Wealth & Finance March 2017 by AI Global Media

Wealth & Finance International | March 2017

Great Expectations Ahead To celebrate the success of Azizi Bank winning the Finest in Finance - Best Bank in Afghanistan award, Mohammad Salem Omaid, President and CEO writes about this bank’s amazing array of services, plus their emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, as well as women’s emancipation in the workplace. Also In This Issue... Clarity of Thought - Digital Clarity / Fishing for Compliments - SMF / Structured Equity Solutions - DVO Real Estate, LLC / COABE - Coalition of Adult Basic Education / New Era for North American Energy - Tortoise Capital Advisors / Driving Success in Real Estate - CWS Capital Partners / Working for Individuals - Thomson Snell & Passmore

Strong Ties Between Germany and Uruguay Reinforced Weigel Corporate Finance

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Editor’s Comment

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Welcome to the March 2017 edition of Wealth & Finance International magazine, which contains a compelling range of features on banking, property, consulting, wealth management and legal issues plus much more. Virtually all (98%) institutional investors globally have some degree of concern that inflation will reduce the real value of bond yields over the next 12 to 24 months, new research (1) by Managing Partners Group (MPG), the international asset management group, has revealed. In other news, as this years’ ISA season ticks down its final days, people keen to ‘use it or lose it’ to help protect themselves from Brexit fallout (rising inflation and turbulent stock markets), can choose the Abundance ISA which invests in renewable energy projects typically paying 6% to 9% returns, right up to 11:59pm on April 5th. I hope you enjoy reading this edition. Jonathan Miles, Editor

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March 2017 Wealth & Finance International

Contents 4. Great Expectations Ahead 8. News 12. Strong Ties Between Germany and Uruguay Reinforced 16. No Loss of Interest 18. A Superior Establishment 20. Intellectual Property Rights 22. Bring it Home 24. Fishing for Compliments 26. A Unique Investment Approach 28. Competitive advantage through talent - Staying at the Cutting Edge 30. Helping clients to change the world 32. A World of Opportunity 34. Tristar Medical Group: A Leading Light in Medical Services 36. Structured Equity Solutions 38. Striking the Digital Media Market 40. All-Encompassing Legal Support 42. Cost Reduction for Institutional Investors 43. A Seamless Client Experience 44. New Era for North American Energy 46. Driving Success in Real Estate 47. Clarity of Thought 48. Working for Individuals 52. Excellence in Employment Services 56. Winnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Directory

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irst of all, I must say that it is a moment of tremendous pride and honour for me on behalf of Azizi Bank, Afghanistan (the largest bank in the country), to win this prestigious Finest in Finance - Best Bank in Afghanistan award from the team at Wealth & Finance International. These sentiments were expressed sincerely by my colleagues Samrat Dutta and Mohammad Osman Nowrozi when they visited the offices of the esteemed Wealth & Finance International magazine on 29th March to collect their trophy for this prestigious award. They greatly enjoyed their visit to the UK, enjoying the stunning countryside viewed from the train and the City of London equally.

with the central bank - and employ more than 1500 members of staff. The bank remains the largest banking group in Afghanistan today, with more than 145 branches spread across the country. Presently, Azizi Bank is the market leader in the country in terms of absolute business, percentage share and network. Azizi Bank banking products Azizi Bank is currently offering all types of banking products as per the customer needs and requirements. We offer current and savings accounts in four currencies – AFN, US Dollars, Euro & GBP. The following are the other products and services currently being offered by Azizi Bank, apart from the vanilla CASA: • Fixed deposits with attractive rates in AFN and US Dollars; • Salary savings & current accounts for corporates and institutions; • Trade finance products which includes – bank guarantees, letter of credit and term loans; • Business loans; • Treasury products; • Domestic and international remittances; • Master credit and debit cards, ATM cards; • Master pre-paid cards and; • Western Union and SWIFT.

This award means a lot for me Azizi Bank, which I believe is the place to do banking in Afghanistan, with our superior customer service approach, state-of-the-art technology in line with banks from other countries. We are currently in a growing phase, and we have great expectations for the future, indeed we dream of becoming the best quality bank in Afghanistan, providing nothing but world class services. We need such international recognition to build upon our brand and sustain its strong image. I am once again gratified to your esteemed organisation in recognising a bank from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for this prestigious award. I believe that Afghanistan should be viewed in a positive way, and be supported by bigger banks in other countries.

The bank, by the second quarter of 2017, will increase its CASA variants by introducing products targeting children, students, women, senior citizens and high net-worth corporate individuals.

In terms of my own background, I have been associated with the bank since its inception. I started my career as a teller - and I then moved into various positions which included credit and finance - before becoming the President and CEO in August 2016. I have also served as the Azizi Bank’s Deputy CEO for 5 years. I have been widely responsible in developing local human resources and personally founded the capacity building programme at the bank.

The bank also offers the following services: • Internet and mobile banking; • 24-hour call centre facility; • Instant account opening at all branches; • Biometric finger print recognition at branches for enhanced security; • Green channel at branches for fast and efficient cash dealings; • Dedicated priority counters and lounges for VIP customers; • Dedicated relationship manager for VIP and high net worth customers; • ATMs, cash dispensers and video kiosks (the latter is coming soon); • Branch less banking through POS devices and; • Extended branch business hours.

In addition - I have a doctorate in Financial Management from one of the leading Indian University - plus an MBA with specialisation in Banking, Risk Management and Finance. Azizi Bank and its role in the banking sector Azizi Bank is a commercial bank in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan set up in 2006. It has been the vision of Mr. ‘Mirwais Azizi of the distinguished Azizi Hotak Group and their family, to set up an establishment in the country that provides banking services to all sectors of the population. This came at a time when banking services in the country were having challenges of their own, after the time of the Taliban regime.

We are evaluating further digitalisation process to enhance the level of service for customers, by introducing more innovative features and services in line with the best practices at the other international banks, thereby creating an impetus in the individual and national growth of the country.

The bank was initially set up with a capital of $5 million and 25 employees. Today - we have statutory paid up capital of more than $80 million

March 2017

Social responsibility in the community Azizi Bank is extensively into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. In 2016, amongst other activities, we donated the first digital library at the esteemed Kardan University, which was inaugurated by HE - the Ambassador of India to Afghanistan. We have also ensured that we support the underprivileged section of the society, especially the NGOs supporting the orphanages. Apart from other activities, we contributed to the development of the Women Breast Cancer Hospital in Kabul this year on the occasion of the International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day. We are entering into a MOU with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on various projects of the ministry which will also include efforts to improve educational opportunities for women. In addition, we will shortly be organising an event for women entrepreneurs where we will be announcing customised small scale loans for this group at a reduced rate of interest, to support their empowerment in the country. We have also launched a special programme in collaboration with the provincial municipalities to plant trees for a greener Afghanistan. The First Islamic Bank in the Republic of Afghanistan We are converting our 100% subsidiary bank â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bakhtar Bank - into a full-fledged Islamic Bank by the end of first quarter of 2017. This will be the first Islamic Bank in the country. The total bankable population in Afghanistan is around 12% of the 32 million who live here. Being in an Islamic country - this strategic move will further increase the banking population - and will play a pivotal role in our financial inclusion programme. Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emancipation in the workplace More than 16% of our workforce are women, all of whom play a quiet but effective role in their empowerment and emancipation. We have been constantly encouraging women to break the shackles and join the main stream. We have tied up with local agencies, backed by the USAID projects in the recruitment of talented women into the system. The bank has always encouraged women to take up leadership positions. Indeed, we have women leading few of the major branches as branch managers and as deputies at some of the key departments in the head office, in addition to the other roles being managed at the branches and other departments. Human resource capital Our human resource capital consists of more than 1500 employees. The management team here has a mixture of youth and experience. We have a strong in-house state-of-art training department, who provide all kinds of training and refresher programmes, right from the orientation of new employees and basic banking up to international trade and credit programmes. In order to provide international exposure, we also send our work force for training abroad in countries such as the UAE, India and Pakistan. Our board of supervisors and the board of management includes expatriates from the US, India and other countries with an average experience of more than 18 years in the banking, financial and administrative sector across the globe. Their experience, mixed with the local enthusiasm in developing a better brand, have certainly played a significant role in the undoubted success of Azizi Bank.

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Customer satisfaction and feedback We have a systematic approach towards customer satisfaction at our branches. The branch staff are provided with regular training on customer service and delivery TAT. We have introduced a customer level feedback programme on the quality of services we provide. The call centre department makes regular calls to the customers to ascertain the quality of services provided, and updates management on the feedback and action taken on any anomalies.

employment opportunities are created from the government. There are several international NGOs working in the country, who believe in taking the energetic and the talented youth of the country. The mass exodus from the country have reasonably decreased over the last year. Performance of the bank is of course dependent on various eco-political factors. In a country of Afghanistan’s stature with political insecurity, with instability looming in the minds of all there is less capital inflow as donors are uncertain of investment outcomes, as it is difficult to predict them.

Azizi Bank have been awarded the Best Bank - Customer Service and Best Retail Bank, 2016 award by the International Finance magazine, London and South Asian Partnership Summit, Sri Lanka respectively last year.

However, given the present prevailing situations, and the World Bank survey reports, optimism is prevailing in selected infrastructural sectors of the economy, indeed there are prospects of substantial growth. There is much promise for foreign direct investments, and tremendous scope for the developmental of mining, quarrying (with one of the world’s richest resourceful countries), low inflation, improving education rates, more and more integration of the provinces with the capital, more sponsored infrastructure and more economic benefits trickling down owing to economic integration with other countries etc.

We have been receiving quite encouraging responses from our customers. The bank has seen a transformation change on the level of customer service provided over the last 18 months. Amongst all the banks in Afghanistan, Azizi Bank have the highest customer acceptance on Facebook, with a rating of 4.5 on a scale of 5. Azizi Bank is also widely accepted on the other social media pages. Last year, we received an award from an international firm for being the best socially acclaimed bank in Afghanistan.

Real GDP growth is projected to increase to around 3.90% in 2017, from its present position of 3.10% in 2016. It is expected that these economic benefits will trickle down to the entire population. The economy will continue to be stable in the next 2-3 years.

Opportunities and challenges in the future Azizi Bank has completed a tough and challenging, yet quite interesting journey of more than 10 years of existence in the country. We are foreseeing opportunities for the bank rather than any challenges. Success cannot be achieved unless you beat all the challenges. Our team is committed and ready to face all the challenges.

With the economic depression, apart, a substantial quantum of investments has been planned for road infrastructure, the power sector, power transmission lines, power generators, electricity generation, the agriculture, IT, oil and gas sectors and so on are estimated to be in the tune of $2 billion.

We have already incorporated the Vision 2020 plans and have very positive feelings about that, something that reverberates throughout all of our energetic team here. We have engaged one of the top US based international consultancy firm – Alvarez & Marshall, to strategise our vision of sustained growth in a systematic and phased manner.

In closing, I would like to stress that Azizi Bank will be the bank of the future in Afghanistan. As it strengthens its presence, Azizi Bank continues to review compliance, risk management skills, systems and processes and where appropriate - it aims to enhance these further.

On these premises, Azizi Bank has developed its strategic plan, with a keen eye for progress and development. The bank has planned an aggressive growth strategy through reconstitution of the sales team and various marketing strategies, i.e. tie-ups with corporates, various international joint venture initiatives for investment in the country etc.

The commitment applies to Azizi Bank’s relationship with its shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, regulators and the community in which it operates. In addition to our vision 2020 plans, Azizi Bank will expand its presence to neighbouring countries and will open new offices in India, China, UAE, Turkey and other neighbouring CIS countries over the next 1-3 years. Finally, I would like to say that I strongly believe we are the bank of the future.

Accordingly, Azizi Bank has drawn up our financial plan projecting strategies for growth. In its Vision 2020 initiative, the bank will witness a significant growth on all sectors thereby maintaining its position as clear market leaders and catering to the customer requirements and expectations.

Company: Azizi Bank Name: Mohammad Salem Omaid, President and CEO Email: customerservice@azizibank.af Web Address: www.azizibank.com Address: Azizi Bank, Head office Ankara Square, Opp Turkish Embassy Main Road, Kabul, Afghanistan Telephone: +93 (0) 701 80 15 15

Azizi Bank has initiated several measures, aimed at vigorous marketing efforts specifically branding of the bank, co-branding with other organisations, tie ups, technological innovations with an eye to cater and partner all in the developmental cycle. The bank is getting engaged in expanding the business activities into other areas through cross sale of other products, i.e. insurance products, acting as collection agents for bill collections to several service providers. The future of the banking industry Banking services are the economic backbone for any nation. One of the important aspects of unifying people and bringing peace in this nation - is developing the economy - and making people financially secure and independent. Azizi Bank is playing a major role here. The job market has seen a reasonable improvement over the last 3 years. Many

March 2017

Mr. Mohammad Osman Nowrozi, Vice President & Deputy CEO, Azizi Bank receiving the award from Wealth & Finance International

Wealth Wealth & Finance & Finance International International | News

Number of House Sales Agreed Reached Ten Year High • Sales to first-time-buyers dipped in February; • Supply of available housing increased while demand remained the same and; • NAEA Propertymark issues February Housing Report.

Housing White Paper • Only 7% of estate agents expect the remedies outlined in the Government’s Housing White Paper to be enough to ‘fix’ the housing market; • Two fifths (43%) don’t think will make a difference while 39% think the proposals could positively impact the market, but can’t yet tell how.

NAEA Propertymark (National Association of Estate Agents) in late March issuing its February Housing Report (1). Sales agreed and what properties sold for: • The number of sales agreed rose to a 10 year high in February, to 11 per branch; the last time this figure surpassed 10 per branch was in September 2007, indicating buyer confidence is growing. In January estate agents agreed eight sales per branch, up from six in December; • With high sales levels recorded in February, three in every four (74%) of the sales made were below the original asking price suggesting sellers are taking a pragmatic approach to their property transactions.

Mark Hayward, Chief Executive, NAEA Propertymark said: “The number of sales agreed reaching a 10 year high indicates the housing market is moving in the right direction. However, FTBs need to be a priority – the number of sales made to the group dipped in February when it should be growing. As house prices continue to rise, the market’s most vulnerable buyers are being priced out and the only way to address this is to increase housing stock. The Government have pledged yet again to build more homes, but our members aren’t feeling optimistic about the plans. If promises are kept and we see construction sites set up across the UK, we’ll be in a better position in a few years than the stark reality we will be facing if this doesn’t happen.”

Sales to first time buyers (FTBs) • The proportion of sales which were agreed for FTBs dipped to 22% in February, down from 30% in January. Supply of properties • The number of properties available to buy on estate agents’ books increased to 44 in February. In January, there were just 38 available per branch; • This figure has increased by 26% from last February when agents had just 35 properties available per branch.

(1) All figures from the NAEA Propertymark’s February Housing Report NAEA Propertymark is the UK’s leading professional body for estate agency personnel; representing members who practice from over 11,500 offices in all aspects of property services. More information can be found at: www.naea.co.uk

Demand for properties • The number of house buyers registered per member branch remained at 425 for the second month in a row.

