Absolute Advantage Blog

• 25Jun

  IT’S GREAT TO BE A CANADIAN INVESTOR: Wave your Investment Flag.

  Featured Events, Marketing, Media, Panurban 112°W, Pipeline Buzz, Uncategorized No Comments

   

  

  Register Now to view Accilent Capital's Canada Day feature, 'Real Estate and your Portfolio: Why it's Great to be a Canadian Investor' airing on www.returnswithoutborders.com between June 29th and July 3rd.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  While most of us are still caught up organizing a flurry of things before Canada Day -taking the kids to camp, finishing that project, and of course agonizing over if anyone will notice that you’re taking an extra long weekend (seriously, Wednesday? Come on now..) - Accilent has been busy hatching a special feature for Canadians to watch all week. 

   

  The video ‘Real Estate and your Portfolio: Why it’s Great to be a Canadian Investor’ launches on  www.returnswithoutborders.com Monday June 29th, and runs until July 3rd. Guests can register to have access to the piece for the full week here. Accilent produced the video to reinforce Canadian opportunities available right now.

  “We get a lot of questions about why our market is specifically Canadian.. We get calls from would-be prospects all around the world interested in our funds. The truth is, we’re proud to deal with an exclusive market. All of our products to date have been centred around the Canadian investor, and opportunities for the Canadian market.” Says Dan Pembleton, MBA CFA, President of Accilent.

  You can watch Dan speak about Accilent, current real estate opportunities for the Canadian investor, common misconceptions about the role of real estate in the average investor portfolio, and much more. This is an educational video that can be watched over a lunch at work, or after dinner at home.

  For more information about our real estate product Panurban 112°W check out www.returnswithoutborders.com, follow us on Twitter @panurban112w, or you can request full offering documentation from service@accilentcapital.com

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: accilent, Personal Finance, Portfolio, Real Estate, Video, Webinar

• 11Jun

  SEPERATING FACT FROM FICTION: The Truth about Arizona and US Real Estate statistics, Investment Risk, and Sunbelt Economies.

  Current Events, Marketing, Media, Panurban 112°W, Pipeline Buzz No Comments

  

  No ghost-stories here - Dan Pembleton and Mark Dziedzic (left) discuss an eligible property in Phoenix.

  It’s not a secret that in the game of sales, all’s fair. It is not news to say that if an opportunity looks like it’s going to infringe on someone’s business, they’ll take action to freeze shared targets and make them think, maybe by flashing a few metrics to show that their product or service out-values another. And we all know that the same numbers that present themselves as simple facts or apolitical statistics can solicit paralyzing fear in would-be consumers if twisted around to suit the needs of competitive forces.  Case and point. Let’s take a look at the Canadian Real Estate market.

   

  Now, this is not to point a shaming finger at anyone. Rather, it is to be anticipated that when the US Real Estate market presents such a timely opportunity, people whose livelihoods depend on the sale of Canadian investment properties, vacation properties, or related courses will get their backs up and fight to secure their sales and their own incomes. But soon campaigns develop, and after these counter-US investment sentiments start to develop momentum, we notice more and more the distortion and sometimes even blatant misrepresentation of facts to secure mindshare among Canadians.

   

  Boogiemen in the Housing Market

  Recently, one Canadian Real Estate sales agent got creative and found some numbers that –unexplained and out of context – might scare the pants off of those interested in US Real Estate.  Boldly, this personality declared that there were “19 million empty houses in the US..as many houses as there are in all of Canada”. Boy that’s scary isn’t it?  The implication was that it was probably going to take 20 years for all those houses to get taken up, with their value spiraling down and out for those who had made investments in them.. wrong. The truth? There are ALWAYS unoccupied houses in the US, in every economy whether good or bad. In fact, according to US Census, since 1987 the average percentage of unoccupied houses in the US has been a steady 11.84% of the total housing stock. The current staggering number (please note unbridled sarcasm here) is 14.38% - we have a 2.54% gap to close to meet with historical averages.

   

  The total number of housing stock in the US is about 130,000,000 homes. Using the same solid US Census facts, that means on average we would expect there to be 15,392,000 vacant homes in the US – and that’s in a normal economy. Currently in the US foreclosure landscape, we have 18,704,000; a difference of 3,312,000.

   

  So the situation is not that the U.S. has a nation of 19 million vacant homes (cue tumbleweed) that like a tidal wave will destroy the market with its constant oversaturation. Society will not crumble, street rule will not prevail, and strange felonious underlords will not squat and start their at-home drug businesses beside grandma and grandpa. Why? Because the overhang in the market is actually only 3.3 million homes.  Again, there’s fact, and then there’s fear-mongering. The difference of over 15 million is quite a large miss on the part of any fact-checker out there.

   

  The fact that the overhang is only 3.3 million homes is also what makes it valuable to investors. This margin is what has created opportunities like Panurban 112°W. The sudden supply will not be sitting on the market forever, as these fact-benders would have you think. They will actually get taken up rapidly because housing starts (new construction) has collapsed in a natural market response to the oversupply from 1.3 million new homes per year to less than 500,000. The lack of new home construction will close the over-supply and raise home prices very quickly.

   

  Another realtor tool that examines the health of the market is the calculation of ‘months of homes’ available for sale. Basically, realtors will take the complete number of houses on the market, and divide it by the number of houses being sold per month. This generates the ‘months of houses’ – a time measurement that reveals the total number of months it would take to sell all the houses on the market at current sales rates. This metric also demonstrates intervals of supply. Under supply by this standard would be 2 months. The balanced or ideal range to be in is between 3 to 6 months. Oversupply is generally anything over 10 months. Over the last few months this number has dropped from 12 months to 10 months – and when the real estate market does finally turn will move quickly back to the desired 3-6 months.

   

  Money Talks: The Currency Curse

  Another favourite campfire ghost story is the exaggerated tale of currency risk that openly haunts any US investment opportunity.  Does no one else find it slightly amusing that this particular tale seems to have gained momentum even after the Canadian dollar has moved from 63 cents to 93 cents US? Fascinating.  With regard to currency risk, Panurban 112°W has had a solid strategy since the beginning. Accilent President Dan Pembleton (also the Investment Manager and Vice President of the fund) knows how to hedge currency risk if needed and in fact has done this while trading over $5 billion for a big Canadian bank (RBC).  This really makes dollar risk a moot point for investors in Panurban 112°W. Now, for people who just buy houses directly, this is a very real risk.  It is very difficult for an individual to hedge. If you are buying a house directly, you need to give it a lot of thought and structure. An individual is not qualified to trade the financial instruments required for currency hedging. They would have to find a licensed broker, open accounts, and spend a lot of time and money before they can then hedge currency on a very small unit – and then there’s all the time spent monitoring it. This is not remotely practical and it is easy to see why this particular tale could make the hair rise on the back of your neck. Luckily with the fund it’s simple. Within a fund structure hedging currency risk is an easy thing to do logistically and administratively. If someone puts $100 000 into the fund, it’s just part of the larger fund - the entire fund’s currency exposure can be hedged. All the licensing and accreditation is already in place.

