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August 23, 2023 43 mins

On this episode we had featured guests Manuel Ortiz VP of Global Business Development at FPP who leads our global efforts bringing EB-5 services and educational resources to underserved countries around the globe - and Bryan Caulkins, co-founder of Proxy Financial. This is a unique partnership between two people that really understand what it takes to assist in immigration planning. 

After 10 years of working on Wall Street,  and having a unique bi-cultural background – Bryan gained the desire to expand his expertise into international wealth management. Together with his partner, Bryan founded the Proxy Financial group in 2017 to serve as fiduciaries for US nationals and citizens around the world, seeking to protect, grow and diversify their investments in the United States - including a unique immigration planning service. The Proxy team has served hundreds of families adequately create their immigration and financial plans in order to move to the US.

During this  episode, Manuel highlights the EB-5 program, sharing some of his personal experiences while discussing the investor due diligence process., while Bryan  discussed the role that financial planning should play in the immigration process and the services Proxy Financial can offer to clients.

WEBINAR: September 20th at 10am CT
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pGpljULvSvqK4b6qGO7KZA 

CONTACT:
Bryan Caulkins : bryan@proxyfinancial.com 
Manuel Ortiz: mortiz@firstpathway.com 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
Today's episode of investing in the American Dream

(00:02):
podcast we have featured guests,Manuel Ortiz, VP of Global
Business Development at FPP, wholeads our global efforts
bringing EB five services andeducational resources to
underserved countries across theglobe. And we have special
guest, Brian Calkins, co founderof proxy financial. This is a
unique partnership between twopeople that really understand

(00:24):
what it takes to assist in theimmigration planning process.
After 10 years of working onWall Street and having a unique
bicultural background, Briangained the desire to expand his
expertise into internationalwealth management. Together with
his partner, they founded theproxy Financial Group in 2017.
To serve as fiduciaries for USNationals and citizens around

(00:47):
the world, seeking to protect,grow and diversify their
investments in the UnitedStates, including a unique
immigration planning service.
The proxy team has servedhundreds of families adequately
create their immigration andfinancial plans in order to move
to the US on today's podcast,man, while we'll be defining the
EB five program, sharing some ofhis personal experiences while

(01:09):
discussing the investor duediligence process. And Brian
will be discussing the role thatfinancial planning should play
in the immigration process andthe services that proxy
financial can offer to ourclients.
Let's get into it.

(01:38):
Brian and Manuel, it's so greatto have you both here today.
I'll start with you, man. Well,can you give us some background
on f p p? Yes, first pathwaypartners is located in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We werefounded in 2008 by Robert Kraft,
and we're an EB five capitalfirm. We work with invest with
international investors that arelooking to migrate to the United

(02:00):
States. We have way 100% trackrecord, and investors obtaining
their permanent green card. Andwe've also done something that's
really important in the EB fiveprocess, we've actually
completed the cycle, which meansthat we've gone through the
whole EB five process andreturned investor capital, man,
well, you just mentioned EBfive, can you discuss what that

(02:22):
process is? What are the steps,what's involved? Sure, the EB
five program was actuallycreated by US Congress in 1990.
And one of the things that'sreally interesting and really
cool about the EB five programis that, you know, it was around
for such a long time. And itdidn't really start getting

(02:43):
popular until about 2008, whenthe US economy and the global
economy really went through thatthe great recession. And so it
started getting popular aroundthat time, because developers
were actually looking for waysto continue their projects in
the US was looking for ways tocontinue to create jobs during a

(03:04):
very difficult financial time.
So it started getting popular in2008 2009. And really, the
investment amount, and theprogram itself had virtually
remained unchanged until 2022.
Now, when the changes in 2020 22happened, I think the one thing
that everybody really focuses onis that the investment amount

(03:27):
changed from $500,000, to$800,000. But what I think
hasn't changed is the power ofwhat EB five actually is. And so
it's an $800,000 investment thatcovers the applicant, the spouse
and any unmarried children underthe age of 21. And they're able

(03:48):
to obtain permanent US residencythat way. And I think that's
very important, the wordpermanent, because there are
other visa options that are outthere. But none of them are
permanent, like EB five is. Andyou know, you just talked about
one of the main reasons someonewould be interested in Eb five,
but what are some of the othercommon, like benefits or reasons

