Wealth & Finance May 2017

Wealth & Finance International | May 2017

Body Sustainability We invited Yamuna to talk us through the secrets behind the brand’s global success.

Also In This Issue: NorthEast Sports Training & Rehabilitation / CREO Capital Advisors / Arizona State University Silversea Asset Management / Ameriprise Financial Services / Dodhys Agencies UC Davis Medical Center / Vivaris Ltd / CH Advisors / Equitativa Group / AVASS Group Lugen Family Office / Glowinkowski International Ltd / Oracle + Netsuite Inc. / Communications Strategy Group / Level 3 Communications Inc / e2Value, Inc. / Commerce Blitz / CMR - Associates / Assurant BPO Solutions Inc / Charm City Concierge

Seeking Risk-Adjusted Returns from Volatility- Runestone Capital www.wealthandfinance-intl.com

Own the Life That Fits Your Style Founded in 1964, EWM Realty International (EWM) is one of the largest real estate services firms in America. The full-service firm has 10 locations spread through MiamiDade and Broward Counties. EWM’s 900 associates and staff members offer residential and commercial real estate services, corporate relocation, and international services, as well as home mortgage and title closing services through affiliated companies HomeServices Lending, LLC and Columbia Title of Florida.

www.ewm.com

Looking after you, your family, and the generations to follow.

MAP Financial Estate Planning Ltd (MAP EP) was established in 2014 as a sister company to MAP Financial Ltd. The team at Map Financial identified the need for all their clients to receive advice regarding Wills, Trusts, Lasting Power of Attorney’s and protecting their assets.

Many Independent Financial Advisers do not offer access to an Estate Planner; MAP EP can give you access to an in house consultant.

Our approach is simple. We aim to protect the assets you have accumulated so you can pass them to your next and future generations.

We can arrange to visit you in the comfort of your own home or at our offices in Liphook, to discuss your current situation and make recommendations based on what you want to achieve when you have passed away.

We firmly believe in the importance of working together to build rewarding relationships and working closely with our clients enables us to help them fulfil and achieve their goals and objectives.

So whether you need a simple Will; advice on protecting your assets against remarriage after you have died or ensuring your beneficiaries do not lose their inheritance in divorce settlements etc, we can provide you with the perfect solution.

www.mapfinancial-eps.co.uk

Editor’s Comment

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Wealth & Finance International

Welcome to the May 2017 edition of Wealth & Finance International magazine.

In recent news, Anthony Rayner, manager of Miton’s multi-asset fund range underlined recently that textbook portfolio construction theory suggests that long-dated bonds, particularly sovereign bonds from the large developed economies, are the archetypal haven and diversifier of equity risk.

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In terms of deals, Deutsche Bank on 24th May signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), enabling the bank to receive and use GCF capital and raise further funds from private sector investors to support action on climate change.

I hope you enjoy reading the news and many special features that this edition offers.

Jonathan Miles, Editor AI Global Media, Ltd. (AI) takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the information on this web site. However, AI will not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information that is available through this web site. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them.

The information available through the website and our partner publications is for your general information and use and is not intended to address any particular finance or investment requirements.

In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us or any of our partner publications and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making or refraining from making any investment or financial decisions.

Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Any arrangement made between you and any third party named in the site is at your sole risk and responsibility.

READ THIS MONTH’S CPD ACCREDITED ISSUE TO GAIN 6 CPD POINTS The content of the following has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles Acquisition International & Wealth & Finance INTL June Edition Online Learning

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“it was unexpected, but it is always nice to receive such awards and be recognised.”

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May 2017 Wealth & Finance International

6. News

Contents

35. A Fight to Find the Market Commerce Blitz 36. Sage Advice CREO Capital Advisors 37. Simply Charming Charm City Concierge 38. We Care We Help CMR - Associates 42. Great Service, Great Investments & Great Partners Produce Great Results Vivaris Ltd 44. A Global Network with Asian Values Tops the Industry Silversea Asset Management 45. Patented Tech Takes Valuation to the Next Level e2Value, Inc. 47. Sustainability Gives UC David Strength for the Future UC Davis Medical Center 48. Investing in Real Estate American Private Equity Group 52. Helping Athletes Perform Better NorthEast Sports Training & Rehabilitation 54. Consultancy meets Human Interaction West Monroe Partners 57. Man About Town Town Residential

12. Body Sustainability Yamuna 14. Seeking Risk-Adjusted Returns from Volatility Runestone Capital 16. Sound Advice froman Expert Seal Telecom 18. Digital Odyssey Odyssey New Media 22. Growth, Efficiency and Security Level 3 Communications Inc 23. Your Legacy, Your Choice Planning Legacies Financial Group 24. The Cloud Computing Revolution Oracle + Netsuite Inc. 26. Research Leads to Results for ASU Arizona State University 28. Ensure your Legacy Lugen Family Office 30. Benchmark of Success Communications Strategy Group 31. Renaissance Man Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP 33. Excellence in Human Service Interaction Assurant BPO Solutions Inc 34. On the Buses AVASS Group

37. Winners’ Directory

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Wealth Wealth & Finance & Finance International International | News

Miton’s Anthony Rayner Sleep Walking into a Duration Nightmare Anthony Rayner, manager of Miton’s multi-asset fund range underlined recently that textbook portfolio construction theory suggests that long-dated bonds, particularly sovereign bonds from the large developed economies, are the archetypal haven and diversifier of equity risk.

Developing this point, Rayner continues: “As multi asset investors, this is an important consideration. Equity risk is generally the largest risk we face, and so diversifying it is central to our focus on capital preservation.

“Looking at the relationship between UK equities (FTSE 100) and gilts (10 year) over time, we can see that more often than not there’s a negative correlation between the two asset classes, with much of the period spent “below zero”. That said, for extended periods, the negative correlation is not particularly strong and there are a number of occasions when the correlation is close to zero, suggesting little relationship.

“As a result, we have had low single digit average durations across the bond portion of the multi asset range for some time, but this hasn’t always been the case. Our pragmatic approach led us to have durations in double digits across the range in the second half of 2014 – yields were considerably higher and the economic data was less positive, with inflation heading to zero back then.

“As we are not index constrained, we can pick our battles within and beyond this asset class. So, not only can we be short duration within bonds but we can look elsewhere. For example, gold looks relatively more attractive as a haven than long-duration gilts.

“It’s often tempting to backfill a story onto events and it’s important to remember that these two asset classes don’t exist in a vacuum. However, some of the dominant events or trends have been highlighted on the graph, helping to explain how the relationship waxes and wanes. The Great Financial Crisis saw gilts rally, as UK equities sold off, in line with the textbook perspective, and they became increasingly negatively correlated. Then quantitative easing saw most assets rally, including equities and gilts, which temporarily saw a positive correlation, only to give way to a breakdown in the textbook relationship over the next few years as experimental monetary policy distorted behaviours.

“This freedom is not a luxury enjoyed by bond index investors, or index-aware investors. Indeed, they face additional dangers. A dynamic not often talked about is how the average duration of bond indices has risen materially over recent years. The main driver has been the grind lower in yields, which has seen many borrowers lock in cheaper funding for the long term, thereby pushing out the average duration.

“For investors who aren’t genuinely active, not only has the interest rate risk (duration) risen, but the compensation for taking that risk (the yield) has fallen. In short, from a risk/return perspective, we prefer to avoid having too much duration in our portfolios.”

“The bubbling up of the Greek crisis triggered a reassertion of the more traditional relationship, as investors sought the haven of gilts, and equities suffered. Finally, Brexit saw both equities and gilts rally, with correlations moving positive. This latter example underlines that, even around shock events, the textbook relationship can’t be expected to hold.

“In short, relationships are not fixed and, while we can’t know the future, it’s pretty safe to say that how gilts and equities interrelate will continue to vary over time.

“In addition to our belief that we shouldn’t permanently think of gilts as a haven, we think there is good reason to currently question their haven status, a position we have held for some time. Yields are so compressed, with the 10-year gilt yield at 1.1%, their capacity to provide a buffer to equities is rather limited. Additionally, our base case is for a broadly positive economic environment and for rates to move higher globally, which suggests limiting interest rate risk.

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deVere to ‘Extensively Develop’ in Europe; James Green, New Head of the Region One of the world’s largest independent financial services organisations is to “extensively expand and develop” its operations across Western Europe with a new regional boss, as revealed on 25th May. The move is part of the conclusions reached by the company-wide Strategic Review of its global business operation that began in March. It is expected to be finalised within a week. The company will, once completed, provide a full and comprehensive breakdown of its findings.

The deVere CEO concludes: “In short, Western Europe represents an enormous opportunity for growth for the company and we intend to explore this to the maximum.”

When the Strategic Review was launched in March, Nigel Green, said: “As we move into our fifteenth year, and still dominating the international advisory sector, we have recently embarked on a strategic review of not only our corporate structures but also our operating units.

deVere Group founder and Chief Executive, Nigel Green, comments: “One of the decisions we have made, based on the Strategic Review of our corporate structure and operating units is to extensively expand and develop our already solid position across Western Europe.

“The process which we’ve now begun will allow us to take a bird’s eye view perspective of where we need to go as a business in order to maintain and expand on our market-leading position. It will enable us as a business to see in which areas and markets we need to reduce our presence, where we should invest and develop more quickly and in more depth, and with which products and services. The Strategic Review will, no doubt, result in a comprehensive period of restructuring.”

“This expansion and development of the region is now a major priority for the organisation for the rest of 2017 and beyond. We’re set to shake-up the Western Europe market place. Of that, I am confident.

“Underscoring our commitment to this move, we’re committing extra investment and resources to Western Europe. This will include expanding our existing bases in Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy and opening at least two more offices in the region.

“Of course, this will create a raft of new and extremely rewarding career opportunities for talented advisers to work within a growing, responsible organisation.”

He continues: “To head up this exciting new era in the region is my son, James, who has successfully led teams of senior wealth advisers in some of our most competitive areas across the Middle East and India in recent years. He is also a highly skilled wealth and investment manager in his own right who has deVere’s ‘client-first’ culture in his DNA. James Green will begin his new role as Head of Western Europe on 5 June and will report directly to the CEO. Nigel Green goes on to say: “The decision is partly fuelled by three key factors: First, the increasingly buoyant economy in Western Europe; second, the increasing demand from the growing number of expats and international investors who are relocating there and who need specialist cross-border financial advice; and third to help close the ‘advice black hole’ that exists due to many advisers exiting the market due to high operating costs and to them routinely rejecting clients who aren’t deemed ‘high-net-worth enough’.”

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Wealth Wealth & Finance & Finance International International | News

Deutsche Bank Signs Accreditation Master Agreement with Green Climate Fund Deutsche Bank on 24th May signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), enabling the bank to receive and use GCF capital and raise further funds from private sector investors to support action on climate change.

The agreement was signed in London by Nicolas Moreau, Head of Deutsche Asset Management and member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG, and Executive Director of the GCF’s Secretariat, Howard Bamsey.

The GCF has already approved the first funding proposal from Deutsche Bank at its 14th meeting in Songdo, South Korea, in October 2016. The Universal Green Energy Access Programme combines capital from the GCF with private sector investment to finance renewable electricity access for nearly half a million people and small and medium sized enterprises in cooperation with local banks in Africa. The GCF’s anchor investment of $78.4 million allows Sustainable Investments, the group within Deutsche Asset Management that manages environmental and social assets, to raise a total of $300 million in capital.

“We are pleased to sign this agreement in order to work with GCF to mobilise private sector capital and increase contributions to climate financing for adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation measures in developing countries,” said Moreau.

The Green Climate Fund works through a wide range of Accredited Entities to channel its resources to projects and programmes. Deutsche Bank is the second commercial bank to sign an Accreditation Master Agreement with GCF.

The proposal has been endorsed by the Governments of Benin, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania, which is where the program will initially focus investments in the first three years. The signing of the Accreditation Master Agreement marks a major step towards implementation of this programme.

“This signature marks a milestone for GCF as it unlocks the broad international expertise of Deutsche Bank in directing private investment flows toward climate action,” said Howard Bamsey. “It follows from GCF’s recognition of the essential role of the private sector in filling climate finance gaps.”

www.db.com/ir greenclimate.fund

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May 2017

SuMi Trust’s Yoshio Hishida Appointed to Drive Global Development of Asset Management Business Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group (SuMi TRUST), Japan’s largest asset management group with US$727 billion assets under management*, has announced that Yoshio Hishida, Managing Executive Officer, has been appointed to lead the global business development of SuMi TRUST’s asset management business.

As part of his expanded role, Mr Hishida aims to further strengthen SuMi TRUST’s client relationships and build new ties beyond Japan by leveraging the firm’s established client base and his extensive experience in the industry.

Mr Hishida joined The Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd in 1986 as a Portfolio Manager in its global equities team. He was an Investment Officer from 1999 to 2004 and has extensive expertise in strategy and management, having served also as an Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited and as the General Manager of Fiduciary Service Business Planning Department at The Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd. Mr Hishida, Managing Executive Officer at SuMi TRUST, said: “As Japan’s largest asset management group, we have a long history dedicated to providing services to institutional clients, developing high quality product s and bespoke services with discipline and transparency. Through leveraging our expertise in both active and passive strategies in Japanese and global equities, our client base has grown to include pension funds, financial institutions and family offices in Europe and Asia as well as sovereign wealth funds in the extended EMEA region. By nurturing strong relationships with existing clients, and developing new relationships outside of Japan, we aim to capitalise on our expertise and continue expanding our presence globally.”

Yoshio Hishida is also director of The Securities Analysts Association of Japan and a CFA charterholder. www.smtil.com 9

Wealth & Finance International

Developing Tailored Solutions for Both Private and Institutional Clients Our objective is to achieve long-term, transparent and close collaboration with our clients that delivers efficient investment solutions.

We believe in the power and contribution of our network and we aim to promote in our day-to-day work an entrepreneurial spirit based on teamwork, flexibility and discipline.

Our core business is articulated around 3 pillars:

Wealth Management Asset Management Fund Engineering

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www.notzstucki.com

May 2017

Insight When you need short term-bridge financing or other capital for a commercial real estate transaction, we will understand the opportunity and respond promptly

www.dandrewpartners.com

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Wealth & Finance International

Body Sustainability Drawing from the vast experience of Founder Yamuna Zake, the Yamuna® Brand is dedicated to helping people be better in their bodies through a range of products and courses. We invited Yamuna to talk us through the secrets behind the brand’s global success.

