At some point in his career, Philanthroinvestors® founder Ivan Anz realized he was just “investing money for money.”
It wasn’t always like that, however. Anz had an entrepreneurial spirit long before he created Philanthroinvestors, which combines traditional venture capital financing with philanthropic principles to achieve social impact. He started his first venture at seven years old, when he leased his go-kart to the children in his neighborhood. Anz followed that by buying candy and selling them at a profit.
“It was nice to get experience being an executive, even at seven years old,” Anz said. “I created my first business and the first thing I did was give a job to someone else. That’s the job of an executive and an entrepreneur.”
That mentality started to slip away in 2009 when Anz entered the speculative investment world. He’d created four businesses and started to use the profits to make investments. It didn’t take long for Anz to feel like he wasn’t an entrepreneur anymore. Suddenly, his focus was on taking money, turning it into more money so he could buy high-priced items like sports cars and mansions.
“The reality was I went from being involved with my team, clients and real life to being a guy meeting once a month with my (companies’) CEOs,” Anz said. “I was the guy behind a computer, buying and selling things. As the numbers went up and down, I felt depressed.”
Even turning $30,000 into $238,000 in a six-month span couldn’t help lift Anz’s spirits. He still felt unfulfilled and that his work lacked purpose. It’s perhaps no surprise that the $238,000 Anz created became $7,000 in three weeks.
“Lacking purpose gives you a lack of engagement,” Anz said. “When you have less engagement, you have less control and you put the responsibility in other people’s hands without taking any. Then you have the possibility to lose it all, and that’s exactly what happened.”
The dramatic financial loss led to a personality change in Anz. He became angrier and realized he wasn’t himself anymore; he was merely a guy who was too focused on money.
“When that happened, I realized I needed to create something good,” Anz said. “Something that would take the entrepreneur and the investor out of the sensation of money for money.”
A Philanthroinvestor® Is Born
Anz’s initial step away from the “money for money” investment model took him toward real estate. He tried to buy lots in Argentina for $20,000, develop them and sell them for $50,000. He wasn’t having much luck selling lots and saw his funds shrinking again, which started to bring his mood back down; he also felt the “money for money” mindset creeping up again. Just as Anz realized he had to do something different, he met a family and things changed for him.
The family lived in the neighborhood where one of Anz’s lots was, and children expressed to their father that they wanted to live there. When the father told Anz he couldn’t afford the place, he suddenly found his calling.
“I said, ‘you know what? This is it, this is what I want to do with my life,’” Anz said. “I want to help people accomplish what they otherwise would never be able to.”
For the first time, Anz had an opportunity to make an investment with a goal of more than just making money. Sure, he would get a return, but it was more important to him that he’d be helping this family. So Anz told the family that they could give him what they could for a down payment, and he’d finance the lot for 10 years while the family paid him $500 a month as they built their home.
“Seeing the entire family light up and the grin on their faces hit my heart,” Anz said. “They gave me my first moment as a Philanthroinvestor®. That was one of the most beautiful moments I had as an entrepreneur.”
After seeing how much joy Anz’s investment brought that family, he decided to bring the Philanthroinvesting® model to the United States. He made his first business trip to the U.S. and met with friends in the real estate industry to figure out how he could do what he did with his private neighborhood in Argentina. From that meeting, Anz’s real estate Philanthroinvesting® company was born using two key components—equity and help. These two qualities also became the name of his company, Equity & Help.
“Individuals in 13 countries can grow capital while they’re helping families in the U.S. own their HappyHome™,” Anz said. “I created the EasyHomes™ and HappyHomes™ programs because a major problem in the U.S. is that 51 percent of Americans don’t have access to a traditional mortgage.”
Anz noted that more than half of Americans not having access to a traditional mortgage could lead to family instability. Children have a tough time maintaining friendships because their families often have to move because their landlord sold the property to someone who doesn’t want to lease it anymore. This leads to a lot of families constantly moving from one neighborhood to the next.
“Another problem I found was that there are between 50,000 and 100,000 foreclosures a month in the U.S. It’s something I needed to learn more about to help improve the situation.”
One tactic Anz learned was the Laws of Betterment—if he improved someone’s life, his would improve, too. Philanthroinvestors® was essentially born from this philosophy—people investing money and time so they can engage emotionally to promote human welfare, all while earning a financial return.
“[Philanthroinvestors®] are people willing to sell all of their Ferraris, airplanes, yachts and all of that, have just what’s really necessary in life and invest the difference to improve someone else’s life, while making a financial return,” Anz said.