(04:09):
that someone would be interestedin Eb five versus some of the
other types of visas available?
I think it's a very variespretty much on a case by case
basis. At first pathwaypartners. We've worked with over
600 investors in our history togo through the process and the
reasons can vary sometimes forpolitical reasons in their home
country, people are looking tomigrate. Other times what you

(04:32):
find most often is that parentsare looking for an alternative
to an f1 visa, which is thestudent visa when people come
study here in the United States,and the reason is because it
does not actually match thepower of what US residency does
or the power of EB five. Whensomebody studies on an f1

(04:54):
student visa in the US you'reable to come study in the US
And but you're now also payinginternational tuition fees. And
so those can be sometimes two orthree times higher than what a
US resident would pay. Now, byhaving us residency through the
EB five program, now you're ableto get the savings of tuition,

(05:16):
which is great. But other thanthat, you know, when you're on
an f1 visa, and you graduatefrom university, one of the
things that happens is that onceyou graduate, you're really
depending on a US corporation tosponsor you. So you can be able
to stay in the US and actuallywork here. And the visa, that

(05:38):
is, when a corporation sponsor,somebody is called the h1 B. And
if you look at the numbers fromthe last year, where there were
over, I think it was 700,000applications for h1 B's, and you
know, somewhere with within 12to 14% were actually approved,
it really virtually is a lotterylottery, so you never really

(05:59):
know whether you're gonna getone or not. And as you look at
what corporations are doing now,basically, it's an additional
cost for them. And so thelikelihood that you're going to
be able to find that you know,is getting just slimmer,
slimmer, harder and harder. Andthrough the EB five program, you
save on your university costs,but you can also work wherever

(06:21):
you want, right, because that'sthe other thing, let's say that
you do get the h1 B, and you'reworking for a corporation, well,
the role of what you're going todo is going to be pretty
limited, because it has to bebased on what you studied. And
you may not want to live in thatparticular city where you're
getting sponsored. Or like thosesorts of things kind of come
into play as well. Whereas withEB five, you could basically

(06:44):
work wherever you want, and youhave a much wider you can cast a
much wider net in terms ofemployment than you can with the
f1 visa. So those are some ofthe reasons sometimes it's just
for the students. And sometimesit's a whole family that wants
to migrate and achieve theAmerican dream.
And it sounds like there's a lotof like planning involved. And

(07:04):
with the investment aspect, weactually have our guest today,
Brian, on our podcast. And so Iguess my my question for Brian,
because I know you're kind ofplaying a role in the financial
planning and investors lookingto go through the immigration
process. Can you Brian, can youtell us about proxy financial

(07:25):
and what you guys do and how youhelp investors? Yeah,
absolutely.
We do something unique, Jessica,that when we first started
talking to Manuel A while back,he realized like, hey, this,
this is different in theimmigration space. Where
investment advisors, right, sowe're registered with the SEC,

(07:47):
to provide investment advice,and also part of that license
and registration comes thefinancial planning aspect.
Right? Some people don't realizethat that has to be a registered
and licensed professional thatcan give advice like that.
Because if if creating afinancial plan, right, Jessica,

(08:07):
you want to retire 20 years fromnow? Yep, maybe it's 10. Maybe
it's 15. Right? But down theline, you want to retire. And
we're saying well, you shouldput some of your money away in a
savings account, another pieceof your money should go to an
IRA, right? An individualretirement account. When you say
something like that to somebodythat is investment advice,

(08:28):
right? So it's and, andhonestly,
it's detrimental to a person'slife. If you say, okay, Jessica,
you know what, you're aconservative person, just put
all of your money in savings,and you'll be fine. happens, it
just so happens that 2030 yearsfrom now, it's not going to be
fine, because savings accountsdo not yield as much returns as

(08:51):
other types of accounts andother types of investments. And
you're guaranteed to erode yourmoney with inflation. And then
what happens down the line, youcan't make up that time, you
can't get time back. So as youcan see, I jumped into the deep
end and the technical side ofwhat we do just to kind of
exemplify what is it that aninvestment advisor does and the

(09:15):
unique thing about proxy is thatwe were born with an
international footprint.
I myself, I am gringo. I wasborn in the States, American
family. And but I grew up inSouth America. I grew up in
Brazil. And so being a dualculture kid, I've always been

