Proper investment policy, disclosure, governance and accountability should be mandated under the law for EPF’s near half a trillion ringgit funds
THE recent brouhaha over the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) financing a government-sponsored RM1.5bil housing scheme highlights several issues facing the nation’s premier retirement fund.
Considering that it is a major heavyweight, which manages almost RM470bil belonging to some 12 million members, it is important to ensure that the EPF does its job, and does it as well as it should.
Questions swirl around three main issues: The kind of projects that the EPF should finance and the risk they bear; the amount of government influence over what the EPF should do; and the level of transparency and accountability that the fund shows to its members.
Sadly, on all three counts, it shows serious deficiencies. Although it has improved in recent years, in terms of the quality of investments, it has in the past made some dubious investments which have never been fully explained.
In part this is due to substantial government influence over its operations, specifically, the Finance Minister, who not only appoints board members but also has substantial influence over them, the law requiring directors in most cases to be subservient to the Finance Minister.
Meantime, the way the EPF reports its results, and its investments and losses and gains, leaves much to be desired. It is impossible for a fund member or anyone else to independently verify the soundness of its investment decisions. There is no or little statutory requirement for appropriate standards of disclosure, governance and accountability.
Because of its huge size, approaching half a trillion ringgit (it should exceed that mark easily this year), a multitude of sins can be easily hidden in its massive books. That’s all the more reason for an eagle eye to be kept on it at all times.
The way to ensure that the EPF keeps on the straight and narrow is to mandate that unambiguously through an amendment to the EPF Act. That should start with clear definitions of directors’ qualifications, requiring them to be those who have impeccable integrity and have an unblemished and distinguished record of service in the finance, accounting and investment fields.
The current Act gives the power to the Government, through the Finance Minister, to nominate the board members, but this should be preferably done through a committee rather than a single individual.
The Act should then specify clearly the role of the directors, which would be to oversee the implementation of measures which will follow a highly specified investment policy and return objectives.
The investment policy should specify a low risk approach that would preserve members’ contributions, while at the same time providing a moderate rate of return.
It should also specify very broad allocation strategy between various classes of assets, for example Malaysian Government Securities, other investment-grade bonds, equities, property and real estate and other investments.
Changes to the EPF Act should clearly specify that directors and the fund should at all times act solely in the interest of members who own the funds in the first place. While the Government can borrow money from the EPF, it has no business inducing it to invest in businesses that have high risk.
That will stop the board from making a decision to invest in a project just because the Finance Minister or someone else told it so. Those with long memories will remember that the EPF has made strange investments before, like Time dotCom.
The changes to the Act should also specify in fairly specific terms the kind of disclosure that it makes. It should itemise all the investments it makes, and state when they were made and at what price, and how much it is losing or making on each one.
Averages have a way of disguising major outliers. On average, gains may be respectable but that does not mean major losses may not have been made on some investments. The only way to ensure that does not get buried under the mountain of funds is to disclose it.
These are not unrealistic changes. Many retirement funds act this way. Take CalPERS or California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the United States’ largest public pension fund with assets totalling some US$220bil (about RM660bil).
It publicly discloses its investment policy and asset allocation decisions. Those interested can view its investment track record. Journalists can ask for and receive its investment details for specific companies, areas and regions.
Here’s what it says in its own words: “Our goal is to efficiently and effectively manage investments to achieve the highest possible return at an acceptable level of risk. In doing so, CalPERS has generated strong long-term returns.”
We want EPF, whose size is not very far away from CalPERS, to do the same for all its members. The EPF does not belong to the Government and therefore the Government must not have full powers over the way it acts.
Until these changes to the Act are made and the EPF board acts professionally and above board in every decision it makes, taking all the required professional advice, we can’t ever be sure that EPF is always acting purely in the interests of its constituents – the Malaysian working public.
Independent consultant P Gunasegaram (t.p.guna@gmail.com) is happy that the EPF declared 6% dividends. He hopes it can continue to do so.
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2012年2月25日星期六
2012年2月20日星期一
Saxo Bank Executes World's First Base Jumping FX Trade
HELLERUP, Denmark, February 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –
Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has successfully executed, what is believed to be the first FX trade ever during a base jump at terminal velocity.
The spectacular trade was placed and confirmed during a free fall using the new SaxoTrader for iPhone® & Android app.
