Family office investment tips with Obediah Ayton? 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.
“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 demonstrate 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.”
Meet Obediah Ayton and some of his philosophy? 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 about what happens when a Family Office takes the VC model: Why Raise Money from Family Offices: The long-term nature of their capital. Family offices have private capital to be preserved across generations, unlike venture capital firms which have contractually short term horizons. Strong alignment of the founder with the entrepreneur. Owing to the entrepreneurial DNA of the founders of most family offices, younger, more inexperienced entrepreneurs stand to benefit tremendously from the insights and connections of the family. This functions much like a successful venture capital fund but without the ego and aggressive nature to perform substantial returns.
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: Not to do: Don’t pitch them without understanding their goals and objectives. Don’t brag about your track record or accomplishments. Don’t interrupt them in the middle of a conversation. Don’t be aggressive. To Finish: Do exactly what you say you are going to do. Meet for coffee or at their office in order for you to understand their goals and objectives better. Respect their privacy and don’t share any information about them with anybody else. Feel free to reach out and speak soon.
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 on the new definition of a billionaire is not the net worth but in achieving change in a billion lives: We have seen family offices become much more engaged in discussions about sustainable and impact investing over the last 12 months. This is no longer seen as a ‘side project’ or preoccupation of the Next Gen, but a priority for the family as a whole. Many products are now recognised by family offices as fully-fledged investment tools that can generate good returns. New technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cryptocurrency, blockchain and even gaming have made their way onto the family office radar and into their budgets.