(09:36):
fascinating, fascinated aboutcross border investments and all
that stuff. And when I startedone of the motivations to start
my own investment advisory firmtogether with my partner was
exactly that was to be able tocater and to serve the
international middle class, theinternational investor that did

(09:58):
not have anybody to help thembring hedge
their money makes sense of itfrom an American point of view.
And that's how I was born.
Working with internationalclients, what would you say are
some of the things that areoften overlooked? And someone is
looking if someone is looking toimmigrate to the US? Yeah,
that's a great question. Andwe've seen over the years, we

(10:20):
have lots of experience in thishelped helped hundreds of
families migrate to the states.
And we always see this homebias, it is always so overlooked
when it comes to investments.
Because as we know, we arecreatures of habit, every human
being right. And we tend toinvest, and things that make us

(10:41):
comfortable, right. So if you,if you drive by a supermarket
every day to work, throughoutdecades, your kids grew up going
to it, chances are if they havea public publicly listed stock,
that you might invest in thatand you say, Hey, I liked that
supermarket, it's clean, it'snice. Customer service is good,
their sales seem to be booming,that company is going to

(11:05):
resonate, and it might show upin your portfolio. What's not
going to show up in yourportfolio is probably a
supermarket that's halfwayacross the world and Eastern
Europe, that sales are booming,and they're expanding their
footprint. And they're just likegrowing leaps and bounds. Very
little things would motivate youa retail investor, as we call

(11:25):
that category, to go invest insomething that's halfway across
the world that you don'tunderstand and don't know. And
that's probably a wise thing,right? That's one of Warren
Buffett's mantras is invest inthings that you know, right. And
so that's one of the main thingsthat's overlooked. We have many
clients from Latin America. Andthey have this concept in their

(11:48):
minds that the investments inthe states don't yield good
returns, that their homecountry, Colombia, Brazil,
Chile, that's where the goodreturns are. And so what happens
is the family makes a plan tomove to the states, they invest
a ton of money into a anopportunity, like an EB five

(12:09):
visa with FPP. And they starttheir journey to America, but
they keep their financial routesand their home country. And that
is just an absolute recipe fordisaster because you're not
investing in a strong currency.
Right? You're not creatingincome, through probably the

(12:31):
best vehicles, considering taxconsidering strategy and
strength in the States. Andfolks really, really overlook
that. A lot of times, you know,you mentioned risk and all
investments have risk, really.
But how do your clients bestassess risk as they are
evaluating your investmentproducts? And can you also

(12:53):
expand a little on the type ofinvestment products that proxy
has? Sure, absolutely. So theteam at proxy has 20 years of
investing experience on WallStreet. And that that means that
they have a global experience?
Right?
I know, as I said, I grew up inBrazil, and I understand the

(13:17):
financial markets component downthere very well. Brazilians tend
to invest in Brazil, right?
Because there are very fewcompanies that are going to
issue stocks in Brazil or issuea bond. In Brazil. I don't mean
to be too technical here. Butthe United States and Wall
Street forever has always been aglobal playing ground for

(13:39):
capital markets. So our team isexperienced in investing
globally, using the Americansafety box. Let's put it that
way. The American financialsystem, the American Stock
Exchange's, right, all of themto invest not only here, but in
companies around the world. Andso you mentioned something
really interesting about riskthat every investment carries

(14:02):
risk, right? Even the stalwartof capital markets like a
government treasury, right, thatyou can lose money and Treasury
and oh, I only lose money if thegovernment goes bankrupt. No,
that's not true. You can losemoney, short term because of
fluctuations in the market. Andpeople don't realize that and I

(14:26):
love that aspect of it. Becausehonestly, if you're not dealing
with it day in and day out, thatmight go unnoticed.
And so here in the Americanmarket here, just for you to
have a comparison, right.
Alibaba issued their stock rightthe IPO their stock globally, in
the US, right the the ad theChinese Amazon, this behemoth of

(14:51):
a company, first IPO their theiroriginal IPO was in the US
And that just goes to show how,what a global playing field, the
stock market in the States is,and how you can access any
degree of risk you want. Right.
So if you want to invest withvery low risk, you have your