Swedish wing suit jumper and stuntman Martin Rosén used the app whilst performing the jump in Hutchinson Peak in the Hottentot Hollands Mountain Range outside of Cape Town, South Africa. The stunt base jumper bought 1,000,000 EURUSD Spot at a price of 1.26969 and the trade was confirmed when he was still in mid-air.
Footage from the jump has formed a high-energy television advertisement for Saxo Bank’s platform and trading applications. The campaign will be launched on 20 February and aired on Bloomberg, CNBC and other networks.
A 10 minute behind-the-scenes film will be available shortly. However, the crew also filmed a four minute documentary of the event available here: http://www.saxobank.com/mobile/saxotrader-anytime-anywhere
Torben Rene Larsen, Head of Commercial Marketing, Saxo Bank, commented: “We like breaking new ground and to set new industry standards but we also think there is a strong similarity between the mentality of base jumpers and traders. Both need to be in complete control, and both share the absolute confidence in their ability and demand the same from their equipment. The base jump trade has proved that our applications allow the user to trade in virtually all situations, anytime and anywhere, and provide the technology required to execute a trade in full confidence.”
“Much of Saxo Bank’s development has been driven by the need to differentiate ourselves as a bank specialising in trading and investments with a clear customer focus. The fact that Saxo Bank cornered the online market early on was a big advantage and helped spur the Bank’s growth. We still like to differentiate ourselves from our competitors, and this first FX trade at terminal velocity proves that we are still breaking new ground.”
About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a leading online trading and investment specialist. A fully licensed and regulated European bank, Saxo Bank enables private investors and institutional clients to trade FX, CFDs, ETFs, Stocks, Futures, Options and other derivatives via three specialised and fully integrated trading platforms; the browser-based SaxoWebTrader, the downloadable SaxoTrader and the SaxoMobileTrader application available in over 20 languages. Saxo Bank also offers professional portfolio and fund management through Saxo Asset Management who accommodates high-net worth private clients and institutional investors and provides banking services and advice to retail clients through Saxo Privatbank. The Saxo Bank Group is headquartered in Copenhagen with offices throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Australia.http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has successfully executed, what is believed to be the first FX trade ever during a base jump at terminal velocity.
The spectacular trade was placed and confirmed during a free fall using the new SaxoTrader for iPhone® & Android app.
Swedish wing suit jumper and stuntman Martin Rosén used the app whilst performing the jump in Hutchinson Peak in the Hottentot Hollands Mountain Range outside of Cape Town, South Africa. The stunt base jumper bought 1,000,000 EURUSD Spot at a price of 1.26969 and the trade was confirmed when he was still in mid-air.
Footage from the jump has formed a high-energy television advertisement for Saxo Bank’s platform and trading applications. The campaign will be launched on 20 February and aired on Bloomberg, CNBC and other networks.
A 10 minute behind-the-scenes film will be available shortly. However, the crew also filmed a four minute documentary of the event available here: http://www.saxobank.com/mobile/saxotrader-anytime-anywhere
Torben Rene Larsen, Head of Commercial Marketing, Saxo Bank, commented: “We like breaking new ground and to set new industry standards but we also think there is a strong similarity between the mentality of base jumpers and traders. Both need to be in complete control, and both share the absolute confidence in their ability and demand the same from their equipment. The base jump trade has proved that our applications allow the user to trade in virtually all situations, anytime and anywhere, and provide the technology required to execute a trade in full confidence.”
“Much of Saxo Bank’s development has been driven by the need to differentiate ourselves as a bank specialising in trading and investments with a clear customer focus. The fact that Saxo Bank cornered the online market early on was a big advantage and helped spur the Bank’s growth. We still like to differentiate ourselves from our competitors, and this first FX trade at terminal velocity proves that we are still breaking new ground.”
About Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is a leading online trading and investment specialist. A fully licensed and regulated European bank, Saxo Bank enables private investors and institutional clients to trade FX, CFDs, ETFs, Stocks, Futures, Options and other derivatives via three specialised and fully integrated trading platforms; the browser-based SaxoWebTrader, the downloadable SaxoTrader and the SaxoMobileTrader application available in over 20 languages. Saxo Bank also offers professional portfolio and fund management through Saxo Asset Management who accommodates high-net worth private clients and institutional investors and provides banking services and advice to retail clients through Saxo Privatbank. The Saxo Bank Group is headquartered in Copenhagen with offices throughout Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Australia.http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
2012年1月27日星期五
Verizon Investment Join $8M Round for Skyfire Labs
More Topics:
Posted January 26, 2012
Skyfire Labs, a leader in mobile video optimization and cloud solutions for mobility, today announced it has raised $8 million in its Series C financing. Verizon Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc. participated in the round, alongside current investors Matrix Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Verizon’s investment was arranged by Verizon Ventures, which seeks promising entrepreneurial companies that complement Verizon networks and service platforms. Skyfire will use the funds to meet the demands of its growing list of wireless operator customers through increased engineering, sales and support resources, and also to expand into European and Asian markets.
“Wireless operators around the world are facing an explosion in mobile data on their networks, driven largely by mobile video,” said Andrew Verhalen, general partner at Matrix Partners. “Skyfire is well positioned with solutions for operators that can expand network capacity by over 25 percent, as well as generate incremental revenue.”
“Skyfire is poised to expand globally in 2012 after winning deployments with two tier-one operators in North America, and adding world-class international executive talent,” added Larry Orr, general partner at Trinity Ventures.
Concurrent with this latest financing, Skyfire has announced a new European footprint. John Rintoul has been named vice president of sales for Skyfire’s newly-opened EMEA office, based in London. Rintoul previously led sales with the Vodafone account for Cisco’s Mobile Internet Technology Group, and prior to that, was a sales executive at Starent Networks, Juniper Networks, and Kagoor Networks. Skyfire also announces Scott Boehmer has been named vice president of sales for Americas. Boehmer previously was vice president of sales for SEVEN networks, and a product executive at Sprint. Both regional leads will now report to Skyfire’s SVP Global Sales, Jason Guesman.
“Skyfire’s Rocket Optimizer product is delivering an average of 60 percent savings for operators on video bandwidth,” said Jeff Glueck, CEO of Skyfire. “We welcome the participation of Verizon, which is renowned for its network planning sophistication.”
Rocket Optimizer 2.0, the latest iteration of Skyfire’s powerful carrier-grade network video and data optimization platform, was launched in October 2011. With mobile video demand expected to rise steeply over the next three years, Rocket 2.0 aims to help carriers solve capacity issues linked to the rapid rise of mobile video streaming. The solution offers real-time optimization of mobile video to enable smoother streaming, and can be applied to specific cell towers or backhaul regions as soon as congestion is detected. Rocket Optimizer 2.0 also offers the broadest support for video formats, including the world’s first instant MP4 optimization (which comprises more than 50 percent of today’s mobile video, including most HTML5 and iOS video). By leveraging cloud computing power, Skyfire’s solution is highly cost effective to scale on both 3G and 4G LTE networks.
Full details about the Rocket 2.0 platform can be found here: http://www.skyfire.com/en/for-operators.
Skyfire also offers the Rocket Toolbar product line, a fully customizable web-based operator portal embedded in the default browser of new smartphones. The Rocket Toolbar adds value for users on every page of the Internet by making browsing more social, facilitating app discovery, m-commerce, and quick access to news updates. The Rocket Toolbar has been selected by a tier one North American carrier for upcoming deployment, and is in numerous trials across the U.S. and Europe.
Full details about the Rocket Toolbar platform can be found here:
http://www.skyfire.com/en/for-operators/rocke….
Skyfire will continue to maintain its consumer app business as a showcase and laboratory for its technology. Skyfire apps across Apple iOS® and Google Android® devices have been downloaded by over 12 million users.
To learn more about Skyfire, visit: http://www.skyfire.com.
About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm with over $2 billion of committed capital under management. Lightspeed’s investment professionals and advisors are located in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed more than 150 companies, many of which have become leaders in their respective markets, including Blue Nile, Brocade, Calista, Ciena, DoubleClick, eHealth, Galileo Technology, Growth Networks, Informatica, Kiva Software, LightLogic, Maker Communications, Metasolv, Openwave, Quantum Effect Devices, Riverbed, Sirocco, Virsa Systems and Waveset.
About Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners is a premier venture capital firm that has generated outstanding returns for more than three decades. By focusing on early-stage investments and emphasizing long-term relationships with entrepreneurs, the firm has delivered several of the industry’s top performing funds of all time. Matrix Partners has offices in Cambridge and Waltham, MA; New York, NY; Palo Alto, CA; Mumbai, India; and Beijing and Shanghai, China. Matrix Partners has invested in several game-changing, industry-leading businesses such as Apple Computer, Gilt Groupe, JBoss, Netezza, Phone.com, Polyvore, Starent Networks, Sycamore Networks, Veritas, Zendesk, and Zong.
About Trinity Ventures
Founded in 1986, Trinity Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm dedicated to partnering with passionate entrepreneurs to transform revolutionary ideas into reality. With over $1 billion under management, Trinity Ventures believes in personal engagement, mutual respect and goal alignment with the entrepreneurs. Trinity focuses on early stage and seed technology investments with particular emphasis on social shopping and entertainment, cloud computing, mobility, and internet infrastructure areas.
Trinity Ventures has invested in such leading companies as Aruba Networks, 21Vianet, Blue Nile, LoopNet, Photobucket, SciQuest, Starbucks, BeachMint, Infoblox, Trion Worlds and Zulily.
About Verizon Ventures
Verizon Ventures arranges investments in promising entrepreneurial companies to drive innovation in Verizon Communications Inc. The portfolio arranged by Verizon Ventures focuses on new products, technologies, applications and services that complement Verizon networks, service platforms and distribution channels. Deal size ranges from seed capital to $5 million depending on the needs and opportunities. Verizon Ventures often arranges investments with other venture firms and strategic partners.
About Skyfire:
Skyfire is dedicated to leveraging the power of cloud computing to improve radically the mobile Internet experience for both Operators and Consumers. Skyfire’s solutions provide game-changing cost savings, better end-user experiences, and compelling incremental revenue opportunities. Skyfire was recently recognized as no. 4 on Light Reading’s 2011 Startups to Watch list; and by OnMobile as a Top 100 Private Company. As both a laboratory and showcase for new capabilities, Skyfire has honed its technology through a variety of consumer apps, which have more than 12 million downloads to date.
Skyfire is based in Mountain View, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley.
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Posted January 26, 2012
Skyfire Labs, a leader in mobile video optimization and cloud solutions for mobility, today announced it has raised $8 million in its Series C financing. Verizon Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc. participated in the round, alongside current investors Matrix Partners, Trinity Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Verizon’s investment was arranged by Verizon Ventures, which seeks promising entrepreneurial companies that complement Verizon networks and service platforms. Skyfire will use the funds to meet the demands of its growing list of wireless operator customers through increased engineering, sales and support resources, and also to expand into European and Asian markets.
“Wireless operators around the world are facing an explosion in mobile data on their networks, driven largely by mobile video,” said Andrew Verhalen, general partner at Matrix Partners. “Skyfire is well positioned with solutions for operators that can expand network capacity by over 25 percent, as well as generate incremental revenue.”
“Skyfire is poised to expand globally in 2012 after winning deployments with two tier-one operators in North America, and adding world-class international executive talent,” added Larry Orr, general partner at Trinity Ventures.
Concurrent with this latest financing, Skyfire has announced a new European footprint. John Rintoul has been named vice president of sales for Skyfire’s newly-opened EMEA office, based in London. Rintoul previously led sales with the Vodafone account for Cisco’s Mobile Internet Technology Group, and prior to that, was a sales executive at Starent Networks, Juniper Networks, and Kagoor Networks. Skyfire also announces Scott Boehmer has been named vice president of sales for Americas. Boehmer previously was vice president of sales for SEVEN networks, and a product executive at Sprint. Both regional leads will now report to Skyfire’s SVP Global Sales, Jason Guesman.
“Skyfire’s Rocket Optimizer product is delivering an average of 60 percent savings for operators on video bandwidth,” said Jeff Glueck, CEO of Skyfire. “We welcome the participation of Verizon, which is renowned for its network planning sophistication.”
