The LARA Fund Approach
- LARA Fund
- March 5, 2025
LARA Fund seeks to move the needle on how investment is done across Latin America and the Caribbean. LARA was created out of two decades of experience seeing the right and wrong way to invest in the region. The reality is that there is an abundance of frustrated capital across the globe, and a frustrated region that has immense potential to play a pivotal role in global trends such as critical minerals, strategic assets that move China out of the game, and investments that strengthen supply chains. LARA is that tip of the spear for investors seeking inroads into LATAM, who struggle with the same uncertainty about finding the right partners or knowing the right time to enter markets. Today, LATAM sits at a critical moment where it must seize upon the recent attention to identify new and interested international investors who can play an outsized role in finally catapulting the region onto the global stage as a haven for foreign investment.
LARA believes in LATAM and pursues its investment strategy using three critical approaches:
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Investors must consider a new “game plan” for LATAM. LARA is leading here simply because our ethos toward investment in LATAM is simple: We build partnerships through our investments.
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LATAM should pivot from a debt-focused drive in capital markets to a more strategic equity focused approach. There are a lot of myths around equity that preclude significant reliance on it as a financial instrument. LARA wants to create a new opening for equity investment that is not a “winner take all” approach to the region. LARA pursues buy-out and growth strategies while building relationships and working with portfolio companies.
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No mirror-imaging in investing: Pitfalls exist in every market, yet LATAM gets a persistent bad rap because of problems with lack of transparency, questionable regulatory environments, and questions over conflict resolution mechanisms. By the way, those concerns exist in varying scales across the globe. However, the largest pitfall is that investors seeking opportunities in LATAM often “mirror-image” and do not take the time to fully understand their counterparts. LARA has a complex and nuanced understanding of LATAM that is unmatched, one that understands how portfolio companies operate and view expansion, a keen ability to cut through the usual barriers to entry, and an equity approach to investment that does not take away from the corporate ethos or focus of companies in the region.
Certainly, there are many conversations that focus on why LATAM and its markets are a boon for global investors, yet the real question is never truly answered: if there are opportunities then where are the deals? The reality is that investors want to see deals to believe in the potential of returns. However, no one wants to speak truth to power as it pertains to the deal side: the truth? in LATAM prime deals take time, patience, and a lot of knowledge to be able to sniff out the good from the bad, the real from the aspirational. Those deals exist but – patient capital is the name of the game. LARA is patient capital.
LATAM is full of opportunity for investors that do not chase headlines. Look at our top tier market-Panama- which we have been touting as ripe for U.S. investment for almost 20 months. Recent headlines have validated what we have seen all along- Panama is a country with undervalued assets that need strong operators and U.S. investment. Beyond the recent focus on the Panama Canal, there is a lot more to be done in that country that benefits LATAM, the U.S., and smart global investors. Those types of wins are out there for the taking, if you are willing to do the work. It is not just in Panama, they exist in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, and many others.
The time is now to look toward LATAM. A conflict-free part of the world ripe for investment.
The Latin America Real Assets Opportunities (LARA) Fund is the only U.S.-based private equity fund focused on high-return, low-risk energy and infrastructure opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. LARA senior leadership brings over 70 years of combined experience and on-the-ground knowledge of LATAM at the highest levels of public and private sectors, along with an industry-leading network. The LARA Team is backed by Hudson Sustainable Group, a globally recognized sustainability pioneer with decades of experience investing in transitional energy and sustainable infrastructure.
