Last week, my daughter asked for advice (obviously, she’s no longer a teenager): how can I balance my budget? I told her, among other tips, to control two things – reduce your expenses and minimize your taxes. What works for my family works for others. That’s why Carofin encourages setting up a Self-Directed IRA custodian More >
Investors are increasingly drawn to alternative investments[i] to make them less vulnerable to market volatility and to achieve “absolute returns” (investment returns more directly tied to the underlying company’s financial performance). Within alternative investments, “Private Equity” investment opportunities abound, but what this really means can be confusing. In this piece, we’ll try to demystify this More >
Consistency is critical in our business. When it comes to investment analysis, this “First Principle” – “What primary business opportunity is the issuer pursuing?” – is the first question successful investors apply in their consistent approach to company analyses. Have you adopted this principle? Identifying the fundamental rationale for an enterprise is central to More >
In a recent article in The Economist, the author bemoans the fact that today’s “low interest rates leave savers with few good options.” True, but a limited analysis. Carofin suggests savvy investors, and particularly relative newcomers to private investments, look closely at private debt. Let’s dig a little deeper. If they were planning for #retirement, More >
On August 26, 2020, the SEC adopted amendment to the “Accredited Investor” definition, which determines who can participate in most offerings in the private capital markets. While the definition historically limited access to individual investors who met a specific income or net worth test, the amended definition now allows investors with sufficient knowledge and expertise More >
2020 is proving to be a time for reflection – a relatively chaotic period that’s forcing us, both personally and professionally, to reconsider how and why we conduct our lives the way we do. Your investments are, obviously, an important reflection of your values and priorities. What Carofin offers, and why we hope you will More >
The following outlines the different approaches required for Investors to qualify as Accredited Investors under Rules 506(b) and 506(c). More >
Does it surprise you how inventive entrepreneurs are when problems arise? Here’s one that struck our fancy. We call it “The Case of the Slipping Shipping.” Years ago, a business owner was mystified. He would load a truck in one location for a customer delivery about 50 miles away. Each time he did so, what More >
The pricing of private securities is obscured by several factors: each is unique, analyses available for public securities don’t exist privately, and easy comparisons don’t exist. Cash-on-cash, simple interest, and IRR are useful metrics, but only if you apply them correctly. Let’s make sure that, when we’re talking about a Return on Investment (ROI, return More >
The rules are very different in the private markets, and you should know the difference if you’re going to play the game. We all know that you can trade public securities. The most well-known exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ for U.S. public equities and the institutional “bond markets” for government and More >
Just as with public securities, private securities are generally either equity or debt, but that’s the simple part. The most commonly encountered forms of equity are called venture capital and “Private Equity” for private equity (yes…it’s used interchangeably), and senior vs. subordinated debt for private debt. They attract investment because they command higher returns, based More >
Stock prices and bond yields are easy to find. But it’s challenging to confirm whether the terms of a direct investment in private placements are fair. Given that the private securities markets (over $2.4 trillion/year raised in the U.S.Wall Street Journal, April 2018 ) are now larger than the public markets, we offer this framework More >
We financed a scrap metal dealer once, that needed additional working capital to purchase and process scrap because it had high cost overruns in building its large-scale shredding operation. Let’s just say, experience is everything, and you can learn from ours. Numerous lenders already were providing equipment financing with broad claims on the company’s asset – so we couldn’t use that collateral to support our More >
We were approached by a small company in the consumer goods business looking to raise capital to build inventory. It’s true, experience is everything, and we’re game to share. In our normal course of conducting due diligence, we discovered that the owner of the company previously had exited and sold another business and, rather than pay federal taxes, he had More >
By Henry Yoshida | CEO of Rocket Dollar The Power Of Tax Deferral In A Self-Directed Account When we’re talking about your tip on a lunch out, 20% hardly seems worth discussing (especially if the service is good). When we’re talking about your retirement accounts, 20% could mean hundreds of thousands (even millions) of dollars More >
By James Jones | CEO of IRAeXchange.net I’ve spent a lot of time in and around IRAs and Self-Directed IRA or “SDIRA,” writing books, speeches, and, generally, educating folks on the topic. Inevitably, when people get a chance to engage with me after a panel discussion or other presentation, they ask questions. Shockingly, they are often CEOs, Fund Managers, and other financial professionals asking questions about a tax-deferred vehicle that, recently, is growing in popularity by leaps More >
In a recent article in Bloomberg, Simone Foxman discusses the rising trend among the centimillionaires investing directly in private enterprises and away from managed products. While I agree with the author, let me expand on a few points. You Don’t Have to be a Centimillionaire to Play in This Market. First of all, it’s not just the centimillionaires who More >
Your brother-in-law tells you this Company is going to revolutionize the (…pick an industry). And these people are incredibly experienced in this field. “Let’s invest together,” he tells you. Well … let’s take a deep breath and think about private investing and what it might mean for you. More >
Everybody’s talking about alternative investments, but there seems to be a lot of confusion about what they are. Well, here’s our stab at defining alternative investments — what they are and what they’re not. If you’re interested in learning about the alternative investments, this is a good place to start. More >
We’ve made the point more than once in these articles: investing in an alternative investment, and particularly in a private Company, is a high-risk gambit. Where there may be rewards, there are most certainly risks. So, do your homework and think about the following four questions carefully. It’s crucial that Investors in alternative investments carefully evaluate whether the opportunity is suitable. More >
Recognizing that access to capital is critical to the health of smaller companies which generate about 50% of U.S. job growth, the Congress passed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in 2012, which set the stage for the development of equity Crowdfunding in the U.S. The JOBS Act The JOBS Act includes several provisions More >
The following briefly reviews the history of securities exchanges, the establishment of the first U.S. federal securities law, touches on the regulatory burden that is currently imposed on Broker-Dealers, and references the exciting outgrowth of recent legislation authorizing Crowdfunding. While privately placed Securities represent, arguably, the oldest and least efficient form of investment banking, this More >
The following provides general background on, and underscores certain risks to Investors associated with, Private Placements. Private Offerings can be purchased directly from the Issuer of the Security during the Offering period or through an agented, “best efforts” process managed by a FINRA-registered Broker-Dealer acting as a Placement Agent. Under U.S. law, other than the More >
The following offers an explanation behind increasing investor allocations into Alternative Investments. The investment returns of many Alternative Investments result from the fundamental performance of the underlying business or project versus the more general swings of the equity and bond (Fixed Income) markets. Alternative Investments tend to offer Total Returns as well as Non-Correlated Returns based More >
This information summarizes important risk-related considerations for Investors making Alternative Investments. Evaluating a potential investment is, arguably, the most important aspect of any investing activity, whether as part of a private Securities Offering or for a publicly registered investment. No investment is riskless, and losses will inevitably happen within a portfolio. Limiting losses and achieving More >
The following reviews the principal regulations which governs Private Placement offerings of securities and describes allowable investor participants. Private Placements are Offerings of Securities wherein the transaction and the related securities do not follow the public registration requirements of the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”). They are traditionally offered in a non-public manner (i.e., without public More >
Below is a listing of the various categories of private Alternative Investments which comprise Carofin Offerings: For more detail regarding either debt or equity Offerings, please read “Private Placements: Debt Investment Overview,” or “Equity Investment Basics.”
We get calls every week about another alternative investment opportunity. Maybe you do, too. Before investing in alternative investments, it might help to understand certain limitations and challenges in doing so. More >
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