Testimonials

IGER 21 invites you to learn more about the experience through the testimonials of our Members:

Belonging to TIGER 21 is like taking a graduate course in finance and investing.  I have been a Member for almost six years.  The most important lessons I've learned during this time have been about asset allocation and reducing risk through diversification.  I have especially enjoyed the breadth of the speakers we see each month and feel fortunate to be a Member of such a close-knit group with whom I can discuss anything - from money, to health, and even personal issues.
- Advertising Agency Founder

TIGER 21 has helped me think much more strategically about my business and financial interests. It's broadened my knowledge base about financial opportunities. But more than anything, the value of TIGER 21 is access -- access to the best minds and opportunities in the financial world and to a smart and accomplished membership base.  Through TIGER 21, I've had a leading chief investment officer critique my portfolio, a highly successful entrepreneur share with me his approach to investing in businesses, and a sounding board of smart and accomplished Members share their best investments and horror stories with me. You can't get that elsewhere.  After a fund manager presents, it's fascinating to hear the different perspectives in our Group.  For example, after hearing a presentation focused on investments in Brazil, someone in the Group mentioned the time he spent in Brazil the previous week and was able to keep the fund manager honest. 
- Social Media Entrepreneur

I look forward to our meeting each month -- no two are ever the same.  I enjoy the combination of stimulating discussions and outside speakers.  The portfolio defense process has forced me to develop my own investment approach to the point where I have a long-term written investment policy which guides all of my investment activity.  Having a plan I am comfortable with has simplified an area of my life where I was wasting a huge amount of time dealing with uncertainty and complexity.  I had not considered many of the TIGER 21 benefits prior to joining our group.  We've been able to listen to and question a number of world-class speakers in a small group setting, many of whom were specific requests by our Members.  It's very helpful to have frank discussions about  investments, advisors  and other issues with a group of people you know well who are smart, have your best interest at heart but have no financial stake in what you decide.  I find that I often learn the most from hearing about mistakes others have made -- we are all very comfortable telling the group what we did wrong and why.  A big plus is the access you gain to the professional network of your fellow group Members.  A final unexpected benefit of TIGER 21 has been the close personal friendships I have formed within our group.  Some of us see each socially, travel together, and a few of us are starting our own nonprofit organization.
- Retired Hedge Fund Manager

One of the great things about joining TIGER 21 has been interacting with people who are in the same boat I'm in.  When I came into my first meeting, I realized that everyone at that time was as scared as I was.  It was comforting to be able to talk about my fears with peers who weren't trying to sell me anything.  My TIGER 21 group is the only place where I can be completely open about my wealth and how I am investing it.  The benefit of the feedback I've received from other Members cannot be measured.  The Members of my group truly care about one another and exchange feedback - but not judgment - on many personal and financial topics.  I truly look forward to our monthly meetings. 
- Family Business Entrepreneur

The value of TIGER 21 lies in the opportunity to learn how to create a disciplined approach to all elements of your investment plan.  TIGER 21 Members are extremely generous in sharing their personal and professional stories, ideas and feedback.   I am especially thankful to the Members who have introduced me to some of the most experienced and intelligent asset managers and real estate contacts in the country. 
- Restaurant Entrepreneur and Private Investor

The value for me resides in the fact that I can share information about existing and prospective business deals confidentially and then receive unbiased and informed feedback. TIGER 21 is my informal board of advisors.
- Founder and Chairman of an International Real Estate and Private Equity Firm

As the founder and CEO of a successful software business, I earned a virtual MBA in my field.  But at TIGER 21 over the last six years I've earned a virtual Ph.D. in investing and wealth management.  The most valuable part of this education has come during our monthly meetings.  My fellow Members are all smart, self-made and have a good sense of humor. Their willingness to share unique insights on investing, business and the challenges of staying wealthy is second to none.  At TIGER 21, I have formed a new group of friends with whom I feel completely comfortable discussing some of the quirkier personal financial questions and challenges I cannot comfortably discuss with anyone else.
- Software Entrepreneur
 
My attendance at TIGER 21 meetings helps me stay in touch with the for-profit world—it’s a reality check.  I also enjoy and learn tremendously by interacting with my fellow group Members.
- Founder and CEO of a Non-Profit Foundation

Participating in TIGER 21 has provided the opportunity to learn a great deal quickly about issues that affect my family's life.  There is no better teacher than experience and collectively TIGER 21 Members have a great deal of experience across a broad range of subjects.  The format is fun and the results are tangible.
- Technology Executive and Private Investor

