Matthew Vincent of the Financial Times contacted me last week to ask my views on UHNW deal clubs and to find out about the launch of our BConnect Club. The article can be found in the next edition of FT Wealth delivered FREE with the FT newspaper on 4th May.
As I told Matthew, the vision for BConnect Club is quite simple - we want to offer our UHNW members a place where they can find co-ivestors, find exclusive deals, find the best professional advisors and do it efficiently. They are part of an exclusive Club which has their interests at heart and provides them with an independent investment platform.
Investment is a people's business so all of our members are interested in meeting one another and finding partners for their projects. Our launch tonight will be one of the many events we will be hosting this year as a way to connect our members on and off line.
Matthew’s first question was ‘Why is there was so much interest from UHNW investors in doing deals direct?’.
In my book ‘When you are Super Rich who can you Trust?’ I remind my readers that the price of any stock or share quoted on a market, is dependent on how many people want to invest in it. Investment Managers may know all the facts and figures of stocks, shares, sectors and economies, but cannot predict whether any one will interpret these facts and figures in the same way and invest. It is only when a lot of people are chasing the same investment that the price goes up.
At the same time Governments oblige financial institutions to be transparent in what they charge for their services. Gone are the times when charges could be hidden in the small print.
So not only does the Financial Institution have to comply with the Governments hunger for information, but they must also openly declare how much they are making in fees. The point at which the investment manager is making as much, if not more, than the investor, is the point at which the investor starts to look for new ways to invest. And for many that point has been reached.
I personally know of deal clubs in London, Singapore, Canada, Dubai and Switzerland and they are growing almost daily. But each club faces the same challenges - good quality members, good quality deals and good quality events.
Some clubs get ‘good quality members’ by charging a high up-front fee, to weed out those who are not serious. We don’t. We screen our members and each and every one of them must be 'verified' before they join the platform as an UHNW or SFO member.
Another challenge is to make UHNW individuals and their single-family offices want to come back. From our experience, like minded wealthy people want to find others like them, to do deals – of course - but also to ask for their opinion, ideas and recommendations. Like this evening’s event we bring our members together regularly, not only to promote deals, but as you can see from our broad range of sponsors, such as Bank Julius Baer, Cult Wines, and SPS security services we promote exclusive luxury products, as well as specialist advice.
BConnect Club enables anyone who wants to promote their luxury product and or specialist service providers to connect with our UHNW members, how best to do so is explained in my book ‘How to win Business from Private Clients’.
If you would like to find out how you can join the Club please contact us direct.
Contact : svetlana@garnhamfos.com
020 3740 7423
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