Their prey is finally in sight. The Canadian chapter of the U.S.-based Tiger 21, an exclusive club for high-net worth individuals (HNWIs), has been scoping the Canadian financial landscape for HNWI for some time.
Now, it has zeroed in on a few membership potentials on the run up to its launch in the spring of 2011, says Thane Stenner, managing director for Tiger 21 Canada and founder of Stenner Investment Partners, a private investment office group within RichardsonGMP.
The response so far has been “tremendous” he says. “There’s been over a 100 responses so far, literally in the last eight weeks,” says Stenner. “And the quality of people interested in the organization is extremely high.”
Each of the proposed 56 memberships of the Club – 14 in each city – will be a tightly contested match. “There will likely be four to six times more interested parties than spots,” says Stenner. “I think, quite candidly, we’re going to have enough demand for two to three groups in each city.” For starters, the Club targets to have one group in each of the four Canadian cities.
The Club has so far invited seven HNW Canadians to join the club. All of them have accepted the invitation. Without divulging too many details, Stenner says all seven are male, in the age group of 37 to 71 years, have an average net wroth of C$ 65million and represent industries ranging from mining, construction and IT.
The Club has also recruited three facilitators – one each for Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary – who will be responsible for running monthly member meetings that tap into the group’s collective expertise and intelligence.
The Montreal chair remains to be filled.
The enquiry base for membership has been higher than expected, which means the management can be expected to demonstrate the delicate art of handling egos that enables them to either defer or politely decline potential applicants. Stenner admits the challenge “is not an easy one with this sub-set,” but adds those who are too egocentric will not fit the desired profile of the Club’s members. “Everybody in the room is very successful but what we don’t want is (a situation) where people’s egos commandeer the sessions.”
Suitable applicants who can’t secure a seat in the first group may expect to hear something along the lines of: “Yes, you’re Tiger worthy but there’s a limited number of spaces in certain sectors. You’ll have to wait until the next group forms.” It could take 18 months before the next group is formed.
Stenner makes it abundantly clear that every session at the club is going to be a high quality experience. “It’s not the place where one can brag about their accomplishments in life to the detriment to everybody else.”
The ideal member, he says, is one who’s willing to share and learn, one who doesn’t think they have all the answers and one who has investible assets of at least $10 million and wouldn’t mind forking out the $30,000 annual membership.
(10/26/10)