Raising capital from family offices
Private Investor Panel: Trust, Diversification and Oil and Gas Deals
$6B Private Investor Panel | Family Office Insights, Oil & Gas, Real Estate & Deal Flow Strategies
Family office investors, private investors and deal sponsors who want to hear how experienced investors screen deals, spread risk and source opportunities.
What you will hear
Natalie, Patrick, David and Joe explain how they judge private deals on a panel led by Bill, who works with high net worth clients and family offices at Raymond James. Natalie says people come first, because doing a deal and investing both rest on trust. Patrick describes losing everything in a speculative real estate deal before the subprime mortgage collapse.
David and Joe focus on oil and gas. David repeats his father's advice to spread money across at least 10 deals and says upstream oil and gas is out of favor with investors. Joe's firm buys mineral rights for capital gain, gathers small positions that institutions overlook, and finds its best deals through local relationships and partners.
The 5 big lessons
- Meet the people before the deal. Natalie says it takes nothing to get on a plane and get to know someone. She stresses that doing a deal and investing both depend on trust.
- Diversify across different markets. Patrick lost everything in a highly speculative real estate development deal. He says he did not look for recession resilience or non-correlation and did not invest in enough markets to build stability.
- Spread money across many deals. David shares his father's personal rule of thumb about putting money into at least 10 deals. In his view, if two or three hit at 10 for one, net worth can rise sharply and the investor is not crippled by the losses. Results vary and this is not a guarantee.
- Look at out-of-favor sectors. David says he is drawn to upstream oil and gas because many investors currently avoid it. This is his personal view and not a recommendation. He says the time to invest is when something is out of favor, not when it is a fad.
- Source deals with local relationships. Joe says the best deals in the gray market of mineral rights are organically originated. His team relies on people they know and trust in a region, and on partners who think like them.
Worth quoting
"Doing a deal is about trust. Investing is also about trust."
"don't ever put everything in one deal. Put in at least 10 deals. And if two or three of them hit and go 10 for one, your net worth goes up dramatically, but you're not crippled."
"So you really do have to have boots on the ground, people that you know and trust who can help you source deals."
Facts from this talk
- Natalie handled the HPE EDS deal, which she described as a $14 billion deal.
- David's father advised putting money into at least 10 deals, so that if two or three go 10 for one, net worth rises without crippling losses.
- Joe's firm Overland mainly invests in oil and gas mineral rights and seeks capital gain rather than yield.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: $6B Private Investor Panel | Family Office Insights, Oil & Gas, Real Estate & Deal Flow Strategies. Quotes come from the video captions, lightly edited for readability. Figures are the speakers' own estimates and experience.
General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Talk to a securities attorney to explore options around offering documents, investor eligibility rules and mineral rights ownership. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Related questions
- What is the difference between single and multi-family offices?A single family office works for one family and is built the way that family wants.
- How do I find the decision maker at a family office?Start by meeting the family through advisors, events and the people who manage their investments.
- How long does a family office take to make a decision?There is no standard timeline, and I would not trust anyone who gives you one number.
Questions about this video
Why does Natalie say meeting people matters in investing?
She says doing a deal and investing are both about trust. She says it helps to take the time to get to know who you are working with.
What mistake did Patrick describe?
Before the subprime mortgage collapse, he lost everything in a highly speculative real estate development deal. He says he chased quick high returns and was not diversified enough across markets.
How does Joe's firm find mineral rights deals?
Joe says the best deals are typically organically originated through getting to know people in a region. The firm also partners with companies that think like them to reduce saturation risk.
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