PRIVATE EQUITY ‘THE BIG STORY’ FOR GROUP MEMBERS

TIGER 21’S SONNENFELDT: PRIVATE EQUITY ‚ÄòTHE BIG STORY’ FOR HIS GROUP MEMBERSDAN WEIL / JANUARY 23, 2014

Michael Sonnenfeldt, founder of Tiger 21, an investment network of more than 200 members with a median net worth of about $75 million, says the investment focus for these folks now is private equity.

“The big story for our members is private equity,” he tells CNBC.

“I think the difference is these aren’t passive investments. This is an opportunity to roll up our shirt sleeves and get involved. It’s not simply a market return. It’s where people can use their skills.”

Private equity investors apparently made out handsomely in 2013. Cambridge Associates estimates they received $120 billion last year, topping the 2012 record of $115 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sonnenfeldt says many of his clients are wary of stocks after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index soared 29.6 percent last year, its best showing since 1997.

“I don’t think that they’re pessimistic” about stocks, he explains. “It’s that 2013 was so spectacular. They’re just used to a reversion to the mean in everything that they do. And they’re just wondering with QE [quantitative easing] continuing, how long this could go on?”

Citi Private Bank Chief Investment Officer Steven Wieting also is bullish on private equity. He sees private equity and real estate investments generating annualized returns of 11.9 percent over the next 10 years, almost double his 6.7 percent estimate for developed market large-cap equities, Barron’s reports.

These investments have largely been shunned by investors fearing illiquidity, making them more attractive, Wieting says.