   

  It Came from The Sunbelt..

  Another favourite “don’t go in there!” scare-tactic is the broadcast of the near apocalypse that the Sunbelt is experiencing. Really? If people actually look at the economics behind states like Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California, they would find that it is the south of the US that is growing, and the Rustbelt of the US (the manufacturing states like Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan etc.) which is in decline.  Why? When states like Arizona are in a normal economic landscape, a lot of knowledge economy businesses establish themselves there and provide great job growth. This includes big companies like Honeywell, Motorola and Intel, as well as large institutions like Arizona State University which boasts a groundswell of over 60,000.

   As a further point, a high proportion of retired people is actually desirable and does not imply a stagnant economy at all. Retirees act as a stabilizing force on the economy. They are living on pension and savings income which means they generate spending without filling a job. Therefore you have more consumption per job in local economies that have a higher proportion of retired people.  A combination of these factors points to states like Arizona bouncing back faster after recessions in job growth, in immigration, and their economy in general.

   

  Debunking the Myths for Good

  According to some, there is always going to be something living in the closet or under the bed when they weigh Canadian real estate investment against the current US opportunity.  It may be the Sunbelt, the ‘no one knows for sure when the market will bottom out’ argument, currency risk, or just blatant number twisting. It could be some new rumour that goes bump in the night. Our advice? Look at the motivation behind these tidbits without pointing a finger. Ask yourself a few questions: Does the source of these opinions have a vested interest in a Canadian Real Estate business? Likely they do. Do they have any exposure to international markets or any experience at all with money management or portfolio management?  Likely, they do not (or if they do, then they have a vested interest in the Canadian Real Estate markets). Go to websites that deliver the facts – government owned websites that present statistics and do not focus on state or federal promotion. Ask your financial advisor for information about their products, give us a call… and sleep with a night light.

   

  For more information about Panurban 112°W check out www.returnswithoutborders.com, follow us on Twitter @panurban112w, or you can request full offering documentation from service@accilentcapital.com.

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Accilent Capital, Arizona, Dan Pembleton, Investment Properties, Marketing, Real Estate

• 26May

  PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE 101: How to ‘Look Before You Leap’ with Investing in Times Like These

  Fund Services, Marketing, Panurban 112°W, Pavilion (PRF), Pipeline Buzz, Uncategorized, Wine Investment Fund Canada (WIFC) No Comments

  You’ve heard that something looks like a good opportunity and after a bit of research, you want to put your money into it. Chances are (unless it’s something as unique as our wine fund) you are going to find any number of funds that echo each other and seem to promise amazing returns. We all know that when it comes to investments comparison-shopping is not exactly the same as searching for the best trip prices or car insurance. So what exactly are the things you want to know about a fund before you fork over your cash? Here is some practical advice for anyone who wants to make sure their money is growing with the right people – especially in times like these.

   

  

  Funds may promise the same returns but need to be compared carefully

   We hear it a lot – what’s different between your flow-through and those others? Or, ‘isn’t there another company doing that in Canada’? Well, yes, and there are also many different businesses selling food, underwear, and other basic necessities. Of course most retail offerings have the benefit of being tangible. It’s easier to brand something that you wear, or drink, or sit on. Unfortunately, even with the best differentiation tactics, the greatest challenge of the financial industry is selling abstract products where beyond signing papers, the process is pretty much left to the imagination of their clientele. Yes, there are rules and regulations, offering documents thicker than encyclopedias, and lots of logistics and transfers and numbers. But securities to so many translate into a slight-of-hand, where you can’t actually see what just happened to your investment, the only real ‘proof’ you have is a piece of paper, or you occasionally get a cheque, or other pieces of paper with more numbers reporting gains or losses. It’s like Schrodinger’s cat. You don’t really know how you’re doing until you look at your statement. And even then..No wonder financial matters are one of the top stressors in North American households. 

  It’s times like these that really make it important for people to learn about their investments, and feel more confident about their level of knowledge when it comes to their financial health. It’s times like these that demystification becomes invaluable to the prospective client or existing investor. Financial institutions have been campaigning harder than ever to set the populace at ease, and hopefully smaller firms and investment boutiques have been doing this too, as we have. The easiest way to empower clients while growing their confidence is to educate them, and encourage them to ask questions until they are comfortable. Comfortable - not wow-ed, not ‘glitzed and glamoured’ with a big finish pitch.

  The best question that we’ve been asked by investors, is how they can evaluate investment products for themselves and what features they should look at to make their decision. While I would not recommend that anyone without good financial knowledge evaluate investments on their own there are some fundamental features that everyone should examine and compare.  Here are 3 ways we think people can help investigate potential investment opportunities and make an informed decision.

   

  1.         READ THE OFFERING MEMORANDUM

   This is the document that describes what you need to know about the investment in detail so it is absolutely essential. I know some of them can be painfully long and the legal language can be very dry, but you have to just plow through it. Once you get started reading you will often find it isn’t so bad.

  Pay special attention to the Description of the Investment – this is key. After you have read it, ask yourself these questions:

  What is your money being invested in?

  Almost as important, what can’t it be invested in?

  Do you understand it and does it make sense?

  Can you follow in your mind where your money is going, why it is a good idea, how it is going to provide you a financial benefit and most of all how you are going to get your money back?

  Can you visualize for yourself what things can go wrong with the investment and what the repercussions of that could be and are you comfortable with that outcome?

  How probable do you think a bad outcome is?

  Are you comfortable with that?

   

  2.        GET TO KNOW THE TEAM

  Who are the people and companies involved with this investment? Read the description of everyone involved. Do the people described have some expertise and skill in the investment area which they are supposed to be pursuing? Do they have the kind of education and experience that you would hire them for that purpose if this was a business you were running? Since you are making a financial investment does anyone involved with the investment have a money management background? What are their financial accreditations?

