The DI Wire Interview: Triloma’s Larry Goff

Larry Goff already had a lifetime of achievements under his belt before he and a handful of industry veterans founded Triloma two years ago.

During his 26-year tenure at CNL Financial Group, the former IPA chairman was instrumental in establishing their capital markets group and raising billions of equity from the independent broker-dealer space. After decades of success with a large platform of non-traded REITs and BDCs, Goff pursued an opportunity to harness the vast network of relationships he and his crew had fostered over their long careers and start a more focused, boutique-style platform.

“It was a great opportunity and a great career, but you always come to a place in your career when you think about the next step,” Goff said. “I felt like the industry was changing. There were things coming down the pipe – 15-02, DOL, and broker-dealers were changing. I felt like there was an opportunity to try this a little differently, maybe being a part of a smaller platform rather than a large platform with multiple public offerings.”

There was a time when Goff was managing five different non-traded REITs and BDCs on the same platform, and he could sense that many broker-dealers were growing weary of the larger offerings.

“It was getting somewhat difficult for broker-dealers to do the due diligence on these massive multi-billion dollar funds that were raising capital over three to five years and investing over three to five years,” he said.

Goff indicated that Triloma’s current platform was structured with FINRA 15-02 and the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule in mind.

The company currently manages and sponsors a number of private and publicly offered investment programs that focus on private equity, real estate and energy investments.

It serves as the managing broker-dealer for private offerings sponsored by EcoVest, a land management program, and also sponsors a private offering with CNL former vice chairman Bob Bourne that focuses on assisted living and memory care facilities.

“There is a great opportunity today to develop those opportunities and then sell them to the larger healthcare REITs,” Goff said on the medical offering.

The company also sponsors two closed-end funds with Washington D.C.-based energy company EIG Global Energy Partners, which has been active in the global energy space since 1982.

“We are getting a lot of affirmation from broker-dealers, large and small, that say that’s the direction they are going to go now,” said Goff of their ’40 Act funds. We are also watching more and more platforms launch large Reg. D offerings, so we feel affirmed that we are moving in the right direction and really like the platform we designed.”

Listening to clients’ needs, tapping their long-term relationships within the broker-dealer community, and utilizing a proactive investing approach has served Triloma well. In its first year of business as a broker-dealer, Triloma Securities raised $117 million.

“We want a fluid platform to make sure that what we are offering today is what the BD client wants, and what the end user client wants and needs in their portfolio. We are not coming at this with a manufacturing perspective like most firms do,” said Goff.

Triloma also wants to be about more than just raising money, and Goff is adamant about the importance of helping others – even on a global scale. He and another Triloma co-founder, Mike Wood, sit on the board of Beauty for Ashes Uganda, a charity organization started by Goff’s daughter, Brandi, to help women in the East African nation who are living in extreme poverty.

The program currently encompasses 37 villages in the Teso region, where Goff and Wood visited in January. They now have 1,000 Ugandan children enrolled in school, and even launched a micro agriculture program, drilled wells, and built community centers. Goff has seen first-hand the positive changes in the women since embarking on their mission.

“Five years ago when we would go to Uganda, women didn’t want to look you in the eye,” he said. “Today you go, and they are smiling and dancing. They are excited about you being there and excited about what they are doing.”

He added, “In this business you are able to make a lot of money – people in this business do well. If you can be a good steward of those resources that you have been given, and make a difference in the world, then you’ve got a full circle,” he said. “That’s what we are trying to do at Triloma – to encourage all of our people to give back in that way that makes a difference in other people’s lives.”

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