Rocket Optimizer 2.0, the latest iteration of Skyfire’s powerful carrier-grade network video and data optimization platform, was launched in October 2011. With mobile video demand expected to rise steeply over the next three years, Rocket 2.0 aims to help carriers solve capacity issues linked to the rapid rise of mobile video streaming. The solution offers real-time optimization of mobile video to enable smoother streaming, and can be applied to specific cell towers or backhaul regions as soon as congestion is detected. Rocket Optimizer 2.0 also offers the broadest support for video formats, including the world’s first instant MP4 optimization (which comprises more than 50 percent of today’s mobile video, including most HTML5 and iOS video). By leveraging cloud computing power, Skyfire’s solution is highly cost effective to scale on both 3G and 4G LTE networks.
Full details about the Rocket 2.0 platform can be found here: http://www.skyfire.com/en/for-operators.
Skyfire also offers the Rocket Toolbar product line, a fully customizable web-based operator portal embedded in the default browser of new smartphones. The Rocket Toolbar adds value for users on every page of the Internet by making browsing more social, facilitating app discovery, m-commerce, and quick access to news updates. The Rocket Toolbar has been selected by a tier one North American carrier for upcoming deployment, and is in numerous trials across the U.S. and Europe.
Full details about the Rocket Toolbar platform can be found here:
http://www.skyfire.com/en/for-operators/rocke….
Skyfire will continue to maintain its consumer app business as a showcase and laboratory for its technology. Skyfire apps across Apple iOS® and Google Android® devices have been downloaded by over 12 million users.
To learn more about Skyfire, visit: http://www.skyfire.com.
About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital firm with over $2 billion of committed capital under management. Lightspeed’s investment professionals and advisors are located in Silicon Valley, China, India and Israel. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed more than 150 companies, many of which have become leaders in their respective markets, including Blue Nile, Brocade, Calista, Ciena, DoubleClick, eHealth, Galileo Technology, Growth Networks, Informatica, Kiva Software, LightLogic, Maker Communications, Metasolv, Openwave, Quantum Effect Devices, Riverbed, Sirocco, Virsa Systems and Waveset.
About Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners is a premier venture capital firm that has generated outstanding returns for more than three decades. By focusing on early-stage investments and emphasizing long-term relationships with entrepreneurs, the firm has delivered several of the industry’s top performing funds of all time. Matrix Partners has offices in Cambridge and Waltham, MA; New York, NY; Palo Alto, CA; Mumbai, India; and Beijing and Shanghai, China. Matrix Partners has invested in several game-changing, industry-leading businesses such as Apple Computer, Gilt Groupe, JBoss, Netezza, Phone.com, Polyvore, Starent Networks, Sycamore Networks, Veritas, Zendesk, and Zong.
About Trinity Ventures
Founded in 1986, Trinity Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm dedicated to partnering with passionate entrepreneurs to transform revolutionary ideas into reality. With over $1 billion under management, Trinity Ventures believes in personal engagement, mutual respect and goal alignment with the entrepreneurs. Trinity focuses on early stage and seed technology investments with particular emphasis on social shopping and entertainment, cloud computing, mobility, and internet infrastructure areas.
Trinity Ventures has invested in such leading companies as Aruba Networks, 21Vianet, Blue Nile, LoopNet, Photobucket, SciQuest, Starbucks, BeachMint, Infoblox, Trion Worlds and Zulily.
About Verizon Ventures
Verizon Ventures arranges investments in promising entrepreneurial companies to drive innovation in Verizon Communications Inc. The portfolio arranged by Verizon Ventures focuses on new products, technologies, applications and services that complement Verizon networks, service platforms and distribution channels. Deal size ranges from seed capital to $5 million depending on the needs and opportunities. Verizon Ventures often arranges investments with other venture firms and strategic partners.
About Skyfire:
Skyfire is dedicated to leveraging the power of cloud computing to improve radically the mobile Internet experience for both Operators and Consumers. Skyfire’s solutions provide game-changing cost savings, better end-user experiences, and compelling incremental revenue opportunities. Skyfire was recently recognized as no. 4 on Light Reading’s 2011 Startups to Watch list; and by OnMobile as a Top 100 Private Company. As both a laboratory and showcase for new capabilities, Skyfire has honed its technology through a variety of consumer apps, which have more than 12 million downloads to date.
Skyfire is based in Mountain View, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley.
