Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of August 29, 2017

Article Excerpt

Dear Inner Circle member, Back in the 1980s and 1990s, before venture capital financing reached today’s level of familiarity, venture-capital investors used to say that they only expected to make money on perhaps one in 10 of the companies they invested in. That’s because they mostly invested in early-stage companies that were just starting out, and these companies have a high mortality rate. However, when things went as hoped, that one success could overwhelm the losses of the unsuccessful nine, and leave a healthy profit. This is a far higher failure rate than you find in, say, IPOs (Initial Public Offerings, otherwise known as new issues). While fewer new issues wind up worthless, big gains in new issues are rarer as well. Overall, new-issues investors earn a low rate of return, in relation to the risk they expose themselves to. We recommend investing in new issues rarely if ever. That’s because they come to market when it’s a good time for the company…