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Alternative Investments Conference Set for Feb. 14 at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

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Chapel Hill, N.C. (PRWEB) February 03, 2014

The seventh annual Alternative Investments Conference (AIC) will be hosted by the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School on Feb. 14.

The conference is a forum for private equity, hedge fund, venture capital and limited partner professionals to network, share ideas and stay abreast of industry trends.

“Seeking Sustainable Yield” is the theme of the student-led event organized by the UNC Kenan-Flagler Private Equity Club, an MBA career organization.

Keynote speakers will be:

    Terry S. Brown, chairman and chief executive officer, EDENS
    William C. Montgomery, managing director, Quantum Energy Partners
    Mounir Guen, chief executive officer, MVision
Over 25 speakers will participate in panel discussions on private equity, real estate, energy and infrastructure, distressed and special situations, hedge funds and emerging markets.

Proceeds from the conference fund the Alternative Investment Fellowship, which assists selected UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA students gain summer internships with leading alternative investment firms.

The robust focus on private equity at UNC Kenan-Flagler extends from educational and career preparation for students – including the only student-run private equity fund at a top-tier business school – to the faculty’s research.

The AIC will be held at the Carolina Club on the UNC campus. For more information and registration, go to http://www.uncaic.com.

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About the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School

Consistently ranked one of the world’s best business schools, UNC Kenan-Flagler is known for its collaborative culture that stems from its core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork. Professors excel at both teaching and research, and demonstrate unparalleled dedication to students. Graduates are effective, principled leaders who have the technical and managerial skills to deliver results in the global business environment. UNC Kenan-Flagler offers a rich portfolio of programs and extraordinary, real-life learning experiences: Undergraduate Business (BSBA), full-time MBA, Executive MBA Programs (Evening, Weekend and global OneMBA®), online MBA@UNC, UNC-Tsinghua Dual-Degree EMBA, Master of Accounting, PhD, Executive Development, and UNC Business Essentials programs. It is home to the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.







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EB5 Visa Direct Investments: The Hot New Trend In Alternative Financing For Small Businesses And Regional Economic Growth

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Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 17, 2014

A rapidly growing number of start-up and expanding business owners are skipping traditional bank loans and venture capitalists for a faster and cheaper financing alternative, called the EB5 Visa Direct Investment program. “This direct or stand-alone program is literally on fire,” said Bernard Wolfsdorf of Wolfsdorf Immigration Law.

It connects wealthy overseas investors who want a green card with regional business owners who need money to grow and expand. Southern California CEO Magazine talked with leading Securities and immigration attorneys and investment consultants about this hot new trend at a recent EB5 Summit in Los Angeles.

The EB5 Visa Investment program was created by Congress in 1990 to stimulate U.S. economic growth by job creation through capital investment by foreign investors. An investment made by an immigrant must create at least 10 new American jobs over a period of at least two years. If successful, the investor receives their permanent green card. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sets aside up to 10,000 visas for immigrants willing to invest at least $ 500,000 or more to create these new jobs in American businesses.

Almost all EB5 investment has been in massive Regional Center Projects which involve hundreds of foreign investors and scores of millions of dollars. The projects have been complicated, and it has been difficult to determine how many American jobs each foreign investor has created. Many of the investors have also profited little or lost money. But, that has changed over the last year.

“More investors are finally realizing that there is opportunity with direct investment, “said Brian Su of the Artisan Business Group. Su primarily helps U.S. companies connect with cash-flush investors in China who want more control on the projects they back, but, they don’t necessarily seek as much equity in the business as a venture capitalist would likely demand.

As long as the project is very strong and the business is good, Su’s investors are willing to risk their money. “They’re not looking for tremendous returns,” Su said. “They’re just looking for legal residency through the EB5 program.”

The pool of investors has also quickly expanded from China, to include entrepreneurs from Brazil, Chile, India, Korea, South Africa and Vietnam. Up to 20% of all EB5 investment now directly benefits the little guy.

“The smaller business that’s looking to add 10 or 20 or 30 people onto their payroll, they can tap into this financing source, and the cost of doing so is less than half of the cost of big projects. So, it’s something the smaller business can afford in order to enlarge their business or start their business from a dead stop,” said Michael Michael Homeier of Homeier and Law. “It’s very exciting.”

The EB5 Visa Direct Investment program can also help small business get cash fast and with less hassle than standard bank loans or venture capital deals.

“This is the big winner,” said immigration attorney Bernard Wolfsdorf. “We’re talking two to three months. That’s how quickly the money can flow in to the job creating enterprise. You don’t have all this massive apparatus, and complicated framework. You basically put together a business plan. You outline the structure. You show where it’s going to go. You raise the money and the money starts coming in within months.”

The EB5 Visa Direct Investment program has also become powerful economic stimulus tool for Southern California cities and counties.

“Jobs create jobs,” said Kevin Wright of Wright Johnson, LLC. The EB5 program consultant said investors bring capital into a county or city. That creates more jobs, which creates more tax revenue, which creates more direct and indirect jobs, and in turn, more tax revenue. “So, it really helps to perpetuate an entire community through these investments,” Wright said.

The EB5 Visa Direct Investment program is a real opportunity for a lot of U.S. businesses and local governments to get back on their feet, said immigration attorney Michael Homeier. Businesses are struggling to get capital, and there is a huge wave of wealthy people overseas willing to put their money at risk on a U.S. business to create jobs and to get a green card. “That’s a perfect storm,” he said.







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