  At Accilent Capital we hold a number of accreditations as well as being registered in a number of capacities with financial regulators in Canada including the investment counsel and portfolio management registration.  In Canada there are many regulators in the financial industry- are any of the people or companies registered with any of Canada’s financial market regulators? If no one is registered with the financial regulators you need to ask yourself why they haven’t done that. As an investor you should also do a little research on your own. With the internet today it is relatively easy to do a quick search of all the people in the offering documents as well as the companies and see what information comes back – you can learn if companies or principals have experienced bankruptcy or other big red flag items. Also specifically check the financial regulators’ sites (they all have search functions on their web sites where you can just type in names) such as the securities commissions of the provinces and the self-regulating organizations such as the MFDA and IIROC.

  Here is what you should be able to answer confidently after you do your research:

  Is there a portfolio manager running the fund?

  Are the companies involved registered with the provincial/regional securities commission or a national dealer?

  Does your own research regarding the principals/investment managers make you feel confident that they should be handling your money?

  What accreditations do the principals hold?

   

   

  3.        ACCOUNTING AND REPORTING

  Does the investment have a well known accounting firm (preferably a nationally or internationally known firm) examining the accounting records each year?

  Valuation of the investment: How is the investment going to be valued from time to time? It is important for investors to have reliable information about how their investment is performing and what it is worth. These valuations of the investments need to be independent wherever possible and not rely on management’s estimate of values. How are the people that are managing, operating and promoting the investment being paid? Does the way they get paid align their personal financial objects with yours as the investor? Is it reasonable? By reasonable what I mean is the effort and skill that is applied to the investment reasonably priced? If you are investing in anything (real estate - either land or buildings- precious metals, collectibles, stocks or bonds) is it done at an arms-length transaction or in a similar format where you know it is being purchased at its true value? If it is being purchased from the person or company that is connected to the investment, does it come with an appraisal, or other independent means of determining the value? You need to know if people who are running the investment are making money by selling you something for more than they paid for it and if they are that the price you are paying is fair and that you are comfortable with them making money before you make money. After all, you are taking the investment risk and providing the capital so you should be entitled to the lion’s share of the profit.
   At Accilent Capital we are always up front about exactly how we get paid, in our funds we do not buy or sell anything at a markup to its market value, our management fees are generally less than industry averages and are designed to cover our costs of operation, and our profit comes from profit sharing with our clients.

   What are their management and performance fees like?

  Where does their profit come from?

  Do they have a 3^rd party accountant or auditor working with them?

  What is their reporting like?

   

  You might not find the answers to all of your questions in the offering documents or marketing materials, or, you may find that you have more questions than ever. Whatever your situation, you should feel perfectly comfortable calling or emailing your fund managers and their team to ask. Whether you want them to look over their numbers, or explain concepts, it should not be difficult for them to do directly, or to put you through to someone who can. At Accilent we really do believe that no question should go unanswered. Even Accilent’s president Dan Pembleton books time with clients to make sure that they feel comfortable and informed. This is just something we believe in doing.

  “Absolutely you should ask questions,” says Dan. “You should never settle for vague responses, and should never feel pressured to sign anything without getting the answers you want and need. An investment is a relationship with a client that lasts often beyond the term of one fund. We like to take steps to ensure that relationship is open and transparent, and that you grow along with your investment.”

  If you have any questions about our Panurban 112°W real estate fund, Wine Investment Fund Canada, our Pavilion Flow-Through Limited Partnership, or any other related topic, give us a call. You can reach us Monday through Friday, 9am to 5:30pm by phone (locally 416-429-9779 and toll free at 1-877-429-9779) or by email at service@accilentcapital.com. We also set up calls and Question and Answer periods that work with your schedule.

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Accilent Capital, Investment, Money Management, Phoenix, Real Estate, Wine

• 22May

  EYES WIDE OPEN: The real deal in Phoenix

  Accilent Was There, Marketing, Panurban 112°W, Pipeline Buzz No Comments

  Out of the 300 plus days of continual sunshine here in Phoenix, wouldn’t you know we have personally witnessed over 1/10^th of their annual rainfall while on this trip. Still, the balmy weather and the gorgeous blooming desert feels inviting and the weather certainly doesn’t detract from the incredible Phoenix attractions, the great community, and the investor gold just sitting vacant.

   

  When I was approached for input to the marketing side of Panurban 112°W  and got to whet my teeth on the scope of the project, the numbers, and the potential it offered for investors, I was on board. I could really see the value of the offering to Canadian investors, and thought that its design made it incredibly unique. There are not that many funds that focus on single-family residential housing, fewer still that centre on distressed Phoenix homes, and certainly no others when it comes to the kind of Arizona real estate experience Mark Dziedzic has gathered, or the investment and portfolio management experience that Dan Pembleton has.

   

  I’d never been to Phoenix, but I felt immediately inspired by pictures of its warm earth-tone palette, its sprawl of colour-flecked cacti and pristine gated-communities. When we finally booked this trip to meet with Mark on-site and view some of the prospective properties for the fund, I was excited, but I didn’t think I needed to have the penny drop any more than it already had. Nothing really prepared me for the reality of the market here.

   

  To the naked eye, Phoenix is bustling. Scottsdale businesses have steady pedestrian traffic, the golfing greens are well populated, and morale is high. In fact, while driving around, Mark had pointed out various areas that have seen and are seeing continued retail development which will create even more jobs, and attract more consumer dollars both from tourists and locals alike. Some select builds have even started back up again giving residents hope that their home values will stabilize soon.  Examples of this kind of infusion mean the area is already macro-minded, and looking to the future.

   

  Granted local news still feels we haven’t seen the bottom of the market. With national unemployment rising, some local economists think that we’ll see even more foreclosures and bank-owned properties come into the picture. Whatever stage of the market argument you’re on, nothing really compares to walking into a near 3000 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath in a highly family-oriented and desirable community to find out it’s only a whopping $99,000 US.

   

  

  Mapping out our property route

  I’m not going to lie to you, out of the 12 properties we did see one where some disgruntled owners had obviously defaced their house to spite the banks. But even that house was a well-built house, in a great community. It was close to schools, parks, freeways, and shopping. It was modern in its design, needed very little money thrown at it for repairs, refreshing and maintenance; and most importantly could give a family hard-hit by recent job loss or foreclosure a fantastic place to rent and recover at very affordable rates.

   

   

   

  One of our agents felt very strongly about this social aspect of this fund. Yes, it’s an opportunity to invest in a portfolio of housing in different communities of the Greater Phoenix Area. Yes, it’s easily identified as a way to generate returns – as an example we explored, buying a house at these rates means that it would only have to return to 63% of its former peak value to generate double the initial investment – but it is also a way to assist in the regeneration of a community and give locals and US re-locators the badly needed stability and support they need during these times.