(15:14):
treasuries, your, your bonds,your CDs, and those types of
products, all the way to theother end of the spectrum where
we have the high growthcompanies which are, might or
might not work, right. Andthey, they create innovation,
and they reinvest their money, alot of them are

(15:37):
low last generating companies.
But they invest in and therethey have products that are
going to be developed for thefuture, right?
Compare Walmart, as we know ittoday, to Amazon, right, so to
two, they both play in theretail space. But they both do
it very in very different ways.
One has an old school businessmodel that was created in the

(16:01):
50s, and 60s, and the other hasa business model that was
created around the 2000s.
So proxy, the team, a proxy canoffer those investments,
always through a an accountthat's owned by the client,
right? So it's not, you neversend money to proxy, or to an

(16:26):
investment advisor, it's alwaysto your account in your name.
And then proxy through itsinvestment management service
can manage those investments,according to your risk
tolerance, right? So we startthere. What is your plan? When
do you plan to immigrate to theStates? What are your goals,
your hopes or dreams? But alsowhat are your fears?

(16:51):
What makes you uncomfortable.
And then from that, from the thepsychologist, the
chair, right proxy will create ainvestment plan for that family,
and then allocate according tothe markets and markets change
every day. And that's why ourour investment style is we call

(17:14):
it as active management. So wekeep we keep a pulse on the
market. So the clients don'thave to.
And you just mentioned likeplanning. And I think one of the
things that we're most familiarhere in the US when it comes to
like planning and investmentsand Estates is, you know, estate
planning. But when you'redealing with immigration, and

(17:36):
our clients, in particular, theterm often used as pre
immigration efficiency planning.
And I know you're an expert inthat field. So can you tell us a
little bit more about what thatmeans? Yeah, absolutely. So when
it comes to immigrationplanning,
there are there are severalaspects to it.

(17:59):
That are quite novel.
And I was surprised many yearsago, like I said, there it was
one of the motivations offounding proxy was to offer to
offer services that middle classAmericans, let's call it right,
so any any regular Joe hasaccess to the services in

(18:19):
America. And I've I've lived inmany places around the world.
I've lived in Europe, I've livedmany years in South America.
This is not accessible to thegeneral population. It's
incredible.
And the key word, Jessica is thefiduciary aspect. And fiduciary

(18:39):
means someone that you cantrust, right? So think of a
doctor, right? We don't walkinto the doctor's office and say
like, Hey, what, why are yourecommending this and show me
the class and show me the bookwhere it tells me you got to
perform a surgery on my eye, wegenerally take that advice at
face value, and say I trust thisperson. There's a regulatory

(19:02):
system that monitors doctors andrecommendations, and yada yada,
yada, and malpractice, right?
And so I trust that the systemis monitoring this professional,
and this professional has mybest interest at heart when they
recommend something.
So that was a very deep thoughtwith, you know, lots to unpack

(19:23):
there.
But the way we guarantee that infinancial services is through
compensation. So if I am ainvestment advisor,
I can only get paid by myclient. So that means that if
the client logs into theiraccount and they open their

(19:43):
portfolio and lo and beholdthere's two funds and there's
three ETFs and there's a fewstocks. I Investment Advisor did
not have any conflict. For thosethings to arrive in your
portfolio. I bought Microsoftbecause
Microsoft is what you need toretire 20 years from now, happy

(20:04):
and healthy, right? And I can'tget paid by Microsoft, like a
little commission, a littlekickback, to move it into the
portfolio. So that keeps the, mymy my thought process clean
when recommending investments,and also obviously, like every
licensed professional inAmerica, we are audited. And we

(20:26):
have to renew our licenses. Andthere's a process there. And so
there's a there's a recyclingand refreshing aspect to it as
well. And in all of that, to goback to your question about the
planning, right. So when we whenwe look at all of that

(20:46):
background knowledge, right ofhow of the fiduciary and how the
fiduciary operates, when werecommend to a family, we've
been doing financial planning,the team at proxy for 20 years.
And about six years ago, whenproxy was founded. What we did
was add a component ofimmigration planning to the

(21:09):
traditional financial planningservice. Okay. So we have your
retirement your have yoursuccession, your kids college
and you know, the vacation homeor the boat.
The generation of income whenyou're no longer working. We
have these basic tenets infinancial planning. Proxy

(21:34):
follows the the FinancialPlanning Association, Global
Financial Planning Association,the FPA. A lot of people know
that designation CFP. Andand so we follow that
methodology. And we addedanother component, another
pillar for immigration planning.

