Mercúrio Fund II is the institutional-pedigree option among Portugal Golden Visa funds: a closed-end private equity vehicle from Oxy Capital, one of Portugal's largest alternative managers, buying and transforming mature Portuguese companies. The trade-off is stark and honest. Your capital is locked until December 2033 with no early redemption, and two open questions, the subscription window and the fund's registration number, need answers from the manager before you wire anything.
Key takeaways
- Special-situations private equity in mature Portuguese SMEs, run by Oxy Capital, an established manager with 25+ investment professionals rather than a purpose-built visa vehicle
- €100,000 fund minimum; Golden Visa applicants subscribe €500,000 under the visa rules
- Reported economics: 2% entry, 2% annual management, 20% performance fee over a 5% hurdle, all single-source and unconfirmed by the manager
- Fully closed-end: no redemptions before the December 2033 term, roughly matching but slightly outlasting a realistic citizenship timeline
- Two live conflicts: the CMVM registration number may belong to the first Mercúrio fund, and Oxy now markets a Mercúrio 3, so confirm Fund II is still open
What does Mercúrio Fund II actually invest in?
The fund buys into mature Portuguese SMEs and mid-caps, often family businesses facing succession or capital constraints, using flexible debt and equity instruments. Directory data describes the approach as favouring equity-like returns with downside protection: capitalization, growth, expansion and consolidation deals rather than early-stage bets. Sector exposure reportedly spans industrials, logistics, healthcare, energy services, retail and manufacturing.
This is hands-on ownership. Oxy Capital built its name on restructuring and operational turnarounds, and the strategy here reads more like turnaround consulting with a balance sheet than passive private equity. In the predecessor Mercúrio fund, Oxy and its team co-invested 10% of capital alongside outside investors, a meaningful alignment signal, though you should confirm whether Fund II carries the same commitment.
Geographically, more than 60% must sit in Portugal-headquartered companies, which underpins the Golden Visa eligibility flag. Reported allocation is 80% Portugal and 20% international, and excess cash is parked in Oxy's Portugal Liquid Opportunities Fund rather than idling in deposits. Directory data puts fund size at €50 million, though that figure is single-source with no as-of date. Bison Bank is reported as custodian and EY as auditor.
The fund targets returns in the mid-teens gross per year, roughly 13 to 16%, according to directory data. That is not a manager-published figure, no performance history has been disclosed for this 2025-vintage fund, and targets are not predictions. Capital is at risk and past results of predecessor vehicles tell you little about this one.
What do the fees cost you over a Golden Visa hold?
Start with a caveat: every fee figure below comes from a single aggregator source and has not been published by Oxy Capital. Treat the numbers as reported, not confirmed, and verify them against the fund regulation before subscribing.
| Fee | Reported rate | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription (entry) | 2% | Low, single-source |
| Management | 2% per year | Low, single-source |
| Performance | 20% above a 5% IRR hurdle | Low, single-source |
| Redemption | 0% (not applicable before term) | Low |
If those figures hold, the arithmetic on a €500,000 Golden Visa subscription looks like this. Entry costs €10,000 at 2%. Management at 2% runs about €10,000 a year, so roughly €70,000 across a seven-year hold and €80,000 if you sit through the full eight-year term. That is €80,000 to €90,000 all-in before any performance fee, or around 16 to 18% of your subscription.
The 20% carry only bites above a 5% IRR, which is a fairer structure than the no-hurdle performance fees some Golden Visa funds charge. But 2 and 20 is full private equity pricing. The fund needs to deliver on its mid-teens gross target for net returns to justify the stack, and you are paying institutional fees for what should be institutional execution.
How does the lock-up fit the citizenship timeline?
This is where the structure deserves a hard look. Mercúrio Fund II is fully closed-end: a reported 96-month minimum holding period, no redemptions before wind-down, and unit transfers only with manager approval into a thin secondary market. The term runs to December 2033.
Now map that against the naturalization path. Portuguese citizenship requires five years of legal residency, and in practice, between Golden Visa processing queues and citizenship application backlogs, most applicants should plan on roughly six to seven years from investment to passport. Timelines vary by case and nothing here is a promise of approval.
