By Chris Arsenault, Managing Partner iNovia Capital

I’ve been an active board member of the CVCA – Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association – for many years, with somewhat of a focus on helping make the annual main event a unique and uttermost valuable gathering of the minds that define our private capital industry.

I’m predicting that this year’s event will set new groundbreaking records. In fact, I think that this year’s event will break every record we have logged at the CVCA! And why you may ask? Because this year’s event speakers and attendees are made up of the most active and opinionated leaders in our industry.

We have the largest group ever of Limited Partners attending, coming from across North America, Europe and Brazil, which, in turn, is attracting practically every Venture & Private Equity Fund Manager and General Partner in the country.

This year’s Annual conference is being held from May 25-27^th in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Westin Bayshore.

The speaker lineup is amazing and includes:

Leo DeBever, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)
Barry Gonder, Managing Partner, Grove Street Advisors, LLC
Doug Pearce, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC)
Maurício da Rocha Wanderley, CIO, Valia

Sebastien Burdel, Principal, Coller Capital Ltd.
Alan Hibben, Managing Director, Mergers and Acquisitions, RBC Capital Markets
John McCoach, President, TSX Venture Exchange
Andrew Rippy, Managing Director - Investment Banking, Pacific Crest Securities

Blair Cowan, Vice-President, Corporate Finance, CIBC
Vipon Ghai, Managing Director, Manulife Capital
Mark Jenkins, Vice-President and Head of Private Debt, CPP Investment Board
Greg Woynarski, Managing Director and Head of the Global Debt Capital Markets Group and Global Co-Head of Credit Capital Markets Group, Scotia Capital

Chris Arsenault, Managing Partner, iNovia Capital Inc.
Jeff Clavier, Founder and Managing Partner, SoftTechVC
John Ruffolo, Senior Vice-President and Head of Knowledge Investing, OMERS
Boris Wertz, CEO, W Media Ventures

Frank Dennis, President and CEO, Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company
Brett Hodson, President and CEO, Corix Group of Companies
Peter Luit, President and CEO, Livingston International

Tim April , Managing Director, Fund Investments, BDC Venture Capital
Jacques Bernier, Managing Partner, Teralys Capital
Jennifer Brooy, Vice President and Head of Equity, Export Development Canada
Melissa McJannet, Managing Director, Northleaf Capital Partners
Todd Tessier, Vice President, BC Renaissance Capital Fund

Stephen Dent, Partner, Birch Hill Equity Partners
Kelly DePonte, Partner, Probitas Partners
Aaron Gershenberg, Managing Partner, SVB Capital
David Henderson, Managing Director , XPV Capital Corporation
Tim Kelly, Partner, Adams Street Partners

Susan Long McAndrews, Partner, Pantheon
Dave Mullen, CEO and Head of Private Equity North America, HSBC Capital (Canada) Inc.
Deanna Brown, CEO, Federated Media Publishing Inc.
Matt Klainer, Business Development Manager , Google
Michael Shim, Vice President, Mobile Partnerships, Groupon

Jim Orlando, Managing Director, OMERS Private Equity
Scott Stedman, Partner, The Yucaipa Companies

Gary Rubinoff, Managing Director, Summerhill Venture Partners
Chris Wormald, Vice President – Strategic Alliances, Research In Motion
Paul Deninger, Senior Managing Director, Evercore Partners

Jennifer Morais , Senior Principal, Funds and Secondaries, CPP Investment Board
Jim Pittman, Vice President, Private Equity, PSP Investments
Rakesh Saraf, Portfolio Manager, Private Investments, Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board
Lincoln Webb, Vice President, Private Equity & Infrastructure, BC Investment Management Corporation

Miguel Ferreira, Head of International Markets, Tarpon
Tim Formuziewich, Managing Partner, Brookfield Brazil
Miguel Perrotti, President, Invest Tech
Maurício da Rocha Wanderley, CIO, Valia
Duncan Littlejohn, Managing Director for Latin America, Paul Capital Partners
Michael Woolhouse, Senior Principal, Private Investments, CPP Investment Board