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Adara Media Secures $12.4 M in Financing Led by August Capital
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(Marketwire -01/24/12)- Global precision marketing platform company Adara Media Inc. has secured $12.4 million in funding from venture capital firm August Capital, with participation from existing investors Morgenthaler Ventures, Onset Ventures, and Baseline Ventures. This financing will fuel increased investment in Adara Media’s award winning TruPrecision Targeting Platform, delivering highly targeted media and ecommerce campaigns based upon specific customer relevance across top travel and hospitality brands. It will also advance Adara Media’s mission to expand its platform into new verticals and invest in sales, marketing and operational resources.
The funding follows exponential spending increases from Adara Media’s clients in 2011. Working with complex customer data sets and valuable audience segments, such as frequent flyers, business and international travelers, Adara Media enables top brand advertisers to connect with a highly desired consumer base via online media channels.
“This new round of funding from an esteemed group of partners represents continued investment in the growth of our business,” says Layton Han, chief executive officer of Adara Media. “Our business has achieved revenue growth every month during 2011 and is now poised to grow more aggressively and efficiently. We’re excited to have the support of August Capital, and the continued backing of our existing investors, as we invest heavily in our platform development and continue to expand globally.”
Han added that Adara will also use the funding to take the TruPrecision platform into new vertical categories. The company’s growth in 2011 has come from travel, hospitality and closely related verticals. Through Adara Media’s TruPrecision Targeting Platform, brands can reach and activate more than 225 million traveler profiles.
Dave Marquardt and Tripp Jones of August Capital led the investment in Adara Media. “We pride ourselves on investing in companies that show entrepreneurial excellence and technical innovation,” said August Capital co-founder Dave Marquardt. “Adara Media and its management have shown that this platform can bring brands closer to their best customers through the use of technology. We’re excited about Adara’s future as they expand globally and develop into new verticals.”
Adara Media’s industry leadership has been acknowledged through many industry awards including AlwaysOn OnMedia 100, Red Herring North America, and the Mega Awards, hosted by Airline Information. Adara Media has recently established an office in Chicago and announced the promotion of Scott Garner to EVP of business strategy, now responsible for strategic partnerships as well as new product strategy.
About August Capital:
Founded in 1995, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. These companies represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion, generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. August Capital has $1.3 billion under management, and has invested in more than 75 companies including Atheros, Cobalt Networks, Iridigm, Mimosa Systems, Postini, Seagate, Shopping.com, SixApart and Silicon Image. Recent investments range from $500,000 to $130 million in information technology businesses from semiconductors to ecommerce. The firm’s partners have previously invested in a number of ground breaking technology companies, including Actel, Adaptec, Compaq, Grand Junction, Intuit, Linear Technology, Microsoft, MMC Networks, Skype, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Symantec, and Visio. August Capital is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.augustcap.com.
About Adara Media:Adara Media offers a loyalty audience platform that enables top brands to monetize and nurture their loyalty program customers online and helps advertisers reach exclusive, qualified audiences. Using proprietary loyalty data, Adara Media enables advertisers to reach real individuals, ensuring authenticity while maintaining complete anonymity. Adara Media’s brand partners then gain ancillary revenue streams and the ability to deepen their relationships with loyalty consumers through targeted offers and consistent communication. Adara Media was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.adaramedia.com/.
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The funding follows exponential spending increases from Adara Media’s clients in 2011. Working with complex customer data sets and valuable audience segments, such as frequent flyers, business and international travelers, Adara Media enables top brand advertisers to connect with a highly desired consumer base via online media channels.
“This new round of funding from an esteemed group of partners represents continued investment in the growth of our business,” says Layton Han, chief executive officer of Adara Media. “Our business has achieved revenue growth every month during 2011 and is now poised to grow more aggressively and efficiently. We’re excited to have the support of August Capital, and the continued backing of our existing investors, as we invest heavily in our platform development and continue to expand globally.”
Han added that Adara will also use the funding to take the TruPrecision platform into new vertical categories. The company’s growth in 2011 has come from travel, hospitality and closely related verticals. Through Adara Media’s TruPrecision Targeting Platform, brands can reach and activate more than 225 million traveler profiles.
Dave Marquardt and Tripp Jones of August Capital led the investment in Adara Media. “We pride ourselves on investing in companies that show entrepreneurial excellence and technical innovation,” said August Capital co-founder Dave Marquardt. “Adara Media and its management have shown that this platform can bring brands closer to their best customers through the use of technology. We’re excited about Adara’s future as they expand globally and develop into new verticals.”
