BusinessWeek – A kind of high-end investment club, Tiger 21 gives its multimillionaire members a chance to share deals, financial advice, and a few life lessons.
Thomas Gallagher shifted uneasily in his seat. He waited for each of the 10 people around the conference table to review his 15-page financial report and braced himself for the barrage of questions, criticisms, and laughter.
Laughter? Gallagher, the 60-year-old former vice-chairman of CIBC World Markets (BCM ), had distributed a printout of his net worth to fellow members of an unusual peer group of multimillionaires called Tiger 21. The camaraderie and banter among the men and women in the room eased his anxiety. “Hey, Tommy, have you put your house in a QPRT?” asked one (referring to a qualified personal residence trust, an estate planning tool).
Tiger 21, which stands for The Investment Group for Exceptional Returns in the 21st Century, is a cross between a high-end investment club and group therapy. The entrepreneurs, corporate chieftains, and Wall Street wizards get together one day a month to talk about how to preserve and increase their wealth. On this mid-March morning in a Manhattan town house leased by the group, Tiger 21 gave BusinessWeek access to one of its confidential day-long meetings. As part of the deal, we agreed not to divulge the names of participants who wanted to remain anonymous.
To qualify for admission, members must have at least $10 million investable assets (excluding real estate, art, and collectibles). They also have to ante up $25,000 a year in dues, which covers meeting expenses, rent, speaker fees, and salaries for six staff members. Membership in the seven-year-old organization has doubled in the past year, to 74 men and 5 women, meeting in groups of 10 to 12. The average age is in the mid-50s. Members are mostly from New York, but offices in Florida and California are slated to open soon. The goal: 300 members.
Interest in Tiger 21 reflects growing concern among the wealthy that private bankers, trust companies, and brokerage firms have a not-so-hidden agenda to sell financial products and services. “I felt the advice I was getting was always tainted,” says Michael Sonnenfeldt, a 50-year-old real estate developer who co-founded Tiger 21 as a profitmaking venture, earning its money from memberships. Others have formed similar groups where the wealthy can swap ideas without the pressure of a hard sell.