Anz views the HappyHomes™ program as a team effort. The company, Philanthroinvestors® and families work together to improve neighborhoods one “happy home” at a time. So while Philanthroinvestors assists families by becoming their private lender, the family is working to improve the property with their own funds and family cooperation, so when everything’s done, it truly feels like their own. Equity & Help® is currently working with Philanthroinvestors® who own more than 400 residential real estate assets and has helped families across 32 states secure a home.
“Families have this feel of ownership—they created their own HappyHome™,” Anz said. “The concept is simply saving neighborhoods as a team.”
Investing Is All about Engagement
For Anz, investing is more than just writing a check and collecting the returns. There’s a certain level of engagement that needs to be involved if an investor wants to get any satisfaction out of the transaction. Part of the reason many people take the “set it and forget it” approach to investments is because they are promised “financial freedom.” Anz however sees financial freedom a lot differently from others.
“If I tell someone, ‘here’s my money, do what you want with it’, I don’t get the knowledge or have any control to make decisions,” he said. “I don’t get to be engaged; I just gave you the money and that’s it. “You’re telling me you’ll give me financial freedom, but there’s a contradiction to that. Freedom is related to knowledge, purpose, and engagement. It’s about the ability to make decisions and have control while living a purpose you enjoy.
“Freedom is not being passive and doing nothing—that’s not freedom or happiness—it’s boredom. If someone tries to sell you financial freedom by saying you’ll be doing nothing, an alarm should sound.”
Anz’s argument is with the traditional financial freedom mindset comes a lack of engagement and purpose and a step into that “money for money” trap again. Plus, investments always come with risk, but truly passive investors don’t have much control over their gains and losses because they handed their financial car keys to another party. There’s not much freedom in having your financial wellbeing tied someone else’s ability to get you a return on investment, according to Anz.
“The first definition of the word wealth was wellbeing, and lacking purpose, knowledge and engagement is not wellbeing at all,” Anz said. “Most people don’t like to talk about the things they have lost. So now, you will blame the guy you gave the [financial responsibility] to, but you’re the one in the bad position. How is that financial freedom?”
Instead, Anz defines financial freedom as having a purpose, as well as being engaged, knowledgeable and in control of what’s going on with your money. Part of the reason a lot of people don’t discuss their investments is because they are not knowledgeable when it comes to what’s going on with their finances.
“The Philanthroinvestor® is someone who actually understands what they’re doing and has control” Anz said. “He’s the CEO and he’s guiding the Equity & Help® team through his Real Estate Philanthroinvestor® Consultant™ with the decisions he’s making to improve his real estate portfolio. The families he supports have achieved their dream of home ownership; he is investing with a purpose. Not only that, he has CLEAR INVESTMENTS™, which include specific reporting every month.”
Under Philanthroinvestors’ model, investors can clearly see each property, who lives there, when they were paid and the return. There are no hard-to-read graphs or unnecessary data thrown at investors that they have to decipher—that’s what Anz and his team call CLEAR RESULTS™
“As a result of that, you can have a CLEAR LEGACY™, you can tell your child, ‘you know what, I’m a Real Estate Philanthroinvestor®, and I have helped five families. They will own their home when they finish paying our family 10 years from now, but by helping them, we’re becoming a Philanthroinvestor® lender for them.’”
The other upside of families working with Philanthroinvestors through Equity & Help® is that they can be patient with borrowers if something traumatic happens—major illness, job loss, natural disaster, etc. Families do not have to be worried about getting evicted if they need a couple of months to catch up on their payments. If they have good intentions, the Philanthroinvestor® will be there to support them.
How the Real Estate Philanthroinvestors® Model Works
When someone opts to work with Equity & Help®, they can become the CEO of their real estate portfolio starting by selecting and purchasing a package of three homes for $135,000 to $140,000 total ($45,000 each). Philanthroinvestors® could see their real estate portfolio increase to $170,000 when their properties sell. Equity & Help® makes this possible because it seeks out close to 5,000 foreclosed properties a week. The company’s internally designed software can narrow down those 5,000 properties to the best 200 that are worth pursuing.
Equity & Help® purchases the properties and places them in individuals’ Land Trusts. Basic repairs and cleanup is done, but the company makes sure to note that this work is a “prehab” effort rather than a rehab. Real estate Philanthroinvestors® then come to Equity & Help® and purchase a minimum of three land trusts with the underlying real estate in it and become the beneficiary. Meanwhile, Equity & Help® becomes the trustee of the property for $15 per month. The company markets the underlying real estate and the Philanthroinvestor® becomes the CEO of their real estate portfolio.
Philanthroinvestors® are purchasing a turnkey business here. As the trustee, Equity & Help® will assist with sales for a minimal fee, and the Philanthroinvestor® becomes officially the private lender. The company will sell the real estate at the investor’s authorized price, including the minimum down payment of $1,000 and a 12 percent interest rate for 20 years.