TIGER 21 helped me to learn the vocabulary and the financial concepts behind the words, and in general, gave me a foundation to see and understand the preservation of my portfolio as the priority to address my family's future financial needs.  With a family, I have to take generational planning into account if our intentions are to leave our kids something from our estate.  TIGER 21 got me to consider the hard questions and understand the risks to my portfolio. The cross pollination of the other Members within our group is a dividend I give a great amount of weight to. I learn sometimes as much from them as I do from some of the presenters.
- Serial Entrepreneur, Restaurateur and Collector

I find the TIGER 21 format to be very good with interesting discussions, and my group is very engaging. The portfolio defense is an excellent opportunity to discuss asset allocation and investment criteria, as well as explicit and implicit assumptions that help you to become a better investor. 
- Serial Entrepreneur and International Investor

Michael Sonnenfeldt says that TIGER 21 Members have a "collective intelligence."   I think this is true.  It allows one to tap into a universe of resources and opportunities beyond those of any individual wealth advisor or investment manager, regardless of how brilliant he or she may be.  The referrals to professional resources - doctors, travel agents, accountants, insurance brokers, bond brokers, cash managers, wealth managers, wealth advisors, lawyers, etc. - alone are worth more than our annual price of membership.  One cannot remain a Member of TIGER 21 with a "static" mindset.   TIGER 21 Members' ongoing search for knowledge is dynamic.  Our monthly meetings keep me up-to-date, focused on the future, and moving forward.  Member insights and information have been instrumental in many of my best investment decisions, including NOT buying assets in 2008 that seemed historically underpriced.  The friendships one forms in TIGER 21 are meaningful and long-lasting. The full disclosure and trust within my group is rare to find in the investing world.   This generous community includes not only Members of my own group, but Members of other TIGER 21 groups around the country, past Members, and TIGER 21 employees.  
- Real Estate Entrepreneur

I told myself in joining that if TIGER 21 could provide me with one investment insight a year, it would pay for itself.  I'm already years ahead.  This has become the place for me to exchange money-making ideas.   Our group meetings have an atmosphere of openness and camaraderie, very conducive to honest analysis and revealing dialogue.   Members inject their unique experiences and expertise into each discussion.  Their idea generation and analytical firepower is impressive.  Politics and petty gamesmanship simply have no place at the table.   No matter how smooth the outside speakers may be, they never get a free ride.  Each presenter is grilled by the group, and the post-presentation debriefs round out the experience.   I have no hesitation saying that my day in New York with TIGER 21 is now my favorite day of the month.
- Investment Manager and Private Investor

TIGER 21 has been extremely helpful to me on both a personal level as well as business level. I have learned a tremendous amount about a diverse number of subjects. I have particularly enjoyed the networking and development of personal relationships with the other Members.
- Venture Capitalist

Through TIGER 21 I learned the value of MLP’s in the oil and gas pipeline business. I owned shares in one MLP but did not previously realize the tax and the other benefits of the MLP. Since then, I have increased my exposure to this area and hence my cash flow.
- Senior Partner at Top Law Firm

The essence of TIGER 21 is that it is a great group of people, who because of their varied backgrounds, are able to shed light on my investment outlook with different perspectives. My key learning from TIGER 21 is that there are basic philosophies that need to be applied on a macro basis before one tries to make money on a micro basis.   The common bond and trust at TIGER 21 allows Members to deliver honest rather than “nice” information in opining on one’s investment mistakes.   Exposure to some of the best minds and track records in the investment community has helped to better educate me and shape the future of my investment outlook. 
- Former Chair of a Major Accounting Firm

The most tangible value I've gotten from my TIGER 21 Membership has been the interaction with my group, which is a collection of truly remarkable and intelligent people.  I've learned more from them than I have from my financial advisors about what to look for as an investor and what questions I should be asking when considering an investment.  It's been extremely helpful to hear their take on investment strategies and to compare notes on specific investment opportunities.  One of the reasons TIGER 21 works is that it's a comfortable place for Members to have open discussions, not just about investing, but also about broader aspects of wealth, like family issues and other life challenges we all grapple with.  A Member of another TIGER 21 group and I have recently been comparing notes on an potential investment each of us is considering. It's been great getting to know each other through the process. 
- Entrepreneur

