When starting an investment LLC, there are many things to consider. We’re here to break it down, so you can reach your financial goals.
What is an LLC for an Investment Holding Company?
LLC stands for limited liability company. It creates a legal entity separate from you as a person. An investment LLC is great if you’re considering investing with someone else or starting an investment club. Maybe your family is interested in pooling their money to purchase property or start a family business.
Can You Make an LLC for Investing?
Yes! While you’re not legally required to create an LLC, you’ll want to consider its many benefits. This is especially true for investment companies.
An LLC helps protect personal assets. If someone sues the business, your home, vehicles, and personal bank accounts aren’t at risk. What makes an LLC even more attractive for investments is its operating agreement. It dictates what the LLC can and cannot do. This makes it an excellent vehicle through which multiple parties can invest together.
Why Set Up an LLC for Investment Businesses
Reduced Risk for Investors
In addition to the limited liability protection, you get a clear, organized way of operating. The LLC’s operating agreement dictates exactly what the LLC can and cannot do. This prevents ambiguity.
Increased Credibility
With increased professionalism and commitment, an LLC can make it easier to attract other partners or investors for additional capital.
Simplified Profit Distribution
This structure easily accommodates various profit-sharing arrangements based on capital contributions, expertise, or other factors. This is great if you have multiple partners or complex investment returns.
Real Estate Investments Stay Private
Property records will show the LLC as the owner of any real estate ventures. This keeps the individual investors' names private, a welcome benefit for high-net-worth individuals or those seeking to maintain a low profile in their investment activities.
Simplified Management Structure
The ownership structure of an LLC makes it easier to accommodate different investment levels or roles among owners or partners. Click Start My Business to get started!
We make it quick and easy to protect your investments in an LLC.
- Choose your business name.
- Click Start My Business to register your LLC.
We can handle every part of your LLC formation:- Business structure designation
- Registered agent services
- Operating agreement creation
- File Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI)
- Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Opt in to open your business bank account with Relay Bank
We get you up and running as quickly and as easily as possible, so you can start turning your business ownership dream into reality. See how it works. - Get any required licenses. Specific licenses depend on your activities.
- Meet your local compliance requirements while you’re in business. Don’t worry! We specialize in helping you stay compliant.
What to Consider When Starting an Investment Company
Let’s go beyond the basics to create a sophisticated, competitive investment holding company. We’re here to help you every step of the way.
Name Your Company
How important your name is depends on the company’s goals. If you’re looking to attract other investors, it’s more important than if you’re simply holding family investments. If your company isn’t there to make an impression, branding it becomes a lower priority.
Regardless, any business name needs to be unique and respectable.
Once you have a few names, check their availability. Your state's name registry is usually online at the Secretary of State website or business registration portal. To make sure your chosen name isn't already trademarked, search the United States Patent and Trademark Office's database.
Again, if you’re not planning on a website or social media presence — if you’re not marketing your company — securing those digital properties may not be important. It’s never a bad idea, however, to buy a domain just in case something changes.
Write a Business Plan
While a formal business plan isn't legally required to start an LLC, it’s almost always recommended. A business plan helps clarify your investment strategy, target markets, and long-term goals. It forces you to think through potential returns, expenses, and cash flow needs.
If you plan to seek external funding or outside investment partners, a well-crafted business plan is often expected. It helps identify potential challenges and plan mitigation strategies. Outlining roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes can prevent future conflicts. It also sets the stage for your operating agreement.
For a small, self-funded investment LLC, you might opt for a simpler strategic document rather than a full traditional business plan. This could include:
- Your investment philosophy and criteria
- Asset allocation strategy
- Risk management approach
- Performance benchmarks
- Basic financial projections
The key is to have a clear roadmap for your investment activities, even if it's not formatted like a traditional business plan.
Determine Your Location
Choose the state in which to register your LLC. While it’s always best to incorporate in the state where your LLC will be doing business, incorporating in a different state may offer advantages. And because you’re not serving customers, you’re not beholden to a location.
For instance, Wyoming LLCs are advantageous because of the strict privacy laws governing them. The Secretary only knows who organizes the company (which is us!) Your name doesn’t appear on the formation documents, so your information isn’t listed in any public database. We can help determine what’s best for your situation!
Develop an Investment Strategy
Knowing exactly how you’ll screen investments can save time and lower your risk. If you’re a single-fun investment LLC, you may not need to go through this process. If you’re a multi-member LLC, you definitely want to be aligned with your other members.