   

  Still in times like this, all investors are twice as prudent and no one wants to be the only girl on the dance floor. Luckily, with real estate being one of the most traditional alternative assets Canadians are coming to us with questions about the fund, and how it assists with the diversification of their own portfolios, ready to get their feet wet again. The benefits are clear to Canadian investors and can only strengthen the local Phoenix economy as well – something that only drives returns even higher.

   

  I’ll be writing more during my stay here, and photos and video will be uploaded soon.

   

  For more information about Panurban 112°W check out www.returnswithoutborders.com, follow us on Twitter @panurban112w, or you can request full offering documentation from service@accilentcapital.com.

   

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Investment, Phoenix, Real Estate

• 20May

  OF TWITTER, TRAVEL AND THE TOP 10: Why You Want to Invest in AZ Real Estate.

  Current Events, Marketing, Panurban 112°W, Pipeline Buzz No Comments

  We’re on Twitter now. It’s true. We fought it for as long as we could, but soon the allure of 128 character nonsequetors and tiny URL postings won out. It just seemed to make sense that people would rather hear about our frenzied activities in 1-line bursts instead of wondering what was going on for the 2 months we couldn’t summon a minute to update the blog - yes, shameful I know. But really, when you have 3 funds, a small team, and a large network certain things become easier to maintain than others. Like quality of service, and spending 1-on-1 time with our clients (I hope you feel sufficiently guilty now).

  To our advantage, certain things haven’t changed in that time, for example, the continued debate as to whether we have hit the bottom of the US real estate market. This has come up a lot for us, especially with Panurban 112°W - our distressed-housing Arizona real estate fund.

  The Greater Phoenix Area continues to offer spectacular opportunities to Canadian real estate investors. Even with the housing market reporting ‘a promising outlook’ and increased buying activity, Panurban 112°W has the inside edge on bulk sale, discounted, single-family residential properties in beautiful Arizona. While areas such as Scottsdale have already seen a healthy improvement in general market value as well as short-sales and foreclosures, our team has already identified properties in surrounding areas which offer incredible risk management and diversification strategies for our investment portfolio.

  “Whether or not the market has bottomed shouldn’t be the question here” says Dan Pembleton, MBA, CFA, and the Investment Manager of the Panurban 112°W opportunity. “We’re either just before or just after a market bottom, regardless, it’s the broader 5 year macro opportunity of buying these houses at huge discounts to their intrinsic value that creates this opportunity.”

  The fund also offers investor benefits that simply out-weigh the purchase of an investment property. Here’s our top 10 as to why.

  

  THE TOP 10 REASONS OUR AZ REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND IS WINNING OUT OVER INVESTMENT PROPERTIES
  

  Why Investing in Panurban 112°W makes sense.

  
  Many have asked what the benefits of the fund are over purchasing an individual investment property, and the answer is clear. In today’s market environment, the fund is a unique opportunity to invest in residential housing as a commodity – in a fund format that lowers purchase costs and operating costs while providing a professional investment manager and professional real estate advisor.

  Because our team understands how to value, buy, and sell real estate as a commodity, it lowers risk considerably for you as an investor, and ensures that your opportunities to benefit are the most profitable. Here is a brief snapshot of why an investment in the fund is preferable given the current market conditions.

  1. Better Properties
  Our exclusive relationship with Benham REO give us a continuous stream of available properties entering foreclosure and pre-foreclosure status. That means we have real-time, first-hand information that is exclusive to the fund and allows us to make the best possible purchases not open to individual buyers.

  
  2. No Emotion
  Buying an investment property can be an emotional, exhausting, time consuming, and expensive event. As investment advisors and real estate experts, we simply look at the commodity appeal of properties and purchase them for the portfolio – with no emotion whatsoever. Removing emotion allows our reaction time to be much faster, especially in the case of a foreclosure opportunity where timing can be everything. Knowing the steps of purchasing procedures, having access to funds, and not hesitating once we have determined what’s best for our portfolio, are keys to our success. This makes our process straightforward, technical, and based solely on potential for return.

  
  3. Property Diversification
  By targeting many desirable neighbourhoods and investing in multiple properties, the fund is able to lower risk and additionally, adapt investment strategies to particular areas that are showing great improvements in terms of quality of living and local economy. We also track these properties using surveys and appraisals, and adjust our portfolios accordingly – something that keeps investor portfolios healthy. Investing in a single property does not provide that flexibility and proves to be a much higher risk venture.

  
  4. Diversification of Operating Risks
  A major risk that investment property buyers take on, is vacancy. A fund portfolio, on the other hand, assumes there will be vacancies. If we assume that for every 100 homes 5 are vacant (a 5% vacancy rate), then an investor with a 100-home portfolio fares much better than the single investment property buyer. A small proportion of an investment portfolio could always be vacant and still provide an excellent return, whereas the individual property owner has only two outcomes: they have rental income, or they have major losses. Panurban 112°W simply eliminates the single property risk exposure to vacancy.

  
  5. Lower Transaction Risk
  The fund investment strategy combined with team expertise, allow investors to avoid the costly mistakes and pitfalls of not understanding short sales, foreclosures, and more. From purchasing through to management and maintenance, we handle every step at no additional cost.

  
  6. Lower Investment Minimum
  Ask yourself this question. Do you want to write a cheque for $150,000 and then keep writing cheques for maintenance, insurance, travel, taxes, and management? Or do you want to write one cheque, and walk away? For the minimum of $10,000, you can own a share of a portfolio of well-diversified single family homes, with no additional payments. You receive financial statements, portfolio and fund updates, and instead of answering your tenants’ calls and talking to your service providers for updates, you can feel free to contact us anytime.

  
  7. Lower Purchase Cost
  Because of our fund structure, we have the power of bulk purchasing. And this does not apply to just properties. This applies to management services, maintenance, insurance, appraisals and other services. We have strong partnerships with all our suppliers, on top of which the strength of our sizeable portfolio means premium service. Individual investment property buyers may pay between 8-10% for basic property management fees, and have to queue for undesirable service times. The highest rate we pay for property management is 6%, and with 30 homes in our portfolio (for example), we would hold the service priority.

  
  8. No Travel Costs - Our Team is on the Ground
  A vacation is a vacation. Travelling to manage or investigate an investment property is not. Many initially get blind-sighted by the glamour of owning an investment especially if it’s in as beautiful a place as Phoenix. But the reality is, the amount of travel associated with running a successful investment property as an individual can add up. So can headaches!
  We have a specialized network in the greater Phoenix area, keeping a real-time report on the market for our fund. We can see what’s happening and react rather than hear about it after the fact. This, as well as our strong connection to the heart of Toronto’s financial district, makes our response time fast, and our commitment to investors unchallenged.