Sidney Chameh, Chairman, ABVCAP Founder and Partner, DGF Investimentos
Martin Pose, Partner, TozziniFreire Advogados

David Snow, Founder & CEO, Privcap

Bing Gordon, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Don Mattrick , President, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft
Neil Young, CEO, Ngmoco

Stephen Todd Walker, Managing Director, Oppenheimer & Co., and Author of ‘Wave Theory for Alternative Investments’

And yes! The rumors were well-founded. Entertainment before the traditional Scotch Tasting Evening on the 26^th will be provided by none other than “Great Canadian Entrepreneur and Entertainer Howie Mandel”

HOWIE MANDEL

Howie Mandel, one of the biggest names in comedy, will entertain us after dinner. Howie Mandel has remained a constant force in show business for over 30 years. This summer he embarked on his latest endeavor as a judge on NBC’s hit talent competition series “America’s Got Talent” alongside Sharon Osborne and Piers Morgan. Howie recently received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Reality/Competition Host” for “Deal or No Deal” and a Daytime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Game Show Host” for the syndicated version of the show.

So if you are not registered and are looking for “the place to be” later this month, then LINK TO CONFERENCE WEB SITE, SPEAKER LIST & AGENDA and register today – we are almost sold out!

See you in Vancouver!

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These days, it feels like there isn’t one major event happening in the Startup Tech Community or in the Venture Capital/ Angel Community, without hearing about the C100. The C100 is everywhere!

The latest and most promising tech event in Canada is already tattooed with C100 efforts. Starting with the amazing Debbie Landa, a passionate and devoted C100er who’s taken charge and is making the GROW 2010 the MUST attend event of the year in Canada.

Just check out the sampling list of some registered attendees and speakers and you will be flabbergasted:

• Andrew Mason, Founder and CEO - Groupon
• Dave McClure - 500 Hats LLC
• Marc Gingras – Tungle
• Wesley Chan, Investment Partner – Google Ventures
• Rob Chaplinsky, Managing Director - Bridgescale Partners
• Chris Arsenault - iNovia Capital
• Jeff Clavier, Managing Director – SoftTech VC
• Tom Conrad, CTO – Pandora
• Robert Goldberg, SVP Corporate Development – Zynga
• Michael Buhr, CEO of Travelport and former CEO of Stumbleupon
• Don Harrison, Deputy General Counsel – Google
• Rob Hayes, Managing Partner – First Round Capital
• Mark Macleod –  RealVentures
• David Crow – StartupNorth
• Tony Hsieh, Author of Delivering Happiness and CEO – Zappos
• Debbie Landa, CEO and Founder – Dealmaker Media
• Stew Langille, VP, Marketing – Mint
• Ellen Levy, Vice President Strategic Alliances – Linkedin
• Dan Martell, Co-Founder – Flowtown
• Mike Parker, President – Tribal DDB US
• Ariel Poler, CEO of TextMarks Inc. and Angel Investor – TextMarks
• Danny Robinson, Managing Director – Bootup Labs
• Rick Segal, Co-founder – Fixmo
• Aydin Senkut, Founder and President – Felicis Ventures
• Dana Settle, Partner – Greycroft Partners
• Bill Tai, General Partner – Charles River Ventures
• Jeremy Toeman, Founder – Stage Two
• Steven Woods, Vice President North Americas Operatiosn, Waterloo – Google
• Chris Albinson, Managing Director – Panorama Capital
• Jason Bailey, GM of Virtual Currencies – Adknowledge
• Lane Becker, Co-Founder & VP, Strategy – Get Satisfaction
• Paul Bernard, Head of Business Development, Business Services – Nokia
• Leonard Brody, President – Clarity Digital
• Danny Robinson – bootup labs
• and so many more…

Now for your GROW2010 To-do List:

Are you ready? We are two weeks away from the inaugural GROW2010 conference, please make sure you’ve checked everything off your to-do list.

