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Showing posts from May, 2009

Emerging Managers Summit

"If you are looking to expand and diversify your asset allocation by investing in emerging managers as well as women and minority owned investment managers, the e merging managers conference will provide the unique opportunity to access a diversified group of up-and-coming performance-oriented managers and manager of managers. The conference will explore the benefits and opportunities offered by investing in emerging managers as well as new strategies for implementing an emerging managers program. If you are an emerging manager, you will learn the procedures used by institutions to launch and maintain successful emerging manager programs. This event will showcase a variety of emerging mangers as well as minority-owned manager funds and other high potential smaller investment firms, and it will offer participants invaluable networking opportunities." June 7-9, 2009. Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, Chicago, IL .

"For Minority Firms, Crisis Opens Doors"

Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2009. NEW YORK -- The financial turmoil that has weakened or destroyed some of Wall Street's most prominent companies is presenting an opportunity for some lesser-known firms, especially those owned by women and minorities. One company that is benefiting is Williams Capital Group LP, an African-American-owned broker-dealer and asset manager in New York. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it will invest $1 billion in a money-market fund managed by Williams Capital, more than doubling the amount of funds the firm has under management and pushing it over a critical size threshold that could help it attract additional institutional investors. Last month, Williams Capital was named as part of a team assembled by Invesco Ltd. that applied to participate in the Treasury Department's Public-Private Investment Program, or PPIP, an effort to relieve banks of toxic assets. Invesco, and its affiliate WL Ross & Co., which is controlled by money

Top Five Minority Financial Institutions for 2009

Creative Investment Research, Inc. released its listing of the top women and minority owned financial institutions (banks and thrifts). The listing, using 2009 financial, demographic, HMDA and CRA information from a database maintained by Creative Investment Research, was compiled using the firm's proprietary Fully Adjusted Return tm Index. The Fully Adjusted Return tm Index provides a full description of the economic condition and social responsiveness of a financial institution. Asian - Hawaii National Bank, Honolulu, HI. 808-528-7711; Black - Industrial Bank, Washington, DC. 202-722-2040; Hispanic - Interamerican Bank, FSB, Miami, FL. 305-223-1434; Native American - Peoples Bank, Adair, OK. 918-723-5453; Women - Central Bank of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO. 816- 483-1210; See: http://www.minoritybank.com/cirm3.html If you contact any of these institutions, do us a favor....let them know you found them here!!

Financial Market Regulatory Proposals by the Obama Administration

The Obama Administration is gearing up to reform the financial marketplace. Today, two proposals were released. The first, according to the New York Times ,"seek(s) new authority to supervise the virtually unregulated complex financial instruments, known as derivatives, that were a major cause of the market crisis.." And, according to Reuters , the second proposal "reforms..financial industry compensation practices to discourage excessive risk-taking, which is considered to have sown the seeds of the current credit crisis." The two proposals are linked and reinforcing. The derivatives reform play seeks to eliminate or regulate a key tool used by executives at financial institutions to justify large amounts of compensation. (Unless you can produce outsized returns via standard financial instruments, extremely generous pay packages are unlikely to be received.) And, in case that fails, the compensation reform play says we will limit your compensation no matter what yo

TARP Congressional Oversight Panel Hearing in NYC

The TARP Congressional Oversight Panel Hearing is scheduled to have a hearing on May 28, 2009 in New York City. The hearing "will examine the state of our financial markets and assess the effectiveness of TARP.” According to the Panel, " In response to the escalating crisis, on October 3, 2008, Congress provided the U.S. Treasury with the authority to spend $700 billion to stabilize the U.S. economy. Congress created the Office of Financial Stabilization (OFS) within Treasury to implement a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). At the same time, Congress created a Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) to review the current state of financial markets and the regulatory system." No location has been set. The witness list has not been released. To get more information, you can contact the Panel at 202-224-9925. Let us know what you find out.

Last In, First Out....Minority Gains in Homeownership Erode.

According to the New York Times , "After a decade of growth, the gains made in homeownership by African Americans and native-born Latinos have been eroding faster than those for whites, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center. The numbers indicate that the gains for minority groups, achieved between 1994 and 2004, were disproportionately tied to relaxed lending standards and subprime loan products, and that those gains are now being reversed. The exception to the pattern was foreign-born Latinos, whose rate of homeownership, while low, has stalled in the downturn but has not fallen. Since 2004, homeownership for all Americans has declined to 67.8 percent from 69 percent. For African Americans it fell to 47.5 percent from 49.4 percent. Latinos had a longer period of growth, with homeownership rising until 2006, to 49.8 percent, before falling to 48.9 percent last year. Homeownership for native-born Latinos fell to 53.6 percent from a high of 56.2 percent i