(21:54):
And we help the client unravelthe complexities of what assets
do I bring to the states? Do Ibring them? Do I bring them
before I step on the plane orafter? Years before years after?
Right? Which ones? And what'sthe financial and the tax
implication. And Manuelmentioned something really

(22:17):
interesting, which is theeducation component, right?
Something between 90 to 98% ofimmigrants at any given year,
are moving to the States becauseof their children. Right? I've
seen these industry statisticsin the past, and colleges a big
ticket in Brazil,sorry, in the States, colleges,
a big ticket in the States,especially if you consider if

(22:40):
you compare it to Europe, whereyou can go to a very good
college and play pay a couple100 euros a year. Some countries
in Latin America college iscompletely free. A university
degree in one of the bestschools of the country is free.
And that is not the case inAmerica. It is not only not
free, very expensive. And so wehelp the client make sense of

(23:06):
what are the what are the tools.
So for example, for green cardholders and people that have a
social security number, they canmake use of a investment
account. Let's call it the 529.
And the 529 account allows youto invest money into an age into

(23:26):
for educational purposes. Andhow does that work? So you put
money in the money grows? If youuse that money with the growth
for education, you don't paytaxes on the growth.
Look at that mean, how manythings in America can you invest
and not pay taxes? Right? So I'mjust peppering in a few ideas

(23:52):
just so that folks can can canpicture that in their mind of
how how an a practical levelproxy would help you plan your
immigration? Hmm, yeah. And Ithink that the pre immigration
planning is just so essential tothis process, and it's something
that maybe isn't considered. Andthat's why this partnership, you
know, with FPP, and proxy isjust so beneficial to the

(24:13):
clients.
So kind of like taking a stepback and going back to Eb five
and the steps of EB, EB five andall of this immigration process
planning. Can you kind ofoutline the steps that an
investor should or would take asthey plan to immigrate to the
United States? Of course, theyhave to consider how to leave

(24:34):
their home country in the mostefficient manner, but also plan
for their financial future herein the US. Yeah, absolutely. So
I would say the first step andand this can be in any
professional doesn't have to beproxy proxy does it differently
because we will start workingwith an immigrant family. When

(24:54):
they're not here. Usually aninvestment advisor in the states
only starts working withsomebody once they're here.
Um, but I would say the firstthing is reach out to a
professional. It is justincredibly complex. Even for
Americans born in America,right? They're seeking advice
from investment advisors, how doI retire? 20 years from now, it

(25:16):
is just too hard. There are toomany products, too many
complexities. And honestly, itwill suck a lot of time out of
your day in your life, for youto wrap your head around it. So
the first thing would be, butand I know a lot of immigrant
families or families areplanning, immigration, are
talking to the folks at FPP aretalking to their immigration

(25:39):
attorney, a lot of cases theyreach out to an international
tax attorney or a CPA thatunderstands international tax.
And you need to start organizingyourself years before you come
to the States. And why is thatbecause you have succession
rules for assets in your homecountry. We proxy has been

(26:03):
involved in in the creation ofholding companies, for our
clients, for example, in Brazil,and that takes years for you to
pass that holding company on tothe next generation.
Why do they want to do that?
Because the the EB fiveinvestor, when they arrive in
the States, and they have thatfirst tax return that they have
to file with Uncle Sam, theywant to file that tax return

(26:28):
with no income coming from theirhome country, because that could
be a complication, right?
Another thing is, when you doyour EB five investment,
you now have, you now have anasset in your wealth that's
outside of your home country.
And it's in the US. And now youfall under succession rules in

(26:51):
the US. And it can only be donein your name. Personally, you
can't do it in the name of acompany, a corporation or an
offshore company, which is apopular,
you can't do that the USCISneeds to see that receipt in
your name of the investment thatwent in for for the FPP

(27:15):
private equity project, right?
The EB five.
So you need to organize yourselfwith these various components.
You need to think about thetransition as well. Right? So
you're now going to have onefoot in America and one foot in
your home country, right? Do youwant to come live in the States?
Do you want to take advantage ofa status adjustment, for

