So it begins

At the Alliance Fund, the question we ask ourselves when assessing a new acquisition opportunity is: If this asset offers great profit to the fund in financial terms, will it also offer great value and fill the needs of the end user who actually supplies that profit? If the answer is in the affirmative, then we know the acquisition is at the very least worthy of further investigation.

It also tells us we should explore the opportunity  for scale, as if it works for an individual consumer or end user, there is a reasonable chance it will fulfil the needs of the many.

Then we ask, how many are the many?  This is the philosophy of how I have gone about business building throughout my career. I talk about it a fair bit , but supplying over 2 billion pairs of my surgical gloves during this pandemic all started from this sort of questioning and rationale.

I’m extremely proud of this ethos. It gives the Alliance Fund a compass that  clearly aligns our values with our actions, alongside integrating a social fabric within our expanding and profitable portfolio.

Collectively, the bigger, stronger, and more resilient our portfolio becomes,   the better it is for the world, and more intimately, the collective shareholders we partner with.

With this simple guiding rationale, we have attracted top tier talent and like-minded fellow shareholders – both of which give us an acute advantage when it comes to competing with others in the fund world.

However, applying this world-positive ideology alone would not yield stunning financial returns. It is optimised primarily for fiscal performance above all else – including, at all times, an acute focus on financial security. Fortunately for society, there are organisations that do this today.

The Alliance Fund is not exclusively one of them, but it is operated to add to the goal of benefiting society at the grassroots level. Another example of that in my personal business portfolio, is my business of Velo mopeds. Simply put, we manufacture and sell electric mopeds that make part of the drive to move away from fossil fuels globally. 

We are engaged in that drive to change the world and can clearly see how transportation is evolving in  the modern era. Likewise, the Alliance Fund is involved as a collective of like-minded individuals that can impact the way an acute shortage of housing for society can be addressed.

We are focused on developing products that are meeting society’s needs and demands, while also aiming to outperform the traditional real estate developer sector, and to produce extraordinary returns  for shareholders over the next few decades. After that, my children, and their children, will hopefully pick up the baton and ensure that the fund’s vision and objectives continue for many years to come.

Meanwhile, we ask ourselves a second but critical question: Would an individual become a shareholder in the fund, if their motive was purely one of self­-interest?

We call this The Ego vs Responsibility Test!

At the crossroads of these two opposing characteristics, lies the greatest of opportunities.

It’s where Tesla comes in as a relevant example and/or benchmark. They provide a product that is focused on evolution and helping the world, whilst trying to benefit the consumer and of course its shareholders. They offer a renewable, energy­-based transportation solution that is not only environmentally friendly, but also appeals to the ego and capitalist in us that wants a fast car with a bit of vavavoom.

There is a new generation of consumers and investors – which choose to spend or invest with their conscience but do not want to sacrifice.

We desire garments to wear that are manufactured without the use of human extortion, but cost less.

We need food that is produced humanely and sustainably. Yet we want it to have great flavour.

We require homes that we can power in an efficient way. Yet are comfortable and affordable for our families.

We wish to invest our capital into opportunities that make us feel socially responsible, but help us create wealth.

It is the basis for why Austin and I co-founded the Alliance Fund.

Iain Crawford