Read together, the fit is tight but coherent. You must hold the qualifying investment while your permits are active, so an enforced lock-up is not purely a defect: it removes any temptation, or ability, to exit early and jeopardize a renewal. An investor subscribing in 2026 would likely reach the citizenship decision window somewhere around 2032 or 2033, just as the fund approaches term.
The risk sits in the tails. If your process runs long, ask your lawyer what a wind-down distribution before citizenship would mean for your file. If the fund extends its term to exit assets in a weak market, a common feature of closed-end funds, your money stays in past 2033 even after your passport arrives. There is no scenario in which this capital is available on demand.
Oxy Capital's own Golden Visa page now features a successor fund, Mercúrio 3, and the two aggregator-reported subscription deadlines for Fund II conflict (May 2027 versus December 2027). Before doing any planning around this fund, get written confirmation from the manager that Fund II is still open to new subscriptions, and at what terms.
What should US citizens know?
The headline signals are positive but soft. Directory data marks the fund as accepting US investors, and the predecessor Mercúrio fund reportedly accepted US citizens, but no explicit manager confirmation is on record and one source's accepts-US-persons field is simply unknown. We would treat US acceptance as likely and unverified: get it in writing from Oxy Capital.
On tax, the fund is a Portuguese FCR, so for US purposes it is almost certainly a PFIC. The good news, recorded at medium confidence, is that QEF reporting is reportedly available. A Qualified Electing Fund election converts the punitive default PFIC treatment, top-rate tax plus interest charges on distributions and gains, into annual inclusion of your share of the fund's income. For an eight-year closed-end hold, that difference is material. Confirm the manager will actually issue annual PFIC statements, and involve a US tax adviser before subscribing rather than after.
Whether the fund can be held through an IRA or SDIRA structure is unknown; the directory has no data either way. FATCA reporting applies regardless: Portuguese custodians report US-owned accounts, and you will have FBAR and Form 8621 obligations on your side.
How does it compare with other Golden Visa funds?
Within our database, Mercúrio Fund II sits squarely in the private equity category, and its terms are typical for that category rather than for the market as a whole. The €100,000 minimum matches the common entry point across Golden Visa funds, while the reported 2% management fee sits at the top of the usual 1.5 to 2% range, before the 20% carry that open-ended bond and equity funds do not charge.
What you are buying for that premium is manager substance. Most post-2023 Golden Visa vehicles were created for the visa market; Oxy Capital's special-situations strategy predates it. The closest comparisons among our pilot funds are Explorer V, a buyout fund from Portugal's largest independent PE house, and the Growth Blue Fund, an EIF-anchored PE fund with a lower €50,000 minimum. All three ask the same basic question: are you willing to trade liquidity entirely for a credible operator and a shot at PE-level returns? Investors who need any liquidity during the residency period should be looking at open-ended funds instead.
What the fund has not published
An honest review lists what the research could not pin down. For Mercúrio Fund II, five gaps matter:
- Subscription status. Oxy's Golden Visa page now features Mercúrio 3, and reported Fund II deadlines conflict (May 2027 versus December 2027). Open or closed is question one.
- The CMVM registration number. The 1851 number reported for Fund II may actually belong to the first Mercúrio fund, which launched in June 2023; a 2025-vintage fund would normally carry a higher number. Verify against the CMVM registry, because the registration underpins Golden Visa eligibility.
- Fee schedule. The 2/20/5 economics are single-source. The fund regulation is the only document that settles them.
- US acceptance. Signals point yes, but no explicit manager confirmation exists.
- Target size, audited AUM and distribution policy. None published; the €50 million figure carries no as-of date.
None of these is disqualifying. All of them are answerable with one diligence conversation, which is exactly how it should be handled.
Next step
If an institutional Portuguese PE manager with a hard eight-year lock-up fits your plan, the next move is a structured diligence pass: confirm the subscription window, the CMVM registration, the fee schedule and US acceptance in writing. Roots can walk you through that checklist and how this fund stacks up against the alternatives in our database, independently and without a sales agenda. This article is information, not investment, tax or immigration advice, and your capital is at risk in any fund on this list.