“If an offer comes to us that’s different than these terms, we’ll call (the Philanthroinvestor®) and they’ll have to make a key decision,” Anz said. “You’re the CEO of your real estate portfolio; once the family moves in then we add an extra $40 a month to manage the relationship with the family and tell them what you want us to. It’s a unique turnkey business.”
From a business standpoint, someone can purchase a home for $40,000 that has an ARV (After Repair Value) of $70,000. The Philanthroinvestor® using assistance can sell it for $50,000 and the family can earn the remaining $20,000 through “sweat equity.”
“They are their own contractors, they’re handymen and ‘do-it-yourselfers,’” Anz said. “They can improve the assets themselves and have the pride that comes with ownership. You’re investing with the purpose of helping families own their HappyHome™ for less than rent. Their monthly payment for these families, including principal interest, taxes and insurance is in the range of $650 a month. Plus, (the Philanthroinvestor) gets to be the CEO of this turnkey business and has us assisting them because they want to be engaged and have true financial freedom.”
Another perk of working with Equity & Help is the minimal time investment. According to Anz, Philanthroinvestors® can have control, gain knowledge, and feel fulfilled in what they are doing and generate not only capital growth but also cashflow by committing just 30 to 60 minutes a month to make the key decisions using their intellectual efforts and energy.
“You can potentially double your net worth in six to seven years while you remain in the driver’s seat and make the key decisions as a Philanthroinvestor®,” Anz said.
There are billions of families worldwide who do not own a place they can call home; they are tenants or even worse—homeless. Anz is launching a book and a course for any entrepreneur anywhere in the world who wants to become a Real Estate Philanthroinvestor® to help families in their areas own their HappyHome™ and improve neighborhoods one home at a time.
Philanthropic Investing Beyond Real Estate
Philanthroinvestors® has expanded the arenas in which it encourages philanthroinvestments™. These additional industries include water, air, animal protection, the arts, food, energy, literacy, wellness and building stronger structures to prevent earthquakes disasters. Like with real estate, through Equity & Help® people can work with Philanthroinvestors, Inc. and invest in these efforts to help others through improving the planet while they grow their capital and get recurring cashflow.
In 2019, Philanthroinvestors® discovered some hard facts: 6,000 kids die every year from water-related diseases and 80 percent of water is released untreated worldwide. The company realized immediately that saving planetary water was going to be the next endeavor for them to explore and support.
“We started looking for a company to support our Water Philanthroinvesting™️ initiative, and officially in 2020 we partnered with and licensed our brand to The Water Company For The New Economy™️, OriginClear®️ which is helping Water Philanthroinvestors®️ finance a new breed of Waterpreneurs™️, all while potentially growing their capital and getting recurring cashflow,” Anz said. “Meanwhile, these Waterpreneurs are creating a six-figure business that can purify a million liters per month or more, using OriginClear®️ technology. This is how we will get many people helping to change the state of water in the world and that is what matters most to our Water Philanthroinvestors!”
“There are one billion illiterate individuals in the world,” Anz added. “All of these problems are the bottom of the iceberg that we are not seeing and not touching with enough energy and is directing us towards the most expensive and problematic industry in the world—the health industry, which has more than 95 percent of the world’s population with health problems. I realized the problem here is we are trying to send someone to Mars, instead of looking at how to properly manage and administer a planet. What if instead we use our minds and resources to conquer this planet and life?”
Questions like those made Anz realize that Philanthroinvestors® was ready to “go to another level.” He thought it was great that the brand was helping families live in their own HappyHome™, but he realized it was born to also help the planet in a much broader way. He brought on Arte Maren, who has more than 50 years of experience as an executive coach for professional organizations, franchises, and private companies and corporations, as CEO of Philanthroinvestors, Inc.
“We decided to expand and said, ‘OK, we’re going to go more into different areas and help the planet,’” Anz said.
Anz and his team see the Philanthroinvestor® identity as the solution to a lot of the planet’s problems that need to be addressed. He believes people who can invest money and time while engaging emotionally to promote human welfare while still earning returns can make a big difference.
“Planet Earth can be re-imagined and reorganized toward a far greater ideal; wherein every family will live in their own HappyHome™, where individuals eat organic and pure food, where animals and humans drink pure water and breathe clean air,” Anz said. “The world is able to acquire the energy it needs without wires or electrical structures and where every functional space is creating and renewing its own energy. It is a world without illiteracy. It is a world of wellness, not disease. A world where artistic talent is recognized and developed. A world in which individuals respect their money as a tool to create an ideal planet and do not throw it away in speculation or gambling, a world where true financial freedom is brought about with knowledge, engagement, fulfillment and high purpose. That’s something we need to conquer before going to Mars.”
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