Ahead of the marcus evans Private Wealth Management Summit 2022, read here an interview with John Van Clief on the investment opportunities in the alternatives space, and what makes companies innovative and recession-resistant.

1. What Makes an Investment
Portfolio Recession-Resistant
Interview with: John Van Clief,
Managing Director, Green Knolls
Capital
“Many private wealth managers take too
much unnecessary risk, exposing
families to correlated asset classes that
cannot withstand a recession,” says
John Van Clief, Managing Director,
Green Knolls Capital.
Green Knolls Capital is an investment
firm at the marcus evans Private
Wealth Management Summit 2022.
What makes alternative investing
attractive to wealthy families
today? Should they focus on alter-
natives more than other asset
classes? Why?
This is why we are involved in uncorre-
lated asset classes amongst our two
funds. Venture capital offers above
average returns in a favorable economic
environment. However, in an unfavora-
ble economic environment, we hedge
our bets with recession-resistant and
counter-cyclical public defense sector
companies. They never had a pullback
in funding regardless of what admin-
istration was at the White House. In
fact, in the current environment, we
expect better than expected earnings
results. This minimizes the risk-reward
in a down market, which is why our
philosophy is attractive to wealthy
families and private wealth managers.
What investment opportunities
would you point them to?
There are many opportunities in the
market; the key is to find the best ones
for each investor. We feel that late-
stage venture companies have tremen-
dous opportunity and growth. In the
past, we have been involved in many
pre-IPO unicorns such as Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter. With our experi-
ence in this segment of the market, we
feel that investors should take ad-
vantage of the risk-reward opportunity
it presents. The market outlook may
look grim now or in the near future, but
we have to keep things in perspective.
The US market/economy has had more
years up than down. But as an invest-
ment firm, you need to be ready for
both, which is why our focus in the
defense industry coupled with our
involvement in venture capital gives us
a major competitive advantage.
What makes some companies
“innovative”? What are your crite-
ria?
We like to say we look for tomorrow’s
blue chips today. There isn’t any secret
recipe or secret sauce to find the most
innovative companies. However, there
are seven criteria which we follow.
Monopoly or near-monopoly; Company
has created a brand-new industry or
niche; Recession-resistant and counter-
cyclical; Fast growth; Undiscovered by
Wall Street; Razor/razor blade factor;
Cookie-cutter factor. All these criteria
are embedded into our firm, and how
we analyze and determine if a company
is suitable or not.
How do you help these companies
reach their full potential?
A company reaching its full potential can
mean different things for everyone, but
for us it is very specific, and it goes
back to the seven criteria I mentioned
before. One of the main ways we
determine if a company has not reached
their potential is when it does not meet
those criteria. For example, when a
company is not discovered by Wall
Street, it is usually yet to reach its
potential and that is where we come in.
We help the company become a
dominant force in their industry, help
them grow fast and improve other
aspects of their business. Once ready
and it gets discovered by Wall Street, it
will have investment backing from
different major firms. That is usually
when the company reaches its full
potential. Majority of our gains occur
during the growth process of a compa-
ny. From those early beginnings to the
entire street covering the stock is when
most of the gains are made.
What are your thoughts on the
global investment landscape?
Inflation is out of control; we see a
slowdown and or recession towards the
end of this year or next year. The Fed is
indicated to be making this slowdown
towards the end of next year. Also, the
geo-political environment and other
economic issues is why we foresee the
market heading down in the future as
well. This is why we hedge our bets
against the venture capital side with our
defense sector companies. But like
mentioned before, this down trend is
not anything new if we compare it with
the market.
What ‘mistakes’ do some private
wealth managers make when it
comes to investing in the alterna-
tives space? How can they avoid
those mistakes or risks?
Unfortunately, many firms take too
much unnecessary risk. They do not
have uncorrelated assets, and or if they
do, it is not enough for their portfolio as
a whole. The firms that have been
successful, reduce their risk, reduce
their overall exposure, so when an
economic downturn comes around, they
are better prepared.
We hedge our
venture capital
portfolio with
an uncorrelated
recession-resistant
and counter-cyclical
defense sector
portfolio

2. The Investment Network –
marcus evans Summits group
delivers peer-to-peer information
on strategic matters, professional
trends and breakthrough
innovations.
Please note that the Summit is a
closed business event and the
number of participants strictly
limited.
About the Private Wealth Management Summit 2022
The Private Wealth Management Summit is an invitation-only, premium summit
bringing leading private wealth management investors and innovative fund
managers and consultants. The summit’s content is aligned with key investment
challenges and interests, relevant market developments, and practical and
progressive ideas and strategies adopted by successful pioneers.
www.s2.privatewealthsummit.com
About Green Knolls Capital
Green Knolls Capital was founded after years of working in the business and investment banking industry. Our goal is to help
entrepreneurs with professional guidance turn their own ideas and visions into successful companies with professional guidance. As
a results-driven organization, we are constantly looking for ambitious and visionary partners with the drive and flexibility to take
their company to the next level. For details about our process as well as our level of involvement, get in touch with us.
www.greenknollscap.com
About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss
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http://events.marcusevans-events.com/pwm2022-john-van-clief
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