___ 1. Register to Attend and Follow us on Twitter: @growconf

___ 2. Conference Agenda: Check out the final agenda and speaker line-up for the conference

___ 3. Meet the speakers during “Office Hours”: Attendees can sit down with the speakers and investors during

“office hours” in the main lobby of the conference. (Schedule will be given out at the conference.

___ 4. Sign Up for Day 3: Join us for a day of outdoor adventure with local insiders. They’ll take you kite-boarding,

hiking, cycling, mountain biking and kayaking.

___ 5. Go to After party: After the conference on Friday night, Media Temple is hosting the after-party. It’s at an

undisclosed location, and we’ll let you know the details at the conference.

___ 6. ***Give a big thank you to our generous sponsors (below) and partners – we couldn’t do this without them! (See below)

Register here

See you here

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Interview with Thomas J. Barrack Jr. of Colony Capital

By Chris Arsenault Managing Partner at iNovia Capital

Please note that a full copy in .pdf of the magazine can be downloaded on the CVCA web site.

First, you survive the crisis, then you take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the confusion, advises CVCA keynote speaker Thomas J. Barrack Jr.

At this year’s CVCA Annual Conference, held in Calgary in late May, we had the pleasure to have with us, as a keynote speaker, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Colony Capital, LLC. Barrack’s keynote speech was of utmost interest and very enjoyable, in part because he presented the audience with his views on both sides of the harsh reality of today’s private equity buyout market, outlining the key challenges as well as some great opportunities.

Like many other private equity buyout firms across North America, Barrack’s firm, Colony Capital, is having a tough time adjusting to all the changes caused by what is considered to be the worst market ever for the U.S. investment community.

Even though Colony Capital has only one transaction of importance in Canada, the 2006 acquisition of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc., Barrack believes Canada will be one of the big winners coming out of this global crisis. This is being driven by the country’s stronger banking system, smaller and better performing buyout funds, and fundamentally sound assets across numerous line of business. They weren’t as badly impacted by the sub-prime crisis due to the fact that they weren’t overly leveraged with debt.

Barrack recently took the time to expand on some of his views with Private Capital.

Chris Arsenault: What are your current views on the state of the private equity industry in general?

Thomas J. Barrack: Let me summarize a few of my instinctive views into two categories, short term and long term.

Short term: debt is the new equity (rescue, restructuring and acquisition of all forms of distressed debt); alternative energy subsidized platforms will be the flavour of the year; real estate will continue to get clobbered; private equity will perform poorly for another two years.

Long term: oil is the new gold; alternative energy projects will reduce oil supply and increase cost; real estate will be the asset of choice; technology will play a bigger role in communications and will impact the real estate model and travel; private equity will outperform other asset classes and VC and technology funds will be at the top of the list.

Arsenault: Do you see more challenges or more opportunities for private equity players?

Barrack: Colony Capital has a few billion in dry powder, and we are being asked: “Don’t go to fast, don’t be too opportunistic.” The reasoning behind such comments is understandable and is being felt across the whole private equity community. The major investors in private equity funds are banks, pension funds and endowment funds, and their contributions are directly impacted by the lack of distribution by private equity funds. They need distributions in order to make their contributions but they got a double hit, first by a slowdown in distributions AND simultaneously by a 50 per cent asset value loss.

The super funds are the ones that are suffering the most though, they lost more money in the last two years then they had made over the last 10 years. The fee dilemma created by these funds also didn’t help as some firms were leveraging their fees to a point where it killed the model of sticking to finite capital for fees and infinite capital for investments.

We are seeing great opportunities, sound businesses being deleveraged, and true value that can be built through time. We are going back to more realistic growth objectives and we expect to do very well in the mid to long term. In the short term we have to focus on the challenges from an inches and feet perspective, not miles. We need to fix the trust issues between fund managers, investors, lenders and the markets. High leveraging multiples must be part of our past.

