March 31st, 2008 | Investing |
These are interesting times for Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE). Leveraging strong management experience and demonstrable underlying company value to effectively raise financing from private investors has become a matter of increasing importance to public companies. Meanwhile, some private investors are seeking to weigh in more liquid, low-risk public equity investments into their portfolios – provided that they can secure more significant positions of such equity at a price that is fixed and discounted to the otherwise publicly traded share price. By investing in pipes, private investors can acquire common or preferred stock at a set price (traditional PIPEs) or purchase convertible debt (structured PIPEs). Most pipe investments are issued by small to medium sized public companies that seek efficient equity or debt financing.
PIPE investments have been around for many years, but it is only in the last few years that the PIPE market has seen higher volumes of issuers. Increased market size and diversification across industries has led to greater transparency – news sources, information distribution companies, conferences and databases keep watch on pipe investment opportunities, participants, structures and processes. This makes pipe investments a more accessible and investor-friendly pursuit than ever before.
PIPE investments are usually opened up to a smaller group of private investors during a limited time period. A good way to stay in the know of these sought-after offerings is to sign up with a credible information distribution company that will issue regular bulletins of relevant opportunities and proposals. Services such as those offered by Placementbase deliver ongoing information about private placements, without any sign up fee or ongoing membership charges. As an investor, you can use your membership to identify, review and participate in a variety of credible companies and financial structures – valuable opportunities that may otherwise not have been on your radar.
Any investing in pipes that investors pursue will always be made directly with the issuing company. Issuers that access the pipe market come from a broad range of industries, including energy, technology or financial sectors. Discounts to the public share price can be anywhere from 10-25%, and since these investments are offered at a fixed price some investors see an opportunity to buy large positions.
When a company markets securities to the private or public sector, they also provide complex documentation to ensure they present all the risks involved. If you engage in private placement investments, it is important to always gain a solid understanding of the underlying company you are investing in by carefully analyzing all the documentation provided, from start to finish. Where you are interested in a company of a particular industry niche you may not be entirely familiar with, it is always wise to retain the advice of someone who does before you make your decisions.
March 29th, 2008 | Accounting |
Just as your business has its own set of jargon or industry-specific terminology, so does the software industry! If you are searching for accounting or payroll software, the likelihood of hearing these terms is fairly high. Be prepared to speak with software representatives by understanding these key terms, and you will have a better chance of your needs being understood and met.
Application: This term is used to refer to a software program, as in: That application works well for processing invoices.
Compatible: Where software is concerned, compatible refers to whether applications can work well and exchange information together. Is this new payroll system compatible with the time clock we are already using? This can also refer to whether this software can run on a particular computer.
Customizable: There are two references of “customizable” in the software world. The first is the ability to alter the settings of a program to meet your specific needs, such as adding or omitting fields of information or creating and saving your own templates for later use. The second use of this term refers to open source code products. When customizing an open source product, you can actually change the software code within the program, potentially changing its functionality permanently. I like our new software because the invoice designs are customizable.
Dashboard: Just as your car’s dashboard shows you information about operating your vehicle, a software dashboard displays your most important menu options and tools available for operating your software system. This is typically the screen you see first when opening your program. The dashboard within this system makes it really easy to do my job.
Demo: Of course this is a shortened version of the word demonstration. A demo usually provides an opportunity to view a software package’s functionality, whether in video format, guided online or live tour, or even a trial version of the software. The demo really helped us gain an understanding of what it’s like to use that program.
Driver: A software program that, when installed, helps your computer understand how to use a hardware device. Once we installed the driver, we were able to use the new mouse right away.
Feature: Options or tools for functionality provided within a software program. Our new software program has more features than our prior program, allowing us to enter and pull out information in a way that fits our company better.
Interface: An interface refers to the direct communication between two software products. Many accounting software applications have an interface to payroll software applications, allowing you to post data with a few simple clicks. Interface can also refer to the way in which a software application is presented to the user as in: The user interface for that program makes it easy to navigate and use.
Intuitive: This refers to how easy it is to operate a system without training. The system was so intuitive that I felt at ease using it after only a short time.
Legacy Products: Just as our ancestors have built a legacy, so have the age-old software products that have stood the test of time. In the software world, legacy products are those that have become outdated, yet may or may not still be supported. Though newer software is now available, he chose to stay with his legacy software program.