March 2017

ILPA Launches Phase II of Private Equity Transparency Initiative Fifteen months after the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) published the first private equity industry standard template for reporting fees, expenses and carried interest to limited partners, the organisation on March 30th announced the second phase of the initiative which will focus on supporting global implementation.

This phase will leverage existing LP and GP experience with the ILPA Reporting Template (to bolster efforts of those implementing the standard in the coming year.

The ILPA Phase II Plan comprises a number of implementation initiatives to support and expand adoption of the Level I and II Reporting Templates. Specifically, throughout the remainder of the year, the ILPA will: • Leverage existing Template users’ experiences to identify best practices for implementation, including raising awareness of the range of solutions from technology providers and fund administrators; • Create ‘Communities of Practice’ to exchange perspectives of reporting professionals using the Template and provide recommendations for further development and support; • Provide new guidance on oversight of data provided in the Template, including recommendations on ensuring compliance with Limited Partner Agreements.

“Following a successful year of Template adoption by the global private equity community, the time is right to expand beyond the impressive base of users and support those LPs who seek enhanced transparency but have yet to implement for a variety of reasons,” said Peter Freire, CEO of the ILPA. “We now have experienced LP and GP adopters, as well as fund administrators and technology partners, all at the ready to assist others so all may enjoy the benefits of using the industry standard.” Since the Template was launched in January 2016, it has been endorsed by more than 60 LPs, including many of the largest public pension plans around the world, who have mandated its usage by GPs as a condition of investment. These plans are now receiving the Template from more than 160 GP adopters who are complying with LP requests.

A more detailed description of the ILPA Transparency Initiative can be found at: https://ilpa.org/best-practices/reporting-template/

The ILPA also announced additional Template endorsers including Ares Management, Bridgepoint, Employees Retirement System of Texas, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Company, Oaktree Capital Management, Permira, Searchlight Capital Partners and Riverstone. Scott Evans, Deputy Comptroller-Asset Management & Chief Investment Officer for New York City explained the benefits that Reporting Template has afforded his team and the industry at large: “We view the ILPA Reporting Template as the best standard for collecting fee and expense data for private market funds and a crucial step towards automation in the industry. Mandating the completion of these templates from all of our private market GPs has improved the transparency of fees and expenses, and allowed the New York City Office of the Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management to better assess all fees and expenses from our GP relationships. Having the information in a standardised format has fostered a higher level of transparency for our staff and Trustees, and saved considerable time and effort.”

Wealth Wealth & Finance & Finance International International | News

Last Minute ISAs: ‘Go Green’ to Protect Your Money from Brexit As this years’ ISA season ticks down its final days, people keen to ‘use it or lose it’ to help protect themselves from Brexit fallout (rising inflation and turbulent stock markets), can choose the Abundance ISA which invests in renewable energy projects typically paying 6% to 9% returns, right up to 11:59pm on April 5th next week.

The Abundance ISA is one of the UK’s first and most popular ‘Innovative Finance ISAs’ (IFISAs), offering a risk/return middle ground between traditional Cash ISAs paying sub-inflation interest, and Stocks & Shares ISAs riding highly volatile and overheated stock markets.

As all of the £10m of projects first offered in the Abundance ISA have been fully subscribed, and before the next projects go live on the site, the Abundance ISA is paying 2% AER on investors’ cash (higher than any Cash ISA and with full FSCS protection) until the end of May, giving people time to choose which of the new projects soon to be launched they would like to invest in.

In addition, the Abundance ISA offers real diversification through its investments being ‘non-correlated’ i.e. – they don’t move with stock markets – precisely what investment experts are telling us we need right now.

If customers do not like any of the projects offered before the end of May, they can simply transfer their money to another ISA provider and incur no charges or penalties.

Bruce Davis, cofounder and Managing Direct of Abundance said, “As Theresa May pushes the Article 50 Brexit button this week, however you voted, your finances are feeling the Brexit effect. The plummeting pound has triggered a big jump in inflation and the stock market seems to be as volatile as Trump’s temper.”

Since launch more than 4 years ago, no projects offered by Abundance have defaulted. All projects have been highly-vetted UK-based renewable energy PLCs, offering investment via regulated, tradeable Debentures offering far better consumer protections than mini bonds and the like.

“Whichever way you voted, it still makes sense to reserve your tax-free ISA allowance now and find some alternative places to invest your money that aim to give long term returns that take a bit of risk to gain a march on the rise in inflation, without having to climb aboard the stock market rollercoaster’.

Abundance investors say they love the ‘real world’ that their money is invested in – projects that help the UK economy, society and the planet. A selection of photographs of these projects can be found here. More on the Abundance ISA can be found at: https://www.abundanceinvestment.com/our-products/innovative-finance-isa/how-abundance-isacompares

March 2017

98% of Institutional Investors Have Concerns over Inflation Eroding Bond Yields Virtually all (98%) institutional investors globally have some degree of concern that inflation will reduce the real value of bond yields over the next 12 to 24 months, new research (1) by Managing Partners Group (MPG), the international asset management group, has revealed.

In order to address these concerns, just over a third (37%) say they will increase their exposure to higher yielding assets such as fixed asset backed securities (ABSs), the research shows. Of those who plan to increase their exposure to fixed income ABSs, 58% say they will do so because of the high level of income they generate; 53% say it is because the vehicles are attractive on a risk-return basis; and 41% cite diversification benefits.

Jeremy Leach, Chief Executive Officer at MPG, commented: “The securities market, and fixed income asset back securities in particular, are set for substantial growth in Europe in the next few years. Fixed income ABSs provide the higher yields needed to tackle inflation while being secured against real underlying assets, which investors find reassuring. Governments are also putting legislation in place to promote them because of the role they play as an alternative source of finance to banks, which is particularly helpful for SMEs.

Latest data shows inflation rising across Europe. The UK’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 2.3% in February versus 1.8% in January, (2) while in the Eurozone, CPI reached 1.8% in January, which was its highest in four years and up from 1.1% in December. (3)

“MPG’s capital markets team has identified particular opportunities for mid-sized issues backed by SMEs and esoteric assets and there is significant interest from businesses in the burgeoning fintech sector looking to fund themselves beyond the traditional bank market.”

Findings from the research (1) were recently announced at The Malta Solution – Ahead of the Curve seminar in London.

“We will also see fund managers increasingly use them as a straightforward means of raising assets under management that are ‘stickier’ and therefore help them manage their investment strategies and liquidity much more easily.”

The research (1) also shows that 37% of institutional investors anticipate that fund managers will increasingly issue fixed income ABSs to raise their own assets under management, versus just 11% who disagree with this. The primary reason for this expectation, given by 47%, was that ABS issuance allows fund managers to raise money under different regulatory regimes.

MPG’s Capital Markets Team will be expanding on the company’s views at The Malta Solution – Ahead of the Curve seminar that took place. The seminar, which is free to attend and organised by BOV Fund Solutions, will address the various topics pertinent to the financial services sector in the light of the evolving challenges in Europe, including Brexit, which has prompted several businesses to consider relocating to other European Union Member States from the UK.

Other reasons given included that it is much easier to raise money through ABSs rather than market funds in a highly competitive market (41%); they give the ability to target different sectors of the investment community (29%); and because monies raised are held for fixed terms, this means that investments can be planned more effectively (29%) and liquidity managed more easily (18%).

For more information on Managing Partners Group see: www.managingpartnersgroup.com

MPG opened an office in Malta in 2015 to launch a securitisation platform for the issuance of asset-backed securities by its asset management and third party buy-side clients. A key factor in this decision was Malta’s Securitisation Act, which established the country as the only European Union jurisdiction outside of Luxembourg with the legislation in place to offer these flexible tools.

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Strong Ties Between Germany and Uruguay Reinforced In Berlin and Hamburg from 8th to 10th February 2017, President Dr. Tabaré Vazquez lead a powerful political delegation of six ministers including finance and economy minister Cr. Danilo Astori and a business delegation of more than 60 top entrepreneurs from Uruguay led by the president of the German Uruguayan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Montevideo, Cr. Gustavo Weigel.

he aim of the delegation was to assess joint business opportunities with German companies and to market business and investment opportunities for foreign investors (FDIs) in Uruguay. German companies are interested to participate in a large infrastructure investment program in Uruguay open to international investors. Uruguay´s total investment plan over the five-year period 2015-2019 exceeds €12 billion with more than one third reserved for the energy sector, in particular for energy transmission, renewable energy and regasification projects. Uruguay already is a global leader in renewable energy penetration: 95% of its electricity demand 2016 was generated from renewable sources, including wind, hydro and bio energy. Modern storage solutions will make it independent from fossil fuels for electricity generation.

such as meat, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, soya beans and rice, and business process outsourcing services. Also, its education and health systems are leading in the world. As a result, more than 2/3 of the young people speak or understand English and more than 1/3 also speak or understand Portuguese besides their native Spanish. The Uruguay delegation continued its trip to Europe for a state visit in Finland, a country which is among the largest foreign investors in Uruguay. The Finish pulp and paper group UPM plans a €4 billion pulp mill investment in Uruguay. Investments like this require additional investments into transport logistics such as railways, ports and highways. Uruguay considers public private partnerships (PPPs) with foreign investors to help build this additional infrastructure. Besides energy investments and investments into the public transport systems, building infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and social housing projects form the third biggest block of the investment plan. Other infrastructure investments include the continued improvement of the telecommunications network, water supply and sewage water treatment systems.

Since last year, Uruguay is also the country with the highest penetration of wind energy in its total energy mix, ahead of the former leaders Germany and China. More than one third of the electricity is already produced from wind turbines. Together with its large resources for hydro power and its perfect conditions for solar photovoltaic systems it will extend electricity exports to its two far larger neighbour countries Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay covers an area half the size of Germany.

President Vazquez and Ing. Tabaré Aguerre, Uruguay´s minister for agriculture opened the Uruguayan pavilion at the Fruit Logistica in Berlin while Prof. Cr. Astori, minister for finance and the economy, held meetings with large German banks and other finance institutions to gain financial support for FDIs and PPPs. Build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) structures could form the basis for such FDIs and internationally experienced firms like Weigel Corporate Finance with its local hub Weigel Haller Corporate Finance in Uruguay´s capital Montevideo have the expertise and global reach to implement such structures and to systematically market such investment opportunities to international investors.

Despite is size and its small population of only 3.3 million people (but more cows - 4 times - and chickens) it is in many aspects a leader in South America, not only in soccer. It is a leader in infrastructure with the most-dense road and highway system, the most modern airport and two of the leading deep sea ports in South America. It currently invests more than €2.3 billion in the maintenance and completion of its national road system and is looking for international investments in this area as well.

The local team of Weigel Haller Corporate Finance in Uruguay comprises of ten CPAs with vast experience in international financing. Its European hub led by Dr. Winfried Weigel contributes hands-on privatization experience in the utilities, telecommunications and infrastructure sector. The former investment banker raised multi-billion dollars for local governments and helped to finance airports, aircrafts, toll roads and toll bridges as well as telecommunications and electricity transmission systems.

But it is also a leader in IT with the highest internet penetration (higher than in Germany) and the largest bandwidth for its users. Uruguay already equips all of its primary scholars with a personal notebook and it provides tablet computers to its elderly people. Software is already one of the strongest export products besides agriculture products,

March 2017

Wealth & Finance International

In many respects, Uruguay is one of the most advanced and sustainable economies in the world. It is the only country in the world that already provides full electronic tracking of the entire production chain in the food industry. That applies not only to the tracking of meat from the live cattle to the final product in the supermarket or the restaurant, but also applies to vegetables, fruit and even wine. It is also a frontrunner in bio-agriculture with high regulatory standards in health and environment protection. Applying this system know how and its leading software expertise Uruguay could also be at the forefront for data management tools in other industries, foremost in the health industry but also in the role-out of internet 4.0.

for public grants and finds strategic partners to realize large investment projects. Last year it advised an Argentinian investor to develop and build a new $100 million diary production in Uruguay that mainly produces for export markets. It also helped recently to establish a dry-eggplant, a ferry transport, a major soybean plantation and assisted European renewable energy investors such as e.g. Siemens or Gestamp or Juwi to intensify that business in South America. Last week the three partners participating in the official program in Germany contributed and participated in various conferences on investments in Latin America or held investors meetings with European and South American companies that are interested in FDIs and PPPs. Due to the financial crisis that hit many South American markets the development of cross-border mergers & acquisitions were subdued over the last two years but most international experts expect a return to sustainable growth rates, currency stability and a reduction of inflation and unemployment in 2017.

Cr. Gustavo Weigel not only leads the German foreign trade chamber as its president, but also the South American operations of Weigel Corporate Finance. Together with Esc. Carlos Haller, he founded Weigel Haller Corporate Finance in 2000. Weigel Corporate Finance is an international corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions advisor with local operations in Europe where it was formed in the year 2000.

President Vazquez and his team reflected very positively on the strong interest they have received during the state visits and the discussions with leaders of the industry including SAP, Siemens and UPM and large financial intermediaries like Commerzbank, KfW and DEG that help foster convergence towards a single market and liberalization of international trade and free capital and personal movement.

Together with his German Swiss partner Dr. Winfried Weigel, a former managing director of UBS in Zurich, Frankfurt and London and a former Vice President of J.P. Morgan in London and New York Weigel Haller advise international corporates on foreign direct investments in South America. The markets covered by Weigel Haller Corporate Finance in South America are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Europe, Weigel Corporate Finance operates in all major markets, but in particular in its various home markets Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Finland. Wherever it operates, Weigel Corporate Finance has a strong local footprint, despite its international ambitions.

Eventually a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU could be on the horizon? But independently from that, South America and Uruguay in particular is a very attractive investment market that gives access to more than 450 million consumers. Uruguay is now an opportunity for European investors.

Based on its track record, Weigel Haller Corporate Finance contributes strong industry expertise and network in many different industries from agriculture, farming, real estate, logistics, services, to energy, IT and telecommunications, often combined with financial controlling and project finance experience.

Company: Weigel Corporate Finance Name: Cr. Gustav Weigel, Dr. Winfried Weigel Email: Gustavo.Weigel@weigelcf.com, Winfried.Weigel@weigelcf.com Web Address: www.weigelcf.com Address: Plaza Independencia 822, CP 11100, Montevideo, Uruguay Industriestrasse 3, CH-6345 Neuheim, Switzerland Telephone: +598 2908 70 85, +41 41 760 8730

Weigel Haller Corporate Finance not only initiates new investment ideas and structures the financing of new investments but it also helps its clients to develop business plans, conduct feasibility studies, applies

March 2017

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Wealth & Finance International

No Loss of Interest Finest in Finance - Best in Wealth Management - South Africa

bsa Bank, part of Barclays Africa Group Limited, is a diversified financial services provider listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The bank supplies South Africa’s first truly integrated, full-service offering that combines the best of local and global expertise. They understand that true wealth extends beyond money, and their client-centric mandate embraces both the scientific elements of investment decision-making and the emotional comfort that accompanies it.

