The Business of Problem Solving
By Daniel Jisa
MBX Group is a diversified family office that builds and helps scale businesses across several sectors, including consumer products, healthcare, clean water, agriculture, media, and financial services. While much of the portfolio consists of direct control equity investments, the firm has also managed a substantial public-markets trading operation for many years.
In 2023, MBX established MBX Clearing, a registered broker-dealer that is a member of the OCC to clear its own trades and execute its proprietary option trading strategy. As a way to allow others to participate in the success of this strategy, MBX Hedge Funds LLC was launched to enable qualified purchasers to participate.
What follows is our perspective, informed by our role as both a LP and GP, on how investor behavior is evolving and the fundamentals once again critical to evaluating and underwriting new opportunities.
A Market Repricing Risk
Since 2022, the market has been adjusting to a world where capital is no longer free. The return of positive real yields has altered how allocators are measuring success.
The key changes we’ve observed:
Opportunity cost is back. A 4% percent Treasury yield now sets a clear benchmark. Every investment must justify itself against a viable alternative.
Complexity is being re-evaluated. Allocators are asking more often: “What exactly are we invested in? Are the incremental risks justified against the risk-free alternative and our benchmark?”
Decision-making is slower, but sharper. The question is no longer “what can outperform cash?” but “what excess risk is worth taking?”
These shifts have made the market more balanced. Investors are responding with a clearer focus on liquidity, structure, and alignment.
Liquidity as Control
Liquidity has returned to the center of portfolio construction. After years of accepting long lockups for higher returns, investors are now asking more often “How quickly can I access my capital when I need to?” As a family office, this has been key in the allocation of capital.
In conversation with other allocators, three themes stand out:
Flexibility is being repriced. Investors are shortening commitment periods and demanding clearer exit options. Liquidity is no longer treated as secondary to returns.
Terms are being scrutinized. Notice periods and redemption mechanics are now front and center in diligence and often negotiated. Allocators want to understand liquidity options before they invest.
Illiquidity must now earn its keep. Given higher short-term yields, investors are asking managers to prove that giving up access to capital is worth it.
Alignment
Alignment has become one of the most repeated terms in finance. We’ve seen how structured details often determine whether “alignment” truly exists.
Across the market, these are the primary concerns:
Incentives often work against outcomes. Many fee models that are built on fixed management charges still reward size over performance. Incentive fees can be disruptive, and lead to volatility in returns or short-term results over consistency. Alignment weakens when the business model rewards growth more than discipline.
Cost transparency remains inconsistent. Many structures still shift costs onto investors via “pass-throughs,” and alignment truly requires managers to separate the operational overhead from performance.
When incentives and costs are structured fairly, behavior tends to follow.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Clear communication is the defining feature of successful capital relationships. It shapes confidence, informs redemption behavior, and often determines the quality of a partnership.
These themes have become more prevalent:
Transparency is now a differentiator. Allocators are asking: “What exactly is driving performance; market beta, carry, or alpha? How frequently are positions marked, and by whom? If liquidity tightens, how do redemptions get prioritized?” Managers who can answer those questions clearly stand out.
Communication cadence matters as much as content. Quarterly letters are no longer sufficient. Allocators expect more; data-driven engagement, such as monthly transparency reports and a call-us-whenever attitude. The most effective managers and operators treat communication as a continuous process, not a scheduled event.
Uncertainty is better managed when it’s acknowledged early. Investors don’t expect perfection, but they value those willing to discuss risk openly. Early dialogue during drawdowns builds more confidence than after-the-fact explanations.
In Conclusion
Capital has a price, liquidity has meaning, and structure and communication determine trust. Investors and managers are operating with a renewed sense of discipline shaped by transparency and accountability.
The emphasis has shifted from chasing incremental yield to capital preservation.
Daniel Jisa
Managing Director
MBX Group
MBX Group is a long-term investor that uses private capital for financial services, media, healthcare, clean water and consumer products. The firm sources and manages investments for the founder of 5-hour ENERGY. Additionally, MBX Group identifies investment opportunities for related companies.
