By Zach Kouwe I recently shared my views on former Merrill Lynch executive Sallie Krawcheck’s use of Twitter in an article in RIA Biz, an online publication targeted at Registered Investment Advisors. Many RIA’s and financial advisors have begun using social media to establish themselves as thought leaders in the investment community and land new clients. While there are risks, especially if you’re inexperienced with social media, it can be effective if done correctly. Krawcheck is certainly making good use of the medium. From RIA Biz – “She’s always been known in the industry as a straight-shooter,” says Zach Kouwe, senior account executive for Dukas Public Relations, a New York-based financial PR firm. “She’s trying to re-establish her voice in the financial community. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her start her own financial advisory firm.” See: Six things to consider when reading Sallie Krawcheck’s comments in interviews. “This is a great example of how social media, even in the very conservative financial space, can be used to get your message out there and establish yourself as a thought leader,” Kouwe says. “I think it’s a great move; I think she does it well.” See: Three ways to use social media in turbulent markets. Add Comment  By Zach Kouwe “You never want a crisis to go to waste.” Those were the now-infamous words of Rahm Emanuel, the current mayor of Chicago and former chief of staff for President Obama, in 2008. In this election cycle, the private equity industry has been cast in a negative light by the media largely because of Mitt Romney’s background at Bain Capital. When other PE firms are trying to avoid getting sucked into the negative sentiment surrounding Bain, a relatively small and little-known firm has taken advantage of the opportunity by opening up to the media and telling its story. The firm, Monomoy Capital Partners, first opened up in a New York Times story in January, which profiled Oneida Ltd., a once iconic flatware company that had fallen on hard times. But the surprising thing was that Manhattan-based Monomoy injected new capital into Oneida and did a superb job detailing its plans to revive the company. The story even included this pithy quote from Oneida’s outgoing CEO: “They’re not Gordon Gekko,” he said of the firm. “It’s almost like they got together and said, ‘There’s a different way to do this.’” Monomoy took a risk opening up to the NYT – the story could have turned out negatively, like many other profiles of PE-backed companies. Instead, Bloomberg BusinessWeek picked up the story and, after Monomoy gave a reporter access to its two-week corporate boot camp for executives and partners, the magazine ran a cover story in its current issue on the benefits of private equity. The NYT’s Dealbook blog then followed up on Friday with a post calling Monomoy “the most popular private equity firm in town.” That’s what you call a PR grand slam and it’s all because of the firm’s willingness to open up when everyone else wouldn’t. Moody's Weekly Credit Outlook for 4-23-12 04/23/2012
Moody's Weekly Credit Outlook 4-16-2012 04/17/2012
Hedge Funds: Flying Below the Radar No More? 04/01/2012
By Zach Kouwe At long last, an arcane S.E.C. rule that has impeded PR people and reporters for some time appears to be on its way out. The rule, known as 502(c) of Regulation D, prevents anyone raising capital for a private investment fund, such as a hedge fund or private equity vehicle, to market or advertise to “non-qualified” investors, basically people with less than $1 million in net worth. In addition to a ban on traditional advertising, the rule means hedge fund managers have to be extremely careful not to actively solicit investors when speaking to the media. Most lawyers, who are generally conservative when dealing with S.E.C. rules, interpret this to mean that managers can’t discuss performance with the press and are forced to be generally cagey about their operations. In part, this has led to a hedge fund industry that has been described as “secretive” or “in the shadows.” If passed as part of the Obama Administration’s Jobs Act, which seems likely in early April, the S.E.C. would have 90 days to implement the changes. The Managed Funds Association, the hedge fund industry’s primary trade association, recently came out in favor of this change in a letter to the S.E.C. On the other side is the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund and ETF industry’s primary trade association. In a February letter, they urged the S.E.C. not to change the rule, which they said would harm investors and could lead to scams that target unsophisticated investors. It will be interesting to see how the S.E.C. implements the law. However it comes out seems likely to change the way hedge funds and private equity firms communicate with the media and the public at large. Here’s Robert Kiggins, a lawyer at McCarthy Fingar, with his views on the law in Hedge Funds Review: “This is a potential game changer,” says Robert Kiggins, counsel at the law firm McCarthy Fingar. “Subject to the SEC rule-making, this means hedge funds can promote and market their products through mass media channels, from television adverts to newspapers articles and websites.” My younger brother Andrew, who played basketball for Syracuse University from 2000 to 2004 (in 2003 the team won the national championship) was interviewed on SNY's The Juice on the Cuse podcast today. Unfortunately, right after the podcast went live, Syracuse announced that on of their star players, Fab Melo, was ineligible to play in the NCAA tournament.Sometimes the news moves against you. Moody's Weekly Credit Outlook for 3-12-2012 03/12/2012
Howard Marks on Running Penn's Endowment 02/17/2012
 By Zach Kouwe The latest memo from Howard Marks, chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, is one of the best pieces I’ve seen from him in a while. With agreement from the University of Pennsylvania, Marks opens the kimono and talks about his stewardship of Penn’s $7 billion endowment from 2000-2010. It’s open and honest and includes some real gems about defensive investing and expectations about performance. Here it is: | ArchivesFebruary 2012 CategoriesAll  |
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