“The Hedge Connection” – Bringing Together Investors (“Allocators”) with Hedge Fund Managers
When I write my column for the Hedge Connection’s blog which I call “The Cleantech Deal of the Month,” I try to do so with the sensibilities of the reader in mind. Suppose you’re an “allocator” (neologism for “skilled and trusted investor of significant amounts of other people’s money”). You’re obviously looking for some sort of alternative investment, or you wouldn’t be on the site in the first place. You also have a limited amount of time and patience for reading material that doesn’t really make a point.
This is why I simply pick out one of the cleantech investment opportunities that I support, and lay out the basic concepts in as few words as possible. Since my first contribution last August, I’ve presented the broad strokes of opportunities in waste-to-energy, OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion), run-of-river hydrokinetics, and compressed air energy storage.
One of the reasons that I so completely approve of the Hedge Connection is the uniqueness of what they do: making the “courtship” between the allocators and the fund managers far less awkward than it’s ever been in the past. They enable the two parties to find one another based on various search criteria, and reach out to one another when and only when there appears to be a very good match of interests.
In addition, they are clever enough to offer an off-line version of all this: an annual event (this year in Bermuda–see map linked here, illustrating how easy it is to get there) offering a vast set of networking opportunities, where allocators can request pre-arranged appointments to meet one-on-one with fund managers—and vice versa.
Here’s their material on the 2015 event; if you’re interested, just click on the image.
Craig,
Matching investors with ideas is a generic method of aligning capital with start-up businesses. Having an idea is a dime a dozen… I have seen many ideas come and go and much money lost as ideas in action fail to realize the cash flow necessary to turn a profit or even stay in business. A laser sharp focus on what products and services you offer, a total company wide buy in on who you are as a company… Your values, your goals… And most important an action plan for self sufficiency… 1-3-&5 year plans to ake it happen!
Being a successful investor means a person has a good understanding of the language and details of finance but usually lacks an understanding of most technology, while a technology innovator usually means a person is on the other end of the intellectual rope, and most likely understands his particular field far better than anyone else but he/she is often lacking a solid understanding of financing and the way financiers think and speak. This situation creates an obvious void that someone should try to figure out how to overcome. So far as I can tell it still hasn’t happened.
You are right, and that is one reason that I am a strong supporter of a good broad-based liberal education.
A person with an engineering or other technical degree ought to be able to understand the basics of accounting, finance, and investment. Similarly, a person with an accounting degree ought to have an adequate background in chemistry, physics, and biology. And, everyone should have some understanding of psychology and important aspects of history. Some people do have such broad-based educations, but usually not from formal education, but rather, from independent reading and study after completing their formal educations.
I am not infrequently startled by questions I hear from people who think that they are well-educated but are not. For example, someone who had a theology degree and could read Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, told me that if people gave up their electric can openers, it would go a long way towards solving our energy problems. Where physics was concerned, he was completely incompetent and didn’t even know it!
Obviously an engineer does not need as thorough knowledge of accounting as an accountant needs. Similarly, an accountant does not need as thorough an understanding of physics as an engineer needs. However, everyone should have an adequate knowledge of both disciplines to understand the basics and often they do not.
It would help if colleges and high schools required, for graduation, one year of a life science, one year of physics, one year of chemistry, and one year of understanding how investment decisions should be made, including rate of return. The media, including television, could help, but show no interesting in doing so perhaps because the hoi polloi are more interested in entertainment than in being well-informed.
Some of the better colleges and universities do a reasonably good job of providing good broad-based liberal educations, but many do not. That is a situation that should be corrected.