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nder the leadership of Yamuna Zake, a master teacher of body sustainability, what began as singular dedication with focused hands on body work, has evolved into a global brand with a network of over 600 certified practitioners in Yamuna® branded teacher trainings worldwide.

problems and corrects them. The hands-on modalities Yamuna created have a very high rate of success and in most cases problems are resolved quickly. However, the philosophy of the Yamuna® brand is to educate people to take care of themselves and to continue to maintain their bodies.”

Today the company is a leading source of education for teachers, therapists, and fitness instructors interested in expanding their knowledge of wellness based education.

The Yamuna® classes are offered at yoga and Pilates studios and some gyms. Since the work is different from fitness and other exercise it can be a stand-alone offering or work well with other techniques as an enhancer. The Yamuna® work is original and is becoming more widely known.

Complimenting this focus, the company markets and sells a curriculum of exercises, and a proprietary line of body rolling balls for teachers, students, and studios. It also produces an exclusive line of beauty blends and therapeutic remedies which are sold by luxury spas and boutique studios.

Yamuna creates education based on the most common physical problems people have. The Yamuna® Save Your Body Part Series includes: Save Your Lower, Middle, and Upper Back, Save Your Hips, Save Your Ankles, Save Your Shoulders, Save Your Hands and Wrists, Save Your Knees, Save Your Feet and Save Your Face. Each of these contains the video and props needed. Yamuna® Foot Fitness is one of our most popular products. There is almost no education available that teaches people how to prevent foot problems and maintain healthy feet at every age. Since over 74% of the western population develops foot problems at one point in their lives, Yamuna has developed several foot products and has several more in the works which require additional financial investment for successful marketing and sales.

All of the wellness products and education which are anatomically correct, unique and original, have been created by Yamuna Zake. Over the last 38 years she has worked with 1000s of people, listening to their body complaints. From this she created original highly effective selfhelp education and tools.

The business is divided into two key areas. The first of these encompasses all the firm’s products, which includes research, development, marketing and sales. Several products are patented and others are at the patent pending stage of development.

All of the certified Yamuna® practitioners worldwide act as our staff and sales force. They are essential in promoting and growing the Yamuna® education and products. The Yamuna® practitioners teach and lecture and promote Yamuna® education and they are crucial for the continued growth of the Yamuna® Brand and help to drive its success. It is the testimonials of its clients which Yamuna is particularly proud of, and she is keen to discuss how the firm constantly strives to achieve more of these and ensure that it continues to offer clients the solutions and support they need.

In addition, the firm has an education section which offers worldwide teacher training programs in all of the Yamuna® modalities. Certified practitioners teach the modalities they are trained in and also use, promote, and sell the required Yamuna® tools, ensuring that their students learn the true art, as Yamuna explains.

“Over 2000 people in over 37 countries have taken a Yamuna® certification training program. In addition, we offer Yamuna® Retreats and Body Schools as wellness holidays for people who are self-motivated and want to improve their bodies. These have an 80% return rate which is very high. At retreats, Yamuna and advanced practitioners work very closely with guests to help them achieve their goals during the retreat.

These classes provide people with the education to be able to take care of every part of their bodies when they leave and return home. Yamuna® original hands-on therapies focus on the individual’s structural

“The successes that the Yamuna® Brand has are many. We continue to help people worldwide overcome structural problems and years of suffering. We have 1000s of testimonials from all over the world. These are the successes we are proudest of. It is always great to hear from someone living far away who was able to self-heal an injury by using the Yamuna® education and products. Mostly all of the feedback we receive from customers is positive or with helpful recommendations to

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better our already highly respected brand, and we are always pleased to hear that people are benefiting from the services we offer. The Yamuna® Company continuously offers clients the solutions and support they need.

“A recent success that we have just achieved is a patent for a foot corrector. It is the first foot product that actually teaches people how to use their entire foot when walking and so, avoiding most common injuries. It brings education to people rather than promising a shoe to fix the feet.

Once people train their feet using the foot correctors an entire brand of shoes with our patent will be available. We are currently looking for a shoe company to license this to because we believe this will be a huge success. The Yamuna brand is not set up or interested in manufacturing and marketing shoes.”

Ultimately, Yamuna embodies every aspect of the products and solutions she creates, and moving forward she is keen to continue growing the company and supporting an ever greater range of clients.

“The timing is right as the health and wellness industry is growing annually and the future predicts it will continue to grow strongly. The challenges we face for 2017 and beyond is that in order to grow the brand name worldwide we need more funding. Up until now we have funded our brand ourselves. We know that in order to grow to the level we believe is possible we need another company with marketing experience to invest and make the Yamuna® brand the leading wellness brand so many know it should be.

“Fundamentally, the Yamuna® brand is and always will be dedicated to helping people with highly effective products and education. When inferior products have huge pockets it becomes harder for self-monetized companies to compete regardless of their higher quality products. Since the future predictions show that the wellness industry is growing rapidly, more and more people will be creating and selling more wellness products. This becomes confusing for the consumer and the products with the best marketing and ad campaigns will win even though they might not be of high quality. Because the Yamuna® brand offers original education, products, and hands-on therapies, we have always envisioned franchises of Yamuna® studios in major cities worldwide. The studios would offer not only a variety of all the Yamuna® classes both group and private, but all the hands-on private treatments, which creates a day spa or wellness studio, product sales, and also acts as a training sight for practitioners. No other modality can offer a studio with all of these various revenue streams. We are excited to develop the brand even further and bring our innovative services and products to an even wider audience over the coming months and years.”

Name: Yamuna Zake

Contact Email: yamuna@yamunausa.com; yael@yamunausa.com Location: 295 West 11th Street, Suite 1F NY, NY 10014 Telephone: +1 212 633 2143 Web Address: www.yamunausa.com

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Wealth & Finance International

Seeking Risk-Adjusted Returns from Volatility Runestone Capital’s back-tested and proprietary active management models are designed for institutional and private investors seeking risk-adjusted alpha-driven returns. Runestone Capital was founded in London in 2014 and applies quantitative and qualitative volatility-based investment strategies. We interviewed Rune Madsen, one of the Firm’s founders, to learn more about their investment approach, experience and expectations for the volatility-based sector following their success in achieving the exclusive Fund Manager Elite 2017 – UK award.

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unestone Capital Fund Background

In 2011-2012, it became apparent to us that the internally-generated strategies we had developed were our preferred way of managing money and we wanted to start a fund doing this. There was still a huge amount of work to be done before this could happen and in the late part of 2014 we took the leap to make Runestone Capital a reality.

Rasmus Andersen, fellow founder, and myself launched Runestone Capital Fund in May 2015 leveraging our collective 28 years of investment experience. We have worked together since 2008 at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, London.

Throughout our career, we’ve been exposed to a wide range of internal and self-created strategies. Professionally, we’ve always aimed to produce investment ideas with great risk/reward characteristics, which has often led to unconventional strategies.

Rasmus Andersen and myself manage the Fund, Greg Sperrazza is the Head of Sales and Marketing in the US. Peter Clarke, the former CEO of Man Group, is a senior advisor to Runestone Capital Ltd and an investor in the Runestone Capital Fund.

In 2009, we started to trade more U.S. Equity Index Volatility both for clients and our own money as it became more liquid. Back then, it was an overlay strategy to other investments. Gradually, we became more systematic in the space and it became a standalone strategy. Since volatility is in constant movement, there are always opportunities for a non-biased volatility fund like ourselves - hence we perceive it to be a perpetual investment opportunity.

What is the Runestone Capital Fund?

Runestone Capital Fund is an Absolute Return Fund that aims to generate more than 20% net annualized return over a cycle, regardless of market conditions. The strategy buys or sells U.S. equity index volatility based on statistical probabilities. It has been back tested from January 1st 2006 and been in fund format since 2015. The Fund is not a tail event or a short volatility fund as it is non-biased on being long or short volatility. It is designed to work over diverse market conditions.

Peer Group Comparison

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Why Volatility as an Asset Class?

Volatility is an interesting investment diversification tool as it has different risk/return characteristics than equities and bonds. It’s also an emerging asset class with more investment opportunities than mature markets.

Why Runestone Capital?

We are an experienced team that has traded volatility ETNs since their launch and financial instruments for over 28 years. Our key differentiators include: • •

• •

•

Our model has been back tested for 10 years with superior results before it went live In the live period the Runestone Capital Fund (B shares) has outperformed its peer group of volatility funds, CTA’s, global hedge funds, the equity market and the bond market. The lowest 12 month rolling performance since inception has been 10.1% versus -7.1% for the HFRX Hedge Fund Index The Fund’s main objective is risk-adjusted returns with multiple risk controls in place The managers just invest in U.S. Equity Index Volatility so they are more focused than multi strategy managers, which is shown in the risk-adjusted performance The managers have their entire liquid worth invested in the Fund alongside external investors

Why Now? Volatility funds are subject to increasing investor interest and Runestone Capital Fund is well positioned with industry leading performance.

Volume in exchange traded volatility products has also expanded rapidly with daily volumes more than $8 billion which limits the market impact of the Fund even at $500 mm in AuM. We anticipate the volatility-based asset class is on the cusp of high growth going forward and the Runestone Capital Fund will be at the forefront of this with its unique strategy.

As investment managers, we are fully invested in the strategy hence we cannot afford for loses to escalate. In the volatility space, there are endless opportunities as there are movements each day. It is crucial to preserve capital when positions do not work out and focus on the next opportunity. Our confidence is so high in the strategy that we left lucrative careers to start the company and Fund with our own capital and this confidence is even higher today than it was when we started.

The future of Runestone Looking ahead, we believe the Fund will achieve its performance goal as the strategy is well designed to work over a market cycle. Also, the Fund has shown similar results in the live period versus the back test.

We are confident this will continue. Positive results have occurred in equity markets that traded down, up and in choppy markets without a clear trend. The performance range during negative equity markets is wider than flat to up markets, but so is the average return during these market conditions.

Runestone Capital, is a pure play asset manager that just trades in US equity volatility. This enables us to be extremely focused on our end market and risk control. The Fund has traded up 19 out of the 24 months since inception and the best/worst month has been 1.73x.

What differentiates us from some of our competitors is that the strategy does not have a pre-set bias to be short- or long- volatility. Our positions are based on statistical probabilities. This has caused us to perform well in different market conditions. Also, the Firm’s culture is deeply rooted in questioning ourselves and digging down until we get an answer. This does not mean we know each answer or that we try to put a reason behind every market move like many other industry professionals.

Whilst we cannot guarantee that performance will return to the same level as the historical average, we believe our strategy going forward will perform in accordance with our performance goals as structurally nothing has materially changed and the models are adaptive to change.

Overall, market conditions in the future may be very different from today, last week or 3 years ago. Therefore, we emphasize the overall investment process rather than focusing on short-term results. This process has delivered strong results in both the back tests as well as the live period and we feel confident will continue going forward.

We have grown in the last year as investors have started to open their eyes to our strategy. Because of this growth, it has allowed us to expand and we are launching a U.S. fund in the next few months. Volatility is still a small and under allocated portion of an investor’s portfolio and this will be a source of growth for the Fund going forward.

Our focus is on absolute and uncorrelated returns, which we have been able to deliver on. For reference, the equity market was under a lot of pressure in the first two months of 2016 and fell 5.1% compared to the strong start of 2017 with a 5.9% gain. For those same periods, we delivered positive performance of 1.9% and 1.4% respectively. Two months is a short time period and you shouldn’t draw strong conclusions on that basis. However, it at least demonstrates the strategy’s robustness at being able to produce positive results in very different market conditions.

Last year, we generated most our returns in the first six months where most other asset managers struggled with difficult market conditions.

Company: Runestone Capital Name: Rune Madsen Email: rune.madsen@runestonecap.com Web Address: runestonecap.com Address: 239 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6SN, UK Telephone: +44 207 316 3084 15

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Wealth & Finance International

Sound Advice from an Expert Seal Telecom, winner of the Best Audio & Visual Solutions Integrator 2017 award, is the largest integrator of customisable solutions with quality processes certified by ISO 9001:2008, that adds innovative technologies for the development of projects efficient and economically viable.

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ith more than 18 years’ experience in the market, Seal Telecom works with solutions of audio & video, unified communications and security and counts on teams of professionals specialised and certified in all the areas that follow all the projects of the start to the end. Additionally, they have over 180 employees at multiple locations in Brazil. Daniel Skit kicks off the interview by telling us more about the firm and his thoughts on winning the Best Audio & Visual Solutions Integrator 2017 award.

“The Brazilian market is currently in economic crisis, and the different sectors of the economy respond differently. Because Seal Telecom is a unique system integrator comprised of three business units, Audio & Video, Unified Communication and Security, as well as contracts for preventive and corrective maintenance and rental of solutions, it allows us to get good market position and get satisfactory annual growth.”

Concerning the Brazilian corporate landscape currently, Daniel explains why this is the ideal hub for the business and adds his take on the firm’s internal culture to ensure that clients receive the best possible service.

“Within our broad portfolio we develop systems for meetings, sound system or structure to theatres and cinemas, communication projects for companies, video surveillance, access control systems, among other solutions that assist in optimising resources and costs, which promote better performance for all users. In addition, we have preventive maintenance services, training, support and extended warranty. We have partnered with more than 60 national and international manufacturers for the development of our projects and we have expertise to serve several segments.

“Our head office is in the city of São Paulo (SP), Brazil’s leading metropolis; however, we attend all the regions of the country. We chose this city for a strategic issue and be considered the economic capital of Latin America. The main events of the segments that we participate it happen more often in São Paulo too. We believe the proximity with the professional trends and of the sector are determinative factors for the success of our business.

“On winning the Best Audio & Visual Solutions Integrator 2017 award, for us it is very gratifying to be recognised in an award of such importance for the audio & video industry. We are always attentive to market trends and seek to offer complete and innovative solutions to our customers. Receiving this award reinforces our positioning of always perform a great delivery to our customers and partners, and we hope to continue serving and surprising to those expectations.

“Our internal culture is strongly based through our internal quality processes, such as ISO 9001:2008 and satisfaction of our customers. All our projects are customised and developed according to the needs of each company. Besides we have a team of highly qualified professionals and we encouraged to always carry out courses and certifications to ensure that guarantee all our expertise.”

When working in such a fast-paced industry, it is vital that a firm such as Seal Telecom remains at the forefront of emerging developments, a point that Daniel goes on to develop.

