Based on your experience, how is COVID-19 impacting family investments? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The information shared in the international lawyers’ forums in which I\n participate, where the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the evolution \nof the legal business of the different firms and on the type of \noperations and investments underway is compared, depending on the \ndifferent client profiles, it can be said that as had, in almost all \ncountries and in many cases, a significant negative effect. A \ndistinction should be made between family groups and “family offices” \n(or family holdings), as the types of assets in which they invest are \ndifferent. The first one, which seeks investments in industrial or \nservice sectors, with greater or lesser risk, but focused on acquiring a\n significant or controlling stake, in its strategy of inorganic growth \nto gain market share or participate in a strategic or complementary \nactivity in its sector, or the acquisition of certain assets, has \nsuffered a significant slowdown, affecting negotiations that were in a \nvery initial phase or new operations. Those transactions that were \nalready at an advanced stage, in general, were able to be finalized or \nformalized in binding agreements, although the process was full of \npractical difficulties (difficulty in meetings, exchange of \ndocumentation, less face-to-face banking operations, restricted notarial\n intervention, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some operations that were highly evolved but stagnant due to lack of \nagreement on some of their points have simply been discarded even at \nvery advanced stages, given that the Covid-19 crisis has led to a \nreduction in risk exposure at this time. Many sellers will probably \nthink, in view of what happened, that they could have negotiated \ndifferently. Regarding the second ones (family offices or family \nholdings), with an asset typology focused on investment funds, Socimis \n(Real Estate investment trusts), leased Real Estate assets or shares in \nlisted companies and, in many cases, with the need to invest due to the \npressure of the tax effect on wealth tax, have also been affected. \nPartly because of the same caution and doubts about the fall in the \nvalue of listed assets, restrictions on dividends distribution, the \nimpact of the closure of activities that previously generated a stable, \nlong-term income that today has no income, etc. There’s a lot of \nanalysis going on, and apparently money looking for a destination. When \nthe state of alarm is lifted and what is called the “new normal” \nreturns, we will see if these operations are also reactivated soon and \nwhat the real impact of this crisis has been. The main concerns that \nthese investors have conveyed to their lawyers during the crisis, in \naddition to the already mentioned slowing down or postponement of \ncertain investments, have been those related to the possibility of \ndemanding compliance with certain contracts when the counterparty has \nbeen affected by the cessation of its activity, or with the assumed \nrisk, in light of the new circumstances, by the entrepreneur which is \ntoo onerous, the moratorium on rental income, access to financing to \ncompensate for the decrease in income and ERTE (temporary layoffs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which would you say are the most disadvantaged investment sectors and which are the beneficiaries? <\/strong>Where would the business opportunities be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most affected, in my opinion, and based on the shared \ninformation, have been tourism, restaurants and retail. In the tourism \nsector, the effect has been dramatic, with all the tour operators unable\n to offer services, hotels closed, cancellations and internal and \nexternal tourism on hold, not only for the duration of the state of \nalarm but for the rest of the season. Retail, which was already \nsuffering shocks in its business model, had to face total closure, with \nan uncertain restart. Real Estate and automotive sectors have also been \naffected. When the state of alarm ends, we will be able to see the \nsignificant volume of Bankruptcy proceedings that will be presented in \nthe courts. The recent decrees and their reforms already announce this \nwith the adopted measures. On the other hand, those of the activities in\n the face of imponderables. This is something that will have to be \nintroduced into every investment process and to which a little more time\n will have to be devoted. However, this is a question that is difficult \nfor a lawyer to answer; it is up to others to make the analysis of \nopportunity, the business projection, its risks, the investment volume, \nthe need for financing to undertake it and its return. Having said that,\n carrying out a Financial, Legal and Tax Due Diligence of human \nresources and of the main areas and risks of the company or of the \nassets to be acquired, is not a guarantee of success but a necessary \nrequirement for it. In times like these, a studied and managed \nnegotiation and a contractual framework with the appropriate protections\n and guarantees depending on the type of operation and assets can also \ncontribute to success. But, as in all investments, understanding the \nbusiness, properly assessing the management team on hand and the risk \nthat the entrepreneur will take are fundamental elements to take into \naccount. On the other hand, I am convinced that so-called impact \ninvestments (those that generate a social or environmental benefit, as \nwell as an economic return) in sectors such as health, education, clean \nand renewable energies or agriculture, in its broadest sense, will \ncontinue. Foundations and other NGOs (as recipients, in part, of such \ninvestments, because of their role in the communities) will also have a \nmore relevant role. Increased public\/private collaboration, if favoured,\n can lead to very interesting projects if we learn from what this crisis\n has been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development of applications and technological projects \ncan represent a good objective from the investment point of view. Would \nyou say that innovation is a market to be considered at the present \ntime? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe that we will undoubtedly see a significant growth in \noperations or investments in this type of technological applications or \nprojects, although they also require a certain investment profile, due \nto the implicit risk involved in innovations. The boom that many of them\n had due to the confinement suffered during the crisis suggests that \nthey will also attract investment interest, but their course will have \nto be analyzed as well as whether we will be facing a new technological \nbubble or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Although it is still early to have specific reliable data about the real impact of the health crisis on family investments, it can be said that the effect of the pandemic on family portfolios will be significantly negative. We talked with Claudio Doria, founder of Doria T\u00f6lle & Asociados, to find out how the COVID-19 has affected this type of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2943"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2961,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2943\/revisions\/2961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doriatolle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}