Mistakes New Fundraisers Make at Family Office Events

At a lunch break during a Family Office Club summit in New York City, Richard C. Wilson shares his views on raising capital and attending family office events.

Richard C. Wilson addresses CEOs and first time capital raisers meeting investors at family office events. He discusses investor conversations, concise introductions and one page overviews. He also says some wealthy attendees keep a low profile, and real estate often comes up in family office conversations.

In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Family Office Club host), Investor working with pro athletes (Manages capital and works with pro athletes), Investor club operator (Runs an investor club)

What they said

1. Richard on investor introductions. Richard says asking people right away whether they invest can put their guard up. He says they want to know you and trust you before hearing a pitch.
2. Richard on investor priorities. Richard says investors at the event describe their interests, preferred structures, current allocations and recent deals. He says fundraisers can miss that information if they spend their time networking outside the room.
3. Richard on one liners and one pagers. Richard recommends a clear, attractive sentence tailored to the investor group. He says a one page overview can present the strategy, team, potential returns, risks and process without requiring investors to work through a long deck.
4. Richard on trust and deal structure. Richard says trust came up repeatedly at the event. He describes an investor who received an allocation through a referral and says the investor emphasized eating last so investors eat first.
5. Richard on discreet family offices. Richard says wealthy attendees may describe themselves by an ordinary business rather than identify as family office principals. He recommends listening and adding value before making assumptions about someone's capacity or interests.

In their words

"we're great to work with if people actually listen to what we want and they bring us something related to what we said we invest in"

"they always virtually always put money into real estate"

Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth

The investor seeking U.S. Private equity companies with $2 million to $5 million enterprise values was approached with a South American coal plant deal. That mismatch shows why Richard says a fundraiser should listen for an investor's specific interests before bringing an opportunity.