The Evolution of SimpleCITI Companies: From Family Office To Institutional Investment & Asset Management

The Mehdizadeh family’s transition from a family office to a full-fledged institutional asset and investment management platform culminated in 2019. This evolution marked the incorporation of SimpleCITI Holdings, which later expanded into SimpleCITI Companies, encompassing various operating and holding companies. While we’ve embraced the benefits of institutional scale and discipline, we’ve also retained elements of our family office roots, such as the ability to act nimbly when opportunities arise. This hybrid model allows us to enjoy the best of both worlds—sophisticated institutional capabilities paired with the agility and entrepreneurial spirit of a family-owned firm.

Shedding the Family Office Model: As a family office, our decision-making processes were more insular, centered on a few individuals, allowing for quick, flexible, and opportunistic decisions. However, this model also came with limitations:

• Limited Capital Base: Capital was primarily sourced from family wealth, restricting the scope and scale of potential investments.
• Concentration Risk: Investments were often concentrated, which made diversification across sectors, geographies, and asset classes more challenging.
• Narrower Network Access: Operating as a family office limited access to institutional-grade deals, co-investment opportunities, and partnerships with larger industry players.
• Personal Bias: Decisions could sometimes be driven by personal or emotional preferences, lacking the formalized rigor of institutional frameworks.