Your investment strategy can be as simple or complex as you need it to be. Its purpose is to evaluate potential opportunities fairly and quickly. Investing isn’t something you want to do only by intuition, generally speaking.
Decide what kinds of investments you want to look at, like stocks or real estate. If you want to focus investments on specific priorities like sustainability or even avoid other industries, you want that to be clear. Then, make a list of numbers to check, like how much money a company makes. Think about things you can't measure with numbers, such as the effectiveness of the company's leaders. Make a point system to score each investment idea. Use computers and leverage artificial intelligence to help find patterns in successful investments. Look at special information that others might not have.
How will you narrow down your choices? You may want to have different rules for different investment types. Think about what could go wrong. Keep improving your method by learning from what works and what doesn't. By making this special way of choosing investments, your company will be different from others and better at finding good opportunities.
Establish Banking Relationships
Every business needs trustworthy partnerships, and your investment holding company is no different. For this business, relationships can mean anything from banks to brokerage firms. Talk to different banks and choose a few to work with. It's smart to have connections with several. They can help you with more than just keeping your money safe. They can lend you money when you need it, help you change money from one country to another, and even join you in making investments.
Choose a Registered Financial Advisor
Establishing a relationship with a trusted financial advisor firm is another crucial step. A fiduciary firm is one who is ethically and legally bound to act in your best interest. They don’t make commissions on the products they sell you, so you can trust they’re objective. Registered Investment Advisors register with either the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state securities regulators. RIAs will employ Certified Financial Planners. These professionals are certified at the highest level.
When talking to individual advisors, this person should have a complete understanding of your goals, risk tolerance, and investment philosophy. They should also proactively advise you on tax ramifications when investing.
Determine Your Tax Status
One of the main benefits an LLC gives you is a flexible tax status. By default, the Internal Revenue Service considers LLC “pass-through” entities. This means business income is passed through to your personal tax return. You can, however, elect to be taxed like a corporation. Being taxed like a corporation can help your investment LLC keep more money in the business. This can enable faster growth by reinvesting profits instead of paying them out.
Work with tax experts to create a structure that optimizes your tax efficiency across your various investment types and jurisdictions, potentially including the use of subsidiaries or offshore entities where appropriate.
Set-Up a Tracking System
Decide on the key metrics you'll track, such as return on investment or growth rates. Establish a consistent schedule for these reviews, perhaps monthly or quarterly. Investment tracking software or apps can generate helpful charts and reports. Comparing your investment performance will alert you to helpful trends or patterns.
Keep detailed records of each review to track changes and progress. Be prepared to adjust your strategy if certain investments aren't meeting expectations. If you have partners or investors, you want to decide how to share your findings with them regularly. This approach helps ensure your investments stay on track and allows you to address any issues promptly, contributing to the overall success of your investment LLC.
Determine an Exit Strategy
An aspect of running a successful investment business is proactively defining your exit strategy. You want a clear path for capitalizing on your investments and efforts. This is especially important for multi-member investment LLCs.
Determine how each member can exit the LLC should they choose to do so. Some questions to consider:
- Does each member have to stay invested for a minimum time period — are there vested requirements for a complete pay-out?
- Can an investor take their place when they leave?
- What happens in the event an investor passes away?
Document Everything
As mentioned, the key benefit of forming an investment LLC is the operating agreement. Every consideration should be documented in this central agreement. Every LLC has one: yours will probably be more robust than most.
It’s like a roadmap for your LLC. It helps avoid fights, protects everyone involved, and makes your business stronger. If you’re investing with family, it can prevent permanent damage to loving relationships.
It clearly says who owns what part of the company and how decisions will be made. The agreement also explains how profits and losses will be shared and sets rules for members.
The agreement can also protect members if the business gets into trouble. It can limit their personal risk, which is a big deal.
Another key point is that it shows banks and other businesses that your LLC is serious and well-organized. This can help you get loans or make deals.
Having an operating agreement means you're following your own rules, not just default state laws. This gives you more control over how your LLC works.
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AUTHOR
Jonathan Feniak, Esq., MBA
Jonathan is admitted to practice law in Colorado and Wyoming. In this position, he helps business owners at nearly every level and in nearly every industry with asset protection, estate planning, and business formation. Beyond business owners, Jonathan also helps activists of all political persuasions to legally protect themselves.
