Why Golden Visa Funds Are Replacing Real Estate in 2025 - Risk, Returns & Regulation

From Property-Driven Golden Visas to Fund-Based Models

The early wave of Golden Visa programs was almost entirely real estate driven. Investors were encouraged to buy:

• individual apartments in fast-growing cities;
• tourism-focused properties marketed as "guaranteed yield";
• units in large developments targeting foreign buyers.

Over time, several issues emerged: inflated prices, concentration risk, opaque fee structures and increasing political pushback.

In parallel, some countries - notably Portugal - began to allow investors to qualify for residency through regulated investment funds. That option has now become the **core route for serious investors**.

Related reading: Portugal Golden Visa Funds 2025 - full comparison of fund strategies.

Risk & Return: Property vs Regulated Funds

Neither property nor funds are “risk-free”. Instead, they expose investors to different types of risk.

For many high-net-worth investors, the key advantage of funds is not just return potential, but the ability to treat Golden Visa exposure as part of a coherent portfolio, not a one-off property decision.

Governance, Compliance & Reputation

As Golden Visa programs matured, regulators and policymakers increased scrutiny. Concerns included:

• money laundering and source-of-funds verification;
• property speculation and housing affordability;
• reputational risk of “passports for sale” headlines.

Fund-based models respond to these concerns by using established financial regulation frameworks. Regulated funds:

• are supervised by securities regulators;
• have audited accounts and depositary banks;
• follow strict KYC/AML processes;
• align with institutional standards in reporting.

For global families who care about reputation, this matters at least as much as expected returns.

Liquidity & Exit - Why “Selling the Apartment” Isn’t Always Simple

Many early Golden Visa investors assumed they could simply “sell the apartment” after a few years at a gain. Reality has been more mixed:

• some markets became oversupplied with small units targeting foreign buyers;
• transaction costs and taxes eroded returns;
• economic cycles and tourism shocks reduced demand at exit time.

Fund-based routes do not offer daily liquidity either - they have their own lock-ups and fund lives - but:

• the exit strategy is designed upfront at fund level;
• portfolios can be sold as a whole, not unit by unit;
• investors can plan around a defined time horizon.

Who Should Consider Funds vs Real Estate?

There is still a place for property in a Golden Visa toolbox - for example, when a family genuinely wants a home in a specific city. But for many HNWI and family offices, funds are a better fit when:

• the goal is mobility and diversification, not relocation tomorrow;
• they have limited time to manage assets in a foreign country;
• they are used to working with asset allocation and portfolios;
• they prefer institutional governance over retail-type property deals.

Complementary article: Golden Visa via private equity - the institutional route preferred by high-net-worth families.

How Funds Fit Inside a Global Portfolio Strategy

Most Golden Visa allocations are a relatively small slice of an investor’s net worth. That makes it even more important that the slice is structured properly.

Fund-based approaches allow investors to:

• treat Golden Visa capital as a satellite allocation in private markets;
• align residency planning with long-term investment themes - industry, healthcare, innovation, tourism;
• integrate reports and risk monitoring with their wealth management platforms.

In other words, the Golden Visa becomes part of a coordinated wealth architecture, not an isolated purchase.

The Explorer Angle - Building Golden Visa Exposure via Funds

A private markets platform with experience in buying, building and exiting companies and projects is naturally aligned with fund-based Golden Visa structures. For investors, this means:

• access to curated portfolios rather than one-off properties;
• a single institutional partner instead of a web of brokers, developers and agents;
• the ability to talk about strategy, sectors and risk, not only locations and square metres.

“For many global families, the Golden Visa is no longer about “where do we buy a flat?” - it is about “which manager do we trust to allocate capital in a regulated framework while we secure mobility for the next generation?”.”

Internal link: Investment migration reaches $30 billion - how tourism, culture and capital now move together.

FAQs - Golden Visa Funds vs Real Estate