Leading Alternatives Publisher Opalesque Ltd. Forms Joint Venture with Janice M. Johnson, CPA, JD to Launch Hedge Fund Conference Division

Inaugural Series of Hedge Fund Workshops Starts in July - 16 Hours of Education Credit to CPAs and Attorneys

2008-06-24, Opalesque Ltd.

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Posted by Nisha 150 days ago (1)
Category: Banking & Investment | Tags: hedge funds workshops

New York, June 25, 2008 -- Opalesque, the world's largest subscription-based publisher on alternative investments, has launched its Conferences Division, which is a joint venture between publisher Opalesque Ltd., and Janice M. Johnson, a widely recognized originator of alternative investment and other tax and financial services conferences for the past two decades.

The first series produced by the Conferences Division will be a series of Alternative Investment Workshops designed to more fully explore issues encountered in advising and managing the formation and operation of funds. The workshops will be held every Tuesday morning, beginning July 22, 2008 and running on consecutive Tuesdays through August 12, 2008.

16 Hours of Education Credit to CPAs and Attorneys
Each workshop is designed to provide 4 hours of continuing education credits to CPAs and attorneys. They are being sponsored overall by Crowell & Moring, and by the newly combined organizations of Custom House and Equity Trust. All sessions will be held at the Yale Club in New York City.

These four workshops are designed to give hedge fund professionals a better understanding of specific issues confronting the hedge fund industry. They range in coverage from Dissecting the Private Placement Memorandum, to an In-Depth Exploration of Tax and Accounting Issues, to Planning for Hedge Fund Managers and Investors, to Delving into the Growing World of Alternative Alternatives.

A brochure with all details can be downloaded here:
www.opalesque.com/files/OpalesqueWorkshopsFlyer.pdf

Chaired by Janice M. Johnson, CPA, JD
Opalesque Conferences Division is headed by Janice M. Johnson, CPA, JD. Janice M. Johnson is a pioneer in advising on the structure of, and issues encountered by, hedge funds in her capacity as Partner in several international CPA firms. She previously chaired the Investment Partnerships Conference of the New York State Society of CPAs for 8 years where it grew into a nationally recognized event drawing more than 600 attendees. She is also the Founding Chair of the Taxation of Financial Instruments and Transactions Committee of the NYSSCPA.

For five years, Janice wrote and taught in 30 cities the AICPA’s Annual Tax Update course. She has appeared numerous times over the past two decades on television and radio programs to discuss investing and tax issues and she has spoken on these topics, as well as on tax legislative initiatives, at various conferences around the nation and abroad.

The initial workshop, Dissecting the Private Placement Memorandum, will be offered on July 22, 2008 at the Yale Club and will examine the various provisions in the PPM that are crucial to the operations of the hedge fund and to allocations of its profits and losses. Among these provisions are the sections governing tax allocations and trader versus investor descriptions; manager compensation; permissible investments of the fund; break periods; types of investors that will be allowed; and provisions governing distributions and withdrawals from the fund.

Following this session on July 29, 2008 will be An Exploration of Key Tax and Accounting Issues for Hedge Funds. This morning session will cover the application of the unrelated business tax, New York tax issues specific to investment partnerships, valuing illiquid assets, and Form 1065 tricks and traps.

On August 5, 2008, the morning session will be devoted to Planning for Hedge Fund Managers and Investors and will include an in-depth exploration of the issues encountered in determining trader versus investor status and the consequences that flow from either determination, as well as a session on the issues to be considered in structuring funds and an overview of unique estate and gift tax planning issues.

The final workshop in the series, Alternative Alternative Investments, will be presented on August 12, 2008 and will focus on issues related to funds investing primarily in other than equities. Specifically, the issues related to investing in hard assets, infrastructure and options strategies will be discussed.

Events to come:
2008 conferences will include a November 10, 2008 forum dedicated to updating hedge fund advisers and insiders on need-to-know developments in the industry, the Hedge Fund Insiders’ Update.

On January 12, 2009, a Primer on Hedge Funds, will be offered in New York City, to allow those wanting to understand the alternative investment industry to obtain a firm footing in its unique concepts and issues.

More details, registration here: www.opalesque.com/workshops
A brochure with all details can be downloaded here:
www.opalesque.com/files/OpalesqueWorkshopsFlyer.pdf

About Opalesque:

Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products. Since February 2003, Opalesque has published Alternative Market Briefing, the premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings was a revolution in the hedge fund media space ("Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate professional reporting service." - Nigel Blanchard, Culross) combining proprietary news with the “clipping service” approach of integrating third party news. Each week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 400,000 industry professionals in over 100 countries.

Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html).
About Opalesque Conferences:

In 2008 Opalesque launched its Conference Division, bringing together the leaders in the Hedge Fund Industry to educate, debate, and network. 2008 conferences will include a November 10, 2008 forum dedicated to updating hedge fund advisers and insiders on need-to-know developments in the industry, the Hedge Fund Insiders’ Update. The series of summer 2008 workshops will allow interested hedge fund community members to drill down into specific areas of hedge fund expertise such as tax and accounting issues, private placement memoranda hot button issues, financial and estate planning for hedge fund managers and investors, and exploring in-depth the developing array of alternative investments. On January 12, 2009, a Primer on Hedge Funds will be offered in New York City, to allow those wanting to understand the alternative investment industry to obtain a firm footing in its unique concepts and issues.

About Opalesque Publications:

Alternative Market Briefing is a daily newsletter on the global hedge fund industry, highly praised for its completeness and timely delivery of the most important daily news for professionals dealing with hedge funds. Alternative Market Briefing offers both a quick overview and in-depth coverage. Subscribers can also access the industry’s largest news archive ( 27,000+ articles ) on hedge funds and related topics.

A SQUARE is the first web publication, globally, that is dedicated exclusively to alternative investments. A SQUARE's weekly selections feature unique investment opportunities that bear virtually no correlation to the main stream hedge fund strategies and/or distinguish themselves by virtue of their "alternative" motive – for instance, social or behavioral strategies or those focused on natural resources or sustainable/environment-related investing.

With its "research that reveals" approach, fast facts and investment oriented analysis, A SQUARE offers diversification and complementary ideas for private, high net-worth and institutional investors, pension funds and endowments, portfolio and hedge fund managers.

Technical Research Briefing delivers three times a week a global perspective/overview on all major markets, including equity Indices, fixed Income, currencies, and commodities. Opalesque Technical Research is unique compared to most available research which is fundamental in nature and not technically (chart) oriented.

Opalesque Roundtable Series:

In an Opalesque Roundtable, some of the leading hedge fund managers (single and multi strategy managers) as well as representatives of the local investor base (institutions, fund of funds, advisers) are united to gain unique insights into the specific idiosyncrasies and developments, as well as the issues and advantages of specific global hedge fund centers.

Through the series, hedge fund investors looking for new talent, a hedge fund interested in diversifying its investor base service providers looking for new clients will all get to know some of the leaders in each hedge fund center and will find invaluable information and intelligence without any travel involved.

For more information, please go to http://www.opalesque.com