In Portuguese, an investment fund in general is called a fundo investimento. The vast majority of funds eligible for Golden Visa investment are classified as fundo de capital de risco (FCR). In English, both venture capital and private equity funds would fall under this classification. The FCRs are governed by Law 18/2015, of March 4 and their management regulations document. The overall targeted capital by funds usually falls between €20-50 million (with a few exceptions being around €100 million).
Golden Visa eligible funds could be divided into 3 main groups:
- Private equity (PE) funds (fundos de capital de risco—FCR)
- Venture capital (VC) funds (fundos de capital de risco—FCR), and
- Mutual funds (fundos de investimento mobiliário).
GV Eligibility
The five essential conditions need to be met to qualify for the capital transfer path for Portuguese Golden Visa:
- The fund needs to be approved and regulated by CMVM (Portuguese Securities Market Commission).
- 60% of the fund’s capital must be invested in companies with headquarters in Portugal.
- The investor has to buy fund units for a minimum of €500,000.
- The investment needs to be kept during the whole Golden Visa process until permanent residency or citizenship is acquired, which takes at least 5 years (in reality, often 6-7 years).
- The fund may not, directly or indirectly, invest in real estate.
Source/Credit: Nomad Gate Community
