In January 2020, I published The Palm Beach Letter’s annual asset allocation guide…

It’s the most important issue I publish each year in my flagship service. It serves as the framework for everything we do.

And for the first time since 2011, I overhauled our entire asset allocation model.

At the time, the bull market was still marching higher. A month later, it’d reached its all-time high.

Still, I warned my readers we needed to prepare for big changes.

Here’s what I said then: “Friends, now more than ever, we need an entirely new asset allocation model.”

I continued:

Now, I believe the market will continue to chug higher in the 2020s. But there’s also a good chance the next 10 years won’t be as good as the last.

That means traditional stocks and bonds might not meet expectations over the next market cycle. If they deliver subpar returns, it’ll be imperative to have exposure to other asset classes.

So your asset allocation is now more important than ever… And my solution is to readjust our asset allocation to prepare for this next market cycle.

Was I prescient about a potential market crash? Yes.

Did I know the coronavirus pandemic would be the cause of the crash? No. No one did.

But I wanted my subscribers to be ready for anything. So we added new asset classes to diversify ourselves.

And my changes couldn’t have been timelier…

Unlike a traditional shock to the economy, the coronavirus pandemic is different. It caused a global shutdown of virtually all businesses. And nearly every publicly traded company crashed in price as a result.

But while we hate the reasons that got us here… as investors, we’re excited.

You see, now’s a perfect time for us to find life-changing deals. That’s because the traditional stock market has “seized up” for small companies.

Now, I believe the stock market will rally back to new highs within 18 months. That’s how long I believe it’ll take to develop a vaccine.

Once we have a vaccine in place, people can start traveling and socializing as they once did.

In the meantime, there’s a “hidden” market that’s been largely unaffected by this pandemic. It’s one of the few places still offering life-changing ideas…

The Hidden Market

There are really two markets: The “hidden” market, where the rich and connected make their millions… and the stock market for everyone else.

The hidden market is private equity. It’s the playground of venture capitalists.

According to McKinsey & Company, this market has over $5 trillion in assets under management. For years, Wall Street has walled it off from you.

And for good reason: The gains it’s pocketing are truly massive – far bigger than what you can make from publicly traded stocks.

For example:

  • If you’d put a $1,000 stake in Google when it was a private company in 1999… it would’ve been worth $345,000 following its IPO.

  • If you’d invested $1,000 in ride-sharing app Lyft in 2013 when it was private… you would’ve made 87 times your money when it went public.

  • And if you’d placed $1,000 in social media company Snap in 2013 when it was private… you would’ve seen a 250x return on its IPO day.

But until recently, 99% of Americans couldn’t access deals like these.

They were usually made on private golf courses and private jets… or in reserve boxes at sporting events and top-floor meeting rooms at five-star hotels.

And if you weren’t part of the financial elite or a connected insider, you weren’t able to get your hands on private shares. That’s why I call them “sweetheart” deals.

But all that’s changing…

New rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission allow ordinary investors to invest in private companies before they go public.

They’re called Regulation A+ offerings. And they’re open to the general public – not just accredited investors. In some cases, you can buy into these private deals with minimums of $500 or $1,000.

And since these private companies aren’t affected by the market like public ones, they’re a good hedge against what’s going on now…

Thriving in Rough Times

In the public market, many companies are on the brink of bankruptcy and desperate for assistance. For example, movie theater giant AMC is in talks about hiring bankruptcy experts.

But this recent market crash didn’t affect the private market.

You see, companies raising funds through Regulation A+ offerings don’t trade on public exchanges. So their prices aren’t affected by market volatility.

By operating as private entities, they’re able to methodically execute on their business plans – outside of the wild swings of the public markets.

And some that are further along the money-raising process offer another advantage… By building up a cash hoard, they can deploy that money to scoop up valuable assets on the cheap.

Additionally, these companies can stay private for as long as they want. So if conditions aren’t great for an IPO, they don’t have to go public.

That’s the beauty of a successful Regulation A+ offering: It affords these companies tremendous flexibility.

All our sweetheart deals continue to scale and execute on their business plans. And thanks to their war chests, they can monitor their industries for distressed assets they can buy on the cheap.

Plus, numerous studies show that while private companies outperform the S&P 500, they have much lower volatility.

Perfect Time for Sweetheart Deals

With all the volatility we’re seeing in the public markets, now’s the time to gain some exposure to private companies.

Remember, these “sweetheart” deals don’t trade on a public exchange. So even when wild market volatility hits, the share prices of these private companies stay the same.

For example, even while other stocks have been hammered, the prices of the private deals in my Palm Beach Venture portfolio have remained stable.

Now, you can’t buy private startups from your brokerage account. And your investment adviser will probably never tell you about them.

So if you want to explore private equity investing, consider crowdfunding platforms like SeedInvest and MicroVentures. They list dozens of startup companies raising money from the general public. In some cases, you can get started with as little as $100.

But always do your due diligence and never bet more than you can afford to lose.

Let the Game Come to You!

Teeka Tiwari
Editor, Palm Beach Daily

P.S. Like I said, buying growing companies while they’re still private can offer up life-changing gains – without all the volatility.

And since launching Palm Beach Venture last year, my team has uncovered several opportunities to invest alongside billionaires in sweetheart deals – before they go public.

In fact, you can still get into three of these private deals for as low as $1 per share with up to 3,900% upside. But you must act now. These companies will be closing their doors to new investors soon…

To learn more about these sweetheart deals, click here.