Investing

InvestingAs noted elsewhere on this site, our investment interests are diverse and hard to describe in a sentence or two.

The largest slice of our pie is in real estate.  We started out syndicating land and seeking rezoning forty years ago near Dulles International Airport in Virginia.  Over the years, as these sorts of activities became much more competitive and nuanced, we shifted into a more passive role and channeled capital into ventures managed by others.

Outside of the real estate arena, however, we often avoid a passive role.  Our least successful investments have been minority positions in small operating companies headed by others.  We have fared almost as poorly acting as private lenders. So, today, even when we don't want nor merit control, we only participate if we have some role in governance. 

We are great believers in trying to anticipate and leverage governmental decision-making, whether those decisions involve FCC authorization of wireless spectrum or the chartering of financial institutions or reimbursement rates in the health care arena.  Many of our most successful ventures have been suggested by lawyers whose purview includes the regulatory arena.