Golden Visa via Private Equity - The Institutional Route Preferred by High-Net-Worth Families (2025 Global Guide)

From Property Purchases to Fund-Based Golden Visas

For more than a decade, the typical Golden Visa strategy was simple: buy a property, get a residence permit. That model created:

• inflated real estate markets in several countries;
• high transaction costs and opacity;
• concentrated exposure to a single asset and location.

As the global investment migration market passes $30 billion and regulators push for transparency, the industry is undergoing a structural shift:

From transactional, property-centric deals → to institutional, fund-based capital allocation.

Related reading: Investment migration reaches $30B - how tourism, culture and capital now move together.

Why High-Net-Worth Families Prefer Private Equity Structures

At the top end of the market, HNWI and family offices tend to follow institutional playbooks. They are used to:

• diversified portfolios and risk budgeting;
• professional managers and investment committees;
• clear legal structures and reporting;
• alignment of interests and long-term horizons.

For these investors, a fund-based Golden Visa typically offers:

Portugal’s Fund-Based Golden Visa - The Reference Model

Portugal has emerged as the benchmark jurisdiction for private equity-style Golden Visa structures. The real estate route has been phased out; today the core focus is on:

• a minimum of €500,000 subscribed into regulated investment funds;
• vehicles supervised by the Portuguese regulator, CMVM;
• strategies ranging from private equity to venture, infrastructure, tourism or innovation-linked assets;
• low physical presence, often around 7 days per year on average.

Instead of tying a family to a single property, Portugal ties the Golden Visa to a regulated fund share class.

Internal link: Detailed guide to the Portugal Golden Visa via private equity funds.

Risk, Governance & Exit - Funds vs Real Estate

No Golden Visa route is risk-free - capital is always at risk and investors should expect volatility. But the nature of the risk is different between a:

• Single property purchase in a market the family barely knows; and
• Regulated private equity fund with a diversified portfolio and institutional processes.

Key distinctions HNWI families usually focus on:

Where a Golden Visa Fund Sits in a Global Portfolio

For a typical HNWI or family office, a Golden Visa fund allocation is rarely the core of their wealth. Instead, it usually plays a strategic satellite role:

• Mobility hedge: securing EU or alternative residency options.
• Jurisdictional diversification: shifting part of wealth into a different legal and regulatory environment.
• Private markets exposure: adding a sleeve of private equity or infrastructure to complement public markets.
• Legacy planning: creating a structure that benefits children and future generations.

In this context, the question is less “what is the IRR?” and more “does this allocation advance our family strategyacross risk, liquidity, mobility and governance?”.

The Explorer Angle - Private Equity DNA Meets Golden Visa

Explorer sits at the intersection of private equity, SIFIDE innovation funds and Golden Visa-eligible vehicles. That combination is particularly attractive for families that want the Golden Visa to come from a serious investment decision, not a one-off real estate bet.

For HNWI and family offices, the typical Explorer-style architecture may include:

• A Golden Visa-eligible fund allocation - for residency, Schengen mobility and a path to EU citizenship.
• A SIFIDE or R&D-focused fund allocation - for corporate tax optimisation and innovation exposure (when relevant to the investor).
• A wider private equity and alternatives strategy - for long-term capital growth.

“The most sophisticated families don’t treat Golden Visa as a product on the side. They treat it as a small, carefully constructed position inside a broader private markets strategy.”

Internal links: How SIFIDE fund performance and tax benefits work alongside a Golden Visa strategy and About Explorer Investments and our private equity platform.

FAQs - Golden Visa via Private Equity (2025)