INTRODUCTION
A "fund of funds" (FOF) is an investment strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in stocks, bonds or other securities. This type of investing is often referred to as multi-manager investment. A fund of funds may be 'fettered', meaning that it invests only in funds managed by the same investment company, or 'unfettered', meaning that it can invest in external funds.
There are different types of 'fund of funds', each investing in a different type of collective investment scheme (typically one type per FoF), for example 'mutual fund' FoF, hedge fund FoF, private equity FoF or investment trust FoF but the original Fund of Funds was created by Bernie Cornfield in 1962. It went bankrupt after being looted by Robert Ves.
SOURCES OF BUSINESS FINANCING
Where and how you finance an operation can be the difference between dominance and failure. All money may sound like good money in this environment. It isn’t.
Often it makes the most sense to tap a few different sources of capital. One deal I arranged involved seven funding sources. That sounds like a hassle, but it ended up greatly reducing the company’s cost of capital and saving it from bankruptcy.
Here are the 12 best, from least attractive to most. Two glaring omissions: venture capital–VCs fund just 3,500 of the 22 million small outfits in the U.S., and they only tend to hunt for companies with the potential for torrential growth–and a founder’s own savings. If you don’t know by now that financiers want to see some of your own skin in the game, you may already be in over your head.
1.Angel equity. If you must sell an ownership stake to get your company off the ground, start by finding a respected industry executive who is willing to invest a reasonable amount and give your venture credibility with other investors. The advice and networking–without all the heavy-handed demands of a VC–come in handy, too.
2.Smart leases. Leasing fixed assets conserves cash for working capital (to cover inventory), which is generally tougher to finance, especially for an unproven business. Warning: Don’t put so much money down that you end up spending the same amount of cash as you would have had you bought the asset with a down payment. The cost of a lease may be slightly higher than bank financing (see source No. 10), but the cost of the down payment you did not have to make is likely to be less painful than the dilution you suffer from giving away equity.
3. Bank loans. Banks are like the supermarket of debt financing. They provide short-, mid- or long-term financing, and they finance all asset needs, including working capital, equipment and real estate. This assumes, of course, that you can generate enough cash flow to cover the interest payments (which are tax deductible) and return the principal.
Banks want assurance of repayment by requiring personal guarantees and even a secured interest (such as a mortgage) on personal assets. Unlike other financing relationships, banks offer some flexibility: You can pay off your loan early and terminate the agreement. VCs and other institutional investors may not be so amenable.
4.Customers. Advance payments from customers–assuming the terms aren’t too onerous–can give you the cash you need, at a relatively low cost, to keep your business growing. Advances also demonstrate a level of commitment by that customer to your operation. About half of the world-beating entrepreneurs in my book, Bootstrap to Billions (see www.dileeprao.com), were funded by their customers. This strategy allowed them to grow faster and with limited resources, and to operate with relative impunity with respect to their investors.
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