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Why Should You Invest in Private Markets?

PRIVATE MARKETS • DUE DILIGENCE

At Citizen Mint, we are passionate about transforming the world of finance by enabling the everyday investor to participate in impact investments in the private markets. Often perceived as the exclusive domain of large institutional investors such as pension funds, foundations, and endowments, the private markets have been traditionally inaccessible to individual investors due to high investment minimums, extensive holding periods, and the extensive due diligence required. But why should these potentially fruitful opportunities be the exclusive privilege of a select few? At Citizen Mint, we believe they shouldn’t, and we’re here to democratize access to these private markets.

Two reasons Citizen Mint focuses on private markets

Firstly, private markets present a unique opportunity to make impact investments in a direct, targeted, and meaningful way. Instead of contributing to a pool of funds in public markets where your impact might be diffused, investing in private markets allows you to direct your capital towards specific enterprises and projects that align with your values and objectives. It empowers you to make a tangible difference, driving social and environmental change while also seeking a return on your investment.

Secondly, investing in private markets enables portfolio diversification beyond the public markets. Diversification is a cornerstone of sound investment strategy, as it reduces the risk of your portfolio being adversely affected by a single sector or asset. Private market investments often exhibit lower correlations with the public markets, providing an additional layer of resilience for your portfolio, especially during volatile market conditions.

Historically, these benefits have largely been accessible only to the aforementioned institutional investors. But the landscape is changing, and we’re spearheading this evolution. Citizen Mint is committed to unlocking this investment avenue to a wider audience. By leveraging technology, innovation, and our deep expertise in impact investing, we’re making private market impact investments not only possible, but practical and accessible to you.

What is a Private Investment?

Private investments, simply defined, are those not traded on public exchanges. These investments are gaining immense popularity among impact investors for their potential in diversifying beyond public markets, facilitating significant impact, and securing competitive returns.

Private market investments have witnessed a dramatic rise globally over the last twenty years, with total assets invested swelling to a staggering $10 trillion by the close of 2021. This trend, in our analysis, is unlikely to decelerate as both individual and institutional investors persistently seek opportunities in the private markets for diversification. This sector’s dynamism further ensures a continuous emergence of fresh investment opportunities.

By opting for private markets, you are not only investing in the potential for financial returns but also supporting impactful initiatives that drive social and environmental progress. With Citizen Mint, you can be part of this influential and growing global financial trend, poised at the intersection of value and values.

Range of Investments: 

As with public markets, private markets comprise many different asset classes including equity, debt, real estate, and special purpose funds, typically referred to as alternative assets.

The major types of private market investments are below (see private markets white paper for impact examples in each asset class): 

Buying a company to grow it, make it more efficient or profitable with the ultimate aim of selling the business at a higher price in the future.

Early-stage businesses working on new or innovative solutions.

Pre-IPO capital, usually after initial funding rounds, to help scale a business.

Loans for a predetermined time before bank financing becomes viable.

Debt that is heavily discounted due to problems at the issuing company. The goal is to buy this debt cheap, restructure the company and/or sell off assets, then eventually resell the debt at a higher price.

Investments in multi-family, office, commercial or industrial properties.

Agriculture products, commodities, or land that hopefully can increase in value over time.

Investments in long-life, productive assets that usually have pricing power in the markets they serve (i.e. renewable energy projects, electric vehicle charging stations).

Special situation funds can have very diverse strategies but in general look to take advantage of market anomalies.

The Private Market Advantage

Risks and Concerns: 

  1. Manager or Sponsor Selection:
    While returns in the private markets can be compelling, it is key to invest with the right manager or sponsor given that the dispersion of returns is huge, highlighting the big difference in performance between the best and worst managers or sponsors. This makes manager due diligence and selection paramount

  2. Liquidity:
    The average commitment period is between three to 10 years and can be as much as 15 years in some circumstances. This results in private investments being considered “illiquid” or not easily scaleable. While there may be the opportunity to sell in secondary markets, the price is usually unknown and, in some cases, can be at a large discount if buyers are hard to find. “Illiquidity premium” is the term used to describe the extra return investors require to lose access to their capital for a period of time. The longer the period, the higher the illiquidity premium.

  3. Taxes:
    Most private funds are set up as Limited Partnerships (LPs) or Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) for which you will be required to report annually to the IRS your portion of income, whether distributed or not. This reporting is done through Schedule K-1. Thankfully, K-1 reporting has become more common and has resulted in many online tax preparers creating custom worksheets to process private market distributions.

Summary

Citizen Mint believes private market investments can provide the direct impact our community members’ seek in alignment with their values and issues of concern. We also believe that private market investments can enhance portfolio diversification and risk-adjusted return if carefully added and monitored. The key is having a partner like Citizen Mint to curate the most promising opportunities based on risk, return, and impact and provide those opportunities in an accessible and flexible format. 

We are excited about the positive impact we can make collectively. We hope you will join us in making a direct investment in change for the better.

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