business
Investing In Israel
Sometimes they’ll help create Power Point
presentations for sales pitches to investors.
Other times they’ll advise companies on
expansion, from hiring a U.S. CEO to opening
a U.S. office.
“Israeli companies are brilliant at innova-
tion and amazing technology, but a lot of
times their English and knowledge of the
American corporate landscape and culture
is limited,” Borus explained. “We help bridge
that gap.”
The team is also racking up frequent-flier
miles with regular visits to Israel (about 20
per year). Every 18 months, they host a trip
for investors, providing a firsthand oppor-
tunity to see where their investment dollars
are going. Lazarus plans to open an office in
Israel in the coming months. Five staff mem-
bers speak Hebrew fluently.
“Seeing is believing,” Borus says. “We can’t
do justice to any of these companies until
they demonstrate their technology. For
instance, when our cell phone security com-
pany hacks into our investors’ cell phones and
starts putting their emails and text messages
on the whiteboard, you really get a sense
of the potential problems. Our smart glass
company shows how their technology detects
the sun and automatically tints the window.
That’s really compelling.”
So how did this Colorado-based fund end
up with so many Metro Detroit investors?
Megan Sandler, Schechter’s director of busi-
ness development, first connected with the
Lazarus team while living and working in
New York. When she moved back home to
Michigan, she made the right introductions
and the rest is history.
“What we’ve found is that Michigan seems
to be a hotbed of people who have done well
in their own businesses and are used to tak-
ing chances or investing in something non-
traditional,” Borus says. “So, it’s been a really
good fit for us.”
Zimmerman adds, “A lot of our clients are
Jewish and have a nationalistic feeling about
Israel. They go to Israel and they donate to
Israeli causes, but there hasn’t been a vehicle
to capitalize on what we all intuitively believe,
that Israelis are smart and that extremely
innovative breakthroughs are taking place
there. We are excited to offer this unique and
exclusive opportunity.” •
ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Schechter Private
Capital invests
millions in Lazarus
Fund and its
portfolio of Israeli
companies.
ABOVE: Jason Zimmerman, Schechter
senior managing director; Justin Borus,
Lazarus manager & CIO; Megan
Sandler, Schechter director of business
development; Adam Eisenberg, Lazarus
managing director; Aaron Hodari,
Schechter managing director; and
Marc Schechter, senior managing
director.
To learn more
about Schechter
Private Capital or the
Lazarus Fund, call
(248) 731-9500 or visit
schechterwealth.com.
I
srael’s identity as a hotbed of technologi-
cal innovation has been well publicized
for years, but figuring out which Israeli
companies to invest in has not always been
easy. For one thing, most Israeli companies’
financial statements are in Hebrew. Add to
that the distance and perceived geopolitical
risk, and some investors might turn away.
But, “historically, Israeli markets have
proven extraordinarily resilient to conflict,”
according to Justin Borus, manager and
chief investment officer of the Lazarus Israel
Opportunities Fund based in Denver, Colo.
The hedge fund he created invests in public
and private Israeli companies from cyberse-
curity to water to agriculture, medical devices
to computer-assisted glass technologies
and more. Borus calls it a “one-stop shop”
for investing in Israel, and wealthy Metro
Detroiters are getting involved.
“Israel has the highest concentration of
startups per capita anywhere in the world
outside of Silicon Valley,” Borus says. “Up to
1,000 new startups are launching each year.
It’s hard to find a more compelling invest-
ment environment right now.”
Israel also has one of the world’s best-per-
forming stock markets over the last 15 years;
50-100 Israeli companies are acquired every
year by the likes of Google, Apple, Facebook
and IBM. And Warren Buffett, who has always
been a U.S.-focused investor, recently called
Israel one his favorite places in the world to
invest.
For those same attractive reasons,
Birmingham’s Schechter Private Capital, a
subsidiary of Schechter Wealth, presented
the Lazarus Fund back in December 2016
to dozens of clients with a net worth of $5
million and up. Schechter Senior Managing
Director Jason Zimmerman adds, “We would
never ask someone to invest in something we
haven’t invested in ourselves.”
The company introduced the fund to 40
people locally with the goal of raising $10
million. The goal was accomplished and then
some.
“In fact, we had so much demand for
the fund when people found out after-
ward and asked how they could get in on
it, we arranged for Lazarus to come back,”
Zimmerman explained.
Members of the Lazarus team returned
to Birmingham in late April for one-on-one
meetings with potential and existing Metro
Detroit investors.
HIGH-REWARD
Borus and his partner, Adam Eisenberg of
New York, have a majority of their net worth
invested in the fund. Those who invest with
them are typically looking to diversify their
portfolios and are often seeking to support
Israel in the process. It’s a high-reward oppor-
tunity.
Over five years, Lazarus has realized almost
20 percent compounded net annual returns,
or a net 150 percent return over the course
of its life, from “the best 15 or 20 companies
Israel has to offer,” Borus says.
In addition, Borus and Eisenberg adopt
a hands-on approach, assisting the private
companies with whom they’ve invested.
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July 13 • 2017
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