(27:38):
example, that has pros and cons.
Now you can't go back home ifyou do, right.
And then AF post migration, youhave your cost basis true up. So
all of your assets and your homecountry, Uncle Sam gives you a
pass and says okay, you'vereceived your green card and
2023 We're going to use theasset prices of 2023. What does

(28:01):
that mean? So if you inherited afarm from your great
grandfather, or grandmother,that's worth 10 million. And
over the your lifetime now thatfarm is worth 50 million. If you
were to sell that you would havea huge amount of capital gains,
right in the eyes of in the eyesof Uncle Sam, don't forget,

(28:22):
you're now file a tax return inthe States. And most cases in
your home country as well. Sothat tax return in the States is
going to say okay, you had 40million of of capital gains that
you gotta pay taxes on. But theyear you get your green card,
the US government allows you totrue up that asset base. And so

(28:44):
now your farm is worth 50million. Right. And so if you
sell it the next day, you havezero capital gains in the
States.
And so as you can see, these arevery complex conversations. And
people need to start having themwell before they make the
investment or they step on theplane to move to America. Right.

(29:06):
And you've shared you know whyyou're such a great resource for
that and why proxy is just sucha great partnership with FPP and
for our clients.
And, you know, I want to ask manwell, as we're talking about
investors and what they shouldbe considering, you know, with
regards to Eb five investments,what are some of the things that
investors need to be mindful ofwhen assessing an EB five

(29:29):
investment? Great question. Ithink one thing that I would
like to point out as well alsois that you know, when investors
are also going through the EBfive process, the important
thing to keep in mind is thatyou know, that clock for the
investor in every case is goingto be different, but by and
large, you know, you become theUS person whenever you you get
your conditional green card,which the processing times can

(29:53):
pretty much vary. You know,obviously, if you go to the
USCIS website right now you'relooking at know that first
up, which is I 526 application,you know, I think it's somewhere
around 16 months for it to getprocessed USCIS is saying that
they're going to, by the end ofthis year, they're gonna get
processed within a six monthperiod. And you know, after that

(30:15):
is when you get your, yourconditional green card, but the
financial aspect of it reallythe clock starts whenever you do
get your conditional green card.
And I think that's, you know, ifyou're looking at the tax
planning at that point,you know, I think it's going to
be not impossible, you just needto work with somebody to help do
it at that point. But if you'reable to plan ahead, as what

(30:36):
Brian is saying, I think that isdefinitely key. So I think it's
just really important to look atthe processing times. And when
you actually become a US personwhenever you're going through
the EB five process. And youknow, the thing that EB five
investors should really payattention to whenever they're
looking at EB five projects, Ithink oftentimes,

(31:00):
you have investors that visiteda particular city, like let's
say, they were in New York City,or they were in Miami, or they
were in Los Angeles, and theylove that particular city. And
so, you know, sometimes you hearthat they want to invest in a
project only in a city thateither they visited, they
studied, or something like that.
And I think that one of thethings that's important to keep
in mind is that every city isgoing to be different, every sub

(31:23):
market within each city is goingto be different. And really, the
way to qualify EB fiveinvestments is always do your
due diligence, but you have tolook at it from two standpoints.
On one side of it, you have tolook at the project from the
immigration standpoint, is it agood EB five project on the
immigration side of things?

(31:44):
Right? And all that means is, amI going to be able to come to
become a US permanent resident?
Through this program? Right,each investor is required to
create 10 jobs. Right? And so isthis project and allow me to
create 10 jobs? So that's one ofthe requirements. The other
requirement is the source of thefunds and like those things,

(32:05):
right, but you have to look atthat project is, is it a good EB
five project? And then also,will I be able to create the
jobs that I need, so that I canobtain my permanent residency?
And then I think, on the otherside of things is you also have
to look at the project, from theinvestment side of things,
right? Is this going to be agood investment, because that's
what that is what's going todictate whether you get your

(32:27):
capital back, in this case, the$800,000, and EB five
investments do have a return.
But I also think that if aninvestor is looking at an EB
five investment, like theywould, you know, something like
what proxy Financial has, on theinvestment side of things,
you're not really comparingapples to apples, because I

