Category Archives: Business

AAA: Alternative Investors Looking Outside Europe for REITs

Alternative investors are ploughing money into South Africa’s property sector, according to recent reports. AAA claims that regions outside of Europe are receiving more interest and are great options for investing in real estate.

Boston, MA, USA, August 2, 2012 — Alternative investors are ploughing money into South Africa’s property sector, according to recent reports. Alternative Asset Analysis claims that regions outside of Europe are receiving more interest and are great options for investing in real estate.

A new report from JSE Property index shows that the amount of investment in south Africa’s property market is up by around 14.5 per cent with cash coming from both individual investors and institutional investors.

“It’s not just wealthy individuals who are investing in alternatives such as real estate any more,“ explained Anthony Johnson, AAA’s analysis partner. “Pension funds and other institutional investors are now also picking up on the fact that alternatives offer some major benefits by way of diversification and low correlation with equity markets.”

Real Estate Investment trusts (REITs) managers in South Africa are feeling very positive about the future, according to Growth Point Properties. Its executive director, Estienne de Klerk, said that most REIT managers claim that the asset class will grow over the coming two years.

Mr Johnson stated, “It’s easy to see why people would prefer to put their cash into something more tangible after the economic collapse. More and more people are looking for alternatives to stocks and bonds, which they have seen lose value overnight.”

AAA supports a wide range of alternative investments, but is most keen to advocate investment in ethical and environmentally responsible causes, such as sustainable forestry and impact investment funds. Firms such as Greenwood Management offer investors the opportunity to buy up their own section of sustainable plantation in Brazil, from as little as EUR 10,000.

“This type of direct investment in timberland that is managed sustainable can remove some of the pressure on native forests and provide a more environmentally friendly options for industries that use timber products and charcoal.”

About Alternative Asset Analysis:
The remit of Alternative Asset Analysis is to analyse and provide news on the global performance of a wide range of alternative asset classes including, but not restricted to, commodities, real estate, forestry, foreign exchange, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital.

Media Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
71 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109-1320
617-939-9596
info@alternativeassetanalysis.com
http://www.alternativeassetanalysis.com

NextPlane Releases XMPP-Hosted Group Chat Federation for Microsoft OCS 2007 and Lync 2010

Expanded Features for NextPlane Federation Cloud Service Allows Microsoft Office Communicator and Lync Users to Participate in Chat Rooms Hosted on XMPP UC Platforms.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (August 1, 2012) — NextPlane, Inc., the market leader in cloud-based federation services for unified communications (UC), today announced the addition of XMPP group chat federation to the NextPlane Federation Cloud service. Now end users with Microsoft Office Communicator (MOC) and Lync clients can easily add chat rooms hosted on XMPP-based UCs, such as OpenFire, to their contact lists without requiring specialized Microsoft Group Chat servers or clients. With these new features, Microsoft users can now take advantage of the NextPlane Federation Cloud services as a central exchange to extend their reach and connect with other UC platforms to create collaborative business communities.

Now Microsoft OCS and Lync users can easily participate in chat rooms hosted on XMPP UC platforms see the other participants, view chat room history, and engage in live chat conversations. Chat rooms can be added to the MOC or Lync client contact list as if they were federated users. Moreover, NextPlane supports the restrictions imposed by members-only rooms.

“Enabling group chat federation is an important component in building federated communities, a strategy that more and more competitive organizations are adopting with the aid of the NextPlane Federation Cloud service to connect to suppliers, partners, and customers in real time,” said Farzin Shahidi, Founder and CEO of NextPlane. “For the first time, Microsoft users can participate in XMPP hosted chat rooms.”

The NextPlane Federation Cloud service accelerates building federated business communities by eliminating the need to set up and maintain separate federation to multiple partners. NextPlane Federation Cloud service subscribers enjoy unprecedented control over which types of traffic (IM, presence, voice, video, and file transfer) are allowed or denied to any of their federated partners. Finally, using NextPlane’s unique analytics and reporting tools, companies are gaining valuable insight into how collaboration with their federated partner community is boosting their business.

To demonstrate the value of the NextPlane Federation Cloud to build collaborative business communities, NextPlane is offering a 30-day trial to qualifying organizations. For more information, visit http://www.nextplane.net.

About NextPlane, Inc.

