Raising Capital Through Marketing & Brand Awareness - Greenwich Hedge Fund & Private Equity Networking Forum

The hedge fund and private equity industries are changing rapidly due to new technologies and federal legislation that allows start-ups in the alternative asset space to compete with the bigger, established funds in Greenwich, Connecticut and New York.

These seismic shifts are already hitting the hedge fund capital of the world – New York – forcing many of the largest funds to lower their fees in hopes of keeping their high net worth clients.

New technologies are allowing finance entrepreneurs to launch their own hedge fund with lower fees and smaller over-head costs, while the JOBS Act is making it easier for funds to market directly to new investors anywhere in the world via the media.

The Rise of the Hedge Fund Entrepreneur

CNN Money recently profiled Mike Winston – after the 37 year old launched his own hedge fund in a 250 square foot office with nothing more than a phone and a computer. Winston is competing for the same investor dollars that many of the larger hedge funds are going after.

The news story described Winston as “one of many budding hedge fund managers sprouting up on Wall Street trying to make a name for themselves in an ultra competitive industry known for its make or break mentality.”

In the past, hedge fund and private equity managers were limited with their introductions to the coveted accredited investors and institutional money. The institutional money wouldn’t take meetings with any start-up fund that held under $100 million in assets, but that is all changing now due to the JOBS Act.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act allows small businesses to raise funds from non-accredited investors, which many hedge fund insiders say was the launching vehicle that initiated this seismic shift in the way alternative asset firms reach investors.

The JOBS Act is credited with launching an entirely new “crowdfunding” industry that allows financial groups to use online marketing methods to find new investors.

A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted how this finance marketing trend is creating an entirely new platform for the hedge fund industry to reach investors.

That WSJ article focused on one hedge fund startup that allows accredited investors to invest online with as little as $20,000.

Mark Macias runs a PR and marketing firm in New York City-- Macias PR – which works with hedge funds, private equity and asset management groups. His company also has a financial division (Market Your Fund) devoted solely to helping funds reach new investors via the media.

Macias, who was an Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS, takes an insider media approach when it comes to marketing his clients to the media.

His strategy has led to major media placements for his clients with the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, FundFire, Hedge Fund Alert, Institutional Investor Magazine and others.

“You have the Wall Street Journal on your desk for a reason - you need information about the market and global events that influence it,” Macias said. “Potential investors and business owners read it for the same reasons, giving you a coveted opportunity to introduce your fund or strategy to them via influential third-party news sources. Financial PR is more than an emerging trend. It's one of the most strategic ways to influence investors, reach new clients and introduce your fund to institutional investors.”

Macias points to research from Cogent Research that showed 70 percent of investors reallocated their portfolios after reading a story on the news, while one-third of these investors admitted social media influenced their investment decision-making.

On Tuesday, May 19th in Greenwich, Connecticut, Mark Macias and other experts from the hedge fund and private equity industries will be discussing trends they are seeing with their alternative asset clients in law, accounting, PR and compliance.

The free event, Raising Capital Through Marketing and Brand Awareness, will be held at L’Escale Restaurant in Greenwich and feature:

Paul Marino – with Marino Partners -- concentrates his practice on fund formation, structuring of pooled investments and assisting in regulatory and compliance matters for investment managers.

Jeffrey Parker -- a Tax Partner with Eisner Amper -- provides guidance on complex tax questions for clients in the financial services industry. He specializes in tax services for investment partnerships, funds of funds, and MLP Funds, including structuring and compliance.

Greg Farrington, with Constellation Advisers, focuses his efforts directing teams on buy side due diligence, regulatory and compliance requirements, operational assessments, internal controls, and working with traditional and alternative investment management clients and their institutional allocators.

You can learn more about this Greenwich Hedge Fund and Private Equity Networking Forum at http://marketyourfund.com/HF.pdf