**UPDATE: Hi everyone,
I have elected to close this fund to the public for now. Instead, I will be the sole shareholder of the fund, and the results will be published publicly if you are interested in following this funds performance. The results statements can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuQ3xQRnpXqEdG5yMHZCaVkydWM5V1pzZld6WmtZa2c&usp=sharingHey all,
I'd like to introduce my new private Investment Fund - BTC-EQTY (Formal name is BTC EQUITY). BTC EQUITY is an investment fund that invests in Bitcoin related companies/businesses such as ASICMINER. Other investment activities include buying and selling USD with BTC for a profit, although this is a minor activity.
For below reference/definition, I am the fund manager.
Why choose BTC EQUITY and not invest in companies yourself?This is a question everyone should ask themselves. Many people prefer to have direct control over their own investments and make investment choices with what they feel are good choices. What I offer is that I think I can beat the average investor in terms of returns, due to my extensive experience in share-trading and investment products. The second thing BTC EQUITY can offer is buying power resulting in more profitable deals. When we have enough investors and BTC capital, we will attempt to buy up assets in bulk for lower prices, resulting in better margins for all of our members.
And lastly, a lot of people may not want to spend many hours doing market research, buying and selling, investigating new assets, keeping up with the latest news etc. We offer a managed service in which you can just sit back and have someone experienced manage the investment for you.
I will have a large investment with my own BTC in this fund, and all future funds. This intrinsically links the success of the fund to my own.
How does it work? The investment fund is very simple. There will be an initial offering of
BTC100. This fund will be called "BTC-EQTY-A". Of this amount, I personally will be investing a large portion of this. Any one can buy as many, or as little "shares" of the fund (minimum 1 unit [1%]). For example, if you want to buy in to the fund with
BTC10, you will own 10% of the fund. The fund will be fully subscribed when 100% of the
BTC100 are bought out. As a fund member, you will own the % of the fund you purchased. All profits made will be added to the fund, so for example if things go well and 3 months down the track the fund is worth
BTC200, your 10% will be worth
BTC20 (less fees). (in which you paid
BTC10 for, constituting a profit of 100% return on investment.)
How much transparency will you be giving? There will be public monthly statements hosted on google drive, showing the asset balance sheet, the profit/loss and all other relevant information. There will be graphs, statistics etc also.
Can I "sell-out" at any time? Yes, you can sell out to either another individual privately, or sell to the fund manager who will pay 95% of the NAV at the time of sale. Otherwise, the fund will eventually end (there will be an end-date period specified), and all holders will be paid out fully at that time. There are other circumstances that can result in the fund selling off early, or being extended. Likely via a majority vote.
Can I buy in to the fund after the initial offering? The only way to buy in to the fund after the initial issuing is to buy a share from an existing holder of the fund. However, the value of the share will almost certainly be different by then.
Can I lose my money? How risky is this? Each fund has a different risk level. The first and only fund (at this stage) is a balanced risk fund. This means that this fund will not take part in USD vs Bitcoin trades, and will stick to moderate risk asset shares.
Bitcoins are very risky investments, anything related to bitcoins are risky at this point.
There is a very real risk of making significant losses by buying in to this fund, or any other fund, or any bitcoin asset. You have probably heard this warning everywhere surrounding bitcoins, but again -
Do not invest funds that you can't afford to lose! How do dividends work? Dividends are issued at the discretion of the fund manager. However, in most cases, 100% of the net income that the fund generates will be paid as a dividend, less the management fee. There may be some instances where assets are sold off with the intention of providing a large dividend to shareholders, particularly if the NAV increases substantially.
What are the fees? The fee is structured based on the performance of the fund. This is done to protect the fund members from paying a lot of fees if the fund is performing poorly. I feel this is the most honest and fair way of charging the fee.
Fee structure as follows:
One-off: There is a one-time fee of 5% at the time of purchasing in to the fund. So if you buy
BTC10, the fee is
BTC0.5 (meaning you will need to pay
BTC10.5 to the fund issuer.
Performance based fee: A 5% fee from the net profit every month (at time of dividend distribution). Eg. If the fund net profit for the month is +10 BTC, a fee of 0.5BTC is deducted, and the remaining 9.5 BTC is distributed to all share holders.
Will you be listing your funds on issuers such as btct.co ? Almost certainly at some stage. For now, this first fund will be privately managed.
How much money will I make? As said above, all Bitcoin related investments are risky. You might lose most of your money, break even, or make 10x your money. I am merely providing you with my expertise and knowledge, to give you a better chance of getting a return on your bitcoin investment.
Is this fund legal? As with all bitcoin funds/securities, these are all virtual, which to the best of our knowledge is perfectly legal.
Do I have any recourse if something goes wrong? Every effort will be made to be as fair and transparent as possible. I cannot guarantee that nothing will go wrong, but I can guarantee that I will act responsibly and with integrity. If that is not enough, than his might not be for you.
Do the funds "end"? The funds will run their course eventually. All fund members are allowed to sell-out at any point, so this may happen naturally. There will be an end-date period specified, and all holders will be paid out fully at that time. There are other circumstances that can result in the fund selling off early, or being extended. Likely via a majority vote. If majority votes to keep the fund active but you want to be paid out, there will be an option created for you to freely do that at that time.
Can I have a say in what is invested in? I will be setting something up, probably a voting system, that will allow the fund members to steer the direction of the funds. For now, I will definitely listen and consider fund members thoughts and requests.
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