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Summary and In Depth - How to Use these Sections of the Website
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If you need a quick review of the website or you do not have the access to the restricted sections of this website, the Summaries of the restricted sections are a good start. Many but not all restricted sections have summaries available to the general public.
The In Depth sections are for those who are close to deciding on whether to become a limited partner -- do read them before you make this decision.
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Some Helpful Hints for Navigating this Website
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– If you have lost track of where exactly you are on the website, the name of the chapter you are inside of is highlighted on the navigation bar at the left of the page.
– Your Username and access privileges are displayed at the top edge of the page.
– In the Site Map you can look up all documents and pages you have access to. Just review the column of the site map for your designated access level.
– Certain security measures may prevent you from easily copying some pages of the website; however, you can print them out. Make sure your printer is set to landscape (lateral) page printing; otherwise, the text on the right edge of the page may be cut off.
– The same security measures may disable your access if you have been logged-in for a long period of time without navigating the website. Simply log-in again.
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Terminology
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A few words about the terminology used on this website: You have already noticed the terms “partner”, “limited partner”, “General Partner”, “investment manager”, “hedge fund”, and “partnership”.
While the exact definitions of these words can be found in the legal documents elsewhere on this website, for most purposes it is sufficient to remember that the General Partner (in this case, VCM) manages the partnerships.
The partners in these partnerships are called “limited partners”, or sometimes simply “partners”. Partnerships are also sometimes called “hedge funds”, and limited partners are sometimes called “clients”.
The General Partner of the partnerships is sometimes called the “investment manager” of the partnerships.
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You and VCM's Website
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You may never have dealt with a hedge fund, and the notion of filling out the Qualification Form and verifying your status as an “accredited investor” may strike you as uncomfortable and perhaps even intrusive. We certainly do not wish to make you uncomfortable, or to intrude, but once a money management firm has chosen to use hedge funds as the form of managing clients’ investments, government regulations pretty much determine many of the procedures that you will encounter here.
These procedures call for limited access to much documentation, absolutely restricted access to all data on past performance, and the need to sign relatively voluminous partnership agreements. All General Partners of hedge funds must adhere to these government regulations, and our ways of dealing with prospects reflect that common fact.
Out of necessity, many of you will first go through the process of being a Visitor with no access to the restricted areas, then a Registered Guest, and later, perhaps, an Observer. The website provides you with the ability to proceed with the process of study and decision making at your own pace. Of course, we are available to answer your questions, and you may still call us and request an information package.
We prefer not to print and mail too many brochures and thick agreements. We rely on this website to deliver substantially all information that you may need to study VCM, research its past returns and, finally, to sign the partnership agreements. These partnership agreements are available for you to review online, but at the end they either must be agreed to by email, or must be signed and physically delivered to us.
There is a great deal of information here, and we hope it will allow you to make a comfortable decision.
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Take the Time to Decide
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We want you to make a thoughtful decision about becoming a partner. Our partnerships invest for the long term. “Trial” investments by some limited partners “to see what happens” and withdrawn after a few months are of no interest to us. These short-term investments do not match our investment horizon, and they may damage the returns of the long-term partners whose well-being is our paramount concern.
These “trial” investments, not well-thought-out at either end of the investment process, may hurt our long-term investors because of transaction costs, tax ramifications, and the dissipation of the hedge fund manager’s attention. We always guard against running our business this way.
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