Family offices focus on the ultra-high net worth investor, typically with at least $50mm in assets. While these organizations provide many services beyond just investing, including handling day-to-day financial administration for their clients, which can be a single family or multiple families, helping them with their investments is a key role they play.
Juliette Fairley identified a couple of family offices that are investing in the cannabis industry despite some potential stigma issues. Jim Fitzpatrick, advisory board member of Kodiak Capital, suggests that the families are careful not to “jeopardize the family brand” and typically seek investments in companies that operate adjacent to the direct industry of growing or selling cannabis.
Wilson Family Office, based in Florida, is pondering making a $10mm loan backed by cannabis-related real estate. Jim Whatmore of MAB Investments has allocated about 2.5% of the Babcock family’s portfolio into cannabis companies, including ebbu, maker of predictable cannabis products, and Nuka, an edibles manufacturer. With capital not widely available to the cannabis industry, entrepreneurs might want to investigate family offices as a source of funding.
Read Juliette Fairley’s “Family Offices Fuel Marijuana Growth”: http://www.fa-mag.com/news/family-offices-fuel-marijuana-growth-25259.html
