What to look for before you invest

If you are considering an investment in any private alternative investment fund (such as a REIT, a mortgage fund, a hedge fund or a private equity fund), the onus is on you to undertake due diligence to ensure that you have a complete understanding of the nature of the offering so that your ultimate decision of whether to invest will be fully informed. Typically, investment funds are sold through an "offering memorandum" (OM), a legal document that establishes the rules that the fund and its managers must follow. You must read this document! To facilitate this process, the following will highlight what you ought to look for in the OM and what other key pieces of information you should elicit in the due diligence process.