Adara Media’s industry leadership has been acknowledged through many industry awards including AlwaysOn OnMedia 100, Red Herring North America, and the Mega Awards, hosted by Airline Information. Adara Media has recently established an office in Chicago and announced the promotion of Scott Garner to EVP of business strategy, now responsible for strategic partnerships as well as new product strategy.
About August Capital:
Founded in 1995, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. These companies represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion, generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. August Capital has $1.3 billion under management, and has invested in more than 75 companies including Atheros, Cobalt Networks, Iridigm, Mimosa Systems, Postini, Seagate, Shopping.com, SixApart and Silicon Image. Recent investments range from $500,000 to $130 million in information technology businesses from semiconductors to ecommerce. The firm’s partners have previously invested in a number of ground breaking technology companies, including Actel, Adaptec, Compaq, Grand Junction, Intuit, Linear Technology, Microsoft, MMC Networks, Skype, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Symantec, and Visio. August Capital is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.augustcap.com.
About Adara Media:Adara Media offers a loyalty audience platform that enables top brands to monetize and nurture their loyalty program customers online and helps advertisers reach exclusive, qualified audiences. Using proprietary loyalty data, Adara Media enables advertisers to reach real individuals, ensuring authenticity while maintaining complete anonymity. Adara Media’s brand partners then gain ancillary revenue streams and the ability to deepen their relationships with loyalty consumers through targeted offers and consistent communication. Adara Media was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.adaramedia.com/.
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2012年1月23日星期一
Indian casinos struggle to get out from under debt
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The warning from the ratings agency could not have been more direct: The parent company of the Mohegan Sun faces a “wall of debt” due early this year as the casino, struggling with rising competition and a weak economy that’s hammered consumer spending, tries to refinance hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has $505 million in loans outstanding and another $250 million due April 1, Keith Foley, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, recently told investors. The gaming authority, parent company of casinos in Uncasville, Conn., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., also has about $21 million in interest payments due Feb. 15, he said.
Mohegan Sun announced this month that fourth-quarter net income rose significantly, to $46.7 million, compared with a net loss of $26.3 million in the same period in 2010. But it also said it failed to reach an agreement to refinance debt, though lenders waived a possible default.
“They get to live another day,” Foley said in an interview.
Executives at Mohegan Sun did not respond to a request for an interview.
Mohegan Sun is not alone as several Indian-run casinos — some with plans for expansion that have been put on hold — struggle to refinance debt after being caught short when the economy went into recession in December 2007.
Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut seeks to restructure debt, and the Mescalero Apache tribe restructured $200 million in bonds last year for casino resort property in New Mexico. A spokeswoman said Foxwoods is in debt talks, but would not provide details.
An advantage that Indian-run casinos have over their commercial counterparts is that they cannot file for bankruptcy and creditors can’t foreclose on their properties because tribal governments are sovereign, said Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
Valerie Red-Horse, an investment banker and financial adviser who worked on the Mecalero Apache deal, called it the “best model out there,” in part because it preserved the casino’s financial distributions to tribal members and tribal government while bond holders kept their stakes, she said.
Some tribes have been forced to agree to cut their distributions until debt is paid down, Red-Horse said. Making sure distributions continue is a “very delicate subject. It causes a lot of angst among tribes,” she said.
Financial problems at the casino, the Inn of the Mountain Gods, were due in part to the slowing economy and faltering tourism, she said.
Indian-run casinos expanded rapidly because they are strong economic development tools for the tribes that run the casinos, said Peter Kulick, a Lansing, Mich., tax and gaming lawyer. The businesses survived economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s and were seen as immune to recessions, he said.
“In the last go-round, that’s not the case,” he said.
Kulick and Barrow said competition is the newest threat to casinos, even as revenue is now rising as the economy slowly improves.
“There are some real pockets of recovery going on right now,” Barrow said.
Massachusetts legalized casino gambling in November, but it will be years before the three casinos authorized will be operating.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this month that he would work with the Genting Group, one of the world’s largest gambling companies, to transform the Aqueduct horse track into a megaplex that would eventually include the nation’s largest convention center, 3,000 hotel rooms and a major expansion of a casino that began operating in October.
For Connecticut’s two casinos, “Aqueduct could be pretty substantial competitive pressure,” Barrow said.