What stands out most to me about my TIGER 21 experience is the breadth of investment philosophies and opportunities to which I have been exposed.  I could never have found most of these on my own.  During our monthly group meetings, we have presentations from excellent investment managers and, afterwards, we analyze their pros and cons. The unique value of TIGER 21 is the 'intellectual capital network' they have created, where personal relationships and Member-to-Member advice is the glue that holds it all together.  I truly look forward to our monthly group meetings where I know I can bounce my personal and financial questions off a group of intelligent and accomplished peers.  Our monthly Portfolio Defense discussions also force me to think objectively about what I'm doing and have improved my investment decision-making.  In addition, our Group Chair, has a great ability to facilitate our conversations while prompting us to explore new avenues and topics. He often adds his own valuable personal and investment insights to our conversation.
- Business-to-Business Entrepreneur

TIGER 21 has given me access to people and perspectives I would never find on my own, helped me better understand the complexities of managing wealth, and kept me out of financial trouble. I find our confidential discussions about personal issues and money to be the most valuable and rewarding part of my TIGER 21 experience.
- Former Real Estate Entrepreneur and Private Investor

I want to thank TIGER 21 for introducing me to an investment opportunity that MADE millions for me and, at the same time, thank my group for talking me out of some investment decisions that would have COST me millions.   TIGER 21 Members are smart people and, through our monthly discussions and outside presentations, I have picked up valuable new tools for thinking about how and where to invest my wealth. The Members of my group genuinely like and trust one another.  As a result, we feel very comfortable sharing sensitive information and discussing our personal dilemmas.  I have also received some very caring and insightful advice from other Members regarding my family dynamics and estate planning questions that I simply would never have received from a paid "wealth advisor."
- Family Business Entrepreneur and Private Investor

TIGER 21 has been a valuable asset for me over the past 4 years.  I have learned directly from others who are in the same position as me, and indirectly by watching people struggle with the same issues I contend with.  I also was able to dramatically reduce my market exposure in early 2008 because of some conversations with other savvy Members.  The friendships formed are also very deep.  Ironically, one of the most comforting and insightful things I have learned through my TIGER 21 tenure is that no one really has the answers (despite what our brains are hard-wired to believe!).
- Consumer Product Entrepreneur and Private Investor

Coming from a successful manufacturing background, I did not have a peer group to call on when I moved into the phase of life concerned with preserving and managing my wealth in a responsible way.  TIGER 21 has been the perfect fit for this need and has opened my world to many places that I would have otherwise had no direct introduction.
- Successful Manufacturing Entrepreneur

The TIGER 21 experience is the broadest of explorations.  It is enlightening; it is edifying; it is personal; and it is mind-expanding.  It is profoundly interesting and educational.  The principal focus is on the preservation and enhancement of Members' financial good fortune, which leads to discussions on the world and personal matters:  the past, the present, and the future; the best and the brightest of investment ideas; and - sometimes - the lessons that only failure can serve up.  One of the cornerstones of each meeting is the Member's Portfolio Defense.  In preparing for my own Portfolio Defense, I found the TIGER 21 process and my own introspection yielded new insights and a deeper understanding of my own approach to portfolio construction and asset allocation.  The feedback and observations of my Group 3 colleagues led me to step back and reflect on my decisions and actions with greater objectivity and humility.  Needless to say, with the benefit of new understanding has come material betterment.  Group 3 in New York is comprised of men and woman of integrity, experience, and uncommon ability.  They also share the kind of alignment of personal, professional and investment interests that lead to the highest levels of worthwhile exchange.  The lively discussions are led by Joel Treisman, a consummate facilitator; and the day-long exchange disappears all too quickly.  It is a marvelously enriching experience, and we all in Group 3 feel fortunate to have found TIGER 21 and each other.
- Real Estate Entrepreneur

There is nothing that can replace the knowledge, relationships, and group mentoring I have received through TIGER 21 and my group.  My interaction with fellow Members and the outside presenters has been invaluable in helping me learn the art of investing and preserve the wealth I created through my business.  As a result of the feedback I received during my portfolio defense, I significantly hedged my long portfolio with gold and investments in more bearish funds - an incredible move that allowed me to weather the economic storm of the last few years.
- Real Estate Entrepreneur

The confidential conversations and sharing of very personal experiences at TIGER 21 have given me a unique perspective on a diversity of wealth management philosophies and approaches.  Through TIGER 21, I have connected with a group of thoughtful and forward-looking investors, who help me stay current on important topics and cutting edge opportunities in the investment landscape.  After four years of Membership, I still appreciate the discipline of preparing and presenting my annual Portfolio Defense and value the no-holds-barred feedback I receive from my group on my personal financial decisions, returns, exposures and plans.
- Entrepreneur and Investment Advisor