CAASA Newsletter - May 2019

A neat spot for start-ups in downtown.  As many know, we started CAASA about 15 months ago (150 members now!) and part of our success has been simply putting together folks for mutual benefit - with a bit of education and fun along the way.  

Our partnership with The Professional Centre (TPC) is no exception. We had not planned to have a 'real' office for at least a year but we arrived at a package that makes sense for our members, our budget, and all parties involved. Basically, we have a little office (it's located on 24 at 120 Adelaide Street West) and we organize a number of events each year with our members speaking to their expertise to an audience of TPC members and ours.

Over the last few months, we have had sessions on blockchain (MLG Blockchain), AML (The AML Shop), PR & marketing (Goldman Communications), listing your (hedge) fund (the TMX Group), IT and tech (Coach House Partners) and others on wellness and the like. (TPC has a brewery coming in over the summer for a tasting also.)

If you would like to speak at a session - we are open to ideas, no matter how niche-y - just let us know and we can get you into the calendar. There is no cost for this for CAASA members and the audience has been from 12 people up to 25 in the room and more on the phone line (that was for AML!). Of course, there is a rent discount for CAASA members also.

We will send a separate email for this also: look out for the CAASA Liquid Alts Update which lists all of the liquid alts funds available in Canada (under 81-102) as well a CIFSC category (JB is active in the committee, opining on initial and subsequent category placement), risk level, fee structures, and AUM by strategy (overall it's at least $2.5 billion). You can download the May 30th version here.

Thanks also to the many early sponsors of our annual Méchoui Summer Social in Montréal on Thursday, August 22: Battea Class Action Services, BMO Nesbitt Burns, the Canadian Derivatives Institute, Formula Growth, Gestion Cristallin, Interactive Brokers, ITG, Landry Invest, PwC, Société Générale Prime, TD Securities, and Walter Capital. This event is 55% sold already! We have a hard cap of 200 registrations.

As a reminder: CAASA is formally a partner with an association that JB has been a part of for more than 12 years: the CAIA Association. Our partnership will bring great benefits to our members and the industry at large as our membership grows in Canada and abroad. CAASA members will receive 10% off the CAIA charter exams (excluding the registration enrolment fee) and $100 off CAIA's Fundamentals course (20 hours vs. 2 x 200 hours for the namesake designation). We will also work more closely on each others' and joint events and all CAASA members will have access to CAIA's quarterly digital research digest, the Alternative Investment Analyst Review (AIAR).

News & Views

• A summary of our What of the 40 event on Advisor's Edge, read it here.
• CAASA member La Financière Constance's Kambiz Kazemi was recently published via the TMX (another member). All can read "Options on unhedged ETFs and inter-listed stocks" via this link.
• CIBC Mellon recently published "The Race for Assets: Canada vs. the World" which can be found here.

Event Highlights

We started our triple-header May 1st with a Blockchain Primer, kicked off by Fred Pye with 3iQ Corp. explaining the blockchain crypto-currency and then Kerem Koncuoglu of MLG Blockchain delving deeper into use cases and the evolution of the industry.

This was followed by an excellent panel lead by Michael Gord of MLG Blockchain and including David Zach from Secure Digital Markets, Syd Capland of CryptoRun, Alex McDougal at Bicameral Ventures, and Rachel Lam from URSA Education. The audience asked some pretty detailed questions and the panelists answered them with aplomb.

Our Liquid Alts Lunch packed the room and speakers Wilson Tow with Fern Capital, Tim Elliott of Connor Clark & Lunn Funds, Raja Krishnan at Apex Canada, and Jason Chertin with McMillan LLP explained the new rules and how the market - specifically the dealer network's product & compliance units - is adapting to the reality of alternative strategies being offered in the 'true retail' domain.  

We ended the day with our Family Office Dinner & Discussion that brought together our Family Office Summit's speakers, sponsors, and investor complement to speak to the challenges of running a single family office - including: sourcing in-house talent and external managers, deal-making, diligence, and the like.

Our Family Office Summit attracted numerous SFO & MFO folks (40% of attendees; from Canada, the US, Hong Kong, and Korea), managers of all types (50% of attendees; from across Canada, the US, and UK) and service providers (10%). Many enjoyed the tête-à-tête meetings, facilitated by the app that our group pioneered in Canada, as well as the high content panels and great food.

The Focus on Investment Due Diligence panel was moderated by Alexander Matthews from Palomino Capital and included Ranjan Bhaduri of Bodhi Research Group, Isaac Lempriere at Prime Quadrant, and Malcolm Katz-Larson from Rohit Group.

The Focus on Operational Due Diligence panel was moderated by Victor Kuntzevitsky from Northland Wealth Management and panelists Brian Broadway of Gryphon Capital, Terry Ram with Sigma Analysis & Management, and Esther Zurba from Castle Hall Diligence.

