Thanks Obiwan. As for other net VC's, well, yeah, I did cut out a lot of stuff from my rough draft of that article [below]. Though meVC.com is really the only VC fund of its kind coming out. If it's successful, we may eventually see more, with possibly cheaper expenses...
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There's more of where that came from. Similar offerings are expected next year by the likes of Divine InterVentures, idealab!, CMGI's @Ventures, and e-harmon.com.
Hitherto, retail investors could get a little exposure to private equities from mutual funds. But open-ended mutual funds are restricted by the SEC from holding more than 15% of their portfolio in illiquid securities. The few funds with some private placement exposure (though usually far less than 15%) includes Amerindo Technology [TICKER ATCHX], Warburg Pincus Post-Venture Capital [TICKER WPVCX], and certain funds from the Van Wagoner fund family. Also, the freshly-minted Seligman New Technologies fund plans to invest up to 35 percent of its portfolio in private placements, circumventing the 15% limit by structuring itself as a closed-end fund.
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FWIW, I've made some further comments on other Net VC's:
cbs.marketwatch.com
Message 12380655
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>>Obiwan Kenobee wrote:
Great article.
I didn't realize this fund was going to be so expensive :
"Investors also have to pony up a lot more in expenses for these special funds. For example, the meVC fund
expects to charge 2.5% of capital contributions and 20% of any profits."
Are there any other venture funds that you know of on the horizon that will be less expensive?
May the force be with us.... |