“I don’t see real revenue growth for Connecticut’s casinos, he said.
Declining or stagnant revenue is bad news for Connecticut state government, which takes 25 percent of what the casinos pull in. State revenue from the two casinos reached their peak in 2007 at more than $411 million, said Kevin Lembo, Connecticut’s comptroller who tracks state revenue from all sources.
That’s declined to $342 million in the state’s budget year that ended last June 30, down $69 million, or 17 percent.
“The loss of revenue is one obvious and immediate impact for the state,” Lembo said. “What happens to jobs? What happens to future development plans? These are areas of concern for everyone at this point.”
Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said the health of the two casinos is critical because they are destinations in southeast Connecticut, drawing tourists who also visit vineyards along the shoreline, the Mystic Aquarium and other sites.
“This is a big thing for us,” she said.
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The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has $505 million in loans outstanding and another $250 million due April 1, Keith Foley, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, recently told investors. The gaming authority, parent company of casinos in Uncasville, Conn., and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., also has about $21 million in interest payments due Feb. 15, he said.
Mohegan Sun announced this month that fourth-quarter net income rose significantly, to $46.7 million, compared with a net loss of $26.3 million in the same period in 2010. But it also said it failed to reach an agreement to refinance debt, though lenders waived a possible default.
“They get to live another day,” Foley said in an interview.
Executives at Mohegan Sun did not respond to a request for an interview.
Mohegan Sun is not alone as several Indian-run casinos — some with plans for expansion that have been put on hold — struggle to refinance debt after being caught short when the economy went into recession in December 2007.
Foxwoods Resort Casino in eastern Connecticut seeks to restructure debt, and the Mescalero Apache tribe restructured $200 million in bonds last year for casino resort property in New Mexico. A spokeswoman said Foxwoods is in debt talks, but would not provide details.
An advantage that Indian-run casinos have over their commercial counterparts is that they cannot file for bankruptcy and creditors can’t foreclose on their properties because tribal governments are sovereign, said Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
Valerie Red-Horse, an investment banker and financial adviser who worked on the Mecalero Apache deal, called it the “best model out there,” in part because it preserved the casino’s financial distributions to tribal members and tribal government while bond holders kept their stakes, she said.
Some tribes have been forced to agree to cut their distributions until debt is paid down, Red-Horse said. Making sure distributions continue is a “very delicate subject. It causes a lot of angst among tribes,” she said.
Financial problems at the casino, the Inn of the Mountain Gods, were due in part to the slowing economy and faltering tourism, she said.
Indian-run casinos expanded rapidly because they are strong economic development tools for the tribes that run the casinos, said Peter Kulick, a Lansing, Mich., tax and gaming lawyer. The businesses survived economic downturns in the 1970s and 1980s and were seen as immune to recessions, he said.
“In the last go-round, that’s not the case,” he said.
Kulick and Barrow said competition is the newest threat to casinos, even as revenue is now rising as the economy slowly improves.
“There are some real pockets of recovery going on right now,” Barrow said.
Massachusetts legalized casino gambling in November, but it will be years before the three casinos authorized will be operating.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this month that he would work with the Genting Group, one of the world’s largest gambling companies, to transform the Aqueduct horse track into a megaplex that would eventually include the nation’s largest convention center, 3,000 hotel rooms and a major expansion of a casino that began operating in October.
For Connecticut’s two casinos, “Aqueduct could be pretty substantial competitive pressure,” Barrow said.
“I don’t see real revenue growth for Connecticut’s casinos, he said.
Declining or stagnant revenue is bad news for Connecticut state government, which takes 25 percent of what the casinos pull in. State revenue from the two casinos reached their peak in 2007 at more than $411 million, said Kevin Lembo, Connecticut’s comptroller who tracks state revenue from all sources.
That’s declined to $342 million in the state’s budget year that ended last June 30, down $69 million, or 17 percent.
“The loss of revenue is one obvious and immediate impact for the state,” Lembo said. “What happens to jobs? What happens to future development plans? These are areas of concern for everyone at this point.”
Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman said the health of the two casinos is critical because they are destinations in southeast Connecticut, drawing tourists who also visit vineyards along the shoreline, the Mystic Aquarium and other sites.
“This is a big thing for us,” she said.
http://tourism9.cm/ http://vkins.com/
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