Best Practices for Family Offices featured Geoff Dover of Heirloom Investments (Dubai) moderating a global panel: Kieran Young from Richardson GMP Private Family Office (Toronto), Min-Jun Kim of Strategic Asset Partners (Seoul), and Tec Han with Vibrato Capital LLC (Portland, OR).

Eric Wong from TCG Capital moderated our Equity Strategies Panel which included Eden Rahim of Next Edge Capital, Chip Krotee with GreyArc Global, and Andrew Uhl from Fort LP.

Our Credit Strategies Panel had Northland Wealth Management's Arthur Salzer posing questions from the floor to Natasha Sharpe with Bridging Finance, Greg Vorwaller of Trez Capital, and Geoff Beard from Colchis Capital.

Finally, JB moderated the Access to Illiquids: Real Estate & Private Equity Panel featuring Julian Klymochko from Accelerate Financial Technologies, IAM Real Estate's David Pappin, Maria Pacella at PenderFund Capital Management, and Jonathan Turnbull with Alignvest Student Housing.

Thank you to our many sponsors: Algonquin Capital, Alignvest Student Housing, Axonic Capital LLC, Bridging Finance, Colchis Capital, CDAM, Castle Hall Diligence, Coach House Partners, Integrated Asset Management, Northland Wealth Management, Measure 8 Venture Partners, and Trez Capital.

We hosted our What of the 40? talk at the Cambridge Club on May 15th - Jamie Price of Richardson GMP gave a synopsis of his paper on what to do with the fixed income allocation in a portfolio (hint: it's probably not long duration bonds) and then he joined Brian D'Costa with Algonquin Capital and Alignvest's Kerry Stirton to discuss.

CAASA also partnered with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Government of Canada (NYC Consulate) on a couple of events in Toronto that brought PE/VC companies from Canada and the U.S. together with investors. Please let us know if this sort of event is of interest to you/your shop.

Continuing our engagement with schools and getting the message of careers in the alternatives investment industry, we brought together a great panel for the current Queen's MBA cohort. Joining me on the panel was Theresa Shutt of IAM Group, John Young with Lawrence Park Asset Management, Colin Deeks at Wittington Investments, and Trez Capital's Gordon Kim. A super-diverse spectrum of backgrounds, expertise, (non-linear) career paths, and advice for the group. Super job!

Upcoming Events

Deep Diligence - Monday, June 3

Sponsored by Vidrio Financial and Avenue Living, this afternoon panel discussion in Toronto features a forensic psychologist, Asst. Prof. Leanne ten Brinke of the University of Denver, an Ops DD & risk specialist, Sara Yarmand, and James Jung with Avenue Living as they discuss the how they perform deep diligence on managers and companies - featuring a special speaker on the subject. Limited seating will allow a lively exchange between participants and audience.  Discount for those who register for both events.

Toronto Summer Social - Monday, June 3

Our annual social at the National Club Rooftop is back. Capacity is strictly 100 persons and sponsors receive comp tickets. Discount for those who register for both events. Thanks to sponsors Vidrio Financial, Avenue Living, and Coach House Partners.

Where to Turn for Return (Montréal) - Tuesday, June 18

Moderator Alex Da Costa from Mercer - Pavilion Advisory Services will lead the panel including Greg Doyle of Kruger Pension Plan and Nicolas Dang with CN Investment Division.

Montréal Summer Social - Thursday, August 22

Méchoui is back (as is lobster, crab, oysters...plus a few new items). Sponsors are encouraged to commit early as we will hit capacity quickly. General registration will commence later in the spring. Last year we had 215 attendees from Montréal, Toronto, and U.S. investors, asset managers, and service providers at the lovely Jamaica Pavillion - look forward to a similar crowd this year. (Already 50% sold from sponsors alone.)

CAASA Annual Conference, Monday, Nov 4 & Tuesday, Nov 5

Building on our high-impact 2018 edition and adding even more next year, look forward to another 2 days of academic, regulatory, portfolio management / asset allocation, and due diligence speakers, networking, and special speakers. 2018 had more investors than managers than service providers (as one might have come to expect) and we are looking to do the same in 2019. Capacity might be an issue and this event is for CAASA members unless from a designated investor category.

Registering:

If you need a hand during registration, please call Caroline at (647) 953-0737 or email at [email protected] to register or for more information on any of these events.

Industry Events & Conferences

• June 5-6: Talking Hedge (Toronto - JB will be there - CAASA members get a great discount)
• June 11: Canadian Annual Derivatives Conference (Montréal - JB will be there)
• July 10-12: Future of Finance - Disruption, Innovation, & Thinking Outside the Box (Coral Gables, JB will be there)
• Sept 4-5: AAAIM National Conference (NYC, details to be announced on the AAAIM events page - JB will be there)

To view our full list of industry events, please click (here).