“This award means that we are working on the right path. We were very happy to be recognised for an award which covers all Latin America and I’m sure he will be an incentive to increasingly be reference in our sector.

“For Seal Telecom, it is very important that all our employees are up to date with the trends in our industry. Frequent we send our directors to important events and our employees to take courses certifications in what has of most current in our market inside and outside the country.

So, constantly we invest in qualifications and we search professionals highly qualified to compose our teams of collaborators.”

Daniel the offers his thoughts on how the firm ensure that they meet the needs of their clients’ and his thoughts in the wider sector that Seal Telecom are a part of.

“Our methodology is based on the development of projects together with the client, based on the main pillars: customer needs, requirements and desires, which are important sources of information for the design of systems, define implementation times and costs. With the pre-project ready, it aligns with the client the best overall solution considering the main pillars. The entire basic project is documented and detailed for the technical and commercial proposal, defining as far as possible the scope and responsibility of each party in the project.

In terms of the future for your business Seal Telecom, are involved in the following projects: •

•

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Smart cities, which consist in the implementation of voice and data infrastructure for the integration of public services, through these technologies it will be possible that the respective city halls obtain to solve problems with more easiness and efficiency.

Seal Conecta, is an audio-visual recording system for audiences

May 2017

•

•

because the Brazilian judiciary needs increasingly modernise so that judges can achieve a faster routine and automated. In this way, it is possible that certain hearings are conducted at a distance, by means of video conferencing, generating time optimisation.

Expansion of the firm’s sales team in the southern region of Brazil – in addition to the branch in Florianópolis (SC), so Seal Telecom have a local structure in Curitiba (PR) and Porto Alegre (RS).

Continue serving important clients throughout Brazil with the most modern solutions.

“Seal Telecom seeks excellence in corporate governance and because of this, makes constant investments in internal tools and processes that allow the company to grow and manage efficiently and quickly, such as SAP ERP implementation, CRM, PMI, ITIL and ISO 9001: 2008.”

Name: Daniel Skit Email: daniel@sealtelecom.com.br Web Address: www.sealtelecom.com.br Address: Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 1500 - 18° andar - Torre Los Angeles - CEP: 05001-100 - Água Branca - São Paulo - SP Telephone: 11 3877 4000

The future for the firm is a very exciting one, so it is in this vein that Daniel offers his concluding thoughts to this upbeat interview.

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Wealth & Finance International

Digital Odyssey Odyssey New Media is a digital marketing agency, based in Birmingham. Set up by Robert Stoubos in 2010, the firm has enjoyed success and has several high profile clients.

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stablished in Birmingham in 2010, Odyssey New Media is a leading digital marketing agency. With more than 10 years’ worth of experience, the firm knows how to tailor strategies which utilise the best digital marketing and media channels to help businesses develop, grow and succeed.

The team at Odyssey New Media was tasked with conceptualising, designing and creating a logo that represented the use of ‘only natural products’ in the ingredients. The customer wanted elegant yet bold, decorative yet not too loud.

The designs were to be used on packaging products and around social media platforms.

Odyssey New Media provides a full range of services to help businesses increase their revenue and achieve good return on their marketing spend, including: • SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) - gaining higher search natural search positions for keywords that convert into enquiries and sales.

These positions are those below paid ads and therefore once achieved you don’t pay to continue to rank. Continued SEO maintenance is required to maintain positions.

• PPC, Paid Search and Placement Advertising - ensuring companies’ key messages are in front of the right audience at the right time.

• Social Media Management, Training & Optimisation - to integrate on and offline communications across different social networks to engage with all stakeholders.

• Conversion Enhancement Services • Website Design & Website Development –helping businesses project manage and build websites with SEO and social features in mind.

• Mobile Website Design & Mobile Applications – Mobile search and usage is increasing. It’s therefore important to ensure websites have a mobile friendly version for mobile users as well as taking advantage of mobile applications which can help target and increase brand awareness in the ready-made market places for mobile apps.

“Neil designed my first product label so beautifully and it was exactly what I was looking for. He listened to what I wanted and replied to my requests quickly and accurately. I always come back to Neil at Odyssey now for all of my other product labels and I am hoping to use their web design services too in the very near future,” explained Aura Lakshmi of Aura Natural Health.

RPA UK Based in a railway arch in the West Midlands; RPA Ltd was formed by its director, Robert “Seth” Wilson, after he left the Royal Navy in 2011. Since formation the company has been involved in a multitude of projects, providing Radioactive Waste Management and Radiation Protection services to clients.

Odyssey New Media and the team were responsible for a complete website build, banners and creating a CMS system for the company.

“Tip-Top service guys, got a great website for the best price in town … can’t grumble at all!” states Robert Wilson, director of RPA UK. Co-operative Online Doctor Co-operative Online Doctor is an online doctor service with a UK GMC qualified doctor for online medical consultation. It offers a professional, safe, discreet and fast way of seeking treatment for medical conditions, with services being particularly useful to patients who do not have time to visit a doctor or are seeking treatment for a condition they do not want to discuss face-to-face.

Robert Stoubos is the owner and managing director of Odyssey New Media. Graduating from Aston University in June 2005 with a degree in Computer Science, he founded the company just five years later.

He tells us more about his experience. “With more than 10 years’ experience in digital marketing I have become a results-driven marketer with the skills required to successfully implement cross-channel digital marketing campaigns that generate increased brand awareness, sales and ROI.”

Odyssey New Media was commissioned by the company to build the website, design banners, create a CMS system and make a user-updateable blog site.

Case Studies The firm has had great success so far to date, and we take a look at some of its most recent case studies.

“Great work – the blog was built on budget, on time and to a very high standard. I always use Odyssey New Media now for any website jobs and image banners,” Chris Knight, Marketing Manager of Co-Operative Healthcare commented.

Aura Natural Health Aura Natural Health specialises in health products that contain only natural ingredients.

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May 2017

Likewise, Odyssey also worked on the Midcounties Co-operative travel website, the largest independent UK co-operative, with gross sales in excess of £738 million. They cover a wide range of areas including West Midlands, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

Odyssey New Media were asked to help Co-operative Travel to improve its SEO efforts in order to maximise the company’s organic search presence. A large part of these optimisation efforts involved completely re-writing and expanding Co-op’s existing content.

In addition, Odyssey has been involved in elements of social media, online PR, usability analysis and enhancement.

Company: Odyssey New Media Name: Robert Stoubos Email: rstoubos@odysseynewmedia.com Address: The Old Bus Garage, Harborne Lane Selly Oak, Birmingham B29 6SN UK Telephone: +44 (0)794 042 0201

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Wealth & Finance International

C. F. Sandy Pofahl

Lawyer in Texas, Dallas

6615 LBJ Fwy, Dallas, TX 75240, Dallas County +1 (972) 702-0000 20

FI160054

We are tenacious.

We are unique.

We are knowledgeable: We are....

May 2017

We are a specialist Lloyd’s insurance broker, based in the City of London, which specialises in fast-moving insurance lines such as Cyber, Financial, Professional and Intellectual Property. We provide insurance services to businesses of all shapes and sizes looking to protect themselves from the risks inherent in the business world.

www.safeonline.com

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Wealth & Finance International

Growth, Efficiency and Security Level 3 Communications, Inc. is a premier provider of global communication services, creating solutions that strengthen the growth, efficiency and security of businesses around the world.

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Service

ur business started as part of a subsidiary of a construction company that created one of the first competitive local exchange carriers, MFS Communications.

• • •

By 1998, Level 3 Communications set out to shift our business focus and create a company dedicated to the development of a facilities-based, end-to-end communications network optimised to provide IP communication services. Along with the new business strategy came a new name: Level 3 Communications. In April of that same year, Level 3 common stock started trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol LVLT. Since October 2011, Level 3’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the same symbol – LVLT. Today, Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets, spanning three continents and more than 60 countries.

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Teamwork • • • •

With more digitised business models, fierce competition and the onward march of technology, your financial institution has one option: to digitally transform, so Level 3 is here to help you do it.

We serve eight out of the 10 largest U.S. banks, eight of the top 10 global insurers, and three of the world’s top five financial exchanges.

Leverage our global infrastructure, cloud-connected network capabilities and financial industry expertise to transform your network, optimise performance and reduce complexity. So, why Level 3?

Our values can be summarised as follows:

Accountability My customers and team trust me to do what I say I’m going to do.

I own the effects of my decisions and behaviour.

I recognise my team only succeeds when I give my personal best.

I expect others to hold me responsible.

Cyber Defense for Your Financial Data Take advantage of Level 3’s global visibility into internet traffic, cyber threats and other malicious activities. Our cloud- and network-based security solutions offer advanced, multi-layered defences to help eliminate single points of failure and keep financial data safe.

Integrity • • • •

My customers and colleagues trust me as part of their team.

I find the right answers for my customers, not the easy ones.

I speak the truth even when it’s not popular and allow others to do the same.

Not speaking the truth is a form of dishonesty.

Cloud and Hybrid Connectivity Connect to cloud and data center providers efficiently and securely.

Migrating to a hybrid cloud architecture can mean cost savings, better performance and more reliable throughput. Confidently transport data with reduced network latency and a resilient, private communications infrastructure.

Performance • • • •

I use what I must get the job done and continually learn better ways to do it.

I respond with urgency and take measured risks to succeed.

I am resilient and never give up.

I recognise and celebrate excellence every day.

Global Gains We can be your single network services provider across town, across the country or around the globe. North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific – we’re there. And you can be, too.

Respect • • • •

I openly and collaboratively involve and inform others.

My team trusts me to have the discipline to set priorities and stick with them.

I take an enterprise-wide view, not just a functional view.

I build bridges to help my peers across the organisation.

Digitally Transform: Financial Institutions for the Future

As enterprises transition from legacy services to more efficient, scalable and secure technologies, Level 3 offers enhanced network capabilities and managed services for customers to streamline operations and focus on growth.

• • • •

I anticipate my customers’ needs and exceed their expectations.

It is my job to create loyalty in my customers.

My customers trust me to deliver ingenious, creative and repeatable solutions.

I care about my community and give back to make it a better place.

I suspend self-interest and care about others’ success as much as my own.

I appreciate co-workers with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

I know that listening and responding with curiosity is essential.

I treat people as individuals and assume positive intent to earn their trust.

For more information about our wide-ranging array of products and services, please visit our website at www.level3.com to find out more.

Company: Level 3 Communications, LLC Name: Donna Filer Email: donna.filer@level3.com Address: 1025 Eldorado Blvd Broomfield, Colorado 80021 USA 22

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Your Legacy, Your Choice At Planning Legacies Financial Group, we have the client—and only the client—in mind. Our mission is to get to know and understand your needs, wants, and long-term goals.

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e want to help you develop, implement, and monitor a strategy that’s designed to address your individual situation.

We understand the challenges families face today. From managing debt to saving for college to retirement, these personal finance challenges can be overwhelming. Our commitment is to utilise all our resources to help you pursue your goals.

• • • • • •

We believe in thinking ‘out of the box’, indeed we are not afraid to challenge conventional wisdom in our approach to investing and preserving wealth. All our energy, commitment, and efforts are focused on you, the client, and your satisfaction.

We believe our teamwork approach adds a broader perspective to all we do and provides increased benefits to our clients.

Your future financial success may depend on the type of investment advice you get today. Achieving your financial goals depends on solid, unbiased advice - and meaningful, timely information and research.

At Planning Legacies Financial Group our goal is to provide you with personalised and impartial investment strategies based on your unique time horizon, financial objectives, risk preferences and tax considerations.

• • • •

Our team of seasoned financial professionals can help you address:

Our experienced professionals have helped many people just like you with similar issues and concerns. We specialise in creating an approach that is designed to address your individual situation.

As independent Planning Legacies Financial Group representatives, we can realise a commitment to our careers, our community and the financial success of our clients – while taking full advantage of our superior back-office support and technology. These advantages are passed on to our clients in the form of better and more personalised service.

Russell G. Luce profile I have 20 years’ experience working in all areas of the financial industry, including clients in special needs planning, retirement planning and wealth management.

Choosing the right resources to manage your wealth is one of the most consequential decisions that you will ever make. With increasing uncertainty in today’s financial markets, these are the times when you most need unbiased advice.

I entered the Insurance and financial planning industry with Aid Association for Lutherans now Thrivent financial for Lutherans in the early 90’s as a registered representative and insurance advisor, working my way up to the unit manager position. I then joined MONY (Mutual of New York) as an assistant managing director of sales for which he was responsible for training, recruiting and sales for his region.

We can assist you with the following services: Financial planning: (insurance)

After that, I joined Foresters as a Managing Director of Insurance Sales, where I built one of the top producing offices in the Mid-West region.

In 2005, I returned to the independent adviser world to do what I love best, that is working with my clients towards achieving their goals of financial stability. In 2008, I founded Planning Legacies Financial Group and my motto in this vein is, ‘Your Legacy, Your Choice’.

Special Needs Planning: Estate Planning; Trust Planning; Asset Management; Life Insurance; Disability Insurance; Mortgage Insurance and; Long Term Care.

Company: Planning Legacies Financial Group Name: Russell G Luce Email: rluce@forestersequity.com Web Address: www.planninglegacies.com Address: 9233 Sproat Ave. Oak Lawn, IL 60453 Telephone: +1 708 499 0700

Investment Planning: • • • •

Investing principles and strategies; Retirement investing and distribution strategies; Estate conservation issues and; Risk management.

We also can answer your questions, including: • Can I retire early?

• Are my investments working hard enough?

• What’s the best approach for college savings?

• What are the elements of a sound estate strategy?

• Do I have enough life insurance for my family?

Being independent means we are free to recommend only those products and services that meet the clients’ needs – that is, no quotas or pressure to sell proprietary products. Truly independent research enables us to choose investments solely on the merits of their characteristics and their suitability for your financial goals.

• • • • • • •

Mutual funds; Investment planning; Asset management; Wrap accounts; Foundation planning and; Charitable & planned giving.

Income planning; 401k planning; Annuities; Roth & Traditional IRA’s; 23

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Wealth & Finance International

The Cloud Computing Revolution The US COO of the Year for the US accolade went to Jim McGeever of NetSuite, after which we profiled his own role, plus the wider work of the company as the industry’s leading provider of cloudbased business management software.

