Investment funds for the Golden Visa in Portugal

An investment of € 350,000 in investment funds or venture capital funds is one out of the eight qualified types of investment provided for a Golden Visa application.  An investment fund is a type of collective investment under which all fund participants invest money together into stocks or other capital investments .

The intention of the funds is the capitalization, innovation and development of Portugal and investments are established under the Portuguese law. Therefor funds need to have a maturity at the time of investment of at least five years and at least 60% of the value of the investments has to be made in commercial companies headquartered in Portugal. The investments funds  are managed by so called investment fund management companies and are regulated by the Portuguese Capital Markets Board - CMVM. The funds are also managed, audited, and valued by independent and licensed companies providing additional security and transparency to the investor.

How can I make the investment? What is the process?

• The Golden Visa candidate decides about the investment plan;
• The Golden Visa candidate opens a bank account in Portugal;
• The Golden Visa  candidate signs the fund documents;
• Three documents will be needed from this point:
• • Two bank documents: a) proof of the international transfer to the bank and b) proof of payment of the fund). Both documents will be supplied by the bank
  • one document of the fund (proof of acquisition of a specific fund) issues by the fund manager
• With the three documents your lawyer can follow the GV process.
• The candidate applies for the Golden Visa  and keeps the investment for 6 years.

What are the benefits / advantages from investment funds?

• Investing in funds is relatively easy although applicants should invest enough time to find the right solution for them. Not all funds are the same.
• Currently the investment funds are free from taxes in terms of acquisition and annual returns.
• Regulation ensure that investors can always resell their fund units to other investors, convert the units into real estate assets supported by the fund, or simply exit the fund.
• By choosing a good investment management team in charge of a fund, the opportunities of the market otherwise inaccessible to the overseas investor are more easily captured.

What are the cons / disadvantage of investment funds?

• There are no or low guaranteed returns
• You have to stay with the funds for a minimum time regardless of the Golden Visa application. Often these minimum terms are around 7-10 years.
• The minimum investment is  €350k while investing in real estates the minimum amount starts from €280k.
• You do not pay taxes but pay many fees:
• • management fee up to 3%
  • Upfront fee up to 5%
  • Performance fee up to 1%
  • or other fees like custodian fee / agent fee that range up to 1%
• Co-investment solutions are not available/applicable for Golden Visa funds.

There are two main important characteristics to be considered: investor profile and risk level of the fund.

What information should be considered to characterize the Investor?

• Age;
• Qualifications;
• Greater or lesser risk aversion;
• Availability for short, medium or long term commitment;
• Knowledge about financial products. 

What types of risk profile exist?

There is no legislation regarding the different investment risk profiles. However, the most common designations are:

• Conservative or prudent (suitable funds route for Golden Visa);
• Balanced or moderate (suitable funds route for Golden Visa);
• Bold or aggressive (not suitable funds route for Golden Visa).

Pearls of Portugal is very confident that the programme will keep on being growing,  and we are here to support all investors. With four years of experience only in the Portuguese market we are here to look after your goals. Contact us immediately for a personalized consultation. 

In 2016 a resolution of the Assembly of the Republic in Portugal approved the agreement with the United States to reinforce the tax compliance and implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). With the entry into force of the US FATCA, all foreign financial entities, is obliged to identify the accounts of its North American Clients (US Persons).

The act requires that foreign financial Institutions and certain other non-financial foreign entities to report on the foreign assets held by their U.S. account holders or be subject to withholding on withholdable payments.  The Act also contained legislation requiring U.S. persons to report, depending on the value, their foreign financial accounts and foreign assets.

For this purpose, US Persons are considered to be American citizens or residents of the USA.

There are qualifying funds that will deal with the US government reporting requirements. Once the lawyers provide a report, US persons can then make their investments. 

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