Migration: While you may associate this term with birds flying south, in the software industry it refers to the transfer of data from one application to another. A software company can often migrate your data from an older application to a newer one.
Module: This refers to each software element that performs a distinct function, usually each of which can stand on their own without depending on other elements. The software company just added a ratios module which greatly enhances a company’s ability to see where improvements are needed.
Network: A group of computers that can interact with one another. All of the users of our software can enter information into the same database because they are set up as a network.
Operating System: An operating system is the software within a computer that makes it run. The major providers of operating systems are Microsoft (for PCs) and Apple (for Macs). I just got a new computer which came with the industry’s latest operating system.
Robust: If you think of coffee when you hear this word, you are not alone. Robust in the software world refers to a software package’s features being in-depth and complete. That system is robust and can surely handle our complex needs.
Support: This one may seem obvious. Most software companies offer support plans to go along with their software products. These support plans typically include assistance and problem solving for users of the software. Support can be conducted via telephone, e-mail, the internet, via help documents and videos, and more, depending on the company. What kind of support plans does this software company offer for their customers?
User Seats: No, this is not the chair you sit in while you use your computer. A user seat with reference to software denotes an independent user of the software system. Each user seat provides the capability for one person to be using the system simultaneously along with others. Therefore if you have three user seats, three people can be in the same program working at the same time. You will often see the word “concurrent” in front of this term. Two people will need to be entering payroll data at the same time, so we’ll need two user seats.
Updates: An update is a new release of the software that can fix problems or enhance a software program. The software company recommends all users implement the latest update to their software, to ensure smooth ongoing operation within their program.
Version: Software companies often provide updates and improvements to their programs in Version schemes, represented by numbers or letters which demonstrates the importance of what is being released. I need to download the latest version of my software because it includes crucial elements which can really help my business.
Getting to know these software terms will put you on the road to a better understanding during your software search.
March 29th, 2008 | Investing |
The purpose of an investment policy statement is to allow enough flexibility in capturing opportunities as well as provide parameters that will enable exercising caution in executing the investment plan. It shall also demarcate the investment policy and provide guidelines as to founding an overall investment strategy and enforce discipline. In addition, the statement shall lay the foundation that shall help in overseeing the management of the investment fund. To elaborate further, the investment policy statement shall also state the standards and disciplines to be adopted for evaluating the performance of the staff, investment managers, custodians and consultants to the investment, in an effective manner.
The investment policy statement provides the base for all future investment decisions that will be made by an investor and is a guidepost that helps identify goals as well as create a system and discipline for making investment related decisions. After the investment policy statement has been adopted by the Trustees, decisions can be made deliberately instead of on the spur of the moment, thus providing more sagacious decision making capabilities. This is mainly due to the foresight and advanced planning that has taken place when deciding how to perform under different conditions and not becoming emotional in regard to investments.
Furthermore, the investment policy statement is meant to help the Plan’s fiduciaries by making certain that investment related decisions are made prudently and it outlines the fundamental philosophies and processes involved in selecting, monitoring and evaluating the different investment options available.
The investment policy statement will define the Plan’s investment objectives and spell out the roles of those responsible for the Plan’s investments. It shall also specify the criteria as well as procedures that are used to select different investment options and also the concerned investment managers. It will also help establish procedures for investments, standards for measurement and procedures for monitoring. Finally, it shall specify the approach that the Plan will take with regard to making unhindered investment options.
The statement shall be reviewed at least once every year and amendments to it may be made as and when appropriate, which will mirror changes in the investment market as well as changes to the objectives of the Plan or to other factors applicable to the Plan. Choosing an investment option will depend on how best to maximize returns without taking unnecessary risks as well as receiving returns that compare favorably to returns earned from other similar investments. It shall also provide a wide range of different investment opportunities as well as help control administrative and managerial costs.
The roles and responsibilities of those persons managing and administrating the Plan shall include creating and maintaining an investment policy statement, selection of an appropriate investment option and evaluating the Plan and its performance on a periodic basis. One of the most important responsibilities of the Investment Committee is to select the best investment policy and this should only be done after evaluating a wide range of investment options that span the whole spectrum of risk/return scenarios.
Choosing an investment policy statement is greatly simplified if one chooses to shop for it in the market where it is readily available at low cost and is usable in its entirety almost off the shelf. Not costing a good deal, this option is an economical, time saving and effective means of obtaining these types of forms.
