for new units, provide their own personal capital, and,
if necessary, additional outside institutional capital to
fully fund the capital stack, step in to the business unit
to establish or maintain profitability and sustain job
creation targets. These are crucial transaction elements
fo r E B - 5 i nve s to r s i n p r e s e r v i n g t h e i r i nve s t m e n t
principal and achieving their permanent residency.
Additionally, direct pooled EB-5 investments tend to
be smaller of ferings , thus increasing the focus on
investors’ needs and requirements in obtaining a green
card and a full return of capital, with the added benefit,
in many cases, of providing greater annual financial
returns to individual investors.
"make sure the business
entity or Job Creating
Entity is an established
business that has a
proven customer base
and track record"
Another key consideration is aligning the franchisor’s
and EB - 5 inves tors’ inte res ts by inse r ting inves tor
protection mechanisms that penalize the franchisor if
the EB-5 investor is not paid his or her annual return, is
not exited from the project in five years or if the jobs are
not created.
In conclusion, direc t pooled EB -5 investments give
the same immigration benefits as a regional center
transaction without the uncer taint y of the program
lapsing. Both regional center and direct EB -5
investments have their pros and cons, however, due to
the unpredictable legislative environment, the direct
Mike Xenick
is the founder and
president of InvestAmerica Capital Advisors.
He is registered with Sequence Financial
Specialists LLC and serves as their EB-5
securities principal. InvestAmerica has been
serving the capital raising and broker-dealer
needs of EB-5 regional centers since 2012.
Xenick has been an investment banker
for 24 years, raising debt/equity capital
and providing M&A advisory services for
companies worldwide. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
accounting from the University of Florida, is a CPA and holds FINRA
Series 7, 79, 24 and 63 securities registrations.
100 EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE
EB-5 investment route provides a variety of benefits
that EB-5 investors should consider. As pooled EB-5
i nve s t m e n t s a r e b e c o m i n g m o r e p r e v a l e n t i n t h e
industr y, today ’s EB -5 investors have to many more
options to choose from than ever before.
Dominick Mondesir was born and
raised in London and joined InvestAmerica
Capital Advisors in February of 2016 as a
spring analyst. In June 2016 he became
an investment banking associate to assist
with EB-5 advisory and support services
in connection with EB-5 private equity and
debt placements, U.S institutional debt and
equity placements, and related investment
banking and compliance advisory services.
In January 2018, Mondesir was promoted to senior associate. He is
a registered representative with Sequence Financial Specialists, LLC,
holding FINRA Series 79, 82 and 63 professional securities licenses.