Q&A with Steve Ham of Altmore Capital

Back in 2017 we recognized the growth opportunity in the legal U.S. cannabis market; we realized how rare it was to come across a brand-new $100 billion+ industry in which the demand for a product already existed. Upon diligence, we learned not only of the lack of capital available in the industry, but also of the inherent complexity involved in structuring and executing an investment in the industry because the fragmented, state-by-state markets. With the industry growing 10-20% per annum, there was and still is a fundamental dislocation in the market. We determined that providing capital to the capital starved industry via senior-secured structures with warrants was the best way to de-risk our investments in this nascent industry. Our investments still realize equity-like returns while protecting our investments with senior security on all assets of our borrowers. With little to no competition in the market, we launched Altmore Capital in 2018 and haven't looked back since.

The cannabis industry continued to grow despite the pandemic related economic downturn. While the industry isn't completely immune to the macroeconomic environment, consumers have proved that the cannabis industry behaves similarly to the alcohol industry – that cannabis does not get cut from discretionary spending. While some consumers may switch to more value-oriented products, they continue to purchase as much if not more product than before. In conjunction with consumer spending patterns, more states are launching medical and adult-use programs every year. In 2023, two more states, Missouri and Maryland, will become adult-use legal, and it's anticipated the at least four others will approve new programs soon. However, limited capital is available to support this growth. Investors who know the industry well can take advantage of the current dislocation. There is finite institutional equity and real estate capital available to operators currently, leaving debt as one of the primary financing solutions. A senior-debt strategy not only reduces risk and protects against inflation via floating interest rates, but also provides attractive equity upside with warrants.

Our leadership comes from institutional backgrounds in private equity, law, accounting/finance and management consulting. We are most proud of the team we purpose-built to brings together a diversity of skillsets and backgrounds to supports an efficient and constantly improving underwriting and investment process. Also, our team provides value-add portfolio management program to help grow our borrowers’ businesses. We provide opportunities to cross-pollinate best practices and operational and/or branding collaborations within the vast Altmore-network we've built over the past six years. For our investors, we are a SEC Registered Investment Advisor. We provide quarterly distribution and reporting. In our quarterly reporting, we tend to be pedagogical to foster a community of partners that support this industry's growth for years to come.