  
  9. No Time Spent Doing Administration (No US tax filing!)
  Because the fund has its own team of administrators and suppliers, we deal with all of the paperwork. It’s that simple. The only paper you have to deal with, is our financial reporting, and our annual T5013 mail out to use for your own Canadian personal income tax filing, as usual.

  
  10. Higher ROI
  With just $10,000 as a minimum investment granting you access to an entire portfolio of diversified single family residential homes, your return on investment can be significantly greater than if you were to purchase and manage your own single property. As demonstrated above, the costs associated with purchasing an investment property can be numerous and place both responsibility and liability at your feet. In comparison, the partnership handles all of the management and maintenance of our properties. Simply put, we have designed the fund to generate the most return possible for our investors.

  
  Are you still weighing a single investment property against a diversified portfolio?
  Remember, with an investment, you become a highly favoured partnership investor with limited liability. With an investment property, you become a landlord.

  
  If you have questions about Panurban 112°W, please do not hesitate to contact us at
  service@accilentcapital.com, locally at 416-429-9779, or toll-free at 1-877-429-9779.
  You can also visit returnswithoutborders.com to learn more about this unique opportunity for Canadian investors.

  We’ll be reporting from Phoenix from Thursday through Sunday – come follow us @panurban112w to get the latest.

   

   

   

   

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Arizona, Investment, Phoenix, Real Estate

• 06Feb

  THE ROLLS-ROYCE OF WINE: Investment Grade Wine

  Featured Events, Marketing, Pipeline Buzz, Wine Investment Fund Canada (WIFC) No Comments

  

  A photo of the actual case of portfolio inventory from WIFC 2008 BIN 1 being stored at London City Bond Ltd., a U.K. bonded warehouse.

  When you make it big, you buy big. If you are Cirque du Soleil founder and owner

  Guy Laliberté, you have a secluded mountainside residence and private lake in Québec. And if you are Toronto real estate mogul Brad Lamb you drive a Rolls-Royce Phantom to your appointments. But for both North American and the increasing international wealthy elite, the essential procurement is the Rolls-Royce of wine: investment grade wine.

   

   

   

  Investment grade wine is the only kind of wine that comprises the portfolio of Accilent’s Wine Investment Fund Canada (WIFC). These wines are carefully selected vintages from premier estates in the French region of Bordeaux, though a small percentage of Burgundy vintages are included as well. Following the same investment methods and principles of its U.K.-based sub-manager, The Wine Investment Fund, WIFC only invest in grand cru and cru classé wines, the blue chips of the  Liv-ex Fine Wine Index.

   

  These finite commodities have proven their buoyancy throughout the decades despite positive and negative economic conditions. Investment grade wine remain strong in their stock prices and continue to outperform Dow Jones over time. While the TSX fell 35% in 2008, the prices of investment grade wine on Liv-ex only dipped 4% during the same term and are rising back in early 2009.

   

  Earlier this week, Accilent was pleased to host Rodney Birrell, director of the U.K.-based The Wine Investment Fund, to a private event in Toronto. The evening’s biting cold temperatures did not keep away guests from listening to Rodney’s explanation of the benefits of the “Blue Chip Cellar” that produced The Wine Investment Fund’s astounding returns of 108.61% for its 2003 tranche—net of fees and expenses. The 2003 tranche was liquidated this past fall after a five year term and its investment strategy is mirrored in Accilent’s WIFC.

   

  Although Mr. Birrell did not speak at length about some of the investment grade wines invested by The Wine Investment Fund and WIFC, oenophiles and investors alike are intrigued by these French varieties. Such wines, with the reputations that precede them, may not need introductions to some but the rest of us can start by becoming acquaintance to Château Margaux, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, and Château Cheval Blanc.

   

  Château Margaux

   

  Château Margaux remains one of the world’s most prestigious wines with its roots stemming from the 12^th Century. It is one of the few wines to achieve Premier Cru, or First Growth, status in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855. The land where the vinery now resides was once a field limited to sugar beet production and its focus on viticulture only began in the 16^th Century. Since its conception the estate has been through various hands but is now owned by Corinne Mentzelopoulos, the daughter of a wealthy trader of Greek descent who bought the estate in 1976. However, rumor has it that at one time Cola-Cola attempted to acquire the estate but their plans were thwarted by then-president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

   

  The domaine, extending 650 acres in the commune of Margaux in the Médoc region, produces approximately 12,500 cases annually of the Grand Vin, Château Margaux. The estate also produces two other wines, Pavilion Rouge du Château Margaux and a white wine called Pavilion Blanc du Château Margaux. However, only three or four vintages produced in the Bordeaux region per decade are great wines and hence only a few Château Margaux vintages meet the criteria of investment grade wine.

   

  The Château Margaux 1990 is one of these great wines and its increasing rarity has increased its price substantially. In 2006, a case of the rich and multidimensional vintage was priced at £5,532 and two years later was fetching £13,514, an increase of 59.1%. However, that amount is very small relative to the price of the most expensive wine ever broken, a bottle of Château Margaux 1787 that was insured at USD$225,000 equivalent to £154,235, at £0.68 to the U.S. Dollar.

   

  Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

   

  This winery, part of the 1855 Classification of Médoc in the region of Bordeaux, produces one of the best performing Fifth Growth wines. Located in the town of Pauillac, the estate stretches 124 acres and generates 18,000 cases per annum of the Grand Vin. The estate also produces a second wine called Lacoste-Borie which was conceived under the leadership of the winery’s current owner, François-Xavier Borie, who also installed innovative changes at the vinery since his father acquired the estate in 1978.

   

  New technologies in wine making incorporated into the winery’s procedures include the installation of innovative equipment and expansion of their cellar. The Grand-Puy-Lacoste destems and ferments the harvest in temperature-controlled stainless steel for a maximum of three weeks, and then ages the wine in new oak barrels. To distinguish itself from wines such as Château Margaux, Grand-Puy-Lacoste is based on two grapes alone, 75% which are Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot. In contrast, Château Margaux is comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot.

   

  The wine’s concoction of the two grapes produces such quality wines as the 1982, which was worth £300 a case in 2002 and shot up 69.7% to £990 four years later. The Grand-Puy-Lacoste is known for its big, full-bodied taste that pairs well with meats.

   

  Château Cheval Blanc

   

  Château Cheval Blanc is located in the Saint-Émilion region of Bordeaux and ranked the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé status. The estate, which means “Castle White Horse”, is originally a section of Château Figeac, also a respected winery, encompassing 37 acres and producing approximately 6,000 cases of the Grand Vin. The estate produces a second wine called Le Petit Cheval, of “Little Horse”. The chairman of the French luxury conglomerate, LVMH, which owns esteemed fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, acquired part ownership of the winery in 1998.