“Over the last few years, we have placed a significant amount of effort on how we service our clients. We have done much work to introduce a more integrated level of service, and we bring specialisation to our clients right at the start of our conversation with them. We determine very early on what kind of conversation our client wants and we get that expertise in the first interaction with them. “Added to this, much of our success has been driven by understanding our clients’ needs, being proactive and entrench the level of trust between Absa and the client. The more they trust us, the more comfortable the client is to discuss their financial needs and this enhances our ability to provide them with the correct investment solutions.”

This approach is supported by their: • Access to world-class technology and product expertise and; • Intimate knowledge of local market dynamics to provide appropriate and competitive solutions within sub-Saharan Africa.

Winston then reveals his specific role at Absa, which is to manage stockbroking and portfolio management, as well as wealth advisory and investment solutions. His role is to set the strategy and execute it, plus managing risk and the broader stakeholder management side of the business internally and externally.

From private banking and investment management to philanthropy and succession planning, Wealth Management, Absa Bank is a trusted provider when it comes to professional advice and co-ordinated solutions. Absa Bank’s investment philosophy is the cornerstone of their Wealth Management offering. Through it, they aim to understand your unique needs in order to provide a personalised investment portfolio. To achieve these financial goals, Absa Bank are committed to creating portfolios comprising diversified investments across multiple asset classes that achieve sustainable growth, while mitigating risk.

Winston then goes on to outline the wider work of Absa bank, explaining that they have many teams, but the focus is really on the front-end client interactions because that is where the firm’s success is driven. Absa Wealth bankers and wealth managers have a very niche selection of HNW clients bring in bespoke solutions Winston goes on to say, before discussing the firm’s challenges in the future.

The organisation’s Wealth Management Division services high net worth individuals and provides cradle to grave solutions, from advice and risk management to wealth creation and preservation through their hightouch model. The business offerings include a range of products and investment instruments to suit Ultra High Net Worth, High Net Worth and Family Office clients, and also includes stockbroking and portfolio management services.

“The macro headwinds are where the greatest challenges for Absa Wealth, specifically the relatively constrained economic growth environment, so the macro environment allows us to further seek bespoke solutions for clients. The evolving regulatory space and the attendant increase in costs will be a headwind for the industry as a whole, so the question for the industry is how to remain relevant for the client, and provide them with the best possible banking services.”

In terms of receiving the Finest in Finance - Best in Wealth Management - South Africa award, the firm’s Managing Principal, Head Wealth Management and Global Investments and Solutions, Winston Monale says that it is always good to be acknowledged by public surveys and relevant journals. “It is an honour for us and is always an indication of the firm’s effort and of how clients are experiencing us, so that is rewarding for us.” Winston is responsible for the overall Absa Wealth Management business incorporating Absa Stock Brokers, ABAM Private Clients and Absa Advisory.

Company: Absa Wealth Name: Winston Monale Email: wealthassist@absa.co.za Web Address: www.absa.co.za/wim Address: 2nd Floor, Sandton Campus South, 15 Alice Lane, Sandton, South Africa 2000 Telephone: +27 (0) 10 245 4378

“Feedback helps us to improve on our product set or service value proposition, and when we are told what our competitors are doing, this really helps from a benchmarking perspective. HNWI require a higher level of service and to discern what their needs are, so from our perspective, we need the agility to service them.”

March 2017

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Wealth & Finance International

A Superior Establishment The Almhof Schneider is one of the few 5 Star Superior hotels in Austria, located in one of the leading ski resorts in the world, the Arlberg region, in the village of Lech and winner of European Business Awards. From the first settlements (Swiss settlers from the Wallis region) right up until the early 20th century, Lech depended on mountain farming. In this fascinating guest article, Gerold Schneider explores the wonder and splendour of the Hotel Almhof Schneider.

y family was one of the few who arrived in Lech during the mid-15th century and is said to have always lived in the same place the hotel is still situated today. In 1929, my great-grand father Wilhelm, together with his son Leopold, transformed parts of the original farmhouse into the first rooms with a very modest gastronomic offering, as the mountain farming industry could not solely support the family.

The hotel offers a wide variety of services and facilities, with two a la carte restaurants (‘Wunderkammer’ and ‘Fine Dining’), a smokers and billiard lounge, a sun terrace (serving lunches) with a BBQ, child care facilities, a teenager’s club, a library/conference room, a screening room / home cinema and its brand new Spa with Austria’s only AESOP store. The wine cellar boasts a collection of about 25,000 bottles of wine – for this we were awarded with 3 stars by the World of Fine Wines Magazine).

Since 1929, the hotel has grown and changed, developing into a 5 Star hotel in the late 1970’s and into the very first 5 Star Superior Hotel in Austria. The hotel has recently been awarded, the ‘Best Mountain Resort 2016’ by the World Luxury Hotel Awards.

The role of the staff My mother, Katia and I are the hosts, and we are all present in the hotel every day of the season for more than 12 hours, indeed we run all the operations ourselves. We believe in “lean management” but in the empowerment of the long term staff who have worked with us.

The hotel is still family owned and run by my wife Katia and me, together with my mother Hannelore who arrived from Salzburg and married my father in 1959. Katia and I followed a different career to begin with, indeed Katia was trained as an architect and I studied philosophy, the theory of arts and the theory of architecture.

We are also responsible for all refurbishment projects (architecture, interior design, technical facilities, project management), as part of our architectural activities (allmeinde architecture).

Being called home after the death of my father in July 1996, and following a severe illness of my brother (who was supposed to take on the business), Katia and I entered the business without giving up the small architectural practice we had started.

Katia and I have also founded ‘allmeinde commongrounds’, a small cultural institution (www.allmeinde.org), showing internationally renowned artists (Antony Gormley, James Turrell, Axel Hütte, Walter Niedemayr). We have organised a number of concerts here, including the likes of Jack Quartet, Rosamunde Quartet, Anja Lechner, Kit Armstrong, Dino Saluzzi, Tord Gustavson and others, as well as small symposiums.

In addition, Katia and I have executed a 20-year refurbishing program, terminating in a master plan for the hotel that will come to an end with an extension of 25 beds, some luxurious suites and a complete renovation of roofs and façades (scheduled for 2019).

‘Allmeinde commongrounds’ has been chosen as one of the best projects of the last 25 years by ‘World of Interiors’ - and as one of the best 13 projects of the last 40 years by ‘Marie Claire.’

We have experienced our biggest refurbishment and extension projects in the history of the hotel over the last two summers, when we are closed. This concerned a complete overhaul of the logistics (garage, delivery, staff entrance etc.), major back stage facilities (laundry, plant rooms, storage etc.) of the hotel. We have added new guest facilities (ski and boot room, teenagers club, lobby, lounge, smokers lounge, extension of the wine cellar) and a completely new spa of 1.100m2.

We believe that staff are the most important asset in the business. Hotels are all about service. We try to personalise service to the highest possible level. Personal engagement that mostly terminates in close relationships or even friendships - some of them spanning over three generations and over decades - is a key asset of the hotel. This includes long-term staff taking on the role of hosts, knowing the preferences of our clients sometimes better than we do without an extensive digital CRM system.

The hotel depends on an extremely loyal and international clientele – indeed over 90% of them are regular visitors - many of whom have been visiting for decades. So, in more than one generation, a unique atmosphere of comfort, trust and friendship has been created.

Allowing staff to keep their own personality - within a framework of behavioural rules that mostly regard rather’ ‘old-fashioned’ forms of politeness is important - but we put a strong emphasis on friendliness and care which adds to a policy that focuses on making the guests feel at home (The Almhof Schneider is a holiday hotel, not a city hotel!).

March 2017

Future prospects There is no particular challenge for 2017. We have invested a great sum into the development of Hotel Almhof Schneider, both back stage and front stage and we now need to achieve good results in the forthcoming years. We are already working on the last phase of the master plan (extension by roughly 1.000m2 of rooms, including some very luxurious suites, in total 25 beds to regain the number of rooms/beds we had before starting the renovations.

Without being nationalist in any way, we try to employ as many Austrian staff as possible. Most Austrians working in tourism still have very positive attitude towards this profession (other than in Switzerland for example, where it is very hard to find locals). Working in tourism still has a high reputation and many are happy to deliver service with a heart winning charm, elegance and understated professionalism. The staff here have been guided through personal daily engagement of the family, not forgetting my mother who has dedicated her life to this business and still is around every day of the season for 57 years!

The last few years have shown enormous investments in the luxury hotel sector by companies and individuals that are not part of the regular competition, but rather investments in real estate. Those companies/individuals do not need to earn their investments. In many Alpine ski resorts, including Lech, these investments also are an attempt to avoid certain buildings regulations (like there are no second residencies allowed).

Feedback from clients The significant investments of the past two years have revealed, even to our long-term clients, that the hotel they have known for many years has been developed according to a well-conceived master plan that Katia and I have been working on for more than ten years. Customers feel that the hotel is moving in a clear direction and that we are taking it to the next generation.

In general, I would say that the luxury hotel sector is suffering from rising costs and stagnating turnovers, making the industry less profitable every year. The leading ski resorts find themselves in a situation where summers are hardly profitable so all investments have to be paid back from winter seasons which means in more or less four months a year.

Having said that - there is always a fine line of keeping the identity of the place - and moving it forward. Both ingredients are important keeping a feeling of tradition, history and personal identification for those who have been coming for a long time but at the same time making it attractive, innovative and fresh for a younger clientele and new customers.

To keep these places alive, the shift towards diversification is the most essential challenge by keeping a younger generation of locals interested in the destination. This shift can only be successful if the public sector collaborates with private stakeholders to develop the destination to a much broader and resilient base of businesses, facilities and housing options.

The major investments we have made signal enormous trust into the future - by that I mean that the intention to keep up the highest possible standard - and the conviction that reinvesting everything back into the business is the best way of keeping clients happy and loyal.

Company: Hotel Almhof Schneider Name: Gerold Schneider Web Address: www.almhof.at Email: gerold.schneider@almhof.at Address: Tannberg 59, 6764 Lech, Austria Telephone: +43 5583 3500

I believe that family owned and family run hotels in the 5 Star Superior category are about to die out. This luxury category usually is part of a chain or collection or a simple real estate investment. In the end, it is this rare mixture that makes us attractive and successful. Many guests tell us that they have travelled extensively but they can reassure us that we are â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;amongst the best hotels in the world.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

1703WF08

Wealth & Finance International

Intellectual Property Rights HarvesPat, Most Outstanding IP Practitioner of the Year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Indonesia, is an exclusive international intellectual property rights services firm, with vast experience in protecting their clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Intellectual Property Rights in Indonesia and abroad as this guest article from them reveals.

s an IP boutique firm, we cover all IP related work. In terms of patent work, our services include administration filing and assisting your patent application up to its grant. Patent applications are diverse by nature, and include PCT applications, conventional applications, priority applications (Paris Convention) and even domestic applications.

By conducting the preliminary search, one will note whether their IP is safe enough for further protection or, it will be anticipated with others. If yes, then you need to reconsider whether it is valuable for further legal proceedings during the application procees, which will take a longer time and of course there is a fee involved. We may also offer clients effective IP strategy preliminary advice for their IP assets before they enter Indonesia to seek IP protection.

For further patent services, we assist clients for: preliminary search, clarity search, patent valuation, assignment recordation, filing an appeal to the Patent Appeal Commission, further maintenance of your granted patents (annuity payments), lawsuit for damages compensation, cancellation lawsuit, or any possible legal enforcement all patent infringements or defense acts against lawsuits from third parties.

Approaching the client We believe that every client is unique, and everyone loves personalised services. So we always note their background cases, and get to know their needs and queries, so that we may provide our best services for them. We aim to respond to a client as fast as possible, especially when a client is requesting something that is time sensitive.

Should your company or any person producing goods and/or services, have any concerns with protecting your brands following your hard work in promoting it and maintaining the image quality of your brand, then look no further than your trustworthy partner HarvesPat who will assist you in protecting your trademark. In terms of trademark works, our services start from administration filing and assisting you during the prosecution of your trademark application, up to its grant.

We can also adapt to clients who are cost sensitive, in a way that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t diminish the professional outcome, hence satisfying our clients. Another way is by quickly resolving any mistakes we make. We believe that not taking responsibility for our mistakes will give us a bad reputation. In addition, going the extra mile for meetings or regular IP conferences will not only result in indebted and satisfied clients, but it will also keep us on good terms with all our clients in terms of future business from them.

For further trademark services, we assist clients for: preliminary/ownership search, trademark valuation, trademark branding, trademark oppositions, trademark rebuttal, assignment recordation, licencing recordation, filing appeal to the Trademark Appeal Commission, further maintenance of your registered trademarks (renewal applications), or legal enforcement for any trademark infringement, and/or cancellation lawsuit.

Closing thoughts Although HarvesPat IP Services is a firm who specialized in IP matters, we do sometimes undertake expanding cases outside IP areas, since our legal team also consist of General Practitioners. Also, for new areas, cases within IP, should there be any special regulations or implementations, our legal team are well experienced with these matters as well as with the new laws and regulations, and how, in the practice it applies.

In terms of industrial design works, our services start at administration filing and keep assisting you during prosecution of your industrial design application up to its grant. For further industrial design services, we assist clients for: preliminary search, industrial design valuation, industrial design oppositions, assignment recordation, licencing recordation, legal enforcement for any industrial design infringement, and/or cancellation lawsuit.

The legal profession requires human resources which prioritise the skills and the expertise of its field. Therefore, it is our goal to provide our clients with the best and most efficient services for protecting their Intellectual Property Rights, after all, we have many great competitors which motivate us to deliver the best services.

In terms of copyright works, our services range from administration and filing to assisting you during the prosecution of your copyright application up to its grant.

Company: HarvesPat IP Services Name: Nadya Prita G. Djajadiningrat (Ms.) Email: info@harvespat.com Web Address: www.harvespat.com

For further copyright services, we assist clients for: preliminary search, copyright valuation, assignment recordation, licensing recordation, drafting copyright contract between artist, artist management, and producers and various contracts alike, legal enforcement for any copyright infringement, and/or cancellation lawsuit, as you may notice, there are vast copyright infringement cases all over the world.

Head Office Address: Jl Limo Raya Ruko Griya Cinere 2, Blok 49 No 34 Depok 16515, Jawa Barat, Indonesia Telephone: +62 21 754 8781

Innovation in the field As an innovative approach to all matters of IP, we have worked for continuous management innovation. We always give advice to innovative companies to maximise their IP assets which will also maximise their business values.

Representative Office Address: Gedung Cik 9, Jl. Cikini Raya No. 9 Menteng, Jakarta Pusat 10330, Indonesia 20

New York - London - Athens - Oslo ...your link with the global investment communityÂŽ

Capital Link is a leading investor relations, financial advisory and communications firm. We offer a full suite of services including strategic and corporate advisory, investor relations, media relations, public and industry relations and the organization of investment conferences and corporate events.

www.capitallink.com

1703WF30

Wealth & Finance International

Bring it Home Will Clark, the brains behind the UK’s number one online estate agent, SellMyHome, talks to us about the flaws within the industry and why they make him even more determined for success following the firm’s success in achieving the Estate Agent of the Year 2017 UK award.

ellMyHome.co.uk is an online estate agent which aims to make selling a property simple.