NextPlane offers the NextPlane Federation Could service for unified communications (UC) platforms, seamlessly federating Microsoft LCS, OCS, OCS R2 and Lync, Cisco Jabber XCP, CUPS and Webex Connect, IBM Sametime, Google Apps, Jive OpenFire, ISODE M-Link and eJabberd. Using the NextPlane Federation Cloud service, organizations can connect users from different companies regardless of underlying UC platforms – with shared presence, instant messaging, multi-user chat, voice and video – as if they are on the same UC platform.

NextPlane offers an ideal solution for companies migrating from one UC platform to another, or to integrate different legacy platforms following a company merger or a new contract or partnership. NextPlane even supports domain sharing, allowing two or more UC platforms to federate internally and externally using the same domain name.

For more information please visit http://www.nextplane.net, or contact sales at sales@nextplane.net.

Contact:
Farzin Shahidi
NextPlane, Inc.
(650) 305-7404
farzin@nextplane.net

Tom Woolf
Woolf Media & Marketing
(415) 259-5638
tomw@woolfmedia.com

AAA Endorses Women Investing in Women

AAA is supporting the Women Investing in Women Initiative as part of a widespread endorsement of impact investment options that support women in developing nations.

Boston, MA, August 01, 2012 – Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA) is supporting the Women Investing in Women Initiative as part of a widespread endorsement of impact investment options that support women in developing nations.

AAA, an alternative investment advocacy group, claims that World Bank statistics show that if more women joined the labor force, the world’s GDP would improve. In addition, in regions including Africa and the Middle East, average household earnings would rise by up to a quarter if women had more opportunity to work.

“Investing in women isn’t about donating to charity, but is instead about investing in social enterprises and small businesses that will employ and educate women,” explained AAA’s analysis partner, Anthony Johnson. he added that this comes with its own financial benefits to those investing, with returns being seen as soon as the enterprises are making cash.

The Calvert Foundation has launched the Women Investing in Women Initiative, which is hoping to raise $20 million to provide women in the US and developing countries with small business loans. The money is also needed to help them cover childcare and healthcare costs. The scheme is being aimed at women but men and institutional investors are also welcome to invest in the scheme.

“Anyone can invest through a regular broker to help women all over the world achieve their dreams, to education their children and help their families to thrive,” added Mr Johnson.

AAA support impact investing as well as other ethical investment options, such as timberland investment. Investing in timberland that is sustainably managed and growing non-native species in vulnerable regions is a great way to help reduce deforestation, according to AAA. “Another bonus, aside from the clear conscience that this type of investment affords you, is that returns on this asset class have regularly outperformed equities over the past decade or so,” added Mr Johnson.

Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
71 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109-1320
617-939-9596
info@alternativeassetanalysis.com
http://www.alternativeassetanalysis.com

Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016 at Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012

Building off of the momentum of past conferences, Golden Networking brings back Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012, “Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016”, now in New York, Chicago and London (www.HedgeFundsLeadersForum.com).

New York City, NY, USA (August 1, 2012) — Global assets invested with hedge fund firms could rise from today’s record $2.1 trillion to more than $5 trillion by 2016, according to a recently released survey from Citi Prime Finance. The study found that pension funds, endowments, foundations and other institutional investors are increasingly embracing the risk management and diversification that hedge funds offer, and that hedge funds are developing new products that compete with traditional, long-only managers.

Indeed, the potential for institutional investors to increase allocations to hedge fund strategies by $1.0 trillion in order to better insulate against risk and to help ensure more diversified portfolios is there. Equally relevant, the survey revealed a “convergence zone,” in which hedge funds and traditional asset managers will increasingly compete head-to-head to offer a broad set of equity and credit strategies. There could be an additional $2.0 trillion in new allocations to hedge fund firms in the form of regulated alternatives and long-only products. Supporting this, mature hedge fund firms are leveraging their infrastructures and resources towards creating the offerings investors will demand.

How can your firm take advantage of these structural trends impacting the alternative investments industry? How to successfully face the new post-crisis legal and regulatory challenges? How to manage the exploding data requests from investors and regulators? How to identify opportunities in frontier markets? Which other opportunities can be exploited to offer investors positive alpha at all times? Finally, how can you position yourself to capture the significant asset inflows in the next years?

On September 25 in New York, October 9 in Chicago and December 12 in London, hundreds of the most important players in alternative investments will gather for all-star agendas at Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012, “Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016” (http://www.HedgeFundsLeadersForum.com). A virtual who’s who will soon follow as one legendary manager after another will take the stage. Billions of investable assets will be represented by influential local and international investors who will listen with rapt attention as star managers and analysts discuss and debate the biggest issues facing the industry today.

Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012, “Getting Ready to Manage $5 Trillion by 2016” will provide attendees in New York, Chicago and London with the most up-to-date review of where this ever-changing industry stands and how regulatory and alpha expectations will impact it. Recognized managers, investors, experts, regulators, and strategists will return to Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012 to provide the information practitioners are looking for in an open and unbiased environment, highly conducive to the most efficient and effective networking.

Hedge Funds Leaders Forum 2012 is produced by Golden Networking (http://www.goldennetworking.net), the premier networking community for business executives, entrepreneurs and investors. Panelists, speakers and sponsors are invited to contact Golden Networking by sending an email to info@goldennetworking.net.

Media Contact:
Julia Ye
Media Relations Coordinator
Golden Networking
516-761-4712
jye@goldennetworking.net
http://www.goldennetworking.net

Welcomemat Services Expands to Florida with Signing of New Franchise Agreements

Welcomemat Services, has announced their expansion into the South Florida market with the signing of two new franchisees.

Atlanta, GA (USA), Tuesday – July 31st, 2012 — Welcomemat Services, a franchised marketing strategies and technology company that provides monthly gift-check packages to new movers, has announced their expansion into the South Florida market with the signing of two new franchisees. David Tabb purchased the Fort Lauderdale territory and Mark Sullivan purchased Boca Raton and Pompano Beach territories, fueling the companys growth in a largely undeveloped market.

With a steady stream of new residents every year, Florida offers significant growth opportunities for the Welcomemat Services concept, said Brian Mattingly, CEO. Were excited to have a presence here and welcome David and Mark to our growing team. Like so many of the franchisees in our system, David and Mark both bring years of sales and marketing experience to their new businesses; we look forward to their positive contributions to the system. Other potential markets weve identified for expansion include Tampa, St. Petersburg, Jacksonville, Orlando, North Palm Beach and Pensacola.

The Welcomemat program is designed to target new residents when they move into an area by presenting them with invitations to try various businesses and organizations, helping them to get acclimated to their new surroundings. Unique in the estimated 133 billion local advertising market, Welcomemat not only provides local businesses access to new loyal customers, but its specialized patented technology stores and logs customer demographics for use by the local businesses it supports. Its the first and only cooperative mail service to employ proprietary technology that enables new resident information to be barcoded onto every gift check, allowing clients to receive free customized tracking and information reports regarding responses to their offers.

One thing that has had a positive impact on our growth is that as the franchise matures, our current franchisees are able to validate the system with their results, said Brian Mattingly, CEO. Utilizing their success from these franchise opportunities with Welcomemat has been extremely helpful in the recruitment process.

Additionally, Welcomemat has propelled the brand into the digital marketplace with the recent launch of a new mobile loyalty program that rewards customers for visiting local businesses regularly. The Punchpoints smart phone app helps new residents explore their new neighborhood restaurants, shops and other local service providers. The customer collects Punchpoints by scanning a QR code at each business they visit, and the points are later redeemed for exclusive rewards. With over 30 small businesses in Atlanta currently signed up for the app and over 200 users in the consumer marketplace, Welcomemat plans a nationwide rollout in August.

With its proven business model, large client base and unmatched innovation and sophistication, Welcomemat is well positioned as an up-and-coming franchise brand. Welcomemat franchise owners are not required to have industry experience, but solid sales and networking skills are required to effectively build relationships with advertiser clients. Many franchisees have experience in real estate, sales, marketing or business.

Since franchising began in early 2011, Welcomemat has expanded to 13 franchised units and maintains eight corporate-operated locations. Projections call for the opening of 5 additional franchise locations in 2012 toward a goal of opening 200 locations during the next five years in high-profile, transient markets across the country.

WELCOMEMAT SERVICES:
3348 Peachtree Road, Suite 1095
Atlanta, GA 30326
Contact: Brian Mattingly
Phone: 404-841-2226
Website: http://www.welcomematservices.com

Press & Media Contact:
Courtney Thomas / Nicole Benzer
Sanderson Associates, Ltd
3348 Peachtree Road, Suite 1095
Atlanta, GA 30326 – USA
312-829-4350
courtney@sandersonpr.com / nicole@sandersonpr.com
http://www.welcomematservices.com

FRA Endorses Harvard’s support for Forestry Investment

Harvard University’s investment manager has spoken out in favor of timberland investment as a way to make cash while investing in an ethical cause, in a move endorsed by FRA.

