Portofino club has introduced a new membership option that lets members participate in the increase in value of the membership fee.

According to Portofino President Rance Rogers the new membership option is available for all the membership tiers in both the Signature Collection and the Portofino Collection as well as the recently launched Continental Collection.

This appREciation option has a roughly 10% premium compared to the standard membership fee, so for example the $150,000 45 days Infinity plan in the Signature Collection becomes $165,000 under the appreciation option. Under the standard plan 80% of the initial fee is refunded when a member resigns, but under this new plan a member will share in the increase in value of the initial fee. Rogers also mentioned that the structure allows the member to share some of the tax benefits.

With its 3 collections/clubs and multiple membership tiers in each club, plus this new option, Portofino now has one of the widest offerings of destination club memberships. They are certainly trying to have an offering to appeal to broad spectrum of potential members.

Portofino is also structuring new membership deposits so that they are secured against a specific property in the portfolio. The idea is to give new members extra assurances that their deposits are safe. All members also receive an annual report showing the clubs net assets as further assurance about the strength of the club and the security of member deposits.

Most of the destination clubs are now providing some form of report to members to confirm the clubs assets levels in relation to member deposits. These reports are sent out at least annually and in some cases on a more frequent basis. If you're looking into joining a destination club certainly ask to see the latest report.