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June 2009
Dear AVCAL Colleague The end of financial year is approaching fast and it's a busy time for everyone. Advocacy Tax matters We are working with the Board of Taxation to clarify and seek changes to the definition of a Managed Investment Trust to include private equity and venture capital. Australia as a Financial Centre Forum We are still liaising with the forum about the proposals they are putting to the Assistant Treasurer to remove barriers to Australia becoming a regional hub for financial services. Venture Capital On the VC front, we are working with DIISR to gain additional support for the VC industry. The recently announced $83m follow-on fund was a small but useful start. We have also been involved in consultations as to the shape of the proposed Commonwealth Commercialisation Institute that was announced in the last budget. And last (but not least) we are trying to get amendments to the announced changes to taxation of Employee Share Schemes to take into account the difficulties their proposals present for early-stage companies. Achievements in FY08/09 I thought I'd take a moment to reflect upon the AVCAL achievements over the past twelve months: Government lobbying to assist the survival of Venture Capital in Australia New $83m IIF follow-on fund for current IIF/PSF/BITS managers Continuing the dialogue with the Government and regulators on issues that impact PE/VC Building and developing the AVCAL Research hub Increasing the range of research data available to members, the government and the media/public Creating Research partnerships that serve to strengthen our data and information Launching of a new website with members-only restricted content Providing leadership in engagement with responsible investment initiatives Launch of Value Capital, a publication tracing the evolution of venture capital and private equity in Australia Introduced a new Investor Reporting award to the annual AVCAL Awards Improving the engagement of LPs with AVCAL Conference update Preparations for the annual conference are progressing well, despite challenging times. Our sponsorship is strong, with a total of 26 firms supporting us again this year. We expect to take about 500 registrations. Highlights include: The Hon. Lindsay Tanner, Minister for Finance and Deregulation Jon Moulton, Alchemy Partners UK, "You should be glad you're here" Bill Evans, Westpac giving his annual economic briefing Responsible Investment plenary with a UNPRI representative VC Stream confirmed speakers including Michael Greeley, Flybridge Capital Boston (Chairman US NVCA) and Alan Finkel, Chancellor of Monash University (one of Australia's first successful technology entrepreneurs); LP only session LP/GP only session Responsible and sustainable initiatives including: sustainable conference bags re-usable water bottles and fountains LED lighting and audio visual displays no single use printed banners conference program printed by accredited green printer using recyled papers and eco-inks Membership New member benefit Our travel partner CTM, has a special offer for all AVCAL Members. You can join the Qantas Club through their corporate membership and make a substantial saving on normal club rates. This is a benefit to those small organisations which don't have enough participants to qualify for corporate membership. Current members can transfer to the CTM corporate membership and obtain the discount. You must be a current, corporate and financial AVCAL member to take up the offer. The offer is not available to individual members of AVCAL. Please email your full name, contact details, Qantas FF number and/or Qantas Club membership number (for renewals). We appreciate your continued support of AVCAL. With the range of pressures on all parts of the industry from venture capital through to buyouts, the advocacy of the industry association is more important than ever. Certainly the AVCAL secretariat has never had so many different consultative processes on foot with the Government before. These include tax issues, VC support, valuation and reporting issues. In order to support our representations and submissions the AVCAL research function has increased in resources and output. During challenging times we recognise that value is paramount. We are committed to ensuring that we give the best possible representation to you and provide the best possible services. Our fees have remained the same as last year. We have also created a new category for smaller funds of less than $50 million. This should relieve the fee pressure on those members and still allow them to participate fully with AVCAL. Renewals will be emailed out to key contacts on 1 July for the new financial year 09/10. For partners, you will receive sponsorship and membership as part of the same invoice. Unfortunately due to high credit card fees, we can't accept membership payment via credit card. We'd appreciate EFT, however please make sure you clearly label your payments with the invoice number and organisation so that we can process your payment efficiently. AVCAL Awards If you haven't got your nominations in, contact Vivek who can assist you. We are particularly looking forward to receiving nominations for the new "Excellence in Reporting" award which has been very well received by the investor community. More information is available on the website. Nominations close on 7 August 2009 at 5pm. Good luck! Regards Katherine Woodthorpe Chief Executive Research View the latest mergermarket Private Equity alert. The Zephyr (by Bureau van Dijk) monthly private equity report The Preqin PE Cleantech Research report News Employee Share Options Schemes. Venture Capitalists have joined the fight against the new changes to the Employee Share Option Scheme. Read more. Also, in a recent article in the AFR, AVCAL CEO Dr Katherine Woodthorpe spoke about the implications of the government's plans to overhaul the taxation of employee share ownership schemes. Read Treasury's subsequent Employee Share Scheme Consultation Paper, released on 5 June 2009. The International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation board has released a consultation draft of its new valuation guidelines. A public comment draft has been released by the International Accounting Standards Board on the new guidance to fair value accounting. Read more on a recent report by Dow Jones Private Equity News about the work by AVCAL and BVCA to promote responsible investment principles among their members Advent Private Capital celebrated its 25th anniversary this month. Advent is one of the oldest private equity firms in Australia with over 90 individual investments in private companies. Click here to read more. AVCAL Events Congratulations to our winners of our NSW Corporate Golf day on the 11 of June 2009. From left to right: James Murphy, Ian Knight, Roland Tam and Ryan Davies. 2 July - QLD Networking Lunch, The role of debt in funding technology start ups and growth companies. Register now! 8 July - NSW Networking Lunch, Senator the Hon Kim Carr. Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Register now! 30 Sept - 1 Oct AVCAL 2009 Conference. Register now! Other Events 21 - 22nd September 2009, Excellence in Mining & Exploration 2009 Hilton Hotel, Sydney. Special rates available for AVCAL members. TO BOOK CALL + 61 2 9279 2222 More details 4-8 October Hong Kong, The International Company Directors Course October 2009. The Australian Institute of Company Directors is making a significant contribution to raising the standards of corporate governance globally. The International Company Directors Course builds on the strength and success of the Company Directors Course which has provided the Australian director community with quality education and training for over 35 years. So far the program has successfully run in Shanghai, Dubai, Sydney and Singapore. It focuses on helping directors to understand their role and responsibilities in the global context. Now for the first time it is being run in Hong Kong, at the InterContinental in Kowloon. For more information Other Matters Invitation to AVCAL members to join forces with Cure Our Kids and consider supporting the 2009 Australian Alternatives Directory. Together we can make a difference. Find out more 