Arsenault: How are private equity buyout funds, such as Colony Capital, reacting to the new paradigms?

Barrack: This crisis will pass like all other crises. The key is two-fold: First you need to survive; second, you need to take advantage of the opportunities created by confusion. Experience will show a lot of its value in the coming 18 to 24 months. Inflation will return exponentially within two to three years. Private equity & real estate will directly benefit from the short-term deleveraging and the long-term inflation.

Arsenault: What does your experience tell you?

Barrack: That we need to return to principled leadership by making decent and informed decisions based on true value for the long term. No short-term value creation thinking. Even though the short term will continue to be unpredictable, the medium to long term are totally predictable. We entered into an era of broken confidence, adrift in a sea of unfulfilled expectations. New equity owners will take the reins of very valuable operating companies, acquire assets on a lower cost base and start deleveraging. And with these new teams being incented with long-term value creation goals, investor returns will be restored, and with lower leverage ratios, confidence and trust will be restored. But first, you need to survive!

Arsenault: How much deleveraging needs to occur?

Barrack: $6.9 trillion. So we will still have pretty shaky grounds in the short term. In the long run, the winners will also include those able to convert debt into equity.

Arsenault: How about your views on Canada?

Barrack: Canada can be a strong beneficiary of what is happening. The U.S. is in its worst shape ever. While here in Canada, the banks are solid, we haven’t seen any hyper leveraging; no super funds were put in place. And in these times unique skills are required, different tools are needed, and Canada is better equipped to delicately take advantage of the opportunities created by the numerous short-term stimulus packages.

Arsenault: Any other points you would like to share?

Barrack: The private equity model is changing and the focus will be going back to slower, more realistic growth and building stronger companies. A clearer understanding of the fundamentals – honesty, integrity and force of character – will show. I think many older fund managers will take this opportunity to retire, giving more room to younger more energetic managers to step in. And hopefully they will do things right and slow and understand they need to bring the confidence back, the circle of trust.

This global crisis is a savior for some, as it basically gave all fund managers a free “Get out of Jail” pass for returns!

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Active VC’s (Canadian & foreign), repeat CEO’s, passionate entrepreneurs and VC & PE industry leaders will meet at his year’s Annual CVCA Conference – to be held in Calgary on May 27-29th 2009

If you attend ONE private capital conference this year, this is the one you should attend – CVCA’s Annual Conference is the premier networking and professional development event for Canada’s venture capital and private equity industry and repeatedly attracts over 400 industry professionals and influencers from across the country, the U.S. and around the world. 

I highly recommend that you attend CVCA’s Annual Conference as it is the premier networking and professional development event for Canada’s private capital industry and repeatedly attracts over 400 industry professionals and influencers from across the country, the U.S. and around the world.  

High profile speakers include Thomas Barrack, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Capital, LLC, Tim Draper, Founder and Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Leo de Bever, Chief Executive Officer of Alberta Investment Management Corp. Marc Beauchamp, President & Managing Partner at NOVACAP, Michael Nobrega, President and CEO of OMERS and Mark Wiseman, Senior Vice President, Private Investments, Canada Pension Plan Investment.

CVCA’s Conference attendees return year after year for the invaluable benefits of networking, with key industry leaders and for the topical issues presented and discussed at the various organized presentation. Participants and sponsors include the following:

• Private Equity Investors
• Venture Capitalists 
• Institutional & Corporate Investors
• Investment Bankers/Intermediaries
• Leveraged Lenders
• Commercial Banks
• Service Providers – Lawyers, Insurers, Accountants, Strategic and Financial Advisors, Executive Search
• Security Exchanges
• Government and Academia

You may visit the conference web site for the full agenda and on-line registration.

www.cvca.ca/news/events/2009AnnualConference.aspx   

Sincerely, 

Richard Rémillard

Executive Director

CVCA- Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association

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