This paper examines four diaspora communities resident in the United States that were targeted by their homelands as foreign investors during the 1990s. The homelands comprise Armenia, Cuba, Iran, and Palestine. We pose the question: What are the determinants of interest in homeland investment, and can they be generalized across the four communities? The paper explores concepts of ethnic advantage, altruism, homeland orientation, and perceptions of business impediments, as well as investigating the role of demographic factors regarding investment interest.