Bainbridge Island, WA, July 31, 2012 – Harvard University’s investment manager has spoken out in favor of timberland investment as a way to make cash while investing in an ethical cause, in a move endorsed by Forestry Research Associates (FRA).

Harvard Management Company’s chief executive, Jane Mendillo, spoke at the CNBC Delivering Alpha Conference in order to voice her support for investing in natural resources. This is according to a report in The Australian.

The Antipodean newspaper was particularly interested in the endorsement from Harvard as the timber the legendary university has invested in is growing in New Zealand.

FRA, is a research and analysis consultancy specializing in forestry investment. FRA’s analysis partner, Peter Collins, said, “We rarely hear from Harvard Management Company, but when we do, they often speak about their investment in natural resources and the gains they have made from this investment strategy,”

The company manages the not insignificant $32 billion Harvard endowment and purchased forested land measuring 170,000 hectares in central North Island in 2003. At the time, the forestry investment industry in New Zealand wasn’t looking good thanks to high export costs and a huge preference for Russian softwood in China. Ms Mendillo said that Harvard’s investment came at a good time, when forestry investment were less fashionable than they are now. “Natural resources is our favourite area and it happens to be a favourite area where we feel that we may have an advantage as an early entrant into the asset class, “ she explained.

Mr Collins added, “Harvard got a good price for their timberland as the investment was made before people learned what a great hedge against inflation and the strong returns timberland can generate over time.”

FRA supports a number of forestry investment projects and particularly investment in non-native plantations in Brazil through firms like Greenwood Management. “Investing in trees provides a great mid- to long-term option for risk-averse investors,” added Mr Collins.

Contact:
Peter Collins
Forestry Research Associates
620 Vineyard Lane
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
(206) 316 8394
info@forestry-research.com
http://www.forestry-research.com

AAA Claims the Wealthy are Turning to Tangible Assets

AAA claims that a growing number of wealthy investors are buying things like art, antiques and jewellery instead of stocks and bonds.

Boston, MA, July 31, 2012 – Alternative Asset Analysis (AAA) claims that a growing number of wealthy investors are buying things like art, antiques and jewellery instead of stocks and bonds.

The alternative investment market has become even more ‘alternative’ according to AAA, an alternative investment advocacy group. Its analysis partner, Anthony Johnson, is backing a new report from Barclays Wealth Insights in the UK, which found that millionaires in Ireland now have 10 per cent of their wealth tied up in investments including antique furniture and fine art and jewellery.

The research found that a large percentage (73 per cent) of the wealthy people questioned in the report said they were finding it increasingly difficult to source secure investments. As a result, they are looking towards tangible items that have intrinsic value, as well as a value that can grow due to variable such as rarity, craftmanship, fashion and age.

Pat McCormack, the head of wealth management at Barclays, said, “Treasure may, if you’re lucky or very knowledgeable, give you a financial return, but buy something you enjoy and it will always give you an emotional return.”

“This report just goes to show how investors don’t need to just rely on stocks and shares to make money – in fact, there is a growing number of viable alternative investments to consider, such as art, antiques, precious metals, timberland and wine,” stated Mr Johnson.

AAA advocates the decision to invest in alternatives at a time when the equity markets are extremely volatile, thanks to the ongoing global economic slump. The group is particularly keen to promote ethical choices, such as impact investing and investing in sustainable forestry and timberland through firms like Greenwood Management, which operate sustainable plantations on non-native tree species in Brazil and Canada.

“Timberland offers investors a great diversifier for their investment portfolios,” added Mr Johnson.

Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
71 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109-1320
617-939-9596
info@alternativeassetanalysis.com
http://www.alternativeassetanalysis.com

Florida and Turkey set to be Next Real Estate Hot Spots – AAA

Investors looking to buy properties abroad as an investment should consider Florida and Turkey as they are likely to be among the next places to experience a boom and retain value, according to AAA’s Anthony Johnson.

Boston, MA, USA, July 31, 2012 — Investors looking to buy properties abroad as an investment should consider Florida and Turkey as they are likely to be among the next places to experience a boom and retain value, according to Alternative Asset Analysis’ Anthony Johnson.

These two countries will offer good value for money for investors, claims the advocacy group’s analysis partner. He said, “As far as grabbing a bargain in an up-and-coming region goes, investor could do worse than investing in Florida and Turkey real estate.”

