Vcheck’s client had locked in exclusivity on an investment in partnership with this investor (“the Subject”) and their small firm, based out of a large city in the southwestern U.S. The investor had set up their own firm after a relatively brief (less than 10 years) but largely unheralded stint with a major investment bank. The Subject’s company had made a smattering of small investments in luxury goods retailers, though these had failed to make a splash. In the last five years, both these retailers and the Subject’s own firm had become defunct. Nonetheless, the Subject had set up another similarly named investment firm, presumably backed by their own capital, with which Vcheck’s client was now seeking to collaborate on a fresh round of luxury retail investments.

Prior to kicking off their new partnership, Vcheck’s client sought our Premier public records review coupled with discreet source inquiries focused on the investor’s professional reputation and business track record. Vcheck uncovered that the Subject’s previous firm had ceased to function, and its retailer investees had operated for a few years before shutting down, but it was not clear why. The client was concerned, but not ready to withdraw from the potential deal based on the results of these open-source findings.   

At the client’s instruction, Vcheck was able to draw on a network of sources familiar with the Subject’s past businesses, and provide insight into their general standing among the investor and high-end retail environment in the state in which the Subject’s businesses had been active. Commentary from sources familiar with the Subject from employment at their past firm, or with the companies in which they had previously invested who had worked with them directly, as well as from industry peers and community leaders in the region in which the Subject is active, provided the necessary color and context to better understand the Subject’s professional reputation.