“As a young company we know that every employee we have has had to buy into our company culture. This award is testament to the fact the entire team here genuinely believe what we are doing is the future and is having a positive impact the way properties are sold and let. Every staff member works long hours to achieve the very best results and although it’s nice to tell them that we know what they’re doing makes a difference, this award is the external proof that it does.”

“We’re not your typical estate agent,” enthuses Will Clark, Managing Director of the company. “For starters, we charge as little as £695 (inclusive of VAT) to sell your home, regardless of the value of the property. As an Online Estate Agent we can offer every service an Estate Agent can at a fraction of the price whilst improving on customer service too.”

However Will is also quick to sing the praises of his dedicated team of hardworking employees, without whom he wouldn’t be the success he is today.

SellMyHome’s main objective is to be the absolute best in customer service, as Will embellishes on the firm and its strategy for success.

“I’d have to say that the team I have built around me has to be my greatest attribute. The trick as a start-up, I have found, is keeping the team around you motivated and happy. I guess they rely on me to maintain a positive outlook, believe in them, the business and myself. I am an ultra-competitive individual who will go to great lengths to find solutions or to succeed. There is no doubt you need an abundance of energy, drive and a will to build a successful business.

“Customer service is key to everything we do as selling or buying a home can be one of the most stressful things you can do in life. We do this with a strict hiring regime as it’s not just being polite and efficient that makes great customer service. We train all our staff and make them take NAEA and ARLA exams so that whatever issues arise for the vendor, any staff member will be able to help. It would be easy as an online agent to direct customers and potential buyers back to the website and many of our competitors do, this only makes the customer’s life harder and is exactly what we are trying to avoid.”

“You don’t work for a start-up unless you really believe in what you’re doing. SellMyHome was founded in 2013 and back then it was one person and a computer. Although a much larger company now, the truth is the ethos is still the same. We’re not going to change the world, but we are going to change Estate Agency for the better. To come in every day knowing you’re doing something that will genuinely change an industry and that we are at the forefront of it is all the motivation we need.”

The Estate Agency industry is considered one the most archaic around and, Will tells us, for good reason. “For agencies to be charging the same % fees as they were before everyone started searching online for their new home shows the industry hasn’t evolved,” he states. “At SellMyHome we have embraced the internet and just simplified the buying and selling process making life easier for the consumer. We are in a modern age of digital convenience. You don’t need to rely on a travel agent anymore to book a place to stay, you can just log onto Airbnb. If you want a taxi, you can do it from the click of a button on your phone, so why shouldn’t selling your home be as easy as that? Rightmove and Zoopla get 100 million and 50 million views a month respectively, and 98% of house hunters start their search on the internet, so why and how can the incumbents continue to justify charging on a percentage fee basis. Does the service really differ between a property worth £500,000 and a property worth £750,000? At 2% there is apparently £5,000 difference!”

Humbly, Will doesn’t consider himself a ‘successful’ CEO just yet (despite his award-winning reputation!) and he tells us some of the challenges he faces as a market leader. “The beauty of what I do is that no day is ever the same. I’m thrown curve balls on a daily if not hourly basis so I guess the biggest challenge I have and will no doubt continue to have is to keep the various plates spinning whilst ensuring that I’m always pushing myself and my team to better our productivity. The greatest challenge is to be a market leader in a sector that is growing as rapidly as ours is so receiving awards such as this really helps emphasise our credibility.”

Will’s dedication to providing customers with excellent service and a simplified buying and selling process is clearly paying off as he and his team were recently awarded the prestigious title of Estate Agent of the Year 2017, an accolade of which he is extremely proud.

So, what does Will foresee with regards to the future, both for the industry and for SellMyHome? “The truth is, from where we started our business to where it is today (in less than five years) we couldn’t even comprehend the changes we have made to evolve with the industry. For example, did you know we did the first ever Virtual Open House on Facebook using our Virtual

“The truth is that we only have happy customers if we sell their home and we wouldn’t be winning awards like this if that wasn’t the case.

March 2017

Walkthrough technology? Not only did the buyer offer without stepping foot inside the flat, we also achieved the best price per square foot ever achieved in that block! Tell that to someone ten years ago and you would have been laughed at! “We do believe that prop-tech will play a key part to the industry over the next five years, whether it be chat bots, virtual reality or virtual augmentation. None of these are close to being good enough yet but they’re getting there and in a few years one of these could become the norm. Regardless of everything else that happens in the next five years, the one thing we have noticed that will not change is the human element when buying and selling a home. Our feedback from vendors and buyers is that they do not like automated services and not having the opportunity to talk to people with property knowledge before making decisions about either selling, buying or viewing a home.

“Does the service really differ between a property worth £500,000 and a property worth £750,000? At 2% there is apparently £5,000 difference!”

“Some people aren’t aware that as well as www.SellMyHome.co.uk we have www.RentMyHome.co.uk and ManageMyHome. There are so many holes in every aspect of estate agency and we will keep finding solutions as quickly as we find inefficiencies.”

Company: SellMyHome Ltd Name: Will Clark Email: will@sellmyhome.co.uk Web Address: www.sellmyhome.co.uk Address: South Park Studios, 88 Peterborough Road, London, SW6 3HH Telephone: +44 (0)203 750 0119

1703WF32

Wealth & Finance International

Fishing for Compliments Five Star CEO of the Year 2017 - Australia award winner Sarin Marine Farm (SMF) supplies high quality Southern Bluefin Tuna to overseas markets. We spoke to the firm’s Founder and CEO, David Sarin to find out more about how they are expanding into various markets and his thoughts on being recognised by this prestigious award.

MF was created to meet the market demand for Southern Bluefin Tuna, recognised as one of the best fish to eat raw in sushi and sashimi. While the early success of the company was driven by the demand for tuna in the Japanese market, the popularity of the Japanese cuisine worldwide now sees SMF expanding into other markets.

The main principle that would have to adhere to is to continue to provide a high-quality product as we have done in Japan. As SMF we have a saying ‘quality because we care’. If we bring this same care factor and quality to other overseas markets, then I believe that we can continue to expand into other markets Staying motivated and positive What keeps me motivated and positive is that I really enjoy the industry that I am in. It’s a unique industry and a first of its kind when it begun in Australia. I love the product that we produce and to me Sashimi or Sushi, Southern Bluefin Tuna is one of the best foods that I have ever tasted. It’s only recently that the rest of the world is beginning to realise and something that Japan has always known is that Southern Bluefin Tuna is health wise and taste wise one of the best foods in the world.

Details of the firm’s operations are listed below: Catch & Tow Southern Bluefin Tuna caught in the Great Australian Bight, then towed slowly back to Port Lincoln. Towing is one of the most crucial parts, ensuring fish arrive in good condition allowing us to improve the quality. Transfer to Farms Upon arrival to our Offshore zoned farm site the SBT are transferred to the holding cages.

Tips on how to be a successful CEO I think one of the biggest challenges I must overcome to be a successful CEO is to be able to adapt to change quickly and not become complacent. The world is changing so quick so as a CEO you need to be to adapt and change quick with the current environment. One of the traps of being successful in the past is becoming complacent and not continuing to try new things to improve for the future. We are constantly trying to change and try new ideas.

SMF’s purpose-built vessel allows them to transfer fish quickly and efficiently to minimize stress and maintain high quality. Feeding the Tuna SMF’s Southern Bluefin Tuna are fed a variety of small pelagic species, producing premium quality SBT, by sourcing only high quality bait and monitoring fish behaviour on a daily basis.

The key attributes that I possess to make me an award-winning CEO are: • The ability to take calculated risks, the tuna industry is a very risky industry so I have always had the ability to take calculated risks. • Credibility, I believe in telling the truth all the time. I like to surround myself with workers and people that are honest. To maintain credibility, you need to be telling the truth 100% of the time. • Caring, I think it’s important to have a caring nature. Caring for the people in your organisation is very important. I believe if you have competence and no caring as a CEO then your message will not go very far. • Flexibility to listen, even though CEO’s are the ultimate decision maker in most situations I believe it’s important as a CEO to have the willingness to listen to all opinions.

Harvest SMF’s Southern Bluefin Tuna are harvested in the winter, when at their optimum quality. The harvest process is designed to minimize the time from when the fish are caught, bled, gilled and gutted then frozen to -60. Five Star CEO of the Year 2017 - Australia It is and honour to be recognised as CEO of the Year 2017 for Australia. It gives me great joy to thing my role as CEO for SMF is be recognised overseas. Australian companies have a lot to offer overseas and I am proud to play a part in this process. This award means a great deal to me and my company. It was my goal when I started SMF back in 1997 to recognised as a leader in the industry, to be recognised worldwide for supplying sashimi markets with high quality Southern Bluefin Tuna. This award acknowledges that we are heading in the right direction. That we are being recognised and acknowledged overseas.

Following industry trends to ensure success The main industry trend we follow is providing Southern Bluefin Tuna for the Japanese market to be used in sushi and sashimi. I think the biggest change in the next five years will be the need to provide high quality Southern Bluefin Tuna to the expanding markets outside of Japan. To provide, educate and position our product outside of Japan will be the biggest change for us in the next five years.

Business strategy - key principles Our early success with SMF was driven by the demand for tuna in the Japanese market, the popularity of Japanese cuisine worldwide now has meant that we must develop a strategy where we can now expand into other markets overseas with the same success that we have had in Japan.

March 2017

The state of the industry now is that it has become too complacent on relying on just exporting to Japan. The industry as a whole has huge potential in developing markets outside of Japan but because of the huge success that we have had in the early days exporting to Japan we have not taken opportunities into other markets.

Company: SMF Sarin Marine Farm Name: David Sarin Email: david@smf.net.au Web Address: tunaportlincoln.com.au Address: 115 Verran Terrace, Port Lincoln, SA 5606 Australia Telephone: + 61 8 8683 4485

Future aspirations for the business Our future aspirations are to produce and provide the best possible tuna product to new and emerging markets such as China, the UK and Europe. I visited London late last year and have had visits from potential Chinese buyers so we are in the early stages of developing new markets outside of Japan.

1703WF20

Wealth & Finance International

A Unique Investment Approach Runestone Capital was founded to freely express their investment views, without the restrictions of a large institution. The firm specialises in quantitative and qualitative strategies based on volatility. An interview with the Rune Madsen reveals more about the firm’s proprietary models and unique investment strategy.

he firm’s back-tested and proprietary active management models are designed for institutional and private investors seeking alpha-driven returns. Due to the strong conviction of Rune Madsen and Rasmus Andersen in proprietary models, they funded the firm with their entire net worth. They manage the Runestone Capital Fund, the soon to be launched Runestone Capital U.S. Fund and Runestone Capital Limited. The strategy is absolute return that aims to generate in excess of 20% net annualised returns over a cycle, regardless of market conditions.

sible for the success of the firm due to their sheer hard work. Peter Clarke the former CEO of Man group is a senior advisor and investor. His excellent insight and experience has been extremely helpful to the firm and the CIO’s are very grateful for his valued contributions. Client feedback The feedback from Runestone Capital’s customers is that the fund is highly unique and that they would like to learn more. There are many misconceptions on how volatility funds work, as it is a newer asset class than others Rune adds. He then adds that further research on volatility as an asset class has emerged and the paper by Eurekahedge is a good source of information about the group as a whole Link.

“The strategy buys or sells US equity index volatility on a one-day forward basis based on statistical probabilities. It has been back tested from January 1st 2006 and been in fund format since May 2015, it has shown uncorrelated returns to the S&P 500, US Treasuries and the VIX (volatility) itself. The fund does not have a pre-set bias of either long or short volatility, which allows it to perform in a wide array of market conditions.

“As time passes investors have started to open their eyes to our fund and related funds as some of us deliver non-correlated returns with a positive performance skew. Our fund has grown from being an interesting idea to a tangible product as it has delivered great results in different market environments.”

“When the fund was launched, we argued the strategy would generate strong results, not dependent on certain market conditions. Given the highly unique strategy investors were intrigued, but due to a smaller size fund and unfamiliarity with the strategy investors took a wait and see approach. Now that the strategy has proven to match our return targets and back tested results, investor perception has improved and asset growth increased.

Opportunities in 2017 and beyond The last word goes to Rune Madsen, who underlines that the opportunities are vast both currently and in the future, as the firm invests in volatility and there are always movements in this area, even during periods of low volatility. “We will not always make positive returns but the opportunity set is always there to a larger or smaller degree. This means we will continue to research both new and legacy models to stay on top of the game. Our models have been the same since 2006, but we have added some new models in more recent times.” He says.

“With the funds strong results in a less than benign environment, the fund won 8 investor awards and was ranked top 5 in 3 global hedge fund categories by Preqin see page 9&12 Link.

A recent example of how the strategy can perform in different market conditions is to look at the first two months of 2016 and 2017. In 2016 the S&P 500 fell 5.1% compared to with a 5.9% gain in 2017. The fund delivered positive 1.9% and 1.4% respectively despite very different equity market conditions. 2 months is a short time period and one should not draw strong conclusions on that basis, but it goes to at least demonstrate the robustness of the strategy being able to produce positive results in very different market conditions.

“Despite the investment success the results are not an outlier in historical perspective, we see past and current success to continue. Due to the non-biased nature of the fund, meaning it can generate positive returns in both higher as well lower volatility, the fund has recorded 80% positive months since inception.” The fund is run by Rune Madsen and Rasmus Andersen. They are both CIO’s and in addition Rune runs the business aspect. The day to day operations are research, implementation of the strategy and business development. Together, they have built the entire firm from scratch including their models and systems, so the founders are solely respon-

“We are launching a US line of the fund, which should be live in the next few months. A seasoned former J.P. Morgan banker in New York will join us to spearhead the launch. We have also teamed up with

March 2017

Watrium in Norway as an anchor investor and partner. This partnership has made the size of the fund large enough for more institutional interest.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;On aggregate, hedge fund performance has been sub-par in recent years, which is unfortunate for the industry as whole and has made capital raising more challenging for most funds, including ourselves. We believe the combination of our investment approach, combined with the fact we operate in a less crowded strategy space, places us in an attractive position as we have consistently generated attractive returns.â&#x20AC;?

Company: Runestone Capital Names: Rune Madsen & Rasmus Andersen Email: info@runestonecap.com Web Address: www.runestonecap.com Address: 239 Kensington High Street, London W8 6SN, UK Telephone: + 44 207 316 3084

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Wealth & Finance International

Competitive advantage through talent - Staying at the Cutting Edge Stonehaven is an executive search firm, founded in 2008. Headquartered in London, they have offices in New York, and a presence in Hong Kong. Director Harry Monro tells us more about Stonehaven’s work, the challenges they face and his own role in their asset and wealth management practice.

roadly speaking - Stonehaven helps clients with senior level and strategically important appointments across a variety of sectors. On the buyside, Stonehaven are engaged consistently by mainstream asset managers, hedge funds, private banks and sovereign wealth funds. These may be senior sales or sales management roles, or related to building investment teams for businesses positioned for transformation or growth.