AAA claims that a growing number of people are looking to buy up real estate as a form of alternative investment. This follows a period of economic slowdown, when investors lost huge amounts of money on the equity markets and are now looking for something tangible in return for their cash.”

Part of the reason that Turkey and Florida are proving to be real estate hot spots is the fact that investors are steering clear of the Eurozone at the moment. The US real estate market in general is improving and Florida has always been popular with people looking for second homes in the sun.

Alternative investment in general is proving increasingly popular, according to AAA, which supports a wide range of alternative investment options. Investing in real estate can be a great option for those who want to avoid tying money up in the volatile stocks and bonds markets.

Turkey and Florida, being popular tourist destinations, will often see their property process maintaining value when spots in similar destinations are seeing house process fall. “Investing in holiday spots can prove an intelligent choice as people will always want to buy property there,” added My Johnson.

AAA also advocates investing in forestry that is sustainably managed through projects run by firms like Greenwood Management, which operates sustainable plantations in Canada and Brazil.

About Alternative Asset Analysis:
The remit of Alternative Asset Analysis is to analyse and provide news on the global performance of a wide range of alternative asset classes including, but not restricted to, commodities, real estate, forestry, foreign exchange, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital.

Media Contact:
Anthony Johnson
Alternative Asset Analysis
71 Commercial St
Boston, MA 02109-1320
617-939-9596
info@alternativeassetanalysis.com
http://www.alternativeassetanalysis.com

Promising Signals for Christmas Party Bookings in 2012

Are we seeing the come-back of the corporate Christmas party? Statistics are showing some exciting predictions for Christmas event organisers in 2012.

With more than half of the year behind us now, it must be very pleasing to see some promising statistics coming from this year’s bookings, showing a brighter year for Office Christmas in 2012. Previous years have been rough on Christmas event organisers, but judging on bookings placed January to June 2012, we are about to see a change. Office Christmas are the UK’s leading corporate Christmas Party organisers, who have some interesting statistics to share with us.

In previous years, corporate Christmas parties have been played down in attempt to budget in states of economic uncertainty. However this year we are seeing a change, with growth in the group size of bookings going up to 41% year over year (YOY) for exclusive (private) Christmas party bookings, and an average group size of 183 pax. There is only a slight increase in the price per a person with a 1% YOY, but this is still a positive outcome for the first half of 2012.

Shared (joiner) Christmas parties are also flourishing, producing a 35% YOY and an average group size of 35 pax. Office Christmas have seen a healthy increase of 9% YOY on the price per person with an average customer costing £76 per a head.

Alasdair Adam, MD of Office Christmas commented “Companies have battened down the hatches for the past few years to protect their businesses from harsh conditions and sadly the Christmas party can suffer as a result. A good value for money office Christmas party is the best way to say thank you to staff for sticking with the firm through the tough times and can be achieved from as little as £50 a head – a small price to pay for staff loyalty and appreciation.”

Office Christmas has over 10 years of experience in organising professional events in the UK and Europe. OfficeChristmas.co.uk offers themed and bespoke office Christmas parties for companies of any size wanting exclusive or shared work parties.

Winning the High-Frequency Trading Olympics with The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 DVD Video Package

Edgar Perez, Author, The Speed Traders, Now Introducing The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 DVD Video Package, How Algorithmic and High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw, Kiev, New York, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Ho Chi Minh, New York, Dubai and Chicago).

New York City, NY, USA (July 30, 2012) — Edgar Perez, author of The Speed Traders, and former McKinsey & Co. consultant and New York University Adjunct Professor, is presenting The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 DVD Video Package: How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (http://TheSpeedTradersWorkshopDVD.eventbrite.com), the most comprehensive review of high frequency trading now available for the very first time on DVD in an insightful 4-disc set.