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Real-Time Business Intelligence Across the Enterprise

etSuite is the industry’s leading provider of cloud-based business management software. NetSuite helps companies manage core business processes with a single, fully integrated system covering ERP/financials, CRM, ecommerce, inventory and more.

Getting an accurate view of the business is challenging. Information is stored across multiple, disparate systems and manually based data management processes are time- consuming and error-prone. From the executive level to the front lines, effective decision-making is compromised without reliable, timely data.

In 1998, NetSuite pioneered the Cloud Computing revolution, establishing the world’s first company dedicated to delivering business applications over the Internet. Today, NetSuite provides a suite of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software that runs the business of more than 30,000 companies, organisations, and subsidiaries in more than 100 countries.

NetSuite Business Intelligence provides the power of built-in, real-time dashboards, reporting and analysis across all the integrated processes within the software suite. Realising true value-added insights, business users gain real-time visibility to identify issues, trends and opportunities and instantly drill down to the underlying transaction to act.

Picture yourself building a successful career at NetSuite—working alongside talented, driven individuals to help fast-growing, mid-size organisations and large enterprises achieve their business goals with the industry’s leading cloud-based business management suite, including ERP, Financials, CRM, Ecommerce, and professional services automation (PSA) some of which are explained further below.

The key benefits are: • Real-time transparency into company performance across all business functions - from summary level to transaction level; • A single version of the truth with all your data residing in a single source; • Self-serve, personalised experience with easy-to-use reporting tools without requiring programming or technical resources and; • On-the-go access via web browser and mobile device.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution NetSuite is the world’s most deployed cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, used by more than 40,000 organisations across 160+ countries. NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offers a modern, scalable solution to run all your key back-office operations and financial business processes in the cloud. From comprehensive financial management capabilities, including sophisticated revenue management and billing solutions, to inventory, supply chain and warehouse management solutions.

Jim McGeever In terms of my own job role here, I joined NetSuite in 2000 and was the company’s 15th employee. From 2000 until 2010, I served as NetSuite’s Chief Financial Officer and drove NetSuite’s 2007 Initial Public Offering. I lead all business operations at Oracle NetSuite’s Global Business Unit and hold a B.Sc. from the London School of Economics.

In 2007, I was named the Bay Area CFO of the Year.

NetSuite empowers businesses of all sizes, across all industries, in every part of the world to unleash innovation and growth. Built-in business intelligence with real-time reporting and analytics equips your organisation with a single version of the truth and ignites better, faster decision making.

In 2010, I became the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) responsible for global sales, services, and support operations. In my COO role, my management and execution have helped establish NetSuite as one of the leading cloud computing software companies in the world, more than tripling revenue from $193 million in 2010 to more than $700 million in 2015, based upon the company’s current 2015 revenue outlook.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software NetSuite’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is the only cloud solution that delivers a real-time, 360-degree view of your customers. NetSuite CRM provides a seamless flow of information across the entire customer lifecycle—from lead all the way through opportunity, sales order, fulfilment, renewal, upsell, cross-sell and support.

In 2015, I became the company’s president. In my role as President, I continue to report to NetSuite’s CEO and lead all customer, vertical, product and human resource activities. As a closing thought, I’d like to reminisce of how back in 2015, the CEO of NetSuite Zach Nelson, said of me that: “Jim has done an amazing job as COO, and his customer-centric focus enabled NetSuite to deliver for customers and shareholders for the last five years.”

In addition to offering traditional CRM capabilities such as SFA, customer service management and marketing automation, NetSuite CRM delivers quotes, order management, commissions, sales forecasting and integrated ecommerce capabilities.

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May 2017

“Surprisingly, each crisis has helped our firm to increase both its reputation and simultaneously its revenues. Due to a lack of credit in the market following the credit crunch, and based on the team expertise -we have developed an offer around corporate needs that has met people’s needs, the Bernie Maddoff story helped us to develop the fund support activities due to a need of transparency, a third-party monitoring and credibility from a recognised external team.”

“Moreover, the private banks themselves are indirectly helping us to develop businesses through their changing employment policies (reduced job security, constantly increasing pressure and decreasing rewards) and also their approach towards their clients (arbitrarily closing bank accounts of smaller clients in order to manage fewer relationships). We now talk about externalisation and independency from banks.”

Ludovic concludes that clients are more and more comparing services, looking for fee transparency, alignment of interests and open architecture while talking about investments and custodians. Our company has evolved since its inception in 2011 and developed several complimentary activities that led to several well-deserved awards and recognitions from peers based on this long-term approach.

Company: NetSuite Name: Jim McGeever Email: info@netsuite.com Web Address: www.netsuite.com Address: 2955 Campus Drive, Suite 100 San Mateo, CA 94403-2511 Telephone: +1 650 627 1000

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Wealth & Finance International

Research Leads to Results for ASU Arizona State University are earning more and more recognition for their expansion and research facilities.

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or the second consecutive year, Arizona State University is the nation’s most innovative school, per U.S. News & World Report rankings.

Matthews had visions of a green campus, with shrubs and plants adorning the grounds. His legacy lives on in modern times, as the main campus has been declared a nationally recognized arboretum.

This list compares more than 1,500 institutions on a variety of metrics.

The latest review, released today, is based on a survey of college presidents, provosts and admissions deans around the nation. ASU has taken the top spot in each year the innovation category has been considered.

During the Great Depression, enrolment increased 100% and Ralph W. Swetman was hired as president for a three-year term. However, many faculty were terminated and faculty salaries were cut due to the depression.

The back-to-back No. 1 rankings demonstrate ASU’s overarching approach is being recognized, rather than a single initiative or moment, university officials said.

In 2002, the university’s 16th president, Michael M. Crow was inaugurated, during his commencement speech, he outlined his vision for transforming ASU into a “New American University”—one that would be open and inclusive, and set a goal for the university to meet the criteria to become a member of the Association of American Universities. He initiated the idea of transforming ASU into a single institution comprising several campuses, sharing students, faculty, staff and accreditation.

Arizona State University in Modern Times

“We do things differently, and we constantly try new approaches,” ASU President Michael M. Crow said. “Our students’ paths to discovery don’t have to stay within the boundaries of a single discipline. Our researchers team up with colleagues from disparate fields of expertise. We use technology to enhance the classroom and reach around the world. We partner with cities, non-profits and corporations to support our advances as the higher-education economy evolves. This ranking recognizes the new model we have created.”

The reorganizations resulting from this combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced staff and administration as the university expanded its West and Polytechnic campuses, expanding ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus and relocating several colleges and schools there. This led to the opening of more learning centers throughout the state, including the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City and programs in Thatcher, Yuma, and Tucson, where several degree subjects are available.

Arizona State University Beginnings In March 1885, the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature passed an act to create a school to train teachers in Arizona. Thus, Arizona State University began operating as the Territorial Normal School. A single, four-room schoolhouse was the first campus and the school served a total of 33 people when the first classes began on February 8th, 1886.

The school changed names throughout the following 50 years, during which time, it became Arizona Territorial Normal School, Arizona Normal School, Normal School of Arizona and Tempe Normal School.

Throughout this time, the school offered high school diplomas and teaching certificates and accepted high-school-age students.

Millions of dollars in donations were made during crow’s presidency and these were funnelled into a years-long research facility capital building effort, which resulted in the establishment of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, as well as the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, and several large interdisciplinary research buildings.

Alongside these new facilities, the university faculty was expanded, introducing four Nobel Laureates. Over the 15 years since, the university’s research expenditures have tripled and more than 1.5 million square feet of space has been added to the facilities.

The school stopped awarding high school diplomas in 1923 and began to only accept students who had already completed their high school diploma. In 1925 the school began offering four-year Bachelor of Education degrees as well as two-year teaching certificates and became the Tempe State Teachers School. In 1929, the legislature authorized Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees as well, and the school was renamed the Arizona State Teachers College.

Arizona State University continues to grow and develop, making it a leading university in the country.

The school was given all-college student status under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews. Whilst he was president, the first dormitories were built on campus. 18 buildings were erected in total during his tenure, of which six are still used. The first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision. Of the 18 buildings constructed while Matthews was president, six are still in use.

Company: Arizona State University Name: Elizabeth Capaldi Phillips Email: betty.phillips@asu.edu Web Address: www.asu.edu/ Address: Tempe Campus, Tempe, Arizona, AZ 85281, USA Telephone: 001 480 965 1684 26

World Travel Connections

May 2017

2/53 Ethel St, Seaforth NSW 2092, Australia Phone: +61 2 9949 8366 info@worldconnections.com.au 27

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Wealth & Finance International

Ensure your Legacy Lugen Family Office Inc. (LFO) is a Canadian company specializing in empowering intergenerational family stories for affluent business families around the world. As CEO, Enzo Calamo speaks to us about his unique approach to legacy fulfilment.

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preservation and transcendence become important for legacy planning.

Family Legacy is about taking care of your loved ones. This phase can be broken down into 4 core processes: 1) Transition Planning, based on a) educating the next generation, b) managing the future of your assets based on the unique abilities of your heirs, and c) making certain that your core personal and family values are passed on; 2) Ownership Planning, based on who will control your assets; 3) Fairness of Assets Distribution between heirs, partners, and other stakeholders (such as debt holders, shareholders, etc.); and 4) Preserving the Family Legacy of your life story, values, and offering guidance to future generations on the replacement of your unique abilities within the family.”

lients of Lugen Family Office have access to LFO’s strategic network of global experts to help guide them through each step of its proprietary Seven Generation Legacy Process.

LFO’s core operations include: • • • •

Family Office Services for Family Businesses Second Opinions on wealth management from your own private and confidential Consigliere Independent “Luxury” and “Commercial” Real Estate Consulting Your Training Partner for your family and business legacy needs

“The last phase of the Legacy pyramid is how you want to be remembered for making a difference in the world based on the impact of your life, namely your Social Capital Legacy. This last phase of the Legacy Pyramid is based upon who will control the future of your dreams, assets, and values. Typically, this final choice is based upon your legacy being Government Directed versus Self Directed. If proper planning is not done, taxes and intestate laws will determine the future of your assets. Furthermore, your aspirations for the future of your family, and making a lasting difference in the world, may be lost due to the lack of a governance structure to manage your Social Capital Legacy. On the other hand, you can choose that your Social Capital Legacy be self-directed. You can lay the foundation for building a positive personal, family, and/or business legacy for generations to come based on your core values.”

By collaborating with Lugen Family Office, clients will align their family and business with the leading values based family office in the world.

Gain access to the firm’s private eco-system of highly respected strategic partners with a unique collaborative process to fulfill your life purpose and leave a positive legacy.

Chief executive officer, Enzo Calamo, tells us more about why so many people are now turning to a family office to help secure their legacy.

“Perhaps the most quoted statistic in the world of family business is this one: 30% of family businesses make it through the second generation, 10-15% make it to the third generation, and 3-5% make it to the fourth generation. Are you really willing to let your family become part of this dismal statistic?”

“In today’s society, it is common to think that estate planning, or succession planning, are the best way to protect your financial wealth for future generations. However, as ThichNhat Hanh reminds us:

“You may have heard the old proverb, ‘Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.’ What you may not know is that this trend is a global phenomenon. In Japan, the expression goes, ‘Rice paddies to rice paddies in three generations.’ In Italy it is, ‘From the Stables to the Stars to the Stables.’ The Scottish say, ‘The father buys, the son builds, the grandchild sells, and his son begs.’ In Spain, the expression is ‘Those that don’t have it make it, those who have it lose it.’ In Brazil, the saying goes, ‘Rich Father, Noble Son, Poor Grandson.’ In China, ‘Wealth never survives three generations.’”

‘If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.’

“With the Seven Generation Legacy Process, our goal is to help you take a long-term perspective of at least 150 years. Obviously, the chance of you, or any of your immediate family members, surviving this full cycle are slim. Consequently, this forces our clients to plant the seeds for success and significance today for future generations.”

The Legacy Pyramid At LFO, the core principle revolves around something called the Legacy Pyramid and the Seven Generation Legacy Planning Process. Enzo tells us more.

Seven Generation Legacy Process

“At the base of everyone’s life planning is freedom of choice. This allows people to achieve Self-Actualization, as described by Maslow, and to build wealth for Financial Independence. The base of the Legacy Pyramid is based on a T3 model consisting of: 1) your most important priorities based on your core values (Time), 2) generating profitable returns from your actions (Treasure), and 3) leading a purpose driven life (Talents).”

The best way to visualize the Seven Generation Legacy Process is as follows: 1) Respecting Traditions Keep alive the memories and stories of past generations, along with the important values and traditions that families are currently following, in a respectful manner.

“Once you can fulfill your true aspirations for a purpose driven life,

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2) Utilizing, Documenting, and Preserving Best Practices Every member of a family has unique abilities and gifts that contribute to the family and business success. It is important that people develop a process to properly utilize, capture, and preserve those gifts for current and future generations. It is folly to presume that a family, or business, will have these strengths easily available within future generations.

3) Finding a Common Mission In order to effectively strengthen the current family, and keep future generations unified, it is critical to find a common mission that everyone is willing to support. Becoming a significant inter-generational family dynasty requires a higher purpose that all family members are willing to work towards.

4) The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts Too often families and businesses confuse material success with true wealth. Just because one particular family member earns more money or accumulates substantially more material wealth than other family members, it is important to remember that material wealth cannot be taken into the afterlife once a person passes away. True wealth involves creating a pooled resource for the family, also known as the family’s culture, that captures each family member’s unique abilities, the various family life stories, intellectual capital, financial capital, experiential capital, relationship capital, and spiritual capital.

5) Life is the Ultimate Gift Unfortunately, one of the biggest tragedies in our current times is that human life is being devalued in relationship to material wealth. In reality, people are already multi-trillionaires, at least in the living cells that make up their bodies. It is important to remember that these treasures are meant to support time and talent so that each and every one can fulfill their life’s purpose. Unfortunately, too many individuals and families have fallen into the trap of using their time and talents to solely accumulate worldly treasures.

6) Focus on your values versus the value of what you own Whether or not a family member focuses on their legacy is irrelevant since everyone leaves behind a legacy. How do people want to be remembered by their loved ones, their community, and future generations? Live each day as if it were the last, doing the things that will make a difference, since one day it will be right!

7) Make a Choice and move Onward and Upward Seize the day! Live with passion. Make each decision count regardless of the outcome. Every second that ticks by in life is a second that will never return and has been spent forever. By making a difference in the world each day people can fulfil their life’s purpose by sharing their gifts with others.”