Stonehaven has an established technology practice, which is extremely topical given the emphasis on staying at the cutting edge in each industry vertical. Each year, Stonehaven works on a variety of ‘C’ level and board mandates Monro explains, before offering his thoughts on successes Stonehaven has had recently and his own important role in the firm. “I’d love to name names, but that would be highly indiscrete! We have completed some challenging mandates on behalf of clients over recent years - these have been for some of the largest global asset managers and well capitalised start-ups, and many companies in between. “In investment related searches, we have recently helped build teams across both the liquid and illiquid credit markets, especially private credit, and been involved in other senior investment and sales leadership roles across other asset classes. What I’d direct you to is our completion rate we have completed all searches we’ve been mandated on as a practice as long as I can remember - with the exception being when corporate activity or unforseen circumstances takes us out of the equation.” “Together with a colleague, I run our asset and wealth management practice. We are in constant dialogue with client firms particularly around their talent strategy, often supporting them as they seek to launch new products, open new offices, upgrade or make new hires. Although other consulting businesses will no doubt be involved in some of these early stages - Stonehaven often provide competitor analysis and compensation information - all central to underpinning their employment proposition in competitive markets. “At the point at which a firm wishes to look externally, we start to be involved more formally and the ‘headhunting’ begins. This means that we are included in every stage of a mandate from the initial scoping of the role and defining the outcomes desired; the initial research and approach calls; to interviewing candidates, right through to the offer and resignation process.” In addition to his own role in the firm, Monro attributes the success of Stonehaven to the quality of their people, both individually and as a team. Although each mandate is led by the senior members of the firm, their team based approach helps each process run smoothly Monro explains. “For example, occasionally during searches for asset management or

March 2017

private banking clients, it may be helpful to draw on the expertise of my colleagues from our banking practice. Every candidate or client interaction is important. In sporting parlance, we might say we are only as good as our last performance, but some firms forget that” he adds.

“As a result, we see plenty of change and growth on the agenda as firms compete to manage those assets, and provide more diverse investment capabilities in a low interest rate environment. I would suggest that businesses don’t often leverage the market intelligence held by executive search firms. We encourage all of our clients and potential clients to get in touch with us as they are beginning to consider expanding into new areas or making strategic hires” Monro concludes.

The feedback Stonehaven receive from their clients is honest and straightforward, but there are certainly challenges that come with each assignment. Having said that, the firm takes pride in its delivery as Monro explains. “We represent clients in the market well, and the proof is in our long history of repeat work with those clients. We also seek to complement our clients to deliver against their stakeholders’ expectations” Monro reveals.

Company: Stonehaven International Name: Harry Monro, Director Email: hmonro@stonehaveninternational.com Address: 11-15 Farm Street, London W1J 5RG Telephone: +44 (0)207 569 1315 Web Address: www.stonehaveninternational.com

The future In terms of the future of the firm and the wider industry they are a part of, Monro remarks that the global political environment in particular caused many clients to put hiring plans on hold during 2016. Many of these plans have now been activated however, which Monro says is encouraging and would naturally like this to continue long into the future. “The main challenge for us is getting clients to think about talent as a strategic initiative rather than as a transactional commodity. Talent is a competitive advantage and the best companies recognise that. We need our client firms to have a desire for organic expansion, suitable budget and economic visibility to sustain that growth. In terms of opportunities, we have recently opened an office in New York and have already seen the benefits of a transatlantic connectivity.”

“A company driven by long-term partnership with clients and not by short-term fees. A business partner with the expertise to shape opinion, the judgement to create perspective and the confidence to challenge thinking at every level.”

“One of the main challenges for our industry is that clients are placing an increasing emphasis on cost reduction, rather than concentrating on value proposition. Our client market suggests the commoditised approach might satisfy the cost objectives, but rarely delivers the value expected. “There is a vast amount of opportunity not just for Stonehaven, but for our whole industry. The technology revolution has forced every business to embrace change and update systems. The aftermath of the financial crisis has created new challenges for guardians of wealth at all levels from small discretionary wealth management firms right through to the largest institutional managers of pension fund and insurance assets.

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Wealth & Finance International

Helping clients to change the world Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has over 90 years’ experience in connecting donors to the charitable causes that matter to them. Our mission is to motivate society to give ever more effectively, helping to transform lives and communities around the world.

eing a charity ourselves gives us a unique understanding of the philanthropy landscape and we’re passionate about working with philanthropists – and their advisors - to achieve greater social impact for charitable causes. We work with 250,000 individual donors, 7,300 corporate donors and 73,000 charities in 100 countries. With a network of nine offices on six continents and a number of international partners, we harness local knowledge and expertise to support giving around the world.

Established over 90 years ago, we are a trusted philanthropy partner to many private client advisers. We can help you differentiate your business, deepen relationships with existing clients and attract new clients. Our recent highlights In 2015/16; • CAF distributed £462 million to good causes around the world; • CAF Charitable Trust clients gave £164 million to their favourite causes, an annual increase of 33%. (Source: CAF Annual Report 2015/16).

Joanna Walker is Head of Private Clients at CAF. Joanna has worked with private clients and major donors for twenty years, in both banking and philanthropy. Her passion is working with clients to help them realise their philanthropic goals; giving as much as they can, whilst having the greatest impact on social good. Joanna’s experience embraces international banking with UBS Wealth Management in London and Dubai, and fundraising for some of the UK’s most exciting charities: Impetus-the Private Equity Foundation, The Brooke and Forum for the Future.

Social investment CAF Venturesome, our social investment platform, was established in 2002 and has since supported more than 520 charities and social enterprises with over £43 million of affordable finance. CAF Venturesome’s social investment is unique in that it is achieved through 100% philanthropic capital. Research & thought leadership We launch thought-provoking and insightful publications based on our knowledge of philanthropy all around the world. This includes Public Good by Private Means, a history of British philanthropy by Rhodri Davies and ‘Giving Thought’, CAF’s in-house think tank.

“I am delighted to have joined CAF. We are doing incredible work to realise the philanthropy of our clients, and every day I hear extraordinary stories of impactful, pioneering projects and donations that are making a real difference to people’s lives.”

Giving Tuesday CAF brought #givingtuesday, a global day of giving, to the UK in 2014. Since then, the day has gone on to become one of Britain’s biggest days for charities, raising millions of pounds for good causes. Last year’s #givingtuesday reached more people in Britain than ever before - an estimated 4.5 million people across the country supported a good cause on the day, making it the most successful #givingtuesday yet. In addition, over 1,600 UK charities and businesses backed the campaign last year – including organisations like Sainsbury’s, O2, The Financial Times, Cancer Research UK, Save the Children and hundreds more. Our Team Our experienced Private Client team of sixteen has over 125 years’ combined experience in philanthropy and client management. We support major donors of all backgrounds at every stage of their philanthropy journey. Our broad client base includes private families, city executives with complex US and UK commitments and some of the UK’s most dynamic entrepreneurs.

March 2017

Our team of dedicated client managers are experts in everything from the technical aspects of philanthropy, through to the empathy needed to have a deep understanding of an individual’s philanthropic goals. Through our dedicated system of charity validation, we have the flexibility and our clients have the confidence, to achieve greater social impact, in partnership with CAF.

We handle the set-up and ongoing administration - and validate the charities that our clients want to support.

Our products and services We are proud to offer expert guidance to help inspire, plan, deliver and maximise the impact of your clients’ philanthropy. We offer a range of flexible, tax-effective giving solutions – including our donor advised fund, the CAF Charitable Trust – to enable our clients to achieve their philanthropic goals, without the time-consuming tasks associated with establishing a foundation.

Please contact our Private Client team to find out how we can help support your clients’ philanthropy: Email: philanthropy@cafonline.org Web Address: www.cafonline.org/partnerwithus Address: Charities Aid Foundation, 10 St. Bride Street, London EC4A 4AD Telephone: 03000 123 028 (lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, excluding bank holidays.)

We act as a philanthropy specialist, supporting our partners with a range of first class philanthropy services, to enhance your relationship with clients.

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Wealth & Finance International

A World of Opportunity Dominik Zehnder, co-founder of Kehrli & Zehnder, offers insights into the industry it serves and its vision for the future.

ehrli & Zehnder is a multi-family office that advises wealthy individuals and families on how to manage, organise, allocate and protect their wealth. The firm oversees all aspects of its clients’ wealth with core strengths in asset management and the selection of correlated and non-correlated alternative investments.

As part of his day-to-day role, Dominik attends to clients, meets managers and writes the firm’s monthly investment comment. Client acquisition is mostly focused on their core target pool (entrepreneurs and wealthy families). This comes only after having established a rapport of trust. “The key challenges these days are high valuations, markets that are distorted by central bank actions and political risks. Clients want capital preservation but also capital appreciation. We will achieve the first goal by diversifying across asset classes, regions and strategies. By picking attractively valued and partially overlooked strategies or geographies we seek to achieve the second objective. Depending on our clients’ profile, we overweight one objective over the other.

Dominik E. Zehnder is co-founder of the firm, serves as Chairman of the Board and co-runs the business. “Restructurings and lay-offs at banks and financial institutions is a great opportunity for us to showcase our firm as an anchor of stability and reliability,” he says. “The partners at Kehrli & Zehnder only have one goal at the core: over-deliver on the service and performance expectations of our clients. We provide high quality, independent, unbiased and professional advice.

“The regulatory environment and administrative requirements have become increasingly cumbersome and continue to absorb resources. By choosing our clients carefully, we are minimizing regulatory issues.”

“The current restructuring wave also paves the way for us to hire qualified and experienced staff who look for a more dependable environment for their clients and for their own professional future.

Building a strong and loyal team is imperative. “Our staff is instrumental to the success of our firm and they ensure the quality and consistency of our service. Staff turnover is very low as we strive to provide a good work/life balance.”

“When clients come to our firm, they are served by one of the partners” (rather than being covered by a junior member of the staff). “Our belief is clients have given us their trust and we have a duty to make sure they have a good experience.” Every partner has a unique skill that benefits all clients of the firm.

Company: Kehrli & Zehnder Global Wealth Management Name: Dominik E. Zehnder Email: dez@kehrlizehnder.com Web Address: www.kehrlizehnder.com Address: Gartenstrasse 33, CH-8002 Zurich, Switzerland Telephone: +41 44 222 1818

Dominik firmly believes that the best way to measure the firm’s success is how long clients stay with them. “I am happy to report that we have clients who have been with us since we were with our previous employers (in the last century!)” he enthuses. “The best endorsement for us is when clients refer their friends or business partners to us” and those who give us a larger portion of their assets over time.” Dominik embellishes a little on the firm’s history. “We started Kehrli & Zehnder in 2003 and grew it one client at a time, step by step,” he begins. “We want to grow organically and in a sustainable manner. Our industry is one built on trust, and trust is not created overnight. Kehrli & Zehnder is a firm for the long-run.” Kehrli & Zehnder is off to a successful start in 2017 with two new mandates. In the first, “the principal sold the family business and asked us to set up a wealth-preserving structure that focuses on non-correlated investments,” states Dominik. “The second is from one of our largest (and longest standing) clients who has given us a second mandate to invest in non-correlated assets.” “Many like our open-minded and international orientation. In addition to our home market in Switzerland, we have representative offices in Hong Kong and Lugano. We travel to Asia, the U.S. and London at least once a year to perform due diligence on existing asset managers and identify new investment opportunities.”

Long Island’s premier academic medical center, Stony Brook Medicine represents Stony Brook University’s entire medical enterprise and integrates Stony Brook’s health-related initiatives: education, research and patient care. It encompasses Stony Brook University Hospital, the five Health Sciences schools — Dental Medicine, Health Technology and Management, Medicine, Nursing and Social Welfare — as well as the major centers and institutes, programs and more than 50 community-based healthcare settings throughout Suffolk County.

www.stonybrookmedicine.edu

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Wealth & Finance International

Tristar Medical Group: A Leading Light in Medical Services Tristar Medical Group is a proactive and progressive management group which specialises in providing high quality, accessible, multidisciplinary, integrated health care to regional and rural communities. We interviewed Founder and CEO Dr Khaled El-Sheikh to find out more.

ristar Medical Group was established to ensure that high quality, accessible and affordable medical services would always be available to regional and rural communities. From those humble beginnings, the Tristar Medical Group has gone on to establish a network of outstanding clinics, as Khaled outlines as he discusses how the group came into being.

In order to make a real difference to market, Khaled and the team at Tristar have had to work hard to turn the clinics they work with around, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of emerging developments in the medical market and are as efficient and effective as possible. Looking ahead, Khaled believes that the firm’s future will be founded in technology, as the digitalisation of the medical industry offers many exciting opportunities to better support patients, particularly those living in rural communities who currently do not have access to the same quality of medical equipment and resources.

“As a qualified doctor from Egypt, I moved to Australia in 1995 when I began the process of requalification in order to practice medicine in this country. During this time, I observed that primary care, particularly in rural areas outside of the main cities, was severely deficient, and this was causing a lot of time, money and pain to patients whose problems often remained unsolved, causing them to have to pay even more to visit a better facility in the nearest city.

“Ultimately, we are living in the digital world now, and doctors are always interested in new ways to improve their treatment and better care for their patients. It took years and years to get medical professionals in rural Australia to embrace these changes, however, and it took a lot of hard work just to get medical records and observations computerised.

“Also, the local community was suffering because of this. As a Doctor who was retraining in order to work in Australia I had to work outside of the metropolitan areas for a number of years as part of my training, and I saw first-hand the problems which people were facing in these areas. While I was working in the rural areas I studied the system and found the way through which would ensure that I was able to better support patients in these rural communities.

“It is my belief that medical services in this country are not using the technology we have now to their best advantage, and as such we have a long way to go before we can see the full impact of the digitalisation of the medical industry, but I believe that we can achieve this through hard work and commitment. We want to reach the stage where we can support a patient, wherever they are, through their treatment, ensuring that we use the doctor’s time and knowledge efficiently to ensure that they can treat patients remotely. This will support those based in rural, isolated areas especially, and we look forward to implementing the exciting developments in communication, diagnostics and records management.”

“Once I qualified I used this knowledge to build the Tristar Medical Group. When I created the main approach, it was easy to grow and succeed through the group’s focus on quality service and helping doctors to support their patients.” This innovative focus on rural communities has led the firm to the success it enjoys today, and the group now comprises of 54 medical centres across the country, as Khaled explains.

Company: Tristar Medical Group Address: Level 1, 87-89 Langtree Avenue, Mildura VIC 3500 Phone: +61 3 5022 5800 Website: www.tristarmedicalgroup.com.au

“Tristar Medical Group comprises of a vast network of clinics based across Australia, which includes specialist centres, a mental health unit and clinics dedicated to pre-employment medicals. Tristar has also pioneered a number of important initiatives including training and support for all medical staff with specialised programs designed specifically for International Medical Graduates. Tristar also offers patients the convenience of being able to visit any one of the Tristar clinics and have their medical records available. “In addition, our clinics are predominately bulk billing, unlike most other clinics. Tristar offers traditional family medicine and gives patients the ability to make an appointment with their choice of a doctor.”

March 2017

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Wealth & Finance International

Structured Equity Solutions DVO Real Estate is a private real estate investment firm focused exclusively on providing structured equity solutions for middle market, multifamily investments across the United States.

e focus on opportunities where value can be created and enhanced through repositioning, renovation or creative recapitalisation strategies. DVO’s equity is uniquely structured to work in lock-step with senior financing and specifically tailored to meet the needs of the transaction and sponsor resulting in the company’s well-earned reputation as a reliable provider of innovative and flexible equity for investment in value-added and core-plus multifamily opportunities.