   

  The famed Château regularly spills into popular culture and is mentioned in such films as the 1997 Disney Pixar film Ratatouille and the Oscar-winning 2004 film Sideways. In the 1994 film The Naked Gun 33 1/3, an imprisoned Lieutenant Frank Drebin, portrayed by Canadian comic Leslie Nielsen, sparks a prison riot when he complains, “This Cheval Blanc ’68 is supposed to be served slightly chilled; this is room temperature!” Another interesting story regarding the wine concerns the influential American wine critic, Robert M. Parker Jr., who enraged the manager of the Château, Jacques Hebrard, after he panned the 1981 vintage. In response to Parker’s criticism, Hebrard invited Parker to his estate to re-taste the wine but Parker was subsequently attacked by Mr. Hebrard’s dog and lay bleeding as the manager calmly looked on.

   

  Dog attacks and riots withstanding, the wine’s dark colour and fruity notes still cause a frenzy since winning medals in the International London and Paris Exhibitions of 1862 and 1867. A case of Château Cheval Blanc 1990, worth £4,450 in 2005, rose to £142,800 in 2008 marking an incredible increase of 96.9%. Château Cheval Blanc is one of the carefully selected wines in past tranches of The Wine Investment Fund that has proven its worth as an investment grade wine.

   

   

  Learn more about the Wine Investment Fund Canada on our websites:  www.accilentcapital.com and www.thetimeisripe.ca.

  Would you like to attend events like this? If you do, please contact us and we will add you to our VIP event list.

   

  Looking forward to seeing you at our next event!

   

  Cheers,

   

  Lucia Chung

   

  Marketing & Communications

  Accilent Capital Management Inc.

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Château Cheval Blanc, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Château Margaux, Robert M. Parker Jr., Rodney Birrell

• 09Dec

  KOBE BEEF DOGS WITH YOUR SHIRAZ? Only at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

  Accilent Was There, Marketing, Media, Wine Investment Fund Canada (WIFC) No Comments

  If food and liquor are the keys to a person’s heart, then Vines magazine’s annual Gourmet Food & Wine Expo must be that heart’s defibrillator.

   

  Pulses jumped and eyes widened at the Expo’s VIP Preview Evening when Accilent collided with the booth that announced, “KOBE BEEF DOGS!” For the mere price of three sampling tickets, guests could nibble Kobe beef fashioned into hot dog bites courtesy of EDO Restaurants Inc. –explaining President Dan Pembleton’s hour-long disappearance at the event.

   

  

  Susan Sterling (left), host of The Naked Wine Show, and Kat Inokai

  Kobe beef, for neophytes of this Japanese delicacy, is a specific breed of black cattle raised through a strict and traditional method, and known for its melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and preferred method of grilling on a lava rock. Whether EDO’s brand of meat is the true Kobe beef variety is unknown, but the constant shuffling of feet towards their booth indicated the fare’s popularity at the event.

   

   

   

   

   

   

  The Expo, held at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre, is the fall affair for gourmands and would-be sommeliers in Ontario. Even those whom are not interested in swishing Chilean wine in their mouths and cross-examining grape notes are enticed to attend anyways because the Expo is fun. Attendees can saunter from booth to booth, sample rabbit saddle freshly prepared by Toronto chef extraordinaire David Lee, sip tiny martinis, and shop Riedel’s award winning glassware at promotional prices. Food Network TV Canada also hosts cooking demonstrations, and wines and spirits are showcased alongside Canadian and international top wineries.

   

   

   

  The Expo theme country of 2008, Wines of France, coincides perfectly with Accilent’s second offering of Wine Investment Fund Canada which invests only in investment grade wine, 90% that are Bordeaux variety. The Expo is an excellent venue for holiday shopping as well. LCBO retail outlets onsite offer guests the opportunity to purchase exclusive wines, and other specialty items such as fine kitchenware, gourmet mustard and chocolates, are also available for purchase at the Expo.

   

  For this year’s event Accilent was pleased to entertain Susan Sterling, host of The Naked Wine Show, who delighted in sampling the liquids and pork sandwiches offered, and shared her pairing expertise in between sips and bites. SUN-TV sports producer and wine collector Matt Cauz was our guest along with alternative energy pioneer John Eansor and Frogwater Media’s Timothy Troke and Matt Campagna. By the end of the night, half the Accilent team were happily weary from all the wine and food ingested, but Susan, Matt Cauz, and Accilent manager Kat Inokai were still noshing on hand-made sausage risotto and sipping bubbly at night’s end.

   

  Thanks to Vines editor-in-chief, Christopher Waters, and a personal thanks to Vines director Heather Riley and the team for a delicious evening.

   

  The variety of sweet, full-bodied, and hard-to-find offerings has Accilent marking the Expo in our Outlook calendar for next November. Is it almost the New Year already? It looks like next fall will arrive in no time.

   

  Lucia Chung

   

  Marketing & Communications

  Accilent Capital Management Inc.

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Frogwater Media, Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, John Eansor, Matt Cauz, The Naked Wine Show, Vines Magazine

• 17Nov

  WHERE LAW AND STYLE MEET: Precedent Magazine One-Year Anniversary Bash

  Accilent Was There, Media No Comments

  Back in the early spring I met Melissa Kluger, the publisher and editor of Precedent magazine at a cozy table in Red’s Bistro and she was envisioning her one-year anniversary event for her Fall 2008 issue.

  “Fashion show”, “lawyer models”, and “hip downtown club” were words that tumbled forth from Kluger.

   

  And this is to celebrate a magazine for lawyers?

   

  Those familiar with Kluger’s success story know that Precedent is not your usual legal publication catered to the cigar chomping, belt-and-suspenders type. Well, belt and suspenders are always necessary in this profession, but Precedent lives to its namesake where new readers to the magazine can picture each issue being delivered by a young and urban suit unlike the usual poster boy on the cover of other legal publications. Kluger consciously created a magazine that looked and felt different from other publications for lawyers out there, which refelcts the changing faces of the profession.

                                                                                                                                                                                      

  So who are Precedent readers?

   

  When Kat Inokai, Manager of Marketing and Operations, and I went to the Precedent one-year anniversary event at The Fifth Social Club, the lounge was filled with more than 400 smartly-dressed, 40-and-under lawyers of both sexes and froma  wide range of ethnic backgrounds. It was similar to being in a packed subway in downtown Toronto, except everyone in the car carried the L.L.B. initials after their names and smelled beautifully.

