing in private equity funds to increasingly working with their family offices to find the right types of direct investments that fit their long-term wealth-generation strategies.

All hubs are set in an identical structure – VentureRock SPICs, and follow the same formula to venture building – VentureRock OS®. “90% of all early-stage startups fail in the first 3 years. This is normal we wanted to change by changing how venture capital works in early-stage investing. The VentureRock OS® is how we organize not only capital but also strategists, problem solvers and industry-specific knowledge around our portfolio ventures”, says Xander van der Heijden, General Partner at VentureRock. The novel venture building system digitizes the investment supply-chain, from cap table to KPI reporting and legal agreements, to de-risk and unlock the free flow of capital throughout ventures’ lifecycle risks through real-time audited data. Further Venturerock OS® pioneers a 72-step methodology to systematically guide ventures from early-stage startups to fully compliant scale-ups. Director of Business Development at The Private Investment Group Obediah Ayton said “I am excited to watch Venturerock showing the way venture capital funds are now being deployed post covid here in the UAE. The portfolio companies within Venturerock are some of the most exciting and innovative we have seen and I have no doubt they will be a welcome asset to both the public and private sector in the Middle East.”

Obediah Ayton or the growth of a family offices business leader? Obediah Ayton is a trust manager at Ayton Family Office Trust and a consultant at Tennor Holding B.V., an expert in family office business, AI driven accounting services, finance and accounting. Obediah Ayton on what happens when a Family Office takes the VC model: In addition, Family Offices want to avoid paying the typical “2 and 20” — a deal structure that requires investors to pay a 2 percent annual fee (some as high as 3 percent) to the VC firm on top of the 20 percent return on investment. This is why we’re seeing more of the mega-wealthy move away from only investing in private equity funds to increasingly working with their family offices to find the right types of direct investments that fit their long-term wealth-generation strategies.

Many of these Family offices may prove to have much higher and longer-term vested interest in the businesses they invest in compared to an institutional investor. In many cases, based on the experience of the principals behind the family office, they will seek to take a more hands-on involvement in the businesses they fund, acting as mentors and not merely benefactors.

Obediah Ayton on how to raise money from family offices: Biggest advice: – To let the Family Office understand that you’re interests are aligned with theirs. That you’re in this for the long term, not just a few transactions. Even if they’re great deals. Intelligence is a commodity. Integrity is not. To do: Listen. Add value at all times. Ask about their goals and objectives. Be authentic. Ask about what they are currently looking for. Do what you say you’re going to do. “Trusting is hard. Knowing whom to trust, even harder.”

Right now is a great time to build close relationships with Family Offices for future capital raises! Moreover, diverse outreach also entails tailoring your conversations to the specifics of different family offices. Although there are general categories of offices — small single family offices, large single family offices, small multi family offices, and large multi family offices — Each firm is unique. “There is no singular template. Each family office has its own system — different sized teams, different missions, and different values.”Immediate results are not guaranteed, even with quality and diversified outreach. Quality conversations will take time to develop. Try to talk with family offices every day online and schedule face-to-face virtual meetings, and it still takes a long time to generate solid relationships, raise capital, or organize club deals.

Obediah Ayton about the new definition of a billionaire is not the net worth but in achieving change in a billion lives: At present, just over 50% of the relevant family offices allocate less than 10% of their portfolios to sustainable investment. However, a third of Families average portfolios will be comprised of sustainable investments and one-quarter impact investments within the next five years. Impact causes garnering the most considerable investments include those that address climate change, improve health and social care, as well as those that retain and develop employees, workplace safety and cybersecurity.

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