Mr. Valger received a B.A. from Binghamton University with a Major in Art History and a Minor in Biology and an M.B.A in Real Estate & Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The DVO team The DVO team brings almost 100 years if business experience to the table and help distinguish DVO from its peers. The team, blends deep experience and knowledge base complete the following key company missions: • Serve as a trusted fiduciary for its investors capital; • Identify unique investment opportunities; • Structure bespoke transactions to increase returns and mitigate risks; • Build deep relationships with local partners and; • Provide stellar asset management and excellent reporting for its investors.

Our strategy is highly selective investment in multifamily opportunities that generate equity level returns while taking less than equity level risk. Risk is mitigated primarily via deal structure, deal selection, market knowledge, utilising stringent & supportable underwriting assumptions and employing a comprehensive owner/operator driven due diligence and asset management approach. We are currently planning the first closing of our Gap Equity Fund, LP in March, ultimately seeking to raise $100 - $150 million to continue the company’s growth trajectory. Since its start in 2012, DVO has invested in 21 properties totalling 4,822 units with a total capitalisation of nearly $840 million.

While DVO does not have customers in the conventional sense, we have investors and local partners. We pride on ourselves on building and maintaining strong local partner relationships, which distinguish DVO’s investment products from those of its peers. We work hard to generate appropriate risk-adjusted returns for our investors and do so every day.

Our goal for this portfolio was to generate a 14-16% net IRR for our investors. Thus far, we have sold or entered in to a binding agreement to sell 5 of the 11 LP assets, representing 47% of our equity contributions, including two dispositions in 2016 and one planned February of 2017. These dispositions have generated an average net investor IRR and cash flow multiple of 28.3% and 1.64x respectively.

Future opportunities We are currently planning the first closing of our Gap Equity Fund, LP in March, ultimately seeking to raise $100 - $150 million to continue the company’s growth trajectory. As we set our sights on the initial closing, we are simultaneously working on a robust pipeline of opportunities which is in excess of $50 million.

Mr. Valger founded DVO Real Estate and is responsible for the overall management, operations and investing activities of the firm. Mr. Valger is a seasoned industry veteran with extensive experience in all aspects of real estate investing and finance, including originating, structuring, underwriting and managing real estate and corporate private equity transactions valued at more than $5 billion.

A lack of capital available for middle-market investments results in significant inefficiencies and robust demand for gap equity of $2 - $15 million. Sustainable demand for multifamily rental units and rent growth is expected to continue due to favourable demographic trends, sluggish single-family housing, expansion of labour markets and wage growth and inflation.

Previously, Mr. Valger was a partner with RCG Longview Debt Funds, a New York-based real estate firm offering structured equity and debt products. At RCG, he specialised in multifamily properties and was responsible for originating, structuring and underwriting a variety of real estate mezzanine and preferred equity investments, including more than 25,000 multifamily units.

Our industry is coming off a 5+ year expansion cycle, in terms of rents, demand, values and availability of both debt and equity. As we face the prospect of additional inflation on the horizon, and monetary policy tightening, we must stay vigilant about our underwriting assumptions and the quality of local partners with whom we make investments.

While there, he developed and led the firm’s exclusive Fannie Mae partnership. Prior to RCG Longview, Mr. Valger founded Genesys Holdings, a start-up technology company and was the head of sales & marketing for a multi-national packaged goods marketing firm called NutriPlus. Mr. Valger is a member of the board of directors and a former member of the Executive Committee of the UJA/Federation of New York and a member of the board of directors of the JCRC in New York.

Company: DVO Real Estate, LLC Name: Sarah-Jayne Johnston Email: info@dvorealestate.com Web Address: www.dvorellc.com Address: Seven Penn Plaza, Suite 1400, New York, NY 10001 Telephone: +1 (212) 391 0902 36

• We are educators, administrators, mentors, and guides working to improve educational outcomes for adults and build communities. • Our members create new opportunities for adult students who need a wide variety of educational support. • Some 36 million working age Americans have low literacy skills, and more than 60 million can’t perform simple math. • Across the nation, COABE members work tirelessly to help these underserved adults master the skills they need to compete and build careers—and better futures for themselves, their families, and their communities.

We advocate for more services, more funding, and less waiting. COABE and its members promote student resources and the elimination of waiting lists that discourage and delay success. In every state, we support adult education programs that foster essential skills, family literacy, and workforce development. We are dedicated to helping educators overcome the unique challenges of adult education. We look for innovative and effective ways to reach more adults who struggle with reading, writing, and problem solving. We develop, promote, and share best practices, policies and research for teaching basic education skills. With our members’ support, the adults we help land better jobs, pay more in taxes, and are better able to support their families. • Our impact lasts for generations: our students pass the skills they learn onto their children, and help them find success too. • The need is great and resources are limited. • Adult basic education is the foundation of family, community, and national success.

www.coabe.org

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Wealth & Finance International

Striking the Digital Media Market Digital Air Strike is the leading social media and digital engagement company that helps clients engage with consumers in digital and social environments while generating measurable ROI. We invited CoFounder and CEO Alexi Venneri to share the secrets behind the company’s success with us.

ince its inception in 2010, Digital Air Strike has become a pioneer in digital response, social marketing and online reputation management, deploying industry-specific mobile apps, software and managed service platforms to monitor, improve and manage consumer engagement for thousands of businesses across the United States and Canada and six of the largest automotive manufacturers. Alexi outlines Digital Air Strike’s approach, technology and solutions in more detail, showcasing how far the company has come over the past seven years.

“Digital Air Strike’s employees are the major stakeholders in the success of the company. Everyone who works with us is responsible for the firm’s success and is encouraged to think like an owner. We have monthly lunches with employees just joining the company and those celebrating an anniversary where we go around the room and ask people to share ideas of what we could do better. Innovative and practical ideas come out of these meetings and many are implemented immediately, others are handed off to our product team to develop all in an effort to better serve our clients.

“At Digital Air Strike, our technology helps businesses improve their online review site star ratings by engaging with customers through a post-transaction survey that allows happy customers to post their positive feedback on top review sites while still in the survey process. Our team of social media experts monitors social and review sites for comments and reviews and responds on our clients’ behalf often engaging with in-market consumers and connecting them with one of our clients.

“Our company vision, which employees helped create is: Whatever It Takes, Think Like an Owner, Passion in Action, Clients Win. We live that vision. Our clients and employees alike benefit from the positive, team-focused culture this vision creates.” Recently the firm has seen a great deal of success, and 2016 marked Digital Air Strike’s third year of consistent, profitable growth, including increasing its client base by over 35 %. Looking ahead, Alexi is eager to build upon this and achieve even more over the coming months and years.

“For automotive clients, Digital Air Strike’s patented lead response solution, Response Logix, helps dealerships increase their closing ratio by responding to internet leads with a multi-vehicle price quote and custom microsite in 10 minutes or less 24/7. Thanks to the success of our innovative solutions, we have been invited to speak and have attended a number of prestigious auto industry conventions in England and Italy, allowing us to meet and collaborate with our clients and industry peers from around the world.”

“With evolving platforms and customer demands, here at Digital Air Strike our future revolves around designing effective social media strategies and converting social data into something actionable. Our work is exciting and rewarding and requires careful planning to ensure content is both relevant and valuable. If done correctly, the opportunity is to engage with consumers at all stages of their purchasing journey and ultimately boost a businesses’ bottom line. The social sites are constantly changing, which is exciting for Digital Air Strike. We continue to develop new technology, grow and evolve with those changes.”

Through her role as Co-founder and CEO, Alexi is responsible for leading the execution of the long-term strategy and growth of the company, as well as overseeing the day-to-day operations of the management team including leading, guiding, and directing the work of other executive leaders, evaluating the success of the organization in terms of reaching its goals, remaining aware of the external and internal competitive landscape, while identifying trends and areas of growth. She is keen to emphasise her pride in all of her employees, and explain how they all have a hand in driving innovation for the company, and, fundamentally, in its overall success.

Company: Digital Air Strike Name: Alexi Venneri Email: alexi@digitalairstrike.com Web Address: www.digitalairstrike.com Address: 6991 E. Camelback Road, Ste B111, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Telephone: 1-866-925-8289

March 2017

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Wealth & Finance International

All-Encompassing Legal Support CAKMAKOVA Advocates is a Macedonian advocates’ partnership which provides a full range of legal services to commercial and private, local and international, clients. We interviewed Vesna Gavriloska to discover more about the firm’s many offerings in the legal services market in the Republic of Macedonia.

AKMAKOVA Advocates have been present on the legal services market in the Republic of Macedonia for more than 25 years. The firm covers all areas of the law with particular expertise in corporate and business law, banking and finance, mergers & acquisitions, competition, foreign investments, construction law, energy law, commercial law, telecommunications, labour and employment, litigation and dispute resolution, tax law, intellectual property & transfer of technology.

supervising and instructing the other attorneys at law, indeed it is their legal team that handles these tasks Gavriloska underlines. Of course, these imply the necessity of extensive level of legal knowledge and experience in various fields of law Gavriloska says, before going on to explain the role of staff play in the success of their firm. “Each attorney at law in our team is highly trained and experienced, dedicated to a specific area of the law to give the best legal assistance possible. The team is characterised with high level of excellence, expertise and commitment in vigorously representing and protecting our clients’ interests. One of the partnership’s primary goals is the continuous education and training of the team through local and international seminars, courses and workshops to keep us up-to-date with the dynamic legal environment. The team-work principle is eminent in our firm.

In terms of successes the firm has had lately, as one of the leading law firms in Macedonia, CAKMAKOVA Advocates acted as a local legal counsel to several clients in the most significant transactions in Macedonia in the past 20 years. Vesna Gavriloska explains more about the firm, and said that “by providing legal assistance to our clients, we have contributed to the building and developing of the renewable energy sector, privatisation of the largest companies in the energy, banking and telecommunications sector in Macedonia, as well as acquisition of several banks by renown international banking groups.”

The trust which our clients place in CAKMAKOVA Advocates is always rewarded with hard work and dedication in finding the optimal solution for their legal challenges. We strive to transform the initial trust into a long-lasting relationship, by running a continuous and professional legal risk management for our clients. I must say we are doing this very successfully, proven by the fact that we have numerous long-term clients. Our commitment to the clients’ best interests is always highly appreciated and rewarded by them with new projects, references and praised recommendations.”

“Applying for and obtaining M&A clearances from the Macedonian competition authority is also a significant part of our services portfolio. Lately, we have been local legal counsel in rather complicated, but successful acquisitions. This included the acquisition of the largest telecommunication company in the country and a worldwide acquisition in the automotive business, which included a Macedonian company” she goes on to say.

Plans for the future In 2017, the firm is planning to finalise a number of on-going projects and plan to dedicate their energies to new projects (foreign direct investments) from the automotive and IT industry, which are yet to be announced. “Also, in near future, we expect M&As happening in the banking sector. Our main focus is to help our clients to make the right choice for upgrading and expansion of their current activities” Gavriloska reveals before offering some concluding thoughts and the issues facing the wider industry.

“In the past couple of years, CAKMAKOVA Advocates became a distinguished legal counsel in the area of foreign direct investments in Macedonia, by being a general legal counsel to several investors, especially in the technological-industrial-development zones subventioned by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia. We provide all-encompassing legal support to several corporations from the automotive industry and assist them through the process of realisation of their investment projects in Macedonia” Gavriloska adds.

“Networking, as a form of expanding and growing of the cooperation with our colleagues from all over the globe, is one of our objectives for 2017 and beyond. We consider that the cooperation between piers from different jurisdictions is imminent in order to be able to respond to multinational projects where the practice of law in different countries is essential.

The position of partner and attorney at law raises highest responsibility for the operation of the partnership with the purpose of providing the best legal advices to the clients. Also, it is closely related with direct

March 2017

“In respect to the wider industry, the future of ‘smaller’ markets, such as the Macedonian, is in the networking and cooperation with our colleagues from abroad. In the process of globalisation, where most of the M&As are multinational, cooperation between law firms from different countries is a must. We expect numerous projects to take place in Macedonia, where our services, especially legal risk management, shall be required.” In addition, CAKMAKOVA Advocates is a longterm contributor to the Doing business project of the World Bank. They also contribute and publish reviews in Getting the Deal Through - Merger Control and Vertical Agreements; ICLG International comparative legal guides - Litigation and dispute resolution. “Aside from being a member of IBA, ABA and UIA since our foundation up-to-date, we are also a member of some of the fast-growing legal networks like TAGLaw, Cathay Associates and the International lawyers network - AEA. We are vigorous participants in the activities of several economic chambers in Macedonia, assisting them to articulate and communicate the needs of businesses to the authorities. Our role in creating a modern legal system is also recognised by the state authorities in Macedonia” Gavriloska concludes.

Company: CAKMAKOVA Advocates, Skopje Name: Vesna Gavriloska Email: v.gavriloska@mlca.com.mk Web Address: www.cakmakova.com Address: 8 Udarna brigada 43/3, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia Telephone: +389 2 31 15 205

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Wealth & Finance International

Cost Reduction for Institutional Investors FAROS Consulting is an independent and owner-managed consulting firm for institutional clients in Germany and Austria. Since the launch of the firm in 2003, they have not lost a single client and their work is much valued, reveals the firm’s senior investment consultant Oliver Draeger.

AROS Consulting was founded in 2003 by Mr. Uwe Rieken who still runs the firm today. FAROS provide advice in strategic asset allocation and asset liability management. They also perform asset manager research and selection, and carry out searches for fund administrators (i.e. custodians and/or German KVGs).

“The challenge is finding a useful balance of liquid and illiquid assets in the clients’ strategic asset allocation and then investing funds in due course” he says before turning his thoughts to the wider industry issues. “With nothing to earn on the fixed income side, asset management costs need to be reduced significantly. There is a great deal of scope for cost reduction. High fees for asset manages and custodians with contracts signed years ago, should be renegotiated. Fees for asset managers are more or less transparent. ‘More’ in the US, ‘less’ in continental Europe. Fees for fund administrators like custodians or German KVGs are highly intransparent. There is no official statistic available showing services and fee levels.

In addition, FAROS Consulting also provide qualitative asset monitoring. Together with their affiliate FAROS Fiduciary Management, FAROS are able to provide Fiduciary Management services to institutional investors as well. FAROS Fiduciary is licensed and supervised by BaFin and German Bundesbank. “Recently, we have been mandated for manager searches in Emerging Equities and Emerging Corporates – both asset classes with a special view on ESG criteria. Not many consulting firms are able to combine both tasks, exceptional risk-adjusted returns and sustainable investing in emerging markets” explains the firm’s Oliver Draeger when we asked him to give examples of successes the firm has had lately. His own role in the firm concerns responsibility for custodian searches, sustainable investment and cost saving projects for clients.