   

  These lawyers must be following the wisdom of Precedent columnist, The Fashionista, I thought.

   

  

  Kat Inokai (left) and I toast Precedent's success.

  Sleek bartenders poured gin and tonic for guests, canapés were served (Kat and I made a point of sticking by the kitchen doors), and yes, the fashion show featured chiseled lawyers stomping down the runway like gazelles. Who knew that such stunning lawyers were hiding behind their desks after hours while maintaining their glow food court take-out and Red Bull?

   

   

   

   

   

  These lawyers must be doing something right or perhaps they are primping themselves too successfully for each of the exclusive events that Precedent holds (the event previous to the one-year anniversary bash included a Rock Band video game station where lawyers played their hearts out on XBox consoles).

   

  Or perhaps Precedent readers get their invigoration from the smart and informative editorials Kluger brings to each issue, such as the feature on women in the legal profession in the Fall 2008 issue, as well as Matthew Sullivan’s blog and column, The Short Cellar, on all relevant to fermented grapes. The magazine’s website and Precedent Blog are also great escapes for lawyers or anyone needing a break from the daily grind with its regular postings from columnists and guest writers. A recent blog posting includes a video of the one-year anniversary event’s fashion show and amusing ideas for Hallowe’en office apparel. Perhaps the Accilent office should have taken costume advice for that day and suited up as Daniel Craig’s James Bond, the first Bond decked out in Valentino wear, as per the blog’s recommendation.

   

  Accilent suggests that lawyers and connoisseurs of quality publications who have not checked out the magazine’s website do so at www.lawandstyle.ca. We love Kluger’s eye for detail and quality journalism, and the intelligent and quirky package that makes Precedent a runway hit. Check out Accilent’s ad in the Fall 2008 issue and look out for our ongoing work with this successful publication. Congratulations to Precedent for all its success!

   

   

  Lucia Chung

   

  Marketing & Communications

  Accilent Capital Management Inc.

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Precedent Magazine, Short Cellar, The Fifth Social Club

• 17Nov

  STICKY AND SWEET: Jancis Robinson Writes for Vines Magazine

  Media, Wine Investment Fund Canada (WIFC) No Comments

  The Wine Advocate has Robert M. Parker Jr. at its helm, Wine Spectator is lead by James Laude, and Vines magazine now has a regular column by Jancis Robinson.

   

  Jancis who?

   

  Although North Americans are most familiar with Parker and cannot escape his influence in the wine business, serious wine drinkers know that Robinson is Parker’s counterpart on the other side of the pond.  Robinson can be summed up as the Steve Jobs to Parker’s Bill Gates—both are wine critics at an omnipresent scale, but with vastly different followers and operating systems.

   

  While Parker is known for his preference for fruity, jammy vintages, Robinson is quintessential of other British wine critics by championing wines of a more subtle nature.

   

  Robinson and Parker famously had a tit-for-tat back in 2004 over the 2003 vintage of Château Pavie in St. Émilion when Parker lavished the wine with praise, while Robinson snorted that it was a “ridiculous wine.” The press had a hoop-a-la about the Clash of the Titans and Parker went on to lament at being the target of every criticism to the wine industry.

   

  Meanwhile, Robinson went along unscathed from the incident and continued editing “The Oxford Companion to Wine” while flexing her prestigious accreditations—the very rare title of M.W., or Master of Wine, as well as O.B.E., or Order of the British Empire, being the personal advisor to the Queen’s wine cellar.

   

  The Queen might appreciate Robinson’s expertise, but for the rest of us who do not have the privilege of Robinson hand-picking our basement wine cellar can enjoy her lively writing style from her regular column in Vines. Surprisingly, Robinson’s column for the current November/December 10^th Anniversary issue of Vines promotes the indulgence in “sweet and sticky” wines during the holiday season. Could this be the dawn of a truce between the battling taste buds of Parker and Robinson? (Alas, Robinson characteristically champions Old World Bordeaux in the column, perhaps a thumb to her differentiation from Parker’s New World tastes.)

   

  

  Vines November/December 2008 10th Anniversary Issue

  Robinson is surprisingly not the only highlight of this Canadian publication, which just celebrated a 10 year run, especially noteworthy in the Canadian literary business where hundreds of new magazines pop up every year but only few survive.

   

   

   

  The longevity of Vines can be attributed to the way the magazine remains fresh, even after a decade of bringing Canadian readers all that is to know about wine, food and travel. The November/December 10^th Anniversary issue is packed with a very literary style of writing that diverts from the dreary and austere approach that often permeates wine publications. Vines is smart enough not to focus just on wine, however, showcasing all that would complement the preferences of the Vines reader with features on other territories such as spirits and industry leaders.

   

  As the pulse of the Canadian wine business, Vines magazine is promoting the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre here in downtown Toronto which runs from November 20^th to the 23^rd. The classy event, the annual meeting point for oenophiles and foodies, showcases cuisines from top Toronto restaurants and the latest offerings from vineyards and wine makers. Be sure to sign up for the exclusive Tutored Tastings sessions where media personalities and wine consultants will guide you through various wine and spirit samplings.  

   

  Accilent also jumped at the opportunity and was able to launch our special Vines subscription offer, courtesy of Accilent, to our Wine Investment Fund Canada investors and hold a draw for a pair of tickets to the coveted Tutored Tastings event at the expo. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Chai of Toronto for winning the pair of tickets to the Napa Icons Tutored Tastings event!

   

  Yours truly will be at the Expo with other Accilent staff to promote our Wine Investment Fund Canada for discerning investors seeking a financial vehicle that has historically presented minimal volatility when compared to the stock markets (a dark cloud that hangs over us all).

   

  Visit our Wine Investment Fund Canada mini-site on www.accilentcapital.com/wine_fund.php to find out more about the second launch of one of our alternative investment products.

   

  Also check out the recently relaunched Vines magazine website at www.vinesmag.com and get your tickets for this year’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo’s at www.foodandwineexpo.ca. 

   

  The Accilent team will see you at the Expo!

   

   

  Lucia Chung

   

  Marketing & Communications

  Accilent Capital Management Inc. 

   

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Gourmet Food & Wine Expo, Jancis Robinson, Robert M. Parker Jr., Vines Magazine

• 16Oct

  CLOSE TO HOME

  Current Events, Panurban 112°W No Comments

  All of a sudden the trading floor has become the makeshift soapbox of every hopeful politician, reporter and beauty queen. So how does Accilent separate fact from hype? Experience. An adaptive mandate, an eye for opportunity, and nerves of steel.

