Investing in a fund of funds

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by an investor from Polytechnic Institute of Milan
in Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy

9mos ago

Investing in a fund of funds

First I'll briefly introduce myself: I hold a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering and have also completed the CFA Program offered by the CFA Institute (I have passed all three levels; I am only lacking the required professional experience to obtain the CFA Charterholder designation). I've had multiple job experiences, both technical and managerial. Over the past several months, I have been researching search funds and SMB acquisitions extensively, and I am currently evaluating three possible avenues: 1) acquiring a small Italian company directly (as a self-funded searcher) 2) investing in multiple search funds, not necessarily Italian, in order to diversify 3) contributing capital to a fund of search funds, potentially with an international scope I'll have to pass on option 2 for now, as I don't have the capital to invest inredactedsearch funds at the same time in order to properly diversify (due to minimum investment amounts AFAIK in the neighbourhood of 100k EUR). Option 1 would give me the possibility of running my own company, but I'd have no diversification. It seems it would be less risky than investing in a single search fund though, as self funded acquisition entrepreneurs seem to have a higher success rate than search funds (even though data is far from comprehensive and reliable). Also, since I'd be in full control, I could choose how much risk to bear in many ways (i.e. defensive business vs cyclical sectors, low or zero leverage etc.). Still, option 3 is my favourite for now, because it would give me access to a diversified pool of SMBs with a potentially lower total investment amount. I also think that well connected people in this environment can pick search funds (perhaps I should say they can pick aspiring CEOs) better than me. Barriers to entry seem rather high though. Some issues include: - fund of funds seem to be almost non existent and very difficult to find - my Italian CPA has no clue when it comes to tax issues regarding this type of investments - investor requirements for this asset class seem unclear Can anybody help me in this regard? I think I need to connect with people offering these funds, or investors (ideally from Italy but not necessarily) who've already taken this route. Chances are that I'll need also a new CPA...

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reply by an investor 9mos ago
from London Business School in Milano MI, Italia

Hello Oscar option 3 requires an amount not negigible of capital too, we are actually raising a fund like that after investing in almost 30 searchers and 5 acquisitions now.

reply by an investor 7mos ago
from INSEAD in Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy

Have you thought of something like SF Club? It is similar to a fund but it offers you flexibility (as you can invest only in the deals you like) and more involvment / potential BoD roles / potential intros and consulting assignments within the target companies, etc...