“FAROS have conducted more than 60 due diligence projects and is one of the very few consulting firms in Germany with an overview of services and pricings offered by custodians and KVGs for German institutional investors. Our proprietary database forms the ground for more transparency regarding price levels. With that asset, we are certain that FAROS are able to save a more than reasonable amount of money for institutional investors.” “Other types of cost show significant room for savings. Even if asset manager fees are more transparent than administration fees, we see constantly declining fees in the past 15 years. Fees which have been negotiated some time ago could have been reasonable at that time, but not necessarily now.”

The firm’s staff are highly-qualified Draeger asserts, indeed they are characterised by investment professionals, supported by skilled juniors. “All client projects are run by professionals only” he says. “They have either been working as portfolio managers themselves in previous roles, knowing well about pearls and pitfalls and being responsible for clients’ investment success. Or they have a risk management background with lots of regulatory experience which is increasingly important for our regulated clients like pension fund institutions which form a significant part of our client base” Draeger explains.

“Another important point is that there is no correlation between the quality of fund managers and the level of management fees. I would suggest that you re-negotiate fees, and if that is not possible, substitute the fund manager” Draeger concludes.

Looking to the future in 2017 and beyond, in a low interest environment, Draeger stresses it is crucial to find asset strategies which help institutional investors to comply with their needs. He adds that many clients are regulated and must invest in government bonds to a large extent. Developing this point further, Draeger remarks that, “many investors need to think about alternative investments – infrastructure, renewable energy, private equity and/or debt, subordinated bonds.

Company: FAROS Consulting Name: Oliver Draeger Senior Investment Consultant Email: o.draeger@faros-consulting.de Web Address: www.faros-consulting.de Address: Franklinstr. 56 ZIP code / city: 60486 Frankfurt, Germany Telephone: +49 69 9074 4930

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March 2017

A Seamless Client Experience Empirical Wealth Management is an integrated wealth management firm based in Northwest America. They offer a comprehensive wealth management solution to high net worth individuals as Kenneth R. Smith reveals in an interview about the firm’s combined expertise in the areas of investment, retirement, financial planning as well as tax planning and preparation into one seamless client experience.

he firm was founded in 2006, by the end of that year they had about 8 employees and were helping client in managing around $170 million in assets. A little more than 10 years have gone by, a period that included one of the worst market declines in history and they are currently managing around $1.2 billion in assets with 24 employees. Every day, they help clients achieve their financial objectives, so in the view of Kenneth R. Smith the firm has had 10 years of resounding success, a point he goes on to elaborate.

very satisfying to receive that type of feedback, we take our role in their lives very seriously” Smith adds. Looking to the future, there are certainly many opportunities and challenges on the horizon as Smith reveals. “Technology and the dissemination of market information has never been greater. It is challenging for the average investor to determine what is relevant, meaningful information and what is noise. There is a lot of attention by the financial media and certain market players about low cost automated solutions. While great access to information and lower costs are not negative things in themselves, the reality is that the significant financial issues investors face are not being addressed through these evolutions.”

“In recent times, we added a full-service tax offering to our services, enhancing the opportunity to add value to our clients by providing tax planning and preparation services and a deeper level of estate and charitable planning. I am proud to say that our growth has been accomplished by bringing in one client at a time. We have never purchased another firm to accelerate growth.”

“The opportunities lie in the fact that people have great opportunity to acquire wealth in current times more than ever before despite the many challenges we face. I believe that responsible people will continue to seek help navigating the web of financial decisions to make smart choices. The challenges lie in the vast difference among offerings. The large number of choices and ease of access into the financial guidance market can confuse investors.”

Smith’s own role in the firm is a key one, indeed he is the founding partner and has been the CEO of Empirical since 2007. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, he is currently acting as the firm’s business development director for 2017 and expands on his day-to-day responsibilities. “As a small company the other partners (there are 4 owners at this time) and I have hands in many areas on a day to day basis. I meet with existing clients, prospective clients and centres of influence to share the Empirical story. I manage the overall direction of Empirical and spend a lot of time interacting with, coordinating and training our team. I have also developed presentation and a retirement planning software. I’m rolling out a program based around the idea of connecting the appropriate portfolio to a retirement withdrawal strategy.”

Company: Empirical Wealth Management Name: Kenneth R. Smith Email: ksmith@empirical.net Web Address: www.empirical.net Address: 1420 Fifth Ave, Suite 3150, Seattle, WA 98101 Telephone: +1 206.923.3474

“Staff play a crucial role in the success of our firm because in everything, we are a team and the client experience is designed to relate across the team from areas of account servicing, financial planning, tax planning, insurance planning, investment management and so on. Everyone on the team has their area of expertise and contributes to the client experience.”

Empirical

Wealth Management ®

The most common feedback Smith receives is that clients appreciate the team they are working with. In addition, clients believe that Empirical Wealth Management’s team has their best interests in mind. “It is

Advice you can trust

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Wealth & Finance International

New Era for North American Energy Rob Thummel, Tortoise Capital Advisors’ managing director and portfolio manager discusses the dramatic disruption affecting the global energy balance with the evolving North American energy story.

any of us enjoy the freedom of being able to hop in our car and go anywhere or the comfort of returning to our warm home on a bitterly cold winter day. These modern-day conveniences have become basic necessities that are provided by companies that are part of the energy sector. The energy sector not only serves basic needs but it is often the last puzzle piece connecting other sectors together like healthcare and technology.

S&P Energy Select Sector® Index returning 28.2% for the year, a reversal from 2015’s double digit negative return of -21.5%. At Tortoise, we believe that the table is set for the energy sector to deliver solid returns across the energy sector as we’re witnessing a new era for the North American energy sector. Midstream fundamentals have also improved despite project delays. And finally, with greater exportation of energy commodities and a more energy-friendly U.S. President Donald Trump we’re witnessing a new era for the North American energy sector.

Not many sectors can point to a proven track record of steady increases in demand/consumption for decades. But as illustrated in the chart below the energy sector has demonstrated a long history of growth in consumption. In fact, in 32 of the last 33 years, global energy consumption has increased.

What to Watch for in 2017 Return of U.S. Oil Production Growth After falling in 2016, U.S. oil production is expected to increase in 2017. U.S. oil producers are adapting to the current low oil price environment. Using technology and innovation, several U.S. oil producers can produce oil at a cheaper cost than many OPEC nations. OPEC’s Production Cut Compliance and Potential Extension Compliance with the OPEC agreement to cut production appears to be going very well with the committee reporting that more than 80% of the original 1.2 million barrels per day of supply reductions have already taken place as of mid-February. The original OPEC agreement had a term of six months. OPEC member countries will be discussing an extension of the agreement in May 2017. We believe that oil prices will likely remain range-bound between $50 and $60 per barrel in 2017, but we think this is a real sweet spot for U.S. producers in the major shale basins that can earn adequate rates of return at these prices, but just as important, global consumer demand has remained high as well.

Source: BP 2016 Statistical Review However, what many investors tend to focus on when looking to allocate capital to the energy sector is commodity prices. What a difference a year makes. Last year, we were experiencing a crude oil Armageddon with oil prices in the midst of the longest period of declining prices in history. Over a gruelling period of 568 days, prices declined by approximately 75% from $107.62 on July 23, 2014 bottoming at $26.21 on Feb. 11, 2016.

Natural Gas and Renewables Gain Market Share We think oil is not the only way to make money in the energy sector. In fact, natural gas and renewables are gaining market share while coal is losing market share in the global energy consumption pie. While research and development continues in the renewables sector, we believe that natural gas is the bridge fuel that effectively reduces emissions like carbon dioxide. Natural gas is clean, cheap, and abundant.

Today, the global oil markets are rebalancing and inventories are beginning to decline partially due to declines in U.S. crude oil production and an agreement from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce production. In addition, there has been a significant demand response to low oil prices with global demand growth exceeding historical averages by 70% on average in the last two years.

Acceleration of energy infrastructure A new administration ‘Trump’ets in change. In our view, the new Trump administration will be supportive of the energy sector and specifically the energy infrastructure sector. We expect a reduced regulatory permitting process for pipeline infrastructure, and support for the revival of the Keystone XL pipeline project which was evidenced with Trump’s

Oil prices have stabilised around $50 per barrel and the broad energy sector was the best performing sector in the S&P 500 in 2016 with the 44

March 2017

executive order. In addition, the return of growth in U.S. oil production will likely accelerate the pace of U.S. energy infrastructure development.

positive on energy. With OPEC’s latest actions to stabilise oil prices, the table seems to be set for the North American energy sector in 2017.

Exports of oil and gas from the U.S. The global energy landscape is changing and we believe that the U.S. will become a significant supplier of low cost oil and natural gas to the rest of the world. Just a few years ago, the U.S. was building facilities to import more oil and natural gas. It was unimaginable that the U.S. would be an exporter of such commodities.

About Tortoise Capital Advisors Tortoise Capital Advisors is a U.S. investment manager that is a recognised leader in North American listed energy investing. Tortoise has the longest tenure of managing registered MLP funds and pioneered the first listed MLP fund in 2004. Products include U.S. publicly traded closed-end funds, mutual funds, private funds as well as separate accounts.

Today, according to the EIA, the U.S. is exporting approximately 1 million barrels per day of oil and facilities in place to export over 1 bcf/d of natural gas. This is just beginning and the export theme is expected to accelerate and could be a surprise. Additional energy infrastructure will need to be constructed to support increased exports of U.S.-produced oil and natural gas

As of 28 February, 2017, Tortoise had approximately USD $17.2 billion of assets under management. Tortoise’s recently launched UCITS fund provides access to real, long-lived assets through a focus on the large and diverse North American pipeline universe of one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of energy.

Interest Rates: With the strengthening U.S. economy, many investors are anticipating higher interest rates and wondering what that could mean for dividend paying energy infrastructure stocks. First, it’s important to distinguish the catalyst for rising rates. Rising inflation or an improving economy are catalysts for rising rates that both have potential benefits for stocks. A strengthening economy helps energy infrastructure.

Nothing contained in this communication constitutes tax, legal, or investment advice. Investors must consult their tax advisor or legal counsel for advice and information concerning their particular situation. Views expressed herein should not be relied on as investment advice or an indication of trading intent. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

We believe both rising-rate catalysts could drive improved cash flow, which could offset an increase in rising equity and debt. Given the current interest rate backdrop, we expect that a larger rotation out of bonds and into equities is possible. This could help drive the market higher. Many investors are still likely to be focused on finding yield, especially to replace those fixed income investments. We think energy infrastructure securities could benefit from this as well.

The S&P Energy Select Sector® Index is a capitalisation-weighted index of S&P 500 Index companies in the energy sector involved in the development or production of energy products.

Company: Tortoise Capital Advisors Name: Pam Kearney Director, Investor and Public Relations Email: pkearney@tortoiseadvisors.com Web Address: www.tortoiseadvisors.com Address: 11550 Ash Street, Suite 300 Leawood, KS 66211 Telephone: +1 913 981 1020

Summary The energy sector is a critical sector serving consumers basic needs. Low cost energy can serve as a catalyst to accelerate the growth of both developed and emerging economies. The U.S. is positioning itself as a low-cost provider of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids to the rest of the world under a new administration that generally seems to be

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Wealth & Finance International

Driving Success in Real Estate CWS Capital Partners is a fully-integrated real estate investment management company that specializes in acquiring, developing, repositioning, and managing luxury apartments. We spoke to President and Partner Gary Carmell to learn more.

stablished in 1969, CWS has now amassed a property portfolio in excess of 25,000 units, with approximately $4 billion in market value. With a considerable presence in Texas and other metropolitan areas across the United States, including Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina, California, Washington and Arizona, the firm has a vast investor base of approximately 1,000 sophisticated investors, some of whom have been investing with CWS for over 40 years. This is testimony to the level of excellence that the firm operates at, which Gary believes is primarily down to the hard work of the firm’s dedicated staff and its innovative, client focused approach.

keep supply manageable after the current wave is absorbed. Despite these risks, CWS firmly believe that there is still a housing shortage in the United States and it is growing as there are not enough new housing units being built to meet the demand from new household formations and to replace obsolete housing stock. Apartments should remain in high demand as a result, as Gary concludes. “Looking ahead, we continue to believe that apartments offer a solid risk-reward relationship, although more supply and competition for investments requires us to be even more discerning in terms of finding compelling opportunities. Despite more competition and supply and demand being more in balance, the asset class continues to offer very attractive yields, favourable tax advantages, a traditional hedge against inflation, and appreciation potential, and as such CWS will continue to focus on providing excellence in this area over the years and months to come.”

“At CWS, our people are a vital part of what makes us successful. Making sure we have the right people who understand the CWS way of doing business and can make the market aware of our presence are our two top goals. It is important for us to have mobile people in our organization who can move to new areas and start in new regions for us. “Fundamentally, CWS is a very unique company in that it has been around for nearly 50 years. We have been able to demonstrate a consistent proficiency of preserving capital, identifying properties with favourable returns, and executing a multifamily real estate investment strategy for our investment partners in a highly tax-efficient manner.”

Company: CWS Capital Partners Name: Gary Carmell Email: investorrelations@cwscapital.com Web Address: www.cwscapital.com Address: 14 Corporate Plaza Drive, Suite 210, Newport Beach, CA 92660 Telephone: 800-466-0020

Looking to the wider real estate investment space, the industry is well-positioned to continue to have favourable demand fundamentals due to more people entering their prime renting years, continued difficulty in accessing mortgages to purchase homes, people getting married later in life which tends to keep them renting for longer, the large student loan burden which makes it difficult for millions of people to qualify for mortgages, the large numbers of people in their 20s still living at home who represent a potential source of future rental demand, and the greater willingness of people to preserve their flexibility and minimal capital requirements associated with renting. Some of the challenges firms such as CWS may have to contend with going forward are the risks of a general economic downturn which would constrain or even contract household formations temporarily, the uncertainties related to the Trump administration and corresponding tax and trade policies, a more hawkish Federal Reserve, easier mortgage lending to purchase homes, and the risks of overbuilding. The last issue appears to be diminishing, however, as banks have become much more stringent in their lending for apartment construction which should help

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March 2017

Clarity of Thought Digital Clarity is a boutique digital marketing agency addressing the needs of organisations and companies across a broad range of industries for over 10 years. The firm’s managing director Reggie James provides an insight into the work of the firm, including their very successful work for the Chatsworth House Trust.

Chatsworth House Trust case study One of Digital Clarity’s many successful projects were for Chatsworth House Trust. By way of background, Chatsworth House is a spectacular stately home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Chatsworth estate offers 35,000 acres of beautiful land and a wide range of events within the house and gardens throughout the year.

igital Clarity was founded by people who helped shape the internet and its business models as we know them today. As a team, their firm have professionals who have extensive experience in four core areas:

• Search - Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) - Paid Search (Google AdWords, PPC) • Social Media (Social advertising, content, influence & reputation management) • Design (web design & development) • Analytics (Google Analytics, application, measurement)

Chatsworth began working with Digital Clarity from summer 2013 to promote exciting events and has developed into creating a new strategy to engage visitors to explore the English heritage of Chatsworth House. The result was an increased revenue year on year of 236%.

The firm emphasises simplicity, creativity and analysis and has developed a reputation for providing clients with innovative solutions that enable them to address their needs. That combined experience allows them to bring a level of service and expertise normally available only to large companies. Reggie James explains that, “I am the managing director of Digital Clarity. Alongside my director role, I also serve as an executive director on an OTC Markets traded company in New York called DBMM Group Inc.” He then goes on to tell us more about what he does and the role of ‘digital’ playing in the success of business.