(32:47):
think, you know, for the EB fiveinvestment is not an investment
that you're making to be able tokeep up with inflation or
outpace inflation or somethinglike that. Obviously, higher
returns also mean higher risk. Ithink, from the EB five
standpoint, the primarymotivation is to migrate to the
US obtain your permanent greencard, either for your child

(33:09):
isn't to be studied in the US orfor the whole family if your
children are unmarried under theage of 21. And you really have
to look at it is, does thisinvestment actually make sense?
And so for example, you havesome markets that, you know,
have a bunch of constructiongoing on for multifamily right

(33:29):
now, right. And then thequestion is that once these
apartments get constructed, andthey're online, right, are they
going to be able to get filledup? So does it make sense to
have another apartment in nextcity? If there are already a
bunch of them coming up? Right,is there a case for this? And so
you just have to, like, makesure that the investment of it
actually makes sense. And so Ithink you have to really, really

(33:50):
look at it from those two tracksthat in the investment side, and
the immigration side. And youknow, you mentioned different
types of EB five projects andkind of going with the overall
theme of today's podcast andtalking about different
investment options. Man, well,can you highlight some of the
additional,I guess, factors of FPPS

(34:11):
investment project? Tallis, Iknow you've touched on a few
points already. But what reallyqualifies and makes this project
such a great fit for EB fiveinvestors looking to immigrate
here to the US? Yes, perfect. SoI was actually just there. Last
week, I have a very recent viewof it. There's been so much
progress. It's a project thatstarted and mentally 2022 And

(34:33):
it's just progressing justphenomenally. It's located in
the Coachella Valley, which isroughly about a two hour drive
from San Diego, Los Angeles andOrange County. And I think
what's interesting going back tothe point that I made about, is
there a business case for thistype of investment? And you
know, we feel strongly that forthe talus project that we have

(34:57):
in the Coachella ValleyThere is a business case for
this because if you look at theCoachella Valley, a lot of
people know it just because ofthe Coachella Festival and those
things, but there are a lot ofother festivals that are there.
But also, one of the things thathappened during the pandemic is
that, you know, people realizethat they want to connect with
nature more, you know, somepeople started moving out of the

(35:20):
city, you know, people aremoving out of Los Angeles, some
of them are going to Texas, someof them went to other states,
but others are moving to theCoachella Valley. And a lot more
people are going to CoachellaValley just because of the
nature aspect of it. Whetherit's the wildlife, or the over
140 golf courses there, youknow, the last couple of years
in the Coachella Valley havebeen record breaking in terms of

(35:41):
tourism numbers of people thatare actually going to visit. And
if you look at the number ofhotel rooms, that existed in the
Coachella Valley, in 2003, itwas 14,000. And if you look at
the number of hotel rooms in2022, when we actually started
construction of the project, itwas still 14,000. And so they

(36:02):
really didn't build anythingover the course of the last 20
years. Meanwhile, you have moreand more people moving there and
more and more in record numbers,people visiting the Coachella
Valley. And so people need aplace to stay. And our project
is a ultra luxury resorts thatconsists of the montage and the
Pendry hotel brands locatedtogether for the first time at

(36:27):
one project site. And the otherreally cool thing about this
project is that it also includesa already existing Arnold Palmer
designed pro golf course that'sactually there already. And it's
just really pretty, it's on thefoot of the mouse and looks just
great. And you know, one of thethings also that I think is
really interesting about it isthat because it already started

(36:50):
construction, back in 2022, thething that I had mentioned
initially was that each investoris required to create 10 jobs.
Well, for this particularproject, we are going to be
working with 135 investors. Soat 10 jobs each, it's 1350 total
jobs. Well, to date, without theproject even being finalized,

(37:13):
we've already created 1500 jobs.
So over the minimumrequirements. So as an investor,
you know that coming into thisproject, the risk from the job
prospective, is off the table,it doesn't exist. Whereas if you
go into a project that isstarting construction, now
you're still taking on theconstruction risks, and a lot of

(37:34):
other dynamics may be happeningas well, that, you know, could
be a little bit riskier. So Ithink from the immigration
conservative side, this projectis ideal, and it does qualify
for the $100,000 investmentlevel as well. And you know,
both of you, man, well and Brianhave touched on some really
great things today. In thisepisode, I wanted to also