As the Branch Manager of Investia Financial Services, Enzo managed one of their largest branches in Western Canada.

About Enzo Calamo Enzo Calamo is not merely the CEO of Lugen Family Office, he is also a social entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the founder of the Seven Generation Legacy Process, a proprietary program for safeguarding and empowering family dynasties for legacy oriented families. Furthermore, Enzo is the Amazon Best Selling Co-Author of ‘How To Create Infinite Returns Using The Secret Asset: How To Recover All Business and Personal Expenses Using The Secret Asset.”

Enzo is the first Canadian Legacy Wealth Coach and a charter member of the Legacy Leadership and Legacy Wealth Coach forums in the United States. In 2006, Enzo was designated as an Ultimate Gift Ambassador due to his involvement in transforming Jim Stovall’s novel, “The Ultimate Gift,” into a major motion picture.

As a very active philanthropist, Enzo has served as Past President of the International Association of Philanthropy Advisors in the United States and as Treasurer of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners in Vancouver.

As a Lawyer and Tax and Estate Planning Consultant within several of Canada’s largest financial institutions, Enzo specialized in helping ultra-high net worth clients create effective values based estate plans and business succession strategies that empowered sustainable legacies.

As the General Manager and Director of Marketing for Aegon Canada and Transamerica Life Canada, Enzo, along with his exceptional team, transformed multiple company offices into one of the largest distributors for Life Insurance, Annuities, and Segregated Funds in Canada.

Name: Enzo Calamo, CEO, Lugen Family Office Telephone: 1-866-605-8885 Ext 1 Website: www.lugenfamilyoffice.com

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Wealth & Finance International

Benchmark of Success Communications Strategy Group (CSG) creates targeted, measurable traditional and online influencer relations campaigns that tie directly to its clients overall marketing and strategic objectives.

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owerful and effective marketing communications is based on a content value exchange whereby organizations engage prospects, customers and influencers through relevant and purposeful content in exchange for their attention, engagement and patronage.

“At CSG, we leverage our deep understanding and network of influencers in the industries we serve to create, package, distribute and promote compelling and impactful content to and through influencers on behalf of our clients,” explains senior vice president and head of financial and professional services at CSG, Dan Mahoney.

affords CSG clients a global footprint of reliable and proven communications solutions providers that are equipped to achieve clients’ objectives.”

Dan has a long track record of working with innovative FinTech companies and has also worked with more established global brands, such as Janus Capital, Farmers Insurance, Charles Schwab, Invesco PowerShares, The Bancorp, NACHA, Wolters Kluwer and the Financial Planning Association to achieve a wide variety of business goals through strategic communications.

As the financial services practice director at CSG, Dan oversees all of the practice’s sectors, including banking, personal finance, payments, insurance, financial technology, legal, accounting and asset management, which allows him to share best practices and lessons learned among the various teams.

Previously, Dan provided strategic communications guidance to high-profile national, state and local political campaigns, and on behalf of issue advocacy organizations. Dan graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

“Public relations is not reserved for strict, traditional media relations anymore,” he states. “What PR encompasses is changing every day; but as it stands today, PR is everything from television, print, social media, online news sites, apps and more.”

“The most compelling ingredient of CSG’s success is our commitment to exceptional work. Our work is based upon creative approaches to challenges and opportunities, followed by good old-fashioned elbow grease to achieve intended outcomes. The culture and the company have been built upon this dedication and the delivery of meaningful, measurable work.

Organizations gain a competitive advantage by leveraging and engaging with influencers and influential organizations, such as media, analysts, associations, non-profits, politicians, customers, social media communities and bloggers. This form of engagement is what CSG defines as influencer relations.

“Influencer relations focuses on deeply understanding an industry and effectively communicating with the right people in the right places at the right time, often at the ‘point of need,’” Dan embellishes. “We find stakeholders who can have impact; establish an authentic voice among champions who can help spread your message; build and maintain channels of communication; and engage your prospective and existing clients and customers. We help you establish a clear path and approach to influencers, exponentially driving sustainable and profitable long‐ term growth.”

“Our content-based influencer relations philosophy allows us to deploy a broad spectrum of strategies and tactics that deliver the benefits of a well-constructed content value exchange. Whether it is a content audit, creation of highly compelling content, packaging it in various formats or promoting through traditional, online PR and social media, it’s all designed to achieve short- and long-term objectives.”

While there are vast opportunities within the communications realm, the strategic challenge is to identify the initiatives that will most effectively impact a clients’ bottom line, triple or otherwise.

CSG is composed of a team of people who take an unusual level of pride in their work and care deeply about their clients’ success.

“We work to direct efforts and dollars toward the areas that will most benefit your business, whether it is building thought leadership, lead acquisition, conversion, reputation management, crisis communications, loyalty and retention, or business-to-business versus business-to-consumer solutions. We offer you measurable outcomes, which keeps our course, expectations and deliverables in check.

“We describe ourselves as ‘work horses’ not ‘show horses,’ which is a significant distinction in the communications arena. We are determined, thoughtful, ingenious, passionate, hardworking, caring and talented professionals who serve as an extra set of arms, legs to help you get work done, and thoughtful minds and hearts with which to collaborate.

“Success doesn’t always look how you thought it would. By measuring these different facets of impact, you can find ways to effectively measure how targeted audiences received and interacted with your campaign. But remember, it all starts with setting the proper benchmarks.”

“Our team is further enhanced by our ability to tap our partners in the IPREX network of communications agencies around the globe. With more than 1,500 professionals in over 100 offices worldwide, IPREX 30

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May 2017

Renaissance Man Weil, Gotshal & Manges (Weil) headquartered in New York City, is an American international law firm and is consistently ranked as one of the most prestigious and profitable law firms in the world. We profile Philp Rosen, co-head of the firm’s Real Estate practice and its Infrastructure practice as well as head of the Firm’s Hospitality and Gaming Practice, as he steps into the limelight.

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ith approximately 1,100 lawyers in offices on three continents around the world, Weil operates according to the “one firm” principle, allowing it to bring the right mix of firm-wide skill and local-market presence to deliver the coordinated legal advice necessary to help their clients achieve their sophisticated goals and objectives.

Recognized by clients, the media, and professional commentators as best in class, Weil’s lawyers are known for the clarity, timeliness, and effectiveness of their counsel and, as a result, have become their clients’ first port of call for solutions to their toughest legal challenges.

Founded in 1931, Weil has been a preeminent provider of legal services for more than 85 years. Widely recognized by those covering the legal profession as “best in class”, Weil’s lawyers regularly advise clients globally on their most complex Litigation, Corporate, Restructuring, Real Estate and Tax and Benefits matters. With 19 offices worldwide – 8 in the United States and 11 outside the United States – Weil has been a pioneer in establishing a geographic footprint that has allowed the Firm to partner with clients wherever they do business.

estate restructuring and refinancing” and Mr. Rosen as a leader in that field. Mr. Rosen has also been recognized by Chambers USA as a “great adviser and a highly respected figure.” In Chambers USA 2009, clients said he’s a ‘world class lawyer’ with ‘an understanding of the markets and good grasp of the business repercussions in addition to the legal ramifications.’ Mr. Rosen has been listed in Chambers as one of the very top real estate lawyers since Chambers began its ratings. He has also been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2004, as one of the top real estate practitioners in Legal 500 US, and has been designated a New York Super Lawyer since 2006. Additionally, he has been recognized as a leading lawyer based abroad for Corporate/M&A: Israel by Chambers Global.

Philip Rosen is Co-Head of the Firm’s Real Estate practice and the Firm’s Infrastructure practice. He is a leading authority in the mergers and acquisitions of real estate companies, both public and private. He is also one of the top real estate finance lawyers and has long been considered one of the leading lawyers in the debt restructuring space.

He is also one of the top private equity lawyers in the property arena, representing numerous opportunity funds and institutions in their larger and more complicated transactions.

In April 2006, Philip was appointed by President Bush to serve as a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council. In March, 2002 he was appointed by Governor George Pataki to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Professional Firms Advisory Council. He was elected in 1993 to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. In 1990 Crain’s New York Business named him to their elite “40 under 40 – People to Watch in the 1990s.” He also was named one of the leading “power brokers” in New York real estate by GRID magazine. Mr. Rosen has been featured in interviews with a variety of notable publications and broadcasts, including The Wall Street Journal. The Real Deal, The Stoler Report and Building New York: New York Stories, among others.

With a top reputation in a broad spectrum of other transactions areas, including real estate investment trusts, joint ventures, and property and debt portfolio acquisitions, Mr. Rosen also heads the firm’s renowned hospitality and gaming practice. He is also one of the country’s leading authorities on doing business in the Middle East. Finally, the last two years he has also been counsel on three of the four largest deals in the industrial space (the last one being a $5.9 billion transactions) as much of the retail industry shifts to e-commerce and industrial properties are transformed into distribution centers.

Philip is a member of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University in New York, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yeshiva College in New York and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Birthright Israel Foundation. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Mr. Rosen is a Wexner Heritage Foundation scholar, a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Real Estate Board of New York, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and the Urban Land Institute. In May 2008, former President George W. Bush invited Phil to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany the President to Jerusalem for Israel’s 60th anniversary celebration.

Phil, and the practices he leads, have received many honors over the years. Mr. Rosen was named a 2012 Real Estate “MVP” by Law350 noting his successes in major real estate transactions, including advising Centro Retail Trust in its $9.4 billion sale of a US shopping center portfolio and representing General Grown Properties in its $8.5 billion recapitalization effort. He also received many accolades for representing KTR in the sale of its portfolio for $5.9 billion to Prologis.

Chambers, which has listed Weil as one of the top real estate practices since inception, has called Weil’s real estate “the best practice for real

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Glowinkowski International

Wealth & Finance International

Driving up organisational performance through leadership development and behaviour coaching Glowinkowski International was founded in the early nineties. Over this time we have developed our coaching and consultancy practice, together with a research institute that underpins our approach and toolkit and accreditation academy for transferring our knowledge and skills. Our work focuses on helping organisations drive up their performance through leadership development and behaviour coaching.

Our reach is global. Our sector experience is extensive. This ranges from financial services, FMCG, retail and manufacturing to religious orders, schools and universities.

A key principle for our work lies in performance. This work is based on an approach that is both practical and valid, proven through many years of application and research and delivered by consultants who all have extensive line management and leadership backgrounds.

Ultimately, our focus is on helping individuals, teams and organisations achieve their potential.

www.glowinkowski.com

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May 2017

Excellence in Human Service Interaction Assurant BPO Solutions Inc. is a global leader of BPO, KPO and managed services solutions. The firm services clients in the Pharmaceutical, BPO, Logistics, Technology, Financial Services, Healthcare, Human Resources, Survey and Analysis fields.

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It is experience in these multiple verticals that has allowed Assurant to develop best practices for continued growth and service delivery and the firm prides itself on Implementing and managing customized solutions for clients.

Assurant BPO Solutions Inc. has been a global provider of ITES (IT Enabled Services). In the Philippines, Assurant’s delivery is through a state of the art customized solutions.

“Though our services are compatible for clients from any industry, we excel in designing and implementing a wide spectrum of call center initiatives ranging from inbound customer care, chat support, sales and help desk, to outbound services along with in-language services.

“But it is not about the size of the engagement, it’s the depth of the engagement.”

Assurant BPO has a proven history of helping companies cost effectively acquire new customers while maximizing profits by retaining and growing their existing clientele. Assurant, has been a pioneer of introducing and supporting innovative business solutions in multiple verticals.

“We help clients build a local subsidiary from the ground up, establishing a captive operation that we administer and run,” says president and CEO Ranjit David Ebenezer. “This provides maximum cost savings and complete control of the operation”.

As the firm’s guides it towards being a customer centric company that focuses on understanding a client’s specific needs, it delivers results by building marketing partner chemistry with clients based on expertise, integrity, responsiveness and hands-on implementation.

Whether applying our expertise to Managed Services, Customer Acquisition, Customer Service, Help Desk, or KPO Services, Assurant delivers dynamic scalable business solutions to fit small to medium sized companies. The Assurant management team has an average of 18 years of Call Centre and BPO experience at the senior level while the middle management team averages 12-15 years of experience.

Assurant BPO Solutions Inc. is committed to providing service excellence with the high standards that all companies requires in providing a seamless interface with their customers.

“By excellence we mean that we aim to simply be the best services organization globally; not the largest but simply the best. Every single human interaction will be personalized and touched with excellence, respect, courteousness and integrity crafted into an innovative solution.”

“Our strategy has always been to build a long term synergistic management team which we can leverage on our client’s behalf,” embellishes Ranjit. “We’re not there to tell clients how to run their business, but to facilitate and make sure their outsourcing experience is the best possible.”

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Wealth & Finance International

On the Buses Avass Group is an International Electric Vehicle Manufacturer headquartered in Australia. Headed up

by Allen Saylav, the firm strives to differentiate itself from competitors and has innovation at its very core.

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on customer demand. The customer demand is varied by operational factors. For Government applications, minimal emissions, new energy technology is an important aspect. For Private Fleet Operators, cost savings in maintenance, running costs, durability, end user comfort and versatility are important aspects. For Distributors, network availability, convenience, support, logistical programs, effective expertise support, product options and more are important aspects”.

stablished in Melbourne Australia, the Avass Group of companies has a proud and successful history. Commencing operations as a consulting engineering body, the group has developed and diversified over the years and now trades within the electric vehicle manufacturing space.

Avass Pty Ltd remains a privately owned family business, attributing its success and continued growth to the philosophy of believing in people, innovation and providing quality service and products.

Innovation for Avass is a refreshing new inspiration to consistently introduce technology improvements through its combination of research and field experience in comprehensive test and evaluation, which brings together products and processes to improve productivity and lifestyles.

“We at Avass look beyond competitor innovations and adapt breakthrough technology systems providing significant advantages. Our innovations are directed to commercialised sectors with resourcing and management to generate profitable returns.”

With its manufacturing facilities located in Lara Victoria and Huzhou China, Avass Group also has strategically located global sales and marketing offices internationally.

Avass currently leads production of 100% Electric Vehicles with a full range of manufacturing operations.

The firm’s strengths lie within its people. Avass professionals are from diverse sectors of Engineering, Chemistry, Biomechanical, Science, Automotive, Aerospace, Rail and Electronics.