The most immediate goal was to move focus from PPC brand spend, to non-brand terms with a view to engaging new visitors. Optimising a not for profit account within Google Grant limitation was a challenge. In order to shift the focus to non-brand searches we first had to increase CTR’s and quality scores from landing pages in order to allow for lower CPC’s. The aims of the project included: • Training the team at Chatsworth House to have a deeper understanding of AdWords PPC; • Reduce brand keywords and focus on specific match types of ‘family days out’ & ‘days out with the kids’ related terms; • Promote specific seasonal events and exhibitions and • Localised targeting and bid strategies to optimise within the $2 max bid limit.

“My current role as managing director is in offering discretionary digital marketing advice to brands and businesses across various vertical sectors though mainly focussing in the wealth, real estate, financial, luxury and advisory markets. “With ‘digital’ playing such a pivotal role in the success of business, the right advice and execution is key and with my experience and team, indeed the company’s longevity and reputation in this competitive space is a living testament to this service.”

In terms of analytics, the project involved: • Troubleshooting and supporting the upgrade to Google Universal Analytics; • Implement enhanced e-commerce tracking to report on ticket sales and; • Implementation of Google Tag Manager to allow Digital Clarity to make code changes hence saving 3rd party costs.

In terms of the team at Digital Clarity, Reggie explains that they are a key component in the success of the firm. “With seasoned internet strategists and manages who run successful marketing campaigns, our clients are aware they are taking on an extension to their business that would be challenging to emulate otherwise. In addition, the team at Digital Clarity see customer service as the thread that sits alongside great delivery” he adds.

Within the last year, Digital Clarity have created a strategy to transform Chatsworth’s traffic to their site, which can be summarised as follows: • 95% of paid traffic comes from non-brand; • Overall traffic increase of 20%; • CTR increase of 2.55%; • Conversion increase of 245% and; • Revenue increase of 236%.

Looking to the firm’s opportunities and challenges in 2017 and beyond, the last word goes to Reggie James who explains, “in digital markets, the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotic services are a threat to traditional service lead companies. This said, as the online sectors continues to grow we are finding that most business want their brand and message to be found by client sand prospects. In closing, I would like to say that Digital Clarity’s opportunities in 2017 and beyond are truly global with new markets opening up in India and Russia.”

Company: Digital Clarity Name: Reggie James Email: reggie.james@digital-clarity.com Web Address: www.digital-clarity.com Address: Admin: 34 South Molton Street, London W1K 5RG Telephone: +44 (0)1483 338 270

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Wealth & Finance International

Working for Individuals Legal Awards - Recognised Excellence in Employment Law UK winner Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP provides an introduction to their forward-thinking and innovative legal solutions that will best meet their client’s needs in this in-depth article.

Legal Awards - Recognised Excellence in Employment Law We are delighted to have received this award and are pleased that our achievements over the past year have been recognised in this way. This has only been possible because of the hard work of each member of our team in their unwavering commitment to securing the best outcomes possible for our clients. We will continue to build on what we have achieved over the past year and expect to continue to grow this year in terms of a loyal client base on the back of our reputation for being trusted advisers.

homson Snell & Passmore LLP is a leading full service law firm providing peace of mind to generations of families and businesses. We are officially the oldest law firm in operation (Guinness World Records), however we are also committed to providing forward-thinking and innovative legal solutions that will best meet our client’s needs. We provide clear, practical legal advice, which results in the best outcome for our clients. We think this is a common-sense approach, but one which is surprisingly uncommon.

To be recognised for the Legal Awards – Recognised Excellence in Employment Law UK – is an external affirmation of our own standards of excellence. We pride ourselves on providing high quality legal advice and such recognition confirms to us that we are continuing to successfully assist our clients in achieving their objectives.

The commitment we make to our clients is: • A specialist from our team of over 110 lawyers will devote time and attention to understanding your needs and objectives; • We will use our astute thinking to provide an insightful solution that represents the best value for you or your business and; • Our advice is straightforward advice conveyed in a straightforward way.

Our successes in 2016 This award has capped off a very successful year for the employment team. Our drive to target specific sectors in 2016 has proved very successful and we have achieved some excellent results for our clients.

This is why so many individuals, whether business leaders or in senior management return repeatedly for our support and advice on the issues they face. And it’s why 25 of our specialist practice areas are ranked by the leading independent guides to UK law firms.

Education, education, education We are recognised as experts in the education sector and our profile in this sector continued to grow throughout 2016. We find that schools and multi-school organisations are increasingly looking for education expertise outside of London at much more competitive prices, and this is a gap in the market, which we have successfully filled. We have won a number of new clients in the education sector and expect this trend to continue.

The employment team Our employment team advises senior executives, business people and businesses on all aspects of employment law. Our work for businesses includes conducting employment tribunal and high court litigation as well as advisory work such as restructuring projects, TUPE business sales and acquisitions, outsourcing and re-contracting. We adopt a robust approach when defending employers who are on the receiving end of tribunal claims and our credentials are becoming increasingly well established, with tribunal claim work increasing during 2016 despite the overall reduction in tribunal claims since tribunal fees were introduced.

Partner and Head of the Department Nick Hobden regularly acts for clients in the education sector, and in 2016 and his work in this field was diverse as: • Advising an all-girls state school on their public-sector equality duty in relation to the presence of a girl who identified as a male and; • Successfully managing away, the risk of a claim threatened by a disabled prospective student of a school who claimed that the school had failed to make reasonable adjustments during his interview process.

The team also advises employees on their rights at work, particularly senior executives and directors, on matters such as recruitment and incentives, boardroom disputes, managed exits and settlement agreements.

Charity and not for profit Over the course of 2016, the team had a number of successes in the charity and not for profit sector, which now equates to a significant percentage of the work that the team does.

The employment team is led by two partners, Nick Hobden and Susanna Rynehart, who have both consistently been ranked by the Chambers legal directory as leaders in their field, with over 47 years of experience between them. The team has steadily grown its revenue by 10% each year over recent years; a new paralegal joined us in September 2015 and we recruited an assistant solicitor in September 2016.

March 2017

Wealth & Finance International

This includes acting for health, social care and welfare providers whose workforces are often large and unionised, which presents its own challenges in terms of dealing with employee relations matters.

The advantage of CEL is that it aims to avoid an employment or workplace dispute becoming adversarial and possibly spiralling down into deadlock with ensuing litigation. It allows the participants an opportunity to voice their respective concerns and interests.

Successes in this area included a matter that involved a union backed tribunal claim brought by 21 employees against a residential care home provider. The claim was in relation to changes to terms and conditions following a public sector TUPE transfer, however we successfully ensured that the claim was dismissed; an excellent outcome for our client.

The aim is that CEL lawyers work together with both parties to try and resolve the dispute confidentially, efficiently and quickly, which ultimately will be more beneficial to our clients. All members of CEL will have undergone internal workplace mediation training and hold an ACAS Certificate of Internal Workplace Mediation or equivalent.

Senior Associate Ben Stepney advised providers of social care on defending various tribunal claims, including a three-day unfair dismissal, sex and disability discrimination claim against a care home provider and one of its employees.

Client feedback We have a loyal client base that repeatedly comes back to us for advice because of the speed of response that we provide to them and the results we achieve.

We also advised the trustees of a leading disability charity on the steps that were needed to change its management structure, following the team’s failure to manage significant financial and regulatory risks.

We spend a significant amount of time getting to know our clients and their businesses, which has been highlighted as a major positive in the feedback that we have received. We feel that understanding our clients and their businesses ensures that we are able to tailor our service around their individual needs.

Working for individuals The employment team achieved some excellent results for our employee clients in 2016. Susanna Rynehart, Partner, successfully defended a claim made by our client’s previous employer who claimed that he had breached his duties of good faith and fidelity. An adverse result would have rendered our client bankrupt; however, we were able to put a good case together and defend the claim successfully, much to our client’s relief.

This approach to client care and client listening is what makes us unique and this is what has helped fuel our growth. Just over 63% of our work comes from recommendations that have been made by existing clients, contacts and our own people, demonstrating the high levels of client satisfaction with the work that we do.

Over the course of the year Susanna has continued with her work on a case concerning the first male priest to marry his same sex partner, which resulted in the Church of England refusing to grant him the necessary license to take up a position as hospital chaplain; a case which is of sufficient importance to have been granted leave to be heard at the Court of Appeal against the background of the General Synod’s debate on the subject.

The vast majority of both our business and individual clients regularly score us 10 out of 10 on client feedback surveys and provide extremely positive comments on the service and results that we are able to deliver for them. Feedback from our clients often praises our common-sense approach, with one particularly satisfied client even informing us that he thought we were worth our weight in gold. Plans for 2017 The team’s business plan is to continue with the success that we have achieved over recent years and to increase our profile in the sectors in which we specialise. We will continue providing high quality straightforward advice to our clients and will continue assisting them with the expertise that we are able to draw upon. As the full benefits of CEL become more widely known, we will become the go to lawyers in the south east for internal conflict and external dispute resolution.

Overall, the employment team had a very successful 2016 in terms of fee income, number of new client matters and client satisfaction, and we will continue to build on these successes in 2017 and beyond. Collaborative Employment Law In September 2016, we joined up with a group of employment lawyers to launch Collaborative Employment Law (CEL). CEL is a new service offered by the group who are committed to working together to resolve employment and workplace disputes between employers and employees. This is an innovative development in the employment market and it is something that, as the founding firm, we are very proud of.

The challenges facing us result from those facing many businesses. Businesses that are confident enough to invest in people, to pursue organic and external growth, to strive for efficiencies and to embrace new ways of working will seek out expert legal advice. With our strong client base and reputation for providing an excellent service, our employment team are well placed to further develop our business and recruit more talented employment lawyers.

The purpose of CEL is to: 1. Resolve employment and workplace disputes in a non-confrontational way; 2. Deal with the resolution of employment and workplace disputes in a constructive, pro-active way; 3. Encourage participants to think creatively and constructively to resolve their dispute; 4. Work to achieve a resolution of the employment and workplace dispute and; 5. Ensure a quick and cost effective outcome.

Company: Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP Name: Jenna Cooper Marketing & Business Development Executive Email: jenna.cooper@ts-p.co.uk Web Address: www.ts-p.co.uk Address: 3 Lonsdale Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1NX Telephone: +44 (0)1892 701302

March 2017

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Wealth & Finance International

Excellence in Employment Services McDonald Murholme is the leading employment law firm for employees based in Victoria and South Australia. We profile the firm to find out more about the secrets behind its success.

cDonald Murholme employs 11 lawyers dedicated to employment law and the firm overall is dedicated to providing access to the employment laws within Australia, aiming to offer sound legal advice and strategy to make the laws work for employees when confronted with a better resourced and more powerful employer.

In addition to being a trailblazer and changing the employment law market, the firm also prides itself in being a leader in the employment law field by not only assisting clients but also educating the public through its free online resource: Employment Law Online (ELO) (www.employmentlawonline.com.au). This unique resource is structured in a question and answer style format which provides easy to read access to some of the most common issues seen in Australian workplaces. Many clients utilise this website to empower themselves with some initial knowledge and revert back to McDonald Murholme when required.

The practice has a rich history of being a pioneer in the Australian employment law market, supporting changes to the law to support the rights of citizens across the country. For example, McDonald Murholme was a key player in the enforcement of the new Workplace Relations Act 1996. It built a substantial legal practice and a very strong skill set in the settling of disputes between individual employees and their employers. McDonald Murholme usually acted for employees, notwithstanding that the firm had no Labor or union based affiliation. It did so objectively and purely from a legal viewpoint, focussed on the legal merit of individual cases, not an ideology as such.

Clients working with McDonald Murholme receive not only the resources needed to succeed, but also the support. Each lawyer has a unique team of support staff, ensuring all the needs of the client are met. They are also supported by a Junior Lawyer and an Administration Assistant, as well as a team of communications staff who act as a liaison between the Lawyer and Client.

It focussed on the principle that there are often disputes in the workplace about the performance of employees, but these disputes should be resolved quickly and at a minimal cost to all concerned. It therefore focussed on a high volume-low cost case management model, consistent with the objectives of the Workplace Relations Act 1996.

This structure ensures that each client receives a highly personalised service. From the first appointment the prospective client is introduced to a member of the communications team who briefly explains the process of their claim and the steps moving forward. The Communications Assistant remains in contact with the client on a regular basis.

Additionally, from 1996 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2001, McDonald Murholme is credited with the spike in applications to the Industrial Relations Commission (now known as Fair Work) in Victoria, greater than in any other state in Australia. The McDonald Murholme team of lawyers resolved more disputes through conciliation than any other law firm in Australia over many years. Its lawyers became highly sought after and were head hunted into every leading law firm in Australia (much to the chagrin of the founder of the firm).

By focussing heavily on the communications of the business, the common problem where busy lawyers do not spend sufficient time understanding the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective on how the case is proceeding is overcome, thus ensuring the best possible service for clients. There are many challenges facing the legal profession currently, as even the largest of the law firms have felt the pressure to amalgamate with larger firms located overseas, disempowering and frustrating many local lawyers who feel that they are working for large international corporates, with less say over their own personal futures.

During this time the firm was highly visible in the media by reason of its need to attract clients who are not union affiliated and who did not have repetitive claims. The Gillard Government introduced a new raft of radical reforms in the Fair Work Act 2009. This created a substantial increase in the work of McDonald Murholme, which had otherwise settled down in the latter part of the Howard years. The firm now employs 11 lawyers and has been at the forefront of the enforcement of the current Act. The philosophy of the firm remains unchanged, in that it provides a fast, efficient and affordable dispute resolution mechanism, which makes it attractive to both its client employees and facilitates easy resolution for the employers where they wish to do so.

Not all of the global mergers have been successful and even the successful ones have not delivered substantial increases in incomes for Australian lawyers. Some mid-sized law firms have expanded strongly while a few of the very small law firms have gone out of business altogether. This combined has created valuable business opportunity for our firm to consistently grow at a rate of more than 25% per annum over recent years.

March 2017

However, despite this McDonald Murholme remains committed to success and has a number of plans to achieve this. Over the past year, McDonald Murholme has doubled the number of clients seeking employment law advice, and looking ahead the firm hopes to achieve the same in 2017. After a large recruitment drive of staff in 2016, the firm aims to develop and nurture the skills of its current employees providing growth and development. The firm also aims to improve staff retention rates by continuing its dedication to a positive working environment, by organising staff events and encouraging work-life balance in order to ensure that these new staff remain with the practice and continue to support its vital work. Another key development for the firm in 2016 was its expansion into South Australia. With development McDonald Murholme intends to further establish a reputation there as a leader in employment law in the state, aiming to employ a larger team in the near future. All of these developments will provide exciting opportunities for the company as it looks towards a bright and prosperous future.

Company: McDonald Murholme Solicitors Address: Level 12, 90 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia Phone: (03) 9650 4555 Website: www.mcdonaldmurholme.com.au

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Wealth & Finance International

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March 2017

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