  Given the current flurry of Bay Street activity, I book a meeting to talk to our president Dan Pembleton MBA, CFA about what the current market snapshot means to our company and our investors. Of course I’ve followed the news just like everyone else. I’ve been in elevators where the oppressive vacuum of silence drowns out any morning conversation while everyone’s eyes stay fixed on the sad red arrows pointing down on the LCD screen.

  Now, I have regular meetings with Dan about a variety of things. But somehow, I expect the mood to turn somber as soon as the door closes to the office and I take a seat. I’m wrong. Dan seems unflappable as always. His biggest concern:

  “OK. I’ve read several letters lately that start something like ‘I want to thank you for the trust you have placed in..’ And that all go on to mention: ‘difficult, turbulent markets’; ‘U.S. credit crunch’, ‘multiple sectors’, and ‘globally felt implications’ . Now,  I want to be on the level with investors, but I don’t want to sound like a broken record. Actually market-wise, I don’t think the record is broken at all, and I want people to recognize that pending doom is not inevitable..I also want to answer questions directly because I think the same questions are being asked by a great number of investors. And most importantly, I want to explain that we are in fact able to create opportunities from these circumstances. Investors can still work towards their goals. We have adaptation on our side.”

  Yes we do, I thought. Luckily, we also have a President who at the moment is reminding me of Robert “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning” Duvall from Apocalypse Now. None of this seems to be news to Dan.

  “I know that there have been losses and by being optimistic I’m not belittling that. It’s by no means a pretty picture. I know why those catch-phrase letters are being issued. It’s because no one knows what to say about the markets that will still be accurate from the time they send out the letter to the time their clients read it.” I look at him as he speaks these somewhat grim words. He’s prepared, calm, and happy. He notices the quizzical look on my face.

  “I’m confident because we are paying attention not only to the markets, but to our investors and what they want and need. And that didn’t just start when things got tough. It’s how we’ve designed our products from the start. Right now it’s my role to keep our strategies flexible, preserve our modular product approach, and push forward so that investors can diversify, spread risk, and benefit wherever they can. I want them to know that there are already ways to turn these events in their favour, and we’re going to keep looking for more.”

  Now, as an outspoken marketing type, I often have a certain intuition about what messages will work, and what won’t. This time, that strange tickle eludes me, and I realize that not unlike our entire investor base, I will simply have to hear what Dan has to say, and trust it. The weight of it makes me squint. He hands me a letter he’s been working on.

  I end up liking it so much, I don’t change a thing.

  Dear reader,

  For nearly a decade prior to founding Accilent Capital, I was a trader at one of the “Big Five” Canadian banks.  The events of the past year and recent weeks have been disconcerting to seasoned market veterans, and most certainly would be cause for concern to investors around the world. I have never seen anything this dramatic before, but I was on the institutional trading desk during the Long Term Capital bailout, the Asian currency crisis, and the Russian debt crisis, all of which at the time produced significant bouts of drama, fear, and opportunities for politicians to confidently stand up and talk about subjects that they clearly knew nothing about. I want to point out that current events – while larger in magnitude and global in scope- are not unmanageable by the regulators whose job it is to ensure the system return to normal function. 

  With this in mind I urge everyone to remain cautious in their investing, but also to be vigilant for opportunities that this situation has and will create. I am following my own advice here, and have even developed an investment product specifically targeted to control risk, provide a small current return, and profit from an eventual calming global environment.

  Being an alternative asset manager, Accilent is virtually by definition, and by design less susceptible to the volatile market fluctuations that have been witnessed around the world recently. We are steadily moving forward on our path, to launch new offerings of Pavilion Resource Fund (our Flow-Through), and Wine Investment Fund Canada this fall. In addition we are launching our newest real estate investment product, Panurban 112°W, possibly our most timely response vehicle yet.

  As the headlines have stated, housing prices around the U.S.A. have fallen and this has been one of the root causes of all the hand-wringing on Wall Street. In Arizona, they have been hit harder than most and while bitter sweet, this has given rise to the investment opportunity that we as Canadians need right now. I believe that in the banking sector’s rush to liquidate the houses upon which they have been forced to foreclose, house prices are being pushed well below their intrinsic value. Normally, opportunistic investors in the U.S. would be buying these properties themselves, and stop the decline in its tracks. However, in most cases they can’t get the high leverage financing they like to use and there are too many properties being thrown on a weak market, overwhelming local investor demand. Right now it is difficult for Americans to buy the house next door even when it is 20, 30, or even 50% off what it was even just a few years earlier, because the value of their own house has fallen by the same amount. In many cases they have already borrowed too much money against their own house. This is why it is good to be a Canadian investor right now. We have the strong currency with which to invest in U.S. real estate at a time when the banks there are falling over each other to sell what they have.

  Accilent has responded by partnering our investment strategy with the Arizona real estate expertise of Mark Dziedzic from Arizona for Canadians, to bring you Panurban 112°W. Our approach is simple. In desirable areas of Phoenix, Arizona, we buy single family houses selling at significant discounts to their former prices; predominantly in a current price range of $125,000 to $200, 000. We then rent the houses out to local families for an amount that they can afford, while still covering our cost of ownership. We provide 2-3% in excess cash flow back to the investor while housing prices recover.
  That’s it.

  What we do is control risk, provide that small current return, and profit from an eventual calming global environment, as mentioned before. What we don’t do is expose investor capital to risk in the fringe areas of half-finished developments and virtual ghost-towns of vacant housing purchased by speculators. That may be an area of opportunity in the future, but for our clients’ risk versus reward we like to be a little closer to the present. Only the current fundaments of Phoenix communities play into our strategies, not the projected improvements in employment or industry development when the market turns.

  We also like to be a little closer to town. Literally. Remember, with gasoline prices as high as they are people want to live closer to jobs and services. But we’re not just talking about buying criteria: we mean that we’re in touch with the everyday needs of the renters there, and the investors here.

  I have referred to this as a distressed housing opportunity, and that’s true. But it is also an investment into neighbourhoods, healthy communities, and a stable economy. The real estate recovery that we expect will begin in these very neighbourhoods, near the city’s core and like a ripple on a pond, spread outwards. That is the reason Accilent has introduced this investment opportunity, and why we will keep looking for ways to generate a positive turn from these events. The market is right, because the time is right, and the location is right. And that’s where Opportunity meets Experience.

  I look forward to working alongside you to reach your investment goals, now and tomorrow.

  Yours truly,

  Dan Pembleton
  President
  Accilent Capital Management Inc.

  Tweet This Post 

  Tags: Company News, Investment, Marketing

« Previous Entries