Metaverse: Is there profit beyond the hype? Vitreo launches an investment fund to follow this trend

With a fund launched at the end of last year, the manager wants to ease investments by Brazilians in companies that are building the so-called web 3.0

Tiago Alcantara

23.Jan.2022 12:14 BRT
UPDATED 24.Jan.2022 14:10 BRT

Ler em português

Imagine if you could invest, way back in 2007, in the manufacturers of iPhone hardware and software components. It is worth remembering that at the time Apple‘s cell phone was just a bet that later proved incredibly successful. A Brazilian investment management company believes a similar opportunity is available again. But now the bet is on the metaverse.

This is the niche that Vitreo, acquired by investment bank BTG Pactual in March 2021, wants to explore. The company completed three years in October last year and claims to have more than BRL 13 billion under management. Now, it wants to get ahead with the offer of investments in digital assets linked to the metaverse.

“The motivation is kind of obvious, suddenly all you talk about is the metaverse. We aim to bring the best investment ideas to clients and make it easier for Brazilians to access these revolutionary ideas”, explains Vitreo CIO George Wachsmann.

George Wachsmann, Vitreo’s CEO. Photo: Vitreo/Courtesy

The Brazilian asset management company announced at the end of November a fund in companies and cryptocurrencies related to the metaverse. The fund is available to the general public and has an initial investment value of BRL 1,000. The fund’s structure is made up of BDR (Brazilian Depositary Receipt) shares, with up to 20% of shares abroad and the remainder in BDRs issued in Brazil.

A stake in the (meta)future

For Vitreo, companies like Meta (which owns Facebook), Nvidia, Unity, AMD, Roblox, and others are creating the foundations – or the infrastructure – of a “3.0 version of the internet”. But, as with any investment, Wachsmann is keen to emphasize the uncertain nature of the market. From the launch of the fund, until January 2021, technology companies had readjustments in liquidity expectations and some of the main cryptocurrencies lost up to 40% of their value.

This long-term character is highlighted by Vitreo, which promises transparent and simple communication for its customers.

It’s a fund to make money over the next ten years, not the next ten months. At this beginning, we are discussing the initial bets of companies that will make the infrastructure of the metaverse possible.
GEORGE WACHSMANN, CIO of VITREO

The executive from Vitreo explains that the metaverse-oriented fund allocates about 10% to a cryptocurrency portfolio — with investments related to NFTs (non-fungible token) and play-to-earn games. In this type of game, players are paid with fractions of crypto assets as they remain active.

Despite the proposal by Vitreo and other companies to popularize this type of investment to reach new customers, Wachsmann knows that concepts such as metaverse, cryptocurrencies, and NFT are still not fully understood by a large part of his audience.

“You don’t have to be pompous to talk about investing. We want to demystify, change the way investors see investment. In other words, if my mom doesn’t understand what I’m doing, we’re not doing a good job,” says Vitreo’s CIO.