Fund-of-Funds and family offices advices by Obediah Ayton? The role of family offices has changed in the last 20 years, driven by the proliferation of wealth and dramatic increase in the number of millionaires, centimillionaires and billionaires around the world. There also has been a surge in the number of family offices and more sophisticated investors. This new breed of ultra-high-net-worth families in the GCC differs from the “old money” of the past. Their accumulation of wealth is typically more rapid and driven by savvy investment management or entrepreneurism. Many of those joining the ranks of the ultra-high-net-worth include money managers, former hedge fund managers and folks who generated their wealth in private equity. This represents a large population of sophisticated investors with deep networks in the startup and entrepreneurial community who are sitting on tremendous wealth (some estimates put family office total asset value around $6 trillion globally).
“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 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.”
The ascent of a family offices business leader : Obediah Ayton? 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: Investment Firms: Family offices are increasingly part of syndicates for deals, and strong introductions can occasionally come to them from other institutional investment firms (private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds). Seek out the Largest Offices: Family offices don’t invest more than 5 to 10% of their net worth into venture capital; the differential goes to traditional private equity and hedge funds, direct stock and bond portfolios, and real estate. This implies that for entrepreneurs seeking funding, larger family offices ($2 to $10 billion in net worth) are better places to start the search relative to smaller, niche families who may be in wait for the “perfect deal” but usually follow other professional institutions. Family Office Summits (Run by Families, Not events companies): Time is money and deciding as to which events to spend your time on is as essential as any monetary transaction.
With a huge amount of the UAE’s wealth concentrated in the hands of high-net-worth families and individuals who are now looking for promising direct investment opportunities, SMEs are overlooking a crucial area of untapped financing. The UAE Family offices investment strategies are particularly varied with each family having their own philosophy, interests and areas of expertise and without the shorter-term objective of traditional private equity or investment banks.
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! 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: If this has not been a priority, now is the time to make it one, especially given the potential for returns and the effect that these activities can have on next-generation engagement. Globalization, the remote workforce and new technology trends. Technology has changed the face of business operation and brought with a rising trend towards globalization. With this has come the rise of a remote workforce.