UAE family offices tips with Obediah Ayton? The first thing to understand is that it’s not a growth equity fund — the primary goal of a family office is to invest wealth prudently and extend it beyond generations. Families in the GCC have a multi-disciplinary approach that ensures their wealth transfers across multiple generations in the most tax efficient manner possible, that their children and future generations have prudent investment programs implemented and that they have the appropriate infrastructure and fiduciaries installed to responsibly manage and maintain wealth. This gives local family offices tremendous flexibility in the types of companies and industries that they choose for investment. These offices are typically not beholden to a set of mandates forcing investment into a predetermined space and criteria.
“In the past 12 months, we’ve successfully launched 10 companies within SPIC I, which is focused on changing the way we finance, invest and exchange value. This portfolio has been designed for revolutionary impact – to build a global financial infrastructure that embeds trust and payments at a protocol level. An infrastructure that provides the building blocks for the next economy by powering products, services and business models with financial services at the core”, further explains van der Heijden. In the long-term, the impact-focused venture builder is on a mission to create a Single Digital Capital Market and launch a secondary marketplace running on a global shared liquidity infrastructure, stimulating cross-border investments and lowering the threshold for retail investors. Director of Business Development at The Private Investment Group Obediah Ayton said “I am very happy 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 business influencer? Obediah Ayton is a trust manager at Ayton Family Office Trust and a consultant at Tennor Holding B.V., a specialist 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.
For years, family offices of wealthy dynasties have invested in bonds and shares. However, the next generation of family offices in looking to invest in alternative funds, technology solutions and fast-growth start-ups. Traditionally, family office investment strategies have focused on public bond, equity markets and alternative investments, such as hedge funds and real estate. However, these investments are no longer providing the returns they used to, and we see heightened enthusiasm for direct investment in businesses in order to increase return. There is a real opportunity here to develop mutually beneficial relationships between family offices, new funds and SMEs.
Obediah Ayton on how to raise money from family offices: Investment proposal: – When you have a specific project or investment opportunity, it is essential to prepare a list of suitable family offices before you contact them. Study the emotional interest within the Families history with specific areas or businesses. When creating the list, quality always beats quantity. Quality means: you should look for family investment offices which have previously invested in similar projects or are generally known for their open-minded investment style. Simply sending a generic mass mail to hundreds of family offices is rarely successful. While compiling the list already make notes about the SFOs and their investments – this will help you out later.
Right now is a great time to build close relationships with Family Offices for future capital raises! A wave of capital raisings are coming but the pandemic-created crisis means a whole new set of rules for companies wanting to tap investors for cash. It is now critical to get in ahead of the wave a build relationships with private wealth. Family offices are notoriously discrete. So much so that one of the most common adages to describe the industry is “a submerged whale does not get harpooned.” With a tremendous amount of investable capital, these family offices are often looking for ways to diversify their investments.
Obediah Ayton on 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.