The most significant drawback of electric buses globally has been limited range. If an electric bus can only manage 250-300 kilometers on one charge, its operation is restricted to the shorter routes unless recharging infrastructure is installed along the roads to enable ‘top-up’ charging. Such infrastructure is expensive to buy and install and may also become redundant as electric vehicle technology progresses rapidly.

“Our dedicated team’s potential has made a mark in developing numerous world first innovations introduced to the marketplace,” continues Allen. “Our teams work in unison throughout various locations around the globe creating and developing new ideas and client requests.”

The Avass City Bus can travel 600 kilometers on one overnight charge, meaning the vast majority of urban routes are possible. There is no need for top-up charging along the way, which saves money up-front and saves time in operational schedules.

Avass collaborates with clients in all business sectors to develop Innovation as a full cycle process enabling organisations to transform ideas into business models and increasing capabilities.

The group recognises the importance of our client’s business in order to locate, customise and deliver products and services that will last and meet each business’ and individuals current and future expectations.

“Our mission at Avass is to unequivocally set ourselves apart from our competitors by creating electric vehicles that no other manufacturer can duplicate,” explains chairman Allen Saylav. “This commitment has resulted in the accelerated development of Avass long distance range passenger buses driving over 1000 kms with a rapid single charge.”

Avass is known as a leader in innovation, offering a friendly and professional service whilst maintaining strict quality, safety and environmental standards.

“Avass always delivers something new,” Allen enthuses. “Be it in products and services, business processes, product/service delivery, business designs, or new styles of management. Our ambition is to grow our operations significantly over the coming years and become one of the biggest employers in the region.”

“It is difficult to stand out with a growing number of competitors in an industry which is accelerating with each new technology wave,”Allen states. “For Avass we aim to study our product’s user’s experience and win the minds of customers. The information we receive helps overcome actual and assumed deficiencies.

“Avass products vary with appearance and perception as well as quality.

What is important is the usability not so much concentrated on visual appearance, but consistency. Avass ensures that distinct functionality is presented in a way that reflects the differences. Our designs are developed for the simplest usability and functionality rather than what it may look and feel like. Our products are designed for reliability and focused

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May 2017

A Fight to Find the Market World Blitz, LLC is a creator of software solutions to power logistics across all market places. It’s retail site, Shopping Blitz, is its greatest success story and its unique messaging based platform, CommerceBlitz, concentrates on fulfillment tracking first and helps organize the flow of information for faster response times.

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here is a large world of product catering to a large diverse world of people. Finding the place to put your product can be a challenge. Finding the platforms you need to build on to provide for your customers can also be daunting. How can you predict the tech trend before it trends? We aim to be more flexible.

a particular platform. For example, the “Amazon Module” would allow for two-way communication between systems. By default, it includes an inventory management module and a shipping module. The Amazon market alone is linked to over 1 Million sellers. We offer Modules for Shopify, Magento, Bigcommerce, FedEx, UPS, Amazon, eBay, Jet, Walmart, Bonanza, Pricefalls, ZuLily, Kohl’s, and ever more.

Utilizing a messenger based system design we were able to greatly affect scalability to the functionality of our software. Only needing to update the changed parts rather than constantly polling and updating a maintained large database. This keeps hardware costs low, very low.

We offer the software and logistic solutions to operate multi-platform, multi-origin ECommerce distribution sales engines. A full online selling service. Simple and dependable automation for ECommerce.

Experience has taught us to look at the supply chain from the warehouse point-of-view, as well as the multiple sales channels. From a single storefront, a sales channel can be rapidly set up. Tying that into the Internet of things, adding new distribution points and sales channels add challenges to the supply chain. Keeping the inventory management process as automated and as versatile as possible across all sales channels. Every sales channel needs to funnel into a shipped order from your warehouse, outside fulfillment service, Dropship, agreement, etc… making sure current inventory is updated at every juncture.

Our system is designed to be implemented in part or in whole with your already existing infrastructure. We also offer technical expertise to help launch and maintain catalogs. Any product will be fine in the system as there isn’t an architecture to the database restricting your creations. Retailer or Manufacturer can benefit greatly from our Suite of connectors.

The logistics of Multi-Channel Ecommerce has become increasingly more complicated. Expectations of consumers have increased. E-Comm is not a novelty any longer, it is a way of doing business. We provide a Software as a Service (SAAS) model software suite to connect all your Ecommerce parts together. Each module is sold separately and linked to

A single storefront requires more than just a stand-alone website in today’s highly competitive climate.

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Wealth & Finance International

Sage Advice We take an in-depth look at the offerings of CREO Capital Advisors and delve into the history of the firm.

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REO Capital Advisors is a growth focused investment bank providing clients with the highest level of strategic and financial advisory services. It serves as a trusted advisor to companies, entrepreneurs, investors, boards, and families, delivering custom-tailored solutions in strategic and financial matters, including mergers & acquisitions. The firm believes in trust, unconventional thinking and a problem-solving approach designed to maximize the goals that matter most—those of its clients.

CREO’s veteran dealmakers have significant access and deep relationships both in geographic regions and industry segments of the middle market. Its clients receive the collective and collaborative support of the entire CREO team.

CREO Capital Advisors is affiliated with the CREO Companies and its activities comprise of independent affiliates in both investment banking and investment management. A privately-owned and operated firm, delivering objective and client centric advice, the firm is based in Los Angeles, and operates on behalf of its clients throughout North America, as well as globally through its affiliate network.

The firm was founded in 2009 by Joel Montminy and a group of middle market M&A professionals with a shared passion for building a visionary firm. After years of observing investment banking consolidation, market turmoil, and conflicted advice, it set out with a clear objective: to provide trusted, forward-thinking, entrepreneurial solutions to meet the ever changing and specialized needs of middle market companies. It steadily added clients, team members and capabilities and, by 2012, relocated to new head office in west Los Angeles.

ment banks, leading private equity firms, and global accounting and consulting firms. Over the last twenty years, these professionals have collectively closed more than 300 transactions and advisory assignments exceeding $20 billion in aggregate transaction volume, including $5 billion of cross-border transaction volume in 15 countries. Every day, the firm strives to build on its track record of delivering the highest level of financial and strategic guidance to entrepreneurs, senior executives and boards throughout the middle market.

Mr. Montminy founded and leads the firm, spearheading its operations, growth and client assignments across the globe in all facets of corporate finance.

The firm strongly believes that its greatest asset is its people and its reputation. The professionals and staff at CREO come from leading companies in the fields of investment banking, private equity, consulting and accounting and enjoy a shared passion for hard work, excellence and high ethical standards.

For over 20 years, Mr. Montminy has led professional service firms and initiated cross-border and domestic mergers and acquisitions, leveraged and management buyouts, and private placements of equity securities, restructurings, business valuations, fairness opinions and strategic advisory assignments. He has advised founders, CEO’s and boards of both private and public companies, in a wide range of industries including food and beverage, consumer products, retail, hospitality & leisure, business services, technology and entertainment.

As opposed to the leverage model used by many firms, CREO commits the full resources of the firm including senior advisor attention to every assignment, and believes its team brings unmatched personal skill and experience to manage the entirety of every engagement. It has deal-savvy team members operating with the core tenets of trust, integrity, expertise and unconventional thinking—all aimed at driving exceptional outcomes for clients.

Mr. Montminy has led the CREO’s most notable transactions, including setting market pinnacle values for sell-side transactions. Prior to forming CREO, Mr. Montminy was Managing Director of Los Angeles-based boutique investment bank Greif & Co., leading a broad range of middle market transactions and co-managing the firm’s expansion with its founder. He was previously Director of Business Development for multinational law firm Arter & Hadden, LLP and served on the firm’s Management Committee.

Company: CREO Capital Advisors Name: Joel Montminy Email: jmontminy@creocapitaladvisors.com Web Address: www.creocapitaladvisors.com Address: 12100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90025 Telephone: + 1 310 230 8600

Whilst still a relatively young firm, the deal veterans have earned their stripes at the world’s largest investment banks, top tier boutique invest-

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May 2017

Simply Charming Charm City Concierge recently became the Best Business Leader in Concierge Services - Mid-Atlantic.

We take a look in more depth at the firm and its unique offering to clients.

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ounded in 1993 by Christina Hughes Urquhart, minority-owned and managed, Charm City Concierge, Inc. and Concierge Solutions, LLC is the leading provider of concierge services and solutions in the Nation.

By providing concierge solutions to commercial office buildings, residential communities/multifamily developments, mixed-use properties, private corporations, corporate campuses, malls and hospital clients, Charm City Concierge and Concierge Solutions LLC helps landlords and corporations attract, secure, retain and expand relationships with their tenants, employees, residents, patients and guests in 250+ locations nationwide, spanning more than 40 million square feet.

The firm’s three service delivery platforms – onsite, virtual and a hybrid of both - give it the ability to service all types of clients and companies large and small, while its scalable virtual concierge technology (The Concierge Dashboard) and streamlined operations have allowed the company to expand existing client relationships and service new clients nationwide.

This concierge portal offers Charm City Concierge clients 24/7 access to one-stop shopping online for anything they might need. It offers true online shopping – no referrals or links to outside shopping sites – and a ‘live’ concierge still does all the work.

From offices in Baltimore, Maryland, Washington, DC, Northern Virginia and Philadelphia, Charm City leads, supports and cheers on a very talented team of employees focused entirely on delivering above and beyond service and amazing work/life solutions. By bringing amenities to make life easier, the firm creates a “home away from home” work environment which helps clients secure, retain and expand relationships with their tenants and employees.

At Charm City, it is clear to see that its strength lies in its people. The firm’s concierge is solid team players that are marketing-minded and service-oriented and provide more than just a presence at the concierge desk. They are responsible for marketing and promoting the concierge service program, responding to and facilitating service requests and managing tenant/employee relations budget and program. They act as a seamless extension of a client’s management team -- always keeping the customer’s goals in mind and the customer in the loop.

But, the real secret to Charm City’s success? Simply put, it strives to continually exceed its clients’ expectations by offering impeccable service, a polished concierge team, relevant ever-changing programs, state of the art technology and an attention to detail that is unmatched in the concierge industry.

Knowledge, contacts and stellar customer service are essential to a concierge’s success. Charm City Concierge staffs each property with the most qualified concierge in the industry. While each property is unique and tenant mix varies, its approach to service remains the same and the firm strives to match the appropriate concierge who is the ‘perfect fit’ to a client’s property or company.

Virtual Concierge Website: The Concierge Dashboard In a variety of business sectors and industries there is an obvious stirring on the concierge front. Trend data clearly indicates that concierge service is moving into the mainstream as clients have less time and demand more in the way of information and assistance in their buying transactions … and demand it happen at warp speed.

At Charm City Concierge, the focus is on tenant and employee satisfaction and it is this that makes the difference. With dedicated concierge managers and a backside support team to oversee efforts and ensure the needs of properties are being met effectively, each team member plays an equally important role in the firm’s drive to deliver exceptional service, strengthen tenant/employee relations and capture tenant loyalty.

After many years of providing concierge services on the ground, Charm City Concierge launched its Concierge Dashboard. The development of this proprietary virtual concierge software is a nationwide first in the concierge industry. When getting things done faster and smarter is the norm, the Concierge Dashboard is the ultimate personal assistant and has all the capabilities a client needs to make life easier.

Company: Katherine Obrien Name: kobrien@charmcityconcierge.com Email: info@charmcityconcierge.com Web Address: www.charmcityconcierge.com Address: 1437 E. Fort Avenue Baltimore, MD 21230 Telephone: +1 (410) 727 4569

The Concierge Dashboard transforms the way businesses and clients connect, interact and transact. A personalised, interactive virtual concierge on a laptop links clients to their building/company, their dedicated concierge, and a localised virtual marketplace all under one roof.

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Wealth & Finance International

We Care We Help Created in 1999 CMR associates offers services in property & casualty, group benefits, retirement and private equity how have they found success in this? CMR and founder Christopher Roche are discussed in detail.

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stablished in 1999 by founder Christopher Roche CMR and associates offers a wide range of financial services. Mr Roche set out on his own motivated by his time at insurance broker Marsh Inc gaining all the knowledge he had learnt from networking with CEOs and CFOS that helped him shed light on what it would take to invest in commercial insurance.

cost litigation fees. This is fully understood by CMR that provide customers with the right providers that can impact the cost and locate the most appropriate service team. The database which has been continually refined and enhanced to include over 7,000 property/ casualty broker and vendor specialists including commercial truck insurance reaching over 120 countries.

Roche also began to develop a more detailed working knowledge of what CEO’s and CFO’S needed when it came to securing benefits and contributions for their respective companies with all this wealth of knowledge at his disposal he quickly realised the path he should take and seek out a method on how he could save clients millions.

Group benefits service is something that CMR pride themselves in as they have managed to save over $120m in industry overcharges. As medical insurances are one of the top five expense categories for employees it’s important to have a system in place to help cut overcharges.

One of the primary objectives is to attract and maintain a motivated work environment. With the CMR database it consists of over 2,000 group benefit brokers ideal for this type of situation.

The conclusion of research that Christopher conducted so him handling different types of research methods that span over 120 countries and help detail and complex database with over 11,000 brokers, broker/ dealers, specialists and direct writers in the property/ liability, group benefits and retirement disciplines.

A third service that is offered is retirement advisory’s this will help all that are approaching or are already in retirement age, most companies attempt to levitate the stress on retirement plans by offering a variety of plans such as 401K’s, local government mandated plans, traditional defined benefits and defined contradiction plans. To go with the complexity of retirement plans, the cost and time they take to implement and monitor them

Along with the collection of data and the ongoing research methods conducted by CMR has helped to create their database which is an exclusive program that tracks a variation of 40 different characteristics of each specialist linking them to core competencies to a client industry classification and custom needs. The database created allows new customers and existing clients the ability to compare and benchmark there current rating fees and coverage by accessing the CMR database policy smart.

Company: CMR Associates Name: Christopher Roche Email: croche@cmr-associates.com Web Address: www.cmr-associates.com Address: 445 Park Ave, New York, NY 10022 Telephone: +1 (212) 447-4300

Clients are matched to new suppliers by using collaboration and data, global price trending and a deep database.

The Property & Casualty service that CMR offer helps utilize the policy smart system to help organisations protect their assets and avoid high 38

Knowledge that generates business for you We are a company of people passionate about doing marketing in a different way.

Our main value is to help our customers’ results. Our main raw material is the sensitivity of looking each one in a unique way.

www.serinews.com.br

Sandor Advisors, LLC Financial planner in Dallas, Texas

2828 Routh St #500, Dallas, TX 75201, USA +1 214-849-9876

Leopard Capital manages pioneering investment funds targeting overlooked frontiers such as Cambodia and Haiti, and provides advisory services to startups introducing breakthrough technologies to address global problems.

We manage $54 million of committed capital raised from The World Bank’s International Finance Corp, Netherlands Development Finance (FMO), The Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund, and over 100 private investors.

www.leopardcapital.com

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Wealth & Finance International

Great Service, Great Investments & Great Partners Produce Great Results Vivaris Capital is a Puerto Rico-based Investment, capital and real estate organisation, working on behalf of clients to produce long-term results and returns across a variety of industries.

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ivaris was founded by J. Christopher Mizer in June of 1998.

Formerly Lake Erie Capital, Vivaris now invests in, and acquires, middle-market businesses in a broad range of industries that are leaders in their market niches. Mr. Mizer serves as the chairman of each of the portfolio companies and guides key strategic decisions and their execution. He also serves as the operating president on an interim basis when companies are going through periods of ownership succession and new management team members are being assembled.

Most of all, the company values trust and works hard to build long-term, trustworthy relations with both clients and partners for a more supporting service delivery and engagement.

At Vivaris, we employ a sophisticated strategy of asset management that allows investors to participate in high growth alternative investments while managing liquidity and mitigating principal risk.

As experts in entrepreneurial finance, Vivaris invest across all sectors and analyze projects one by one. They start with the fundamentals that drive growth and value creation: opportunities to revitalize management; implement a disciplined sales process; introduce new products and services; and enter strategic relationships.

Mr. Mizer is a former Vice President and Officer of the investment banking division of Key Capital Markets, where he focused on merger, acquisition, and financing projects for Fortune 500 clients, private companies, and successful entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Key Corp., he was Consultant in the Capital Markets practice with Ernst & Young.

Vivaris invests on a yield-convert basis. In structuring their offerings, they look to build instruments that offer their investors the security and current income of debt, with the back-end up side associated with equity.

He began his career as a Research Assistant with The Center for Economic Issues, a think-tank focused on economic development. He earned the B.S. (biology, applied math), B.A. (economics), M.S. degrees (biology - neurogenetics), and MBA (finance, accounting) degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

Vivaris tend to work with transactions between $15 and $500 million, but they aim to produce results for all sizes of investment, large and small, with the knowledge that the risk/return profile means more than the initial investment.

Christopher has taught business strategy, finance and entrepreneurship at the graduate level at Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, and the University of California, San Diego and at the undergraduate at San Diego State University.

When looking at an investment, Vivaris ensure that they have the prerequisite expertise, then research the opportunity to determine if there is latent value in the deal and re-capitalize accordingly.

Vivaris align their interest with those of their clients, to improve client relationships and deliver a truly tailored service. Using an extensive network of people and companies, they invest in deal flow opportunities and offer those advantages to their clients.

Vivaris value through implementing proven strategies, optimizing technology, improving operations, applying financial engineering, and executing targeted sales and marketing campaigns.

By seeking out the best deals and approaching unexpected companies, Vivaris always find the best deal for their clients. The company also prefers long-term investments over short-term returns, using a ‘buy and build’ model to procure safe and profitable returns for clients.

Our strategy is to participate in transactions that have a higher potential return than the traditional buying and holding of mature income properties. All investments are collateralized 100% based on estimated current market values.

With a strong belief in entrepreneurship and financial engineering, the company woks to deliver both and install both values in client services.

Vivaris also manage real estate opportunities, including real estate developments, value-added acquisitions, international properties, bridge equity, and hard money loans.

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May 2017

At Vivaris Capital, investments in Growth Equity are usually majority equity stakes or, in certain circumstances, minority positions with negative controls. They invest in companies from late-stage venture firms, primarily in technology, to mature middle-market companies that are revenue-proven with EBITDA between $2 to $20 million and at an inflection point where the injection of new capital can fuel substantial additional revenue and profitability.

Vivaris have learned that the companies they invest in perform best when the people who lead them are working at peak levels. Thus, they have developed a series of training programs, boot camps, and transformational experiences to support personal and professional development. These are offered to all company employees as well as to outside stakeholders on an invitation-only basis. The outcomes are designed to bring about radical levels of health, wealth, and happiness.

We believe that proper organizational structuring and implementation of management incentives are key to driving significant long-term growth and higher valuations.

Company: Vivaris Ltd Name: Chris Mizer Email: cmizer@vivarisltd.com Web Address: www.vivarisltd.com Address: Caribe Plaza Office Building 6th Floor, Palmeras St, San Juan, 901, Puerto Rico Telephone: 001 858 525 5141

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Wealth & Finance International

A Global Network with Asian Values Tops the Industry SilverSea Asset Management are bringing traditional values to a global organisation o offer a complete and quality service to clients.

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ounded in 2011, SilverSea Asset Management is a Multi-Family Office providing financial services and independent advice to qualified global accredited private clients (HNWI) and family offices. Their expertise in providing independent financial services and advice is strengthened by their resourcefulness and ability to collaborate with professionals across various disciplines to meet the financial needs of their clients.

Transparency, clarity and trust are the key cornerstones of the business.

Listening to and understanding client needs has been the foundation of their success. Open and honest conversations are key elements for a successful and sustainable partnership.

SilverSea has strong relationships with leading private banks and clients have the freedom to select the best fit per their needs. The company is also able to assist clients with recommendations as required and work closely with reputable trust and tax planning partners to complement their services. For clients who are happy to keep their assets at their existing private bank, SilverSea can be added with Limited Power of Attorney (LPoA), therefore there is no necessity to switch banks.

In a financial industry under pressure to deliver constant results and economies of scale, SilverSea has the advantage and privilege of patiently servicing and advising a limited number of discerning clients.

SilverSea are seasoned investors with a deep understanding of the financial industry. To implement their clients’ personal investment strategies, the company combine their investment experience together with their extensive network of specialists and professionals.

SilverSea is granted with a Limited Power of Attorney for investment management only. All bank accounts are set up under their clients preferred legal setup and they remain the sole beneficial owners. As an Independent Asset Manager, SilverSea are only authorised to give trading instructions to the custodian bank. The Limited Power of Attorney can be revoked anytime at the clients’ will, giving them full control and flexibility.

SilverSea has consistently followed a conservative investment approach, allowing them to protect and grow their clients’ wealth under diverse market conditions. Rigorous due diligence and evaluation process are used for each investment opportunity. Understanding and managing the downside risk is essential in assessing investment opportunities, while co-investing with clients clearly aligns their mutual interest.

To govern the terms of their services, clients will first sign an Investment Management Agreement with SilverSea. This agreement outlines the service level, fee arrangement, client’s risk appetite and investment focus and provides another element of security to all transactions.

By listening to clients’ needs and objectives, SilverSea work collaboratively to create bespoke investment solutions.

SilverSea investment team will provide clients with investment advice and support in their financial decisions. Allowing clients to make the final decisions in all transactions. They can also liaise with banks on their clients’ behalf for best execution and transaction processes.

SilverSea believe in clear and regular communication with their clients and provide regular investment updates and market research. The company maintains a transparent fee structure to ensure fair dealing practices.

SilverSea will tailor a bespoke mandate for each clients’ investment profile. This portfolio is managed in accordance with the company’s in-house investment strategy and the clients’ investment guidelines.

Dedicated client advisors keep clients updated and update them regularly on the activities and performance of their portfolio.

SilverSea’s clients have access to an extended range of investment solutions, providing them with more flexibility and independent investment advice.

These customised solutions, expertise and responsive service ensure that client needs, such as legacy planning, insurance, estate planning or real estate needs are met and exceeded. Whilst coordinating and collaborating with professionals from the legal, insurance, estate, business, tax disciplines to provide the scale of planning advice and resources required by High Net Worth Individuals.

Company: SilverSea Asset Management Name: Thomas Anderegg Email: thomas.anderegg@silverseaam.com Web Address: www.silverseaam.com Address: 73 Tras Street, Singapore, 79012, SG Telephone: 0065 6908 0325

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May 2017

Patented Tech Takes Valuation to the Next Level E2Value have created and patented their valuation applications to offer their clients and customers a better, more efficient service.

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2Value® has been a leading innovator in all sectors of the valuation industry since it was founded in 2000 by Todd Rissel and George Moore. Their extensive experience working with carriers and producers to appraise homes and commercial buildings—of any size, any value—helped them understand exactly what customers wanted from their valuation software. e2Value currently provides web-based Insurance-to-Value and collateral value monitoring solutions for residential properties, including: Mainstreet® homes, high-value homes, mobile manufactured and kit homes, condos and co-ops. Any size and style. Commercial property services include any commercial structure, from warehouses to hospitals to manufacturing facilities and more. The company’s estimator is the only web-based estimator solely dedicated to Farm and Ranch structures.

It offers the convenience of valuing both a home and farm structures within a single valuation tool. e2Value also offers Pronto®, the online residential and commercial estimator that produces instant valuations with only the property’s address.

local variations in wages and materials costs in the construction industry. Batch processing is available and because this service is provided online, users can retrieve and update valuation reports from anywhere, at any time.

As the leading provider of web-based property valuation solutions, e2Value® offer their clients assistance with all Insurance-to-Value (ITV) and collateral value monitoring needs. Their online property valuation software is fast, cost-effective, accurate and offers an excellent user experience.

The company’s mission is to be the best property-based solution for risk management. They were founded with the philosophy that valuation tools need to be easy to understand and use, the process needs to be easy to explain and most importantly, the values must be accurate.

E2Value consistently provide value to customers by ensuring that they understand their business needs before offering a solution. e2Value is totally focused on one business—valuation and the related services necessary to contribute to the customers’ bottom line. Their values are to maintain the highest levels of honesty, professionalism, integrity and respect in all their business relationships.

Whether clients are looking for valuations for high-value homes, main street homes, condos, co-ops, commercial properties, manufactured homes, log cabins, or farms and ranches, e2value’s patented estimator can quickly calculate the cost of replacing a residential, commercial or farm structure, and provide the client with a complete valuation report.

E2Value know that their clients are looking for a valuation solution that is straightforward and efficient, which is why they developed Pronto®.

This product, delivered over the web on a subscription-based, softwareas-a-service model, is the company’s response to the challenges facing property insurers and banking professionals today. Fast, accurate and easy to use, Pronto allows customers to access a comprehensive valuation report instantly, after inputting only the property’s address.

This report includes; A structure valuation that is complete, editable and always available for updating, images that facilitate identification of the correct property, and data scoring that specifies which information the value estimates are based on.

e2Value has the only patented web-based valuation system for their Methods and for Estimating Building Reconstruction Costs in the insurance industry. They are a web-engineered SaaS tool that makes it easier to integrate with other partner applications and with customers’ current and future technologies.

Company: e2Value, Inc. Name: Todd W. Rissel Email: trissel@e2value.com Web Address: www.e2value.com Address: P.O. Box 3518, Stamford, Connecticut, CT 06905, USA Telephone: 001 203 975 7990

E2Value understand that any discrepancy between estimated and actual replacement costs can translate into financial risk for clients.

That is why they draw on public and private data sources, in addition to their own deep data, to ensure that their property value estimates are as accurate as possible. E2Value’s valuations account for factors such as

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May 2017

Sustainability Gives UC David Strength for the Future UC Davis is the top of the agricultural research charts yet again, so we looked into their beginnings and how they got to where they are today.

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C Davis is the home of the Aggies — go-getters, change makers and problem solvers who make their mark at one of the top public universities in the United States.

monious beginnings, the University Farm turned its attention — and scientific methods — to addressing a pressing agricultural problem with profound economic, environmental and social implications for the state.

A wheat boom of the late 1800s — “California’s second gold rush,” as David Vaught, Ph.D. ’97, an associate professor of history at Texas A&M University, calls it — had gone bust. California had been one of the nation’s leading wheat producers in the 1870s and 1880s, and dryland wheat farming made some growers wealthy. But by the turn of the century, prices had dropped so low that farmers lost money and began replanting their wheat fields with fruits, vegetables, nuts and other crops.

Since they were founded in 1905, they have been recognized for standout academics, sustainability and pride, as well as valuing the Northern California lifestyle. These themes are woven into their 100-plus-year history and their reputation for solving problems related to food, health, the environment and society. the 5,300-acre campus is in the city of Davis, a vibrant college town of about 68,000 located in Yolo County. The state capital is 20 minutes away, and world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Lake Tahoe and the Napa Valley are within a two-hour drive.

“Wheat is a crop that rapidly destroys the fertility of the soil, and much of the land in the Central Valley had produced so many crops of wheat by the 1890s that the soil was exhausted,” said Donald Pisani, Ph.D. ’75, Merrick Chair of Western American History at the University of Oklahoma.

29 percent of food bought for the dining commons is sustainably grown.

The university’s own invention, the bio digester, has a daily capacity to turn 50 tons of waste into energy for the campus. The Tercero Phase 3 student housing project received the highest possible rating of platinum from the U.S. Green Building Council and the West Village community is designed to generate all the energy the community needs, mostly through solar power.

“Virgin soil that produced as much as 50 bushels an acre in the 1870s produced 10 or 15 bushels after a decade or so.”

Once a major wheat exporter, California had become a net importer, and in 1905, the state Legislature passed a bill giving UC $10,000 over two years for research to improve production of wheat and other cereal crops.

UC Davis is highly ranked in the nation and the world, by influential university ranking publications like U.S. News & World Report (national and global), QS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and The Princeton Review. The Wall Street Journal has recognized UC Davis as the sixth-best public university in the United States in its 2016 inaugural Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking.

At the University Farm, UC researchers worked in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in testing not only new varieties and best cultivation methods, but also ways to restore worn-out soil.

A 1911 report that grew out of the cereal research, “How to Increase the Yield of Wheat in California” by UC agronomist G.W. Shaw, documented the benefits of rotating crops and the use of “green manure” or cover crops, such as peas, rye and vetch, to restore humus, fix nitrogen and improve the moisture content of the soil.

UC Davis opened in 1908 as the University Farm, the research and science-based instruction extension of UC Berkeley. As the century evolved, their mission expanded beyond agriculture to match a larger understanding of how research efforts could benefit the public. By 1959, UC Davis had grown into a general campus with its own personality and strengths.

Other research, also done in cooperation with the USDA, evaluated different lining materials for irrigation ditches to reduce seepage and conserve water.

Over the years, as the geographical footprint developed, each new UC Davis presence — in Tahoe, Sacramento, Bodega Bay, Tulare, San Diego, Madrid and China, among others — has strengthened their ability to serve the public through research, academics and public service.

Even before the first buildings were finished — and more than a year before the first students would arrive — the University Farm began laying the groundwork for its first research projects.

The university continues to carry out important agricultural research and find new ways to make the U.S. food and living conditions more sustainable for future generations.

Company: UC Davis Medical Center Name: Ramin Manshadi Email: rmanshadi@ucdavis.edu Web Address: www.ucdavis.edu Address: 2633 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95204, USA Telephone: 209-944-5530

UC scientists dug experimental irrigation ditches and planted varieties of wheat, oats, barley and tomatoes. Soon to follow would be test crops of sugar beets, legumes and an array of fruit and almond trees.

It began with just a few shovels of dirt and ordinary seeds (though some new wheat varieties came from Russia). Yet, even with those uncere47

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Wealth & Finance International

Investing in Real Estate American Private Equity Group is a women-owned private real estate investment company which provides wealth preservation and superior risk adjusted returns in apartment properties.

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merican Private Equity is an investor focused on creating significant real value through real physical improvements and renovations of properties, and the related marketing and corporate strategies, all of which result in significantly increased rent revenue, increased cash flow, and increased asset value and returns. Over the past approximately 40 years, the firm’s partners’ value-add properties have outperformed while maintaining low risk; and with consistency.

American Private Equity’s principals, the top individuals in the world in each of their areas of multifamily real estate and private equity, consolidated to begin working together as an integrated and proven team of the most proven US real estate asset managers and the most proven investors in US multifamily.

Apartment properties in the US are consistently the most in-demand asset class for worldwide investors. It consistently outperforms: Over a 10, 20, and 30 year time period, $100 invested in real estate significantly outperforms the same $100 invested in either the S&P, Dow Jones, or NASDAQ. (Source: FTSE NAREIT U.S. Real Estate Index Returns, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, S&P 500, Russell, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, FTSE NAREIT equity REIT index.)

Additionally, in each of these periods, returns on private real estate investments were higher than for public REITS / publicly traded real estate, and had lower volatility, as measured by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ NCREIF National Property Index.

companies goes out of business or breaks a lease, there is a significant negative impact on that retail, office, or single family home property.

Volatility was lowest in the apartment property asset class.

Favorable Supply-Demand Imbalance

In addition to the strong, recession-proof and crisis-proof stability that apartment properties offer, is the following core demographic strength: The age group of individuals age 1-20 currently living in the United States, is far larger than the group of individuals currently age 20-40.

As the younger age group “ages into” renting age, replacing the current renting age population, they will comprise a far larger renting age demographic. (This only includes young individuals currently living in the U.S., and does not include immigration.)

Construction of new apartment properties has decreased by about twothirds over the past three decades, due to an economic environment which made single family homes attractive.

Even the highest projections for new construction do not meet even half of the new demand, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

This lack of substantial additional construction will add to the demographic growth, in pushing rents upward and creating a highly favorable environment for this asset class.

These young people are “the largest demographic wave of the century.”

Additionally, they are already consuming at 500% of the level of their parents, age for age, and inflation adjusted.

Owners vs. Renters The U.S. home ownership rate is expected to decline 6%-8% in the coming decade: Owners become Renters.

Superior Risk Profile Apartment Properties: Risk is spread out over hundreds of residents, with less than 1% impact if any of these tenants default. Leases are fluid and quickly replaced with a new resident in the normal course of business.

Each 1% decrease in home ownership is 1.1 million new renter households: there are 6.6 – 8.8 million new renter households expected by the U.S. Census bureau, over the next ten years.

In other real estate classes, there is one or a few tenant companies, and usually one large anchor tenant. If one of these tenants or tenant

Additionally, 12.4 million new households will be formed in the next decade, increasing apartment demand.

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ICD helps private sector businesses to finance projects by providing a wide range of Sharia compliant services

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Ricardo Caporal President Email: rcaporal@mattonigroup.com

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Wealth & Finance International

Helping Athletes Perform Better North East Sports Training (NEST) is Rhode Island’s only training facility dedicated to helping athletes perform better, prevent injuries, and build confidence.

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hrough the use of functional exercise, qualified exercise professionals, and ‘results-oriented programming, the NEST is committed to developing well-conditioned athletes, making them less susceptible to injury, and helping them become the best that they can be.

It accomplishes this by: • • • • • •

Assessing individual strengths and weaknesses Designing ‘results-oriented’, customized exercise programs Creating adherence by scheduling appointments every time Providing expert guidance, with our coached sessions, during every visit Motivating athletes with frequent assessments of progress, every twelve weeks Establishing nutritional guidelines and creating meal plans

In 1992, Michael Macchioni met strength and conditioning pioneer, Mike Boyle. He worked for his company, Elite Conditioning, for five years, training the best athletes in the Boston area. During that same time, Mike spent several years working with Perform Better / MF Athletics educating coaches, trainers, therapists, and physicians about a, then, new training philosophy of exercising. This philosophy, later, would become known as ‘functional training’.

Today, functional training is the most widely accepted approach to enhancing human performance and preventing injuries. Armed with this experience, Mike returned home to expose local athletes to this cutting-edge training philosophy and, since, has assisted some of the best athletes in the world, including a number one NHL draft pick, two NHL Rookie of the Year award winners, and three different Olympic Gold Medalists.

What started out as a small group of curious athletes, guided by Mike, in various gyms and fitness centers, has turned into an army of the area’s top Professional, Olympic, collegiate, high school, and developing athletes. And, just as the number of athletes has grown, so has the training staff. The NEST, continually, strives to make sure only the best and most qualified coaches, trainers, therapists, and nutritionists implement the system that has helped more Rhode Island athletes, in performing to the best of their abilities, than any other. Including All-American athletes, countless college scholarship recipients, and hundreds of high school and All-State athletes.

Mike officially opened the doors at NEST in 1999. In addition to his duties at NEST, Mike currently serves as the assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.

He has worked with athletes from the NHL, NFL, MLB (several during their formative years in high school), and is a former Strength and Conditioning coach at Providence College. Mike is a past state president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and USA Weightlifting, and has been a featured speaker at several regional and national conferences for industry professionals. Mike continues to actively participate in Men’s league hockey when not busy working or with his family. A Warwick native, Mike and his wife, Lindell, have four children; Michael, Maximus, Marcus, and Mya.

Gone are the days of training in fitness centers, health clubs, and bodybuilding gyms. The new grounds athletes use to reach their ultimate potential is our 15,000 square foot, state-of-the-art, training facility designed, specifically, for athletes. It is the only facility of its kind and provides participants with the type of environment needed in order to train the way successful athletes do.

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Wealth & Finance International

Consultancy meets Human Interaction West Monroe Partners’ team is made up of an uncommon blend of business savvy consultants and technical experts that work together to achieve sustainable success. The firm’s Gil Mermelstein reveals more.

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heir business consultants are driven by opportunities to contribute to their clients’ commercial success. They partner with clients to help generate revenue, reduce costs and transform the attitude, operations, and capabilities of each business. Working best when clients’ objectives demand tightly managed efforts that make direct progress toward clear business purposes is the driving force behind West Monroe Partners’ success.

A core competency of the firm is their ability to understand, articulate and evaluate the functional dynamics of their clients’ business.

Leveraging industry best practices, they chart the processes of today then model alternatives for how they can be made more effective and efficient when powered by new approaches and systems. This meticulous approach enables them to help clients to plan, design and manage programs that turn complex requirements into achievable results.

They are also technical experts, dedicated to building solutions that address the toughest technology and business challenges. Without pushing the hard sell, as they prefer clients to measure their work on its significance—the impact on the business and the value created as a result.

West Monroe know how to do more with less—and equip clients to do the same. It is a rare organization that has all the resources necessary to deliver consistent day-to-day operations and tackle strategic change priorities. Therefore, West Monroe partner with clients on important initiatives to bring in the accelerators and frameworks that enable clients to find order among chaos to make the most of limited resources.

West Monroe Partners’ teams are not siloed by skill-set, and often, at the individual level each consultant possesses the right balance of business acumen and technical experts to drive change and produce real results. These multidisciplinary teams are highly skilled, work fluidly across diverse industries, requirements and technologies, and show early results in an iterative manner.

West Monroe value the quality, not quantity of their relationships. Sure, growth and development of our firm is important to them. But, they believe the best relationships are those that endure—those that enable the company to develop the kind of deep understanding of their clients’ business that helps them to drive greater value. One way they maintain these standards is the preference for organic growth—building their team deliberately over time with people who share similar values and work ethic.

The company’s core difference is the team’s ability to blend business acumen with technical expertise. They are consultants and practitioners who understand business objectives and are highly proficient technologists. They partner with clients to drive quantified solutions expressed in exceptionally clear terms.

Lastly, and most importantly, West Monroe has eliminated the barriers to success. They deliver services with a strong, consistent work ethic and integrity—in large part because they “know” the people on their teams. They staff their projects with their own employee-owners of West Monroe, not contractors. Additionally, they have set up a quality assurance program, led by dedicated experienced personnel, to oversee their work and maintain high standards. They believe that their consistently high 9.0 client satisfaction score (on a 10.0 scale) speaks for itself and look forward to maintaining and growing that average into the future.

Clients feedback that they love the experience, skills and spirit the West Monroe team brings to every relationship, due to a range of great qualities offered.

Communication is at the height of their activities. As good communication is a prerequisite to any successful relationship, they emphasize strong communication and transparent operations in everything they do—maintaining open dialogue with respect to project budgets, “hardto-hear” issues, people matters, and other drivers of success, including earning client satisfaction.

The company values real collaboration, instead of completing projects on clients’ behalf, or making decisions affecting the company without any input or regard for the owners. Instead they work with their clients—using integrated teams that include both client personnel and West Monroe’s so that they can assist, teach, and transition to make sure every client is fully prepared to sustain the benefits of the solution long after the consultancy role has ended.

Name: Gil Mermelstein Email: gmermelstein@westmonroepartners.com Web Address: www.westmonroepartners.com Address: 222 West Adams Street, 11th Floor, Chicago, L 60606, USA Telephone: +1 (312) 989-1762

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Different by Design

It will be quickly apparent how different Ken Stern & Associates is when it comes to investment philosophy and personal financial management. Your success is our success.

Ken Stern & Associates was formed in 1998 with the goal of creating an innovative wealth management company specializing in advanced investment management, asset protection and legacy strategies. Over the years, we have evolved this concept into our two platforms, KSA Active and Private Wealth Management. KSA Active is a money management solution for the more self-directed investor, while Private Wealth Management is our all-encompassing approach including money management and our full suite of advisory and planning services.

kenstern.com

Wealth & Finance International

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May 2017

Man About Town Founded by Andrew Heiberger in 2010, Town Residential has cemented its position as New York’s foremost luxury real estate services firm with an exhilarating foundation and seamless execution of best-in-class customer service by an unparalleled team of more than 500 Representatives and professionals strategically located in ten prime Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens locations.

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own Residential boasts a unique fully integrated luxury real estate platform and specializes in luxury residential sales; leasing; the marketing, sales and leasing of property developments; commercial and retail. With uncompromising principles, Town Residential has established a new standard of excellence within the industry.

At all price-points, Town Residential implements a hand-crafted approach to the marketing of sale and leasing properties with unequalled distribution online and in print; through press and events; and industry syndication. Town Residential’s innovative platform extends beyond traditional print and digital exposure. We have cultivated strategic relationships and focused on events that provide our Representatives with personal access to thought leaders, trendsetters, and tastemakers.

Debra Stotts, licensed Real Estate Broker specializes in luxury property in New York City, with deep-rooted expertise in - and a passion for the vibrant, international Midtown East neighborhood. Her credentials include unparalleled knowledge of the iconic, award-winning residential building, 845 United Nations Plaza.

Debra has consistently been a leading broker at Town Real Estate. With over $550 million in transactions, her success is the result of 25 years of experience, immersive market intelligence, a history of providing exceptional service, and - especially - the strength of the client relationships she has built on mutual understanding, respect, and trust.

Whether buying, selling, leasing, or managing, Debra’s focus is on her clients; her clear-headed guidance and tireless work ethic ensure that their goals - whether financial or personal - are achieved. She has been entrusted to transact real estate for investors around the globe and for families making their first home purchase, for foreign governments, relocating executives, international institutions, diplomats, downsizing empty nesters, and everyone in between.

Debra firmly believes that Midtown East offers the best value for a NYC investment - so much that she makes her own home here. Ask and she’ll tell you about the hot restaurants, the different parks, and where to go for the best artisanal pastries. She can tell you about the history of the international. Turtle Bay neighborhood and who’s lived there, about the stunning, protected views from 845 United Nations Plaza -and about its inner workings. Informed by her seven years as the onsite sales and leasing director, she knows the building intimately and firsthand.

was a TWA flight attendant, a job she credits for instilling in her the value of providing top-quality, exemplary service.

A Manhattanite since she was in her early 20s, Debra raised her family and nurtured friendships here. From the tranquil early mornings to the rush of the workday to the throbbing pulse of the nightlife, she relishes the city’s changing energies. She enjoys the multi-cultural foods and experiences and the easy access to Broadway Theater, to the world’s best museums, and to Central Park. Debra especially cherishes the striking view from her own home, which overlooks the vast and varied East River.

Drawn to neighborhoods that, like Midtown East, offer nearby parks and water views - a respite from the city bustle - Debra previously worked in on-site sales for luxury properties in Battery Park. Prior to that, she built her real estate business helping to relocate United Nations Representatives to New York. Early in her career, in the days of luxury flying, Debra

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May 2017

Winners’ Directory E-Commerce Pioneering Firm 2016-2017 Award Company: Imegamedia Name: Maxine Moon Email: max.a.brown@gmail.com Web Address: www.imegamedia.co.uk Address: Yulara House 16 Ashley Drive (South) Ringwood HANTS BH24 2JT Telephone: +44 (0) 845 463 4230

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CH ADVISORS

We provide marketing advice and private placement services to alternative fund managers and companies.

CH Advisors GmbH, Herrliberg/Zurich, Switzerland info[at]chadvisors.ch Authorised and Regulated by FINMA Š CH Advisors GmbH

www.chadvisors.ch