As Mr. Perez covers in The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 DVD Video Package, high-frequency trading is the use of sophisticated technological tools to trade securities like stocks or options, and is typically characterized by several distinguishing features: highly quantitative, employing computerized algorithms to analyze incoming market data and implement proprietary trading strategies, investment positions are held only for very brief periods of time, from seconds to hours, and rapidly traded into and out, sometimes thousands or tens of thousands of times a day, no net investment position at the end of a trading day, mostly employed by proprietary firms or proprietary trading desks in hedge funds and banks, and very sensitive to the processing speed of markets and of their own access to the market. The Speed Traders Workshop 2012 DVD Video Package displays an agenda full of information and insights:

1. Understanding High Frequency Trading in Equities and other Asset Classes
– The need for speed and sophisticated computer programs in generating, routing, and executing orders
– Co-location and individual data feeds to minimize latency
– Time-frames for establishing and closing highly-liquid positions
– Review of the most important strategies: market making, trend following, value arbitrage and others

2. Key Enablers for High Frequency Trading
– Technological innovation: computing power, complex event processing, and low-latency bandwidth
– Shift to electronic trading and the rise of alternative trading systems
– In-depth look at strategies high frequency traders leverage to find alpha in equities, options, futures and FX
– The profitability of typical high frequency trading strategies and its evolution

3. Global Regulatory Overview: from the U.S. and Europe to China and Brazil
– Regulations in place before the “flash crash”
– Proposed regulatory initiatives after the “flash crash” in the U.S. and Europe, circuit breakers, limit up limit down and consolidated audit trail
– High frequency trading in Asia, from Japan, Singapore and India to Hong Kong and China
– Regulating speed trading to samba beats: Brazil and Mexico

4. The Future of High Frequency Trading
– Enhancing profitability: from equities to FX to cross-asset trading
– High frequency trading in the world: from the U.S. and Europe to China and Brazil
– Adding ammunition to the high frequency trader toolkit, FPGA, GPUs and enhanced technologies
– Turning the tables on high frequency trading: the transparency challenge for the buy-side

Mr. Perez is widely regarded as the preeminent global expert in the specialized area of high-frequency trading. He is author of The Speed Traders, An Insider’s Look at the New High-Frequency Trading Phenomenon That is Transforming the Investing World, published in English by McGraw-Hill Inc. (2011), in Mandarin by China Financial Publishing House (2012) and currently being translated into Bahasa Indonesia and Portuguese. He is course director of The Speed Traders Workshop 2012, How High Frequency Traders Leverage Profitable Strategies to Find Alpha in Equities, Options, Futures and FX (Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw, Kiev, New York, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Ho Chi Minh, New York, Dubai and Chicago), and was Adjunct Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, where he taught Algorithmic Trading and High-Frequency Finance. He contributes regularly to China’s International Finance News.

Mr. Perez has been interviewed on CNBC Cash Flow, CNBC Squawk Box, BNN Business Day, CCTV China, Bankier.pl, TheStreet.com, Leaderonomics, GPW Media, Channel NewsAsia Business Tonight and Cents & Sensibilities. In addition, Mr. Perez has been featured on Yicai, eastmoney, Caijing, ETF88.com, 360doc, AH Radio, CNFOL.com, CITICS Futures, Tongxin Securities, ZhiCheng.com, CBNweek.com, Caixin, Futures Daily, Xinhua, CBN Newswire, Chinese Financial News, ifeng.com, International Finance News, hexun.com, Finance.QQ.com, Finance.Sina.com, The Korea Times, The Korea Herald, The Star, The Malaysian Insider, BMF 89.9, iMoney Hong Kong, CNBC, Bloomberg Hedge Fund Brief, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Valor Econômico, FIXGlobal Trading, TODAY Online, Oriental Daily News and Business Times.

Mr. Perez has been engaged to present to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Washington DC), CFA Singapore, Hong Kong Securities Institute, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, University of International Business and Economics (Beijing), Hult International Business School (Shanghai) and Pace University (New York), among other public and private institutions. In addition, Mr. Perez has spoken at a number of global conferences, including Harvard Business School’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference (Boston), High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum (New York, Chicago), MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference (Cambridge), Institutional Investor’s Global Growth Markets Forum (London), Technical Analysis Society (Singapore), TradeTech Asia (Singapore), FIXGlobal Face2Face (Seoul) and Private Equity Convention Russia, CIS & Eurasia (London).

Mr. Perez was a vice president at Citigroup, a senior consultant at IBM, and a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Co. in New York City. Mr. Perez has an undergraduate degree from Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Lima, Peru (1994), a Master of Administration from Universidad ESAN, Lima, Peru (1997) and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, New York, with a dual major in Finance and Management (2002). He belongs to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. Mr. Perez resides in the New York City area and is an accomplished salsa and hustle dancer.

Media Contact:
Julia Ye
Media Relations Coordinator
The Speed Traders
516-761-4712
jye@thespeedtraders.com
http://www.thespeedtraders.com