Liquidity or Control
The number of available investments just keeps getting bigger. In the last 5 years we’ve seen the real emergence of hedge funds, private equity funds, TIC 1031 exchanges, art mutual funds, etc., etc. How does an investor go about deciding if it’s worthwhile to put your hard earned money into one of these investments?
The first thing that I look at with an investment I’m unfamiliar with is, do I have either liquidity or control? Occasionally you’ll have both (i.e. a rare coin) but usually it’s one or the other. For example, with a rental property, one has complete control, but liquidity is slow and expensive. With a stock or a bond, someone else runs the show, but one can get out on the cheap overnight. However, a private equity fund requires the investor to tie up capital under someone else’s control for as long as 10 years. The investor has neither. If something goes wrong, the investor can’t get out, and can’t fix the problem.
There are a few situations where it might make sense to choose an investment that gives up both liquidity and control. But it better be an awfully darn good investment.