(37:55):
mention that this is a part of aseries of podcasts that we're
going to be doing with proxy. SoI know we have two more episodes
that we're going to be doing andthen also webinars well for all
of our listeners and clients andthose interested in Eb five and
learning more. But man while andBrian, as we wrap up today's
episode, is there anything elseyou'd like to add? Or what

(38:16):
advice do you have for potentialinvestors out there that are
thinking about investing in theEB five visa program? Or our new
EB five investmentopportunities? helis? I'm sure
we both do. Do you want to gofirst? Sure, I'll go.
Well, I would say just thank youvery much for your time, we'd
obviously would love for you toinvest with us. But I will say

(38:38):
that wherever you do invest,it's very important to study,
the track record has the EB fivecapital firm returned EB five
capital to investors, and we'veactually completed the whole
cycle. I think that's reallyimportant. I think oftentimes,
you see you either getreally interested in a
particular location, or themarketing materials look really
great. But what doesn't lie are,are the numbers really the track

(39:03):
record? What have they actuallyaccomplished. And I think, you
know, whoever the EB fiveinvestor vest was, I think those
are the things that you actuallyreally want to focus on. And
then also just focus on lookingat a project from the
immigration perspective, andalso on the investment side,
because oftentimes, it can be areally good immigration project,

(39:24):
right? Oftentimes, you hearthese labels that are thrown out
a rural project, a TA project,all of these other things, and
it can be a great immigrationproject, but it might not be a
very good investment idea, andit might not be a good
investment. And then that isactually what affects you
getting your capital back right,which is investment dollars that

(39:44):
you expect to get back there arereturns with with these
investments as well. And so, thereturns again, aren't designed
to outpace inflation, but theyare designed to you know, cover
some of the costs that you thatgo along with it, whether you're
talking about your leadlegal costs are your filing
costs. So there's a return tocover that. And when you get
your capital back, you know,that is capital that you're

(40:05):
going to be using when you'renow in the United States. So
it's a very important aspect ofit. And, you know, project,
likewise can also be very goodon the investment side. But it
might not be a good EB fiveimmigration project. So it
really has to have both things.
And no matter what always lookat the track record. Absolutely.
I mean, you touched on severalaspects there, Manuel that

(40:30):
we look at, at proxy, I mean,the story has to be there,
right.
Investments tell a story andyour life has been impacted by
the story of that investment. Ifit fails, for example, right, a
disastrous experience. And butyou can always tell the truth of

(40:51):
what an investment or what wecall technically in this world
of private equity of a sponsor,right.
With their track record, howwell they performed and an
example to that.
That exemplifies what whatManuel was mentioning is the
fund companies, right, so youhave today

(41:13):
products proxy, uses BlackrockETFs, right. And his portfolios
uses Vanguard ETFs. Like some ofsome of you listeners have heard
of these in the past. Becausethese are behemoths in the
financial markets. And theywould not be around if they
weren't if their numbers didn'tshow that it didn't align with

(41:36):
the story. Right? And, and lookforward to more content from our
podcasts. Join us on thewebinar, bring your bring your
questions, bring your family,bring your friends, it's a time
for you to get a reallyhigh profile advice live
anonymously, of course, andwe'll be talking more about this

(41:59):
journey of immigration is notsimple. It is not easy. It's
very complex nowadays, and knowthat you have a team with FPP
and with proxy that you cancount on. That's gonna guide you
in the right way.
Well, Brian, and man Well, thankyou again, so much for being on
today's episode. I appreciateall of the invaluable

(42:22):
information that you've bothshared with our listeners, Brian
about proxy and what yoursurfaces are for our listeners
and our clients. And man wellthe background and insight that
you provide on EB five. I wantto mention to our listeners that
this podcast episode is a partof a series so there will be
another episode with proxyfinancial, and a webinar on
September 20. So stay tuned forthat. And if any of our

(42:44):
listeners have questions andwant to reach out to you
directly, I will be sure toprovide that information in the
episode description. Thanksagain. Thank you.
If you would like to learn moreabout immigration through
investment and how first pathwaypartners can assist you in
achieving the American Dream bysuccessfully navigating the EB

(43:07):
five visa process, then pleasecontact them directly online at
www dot first pathway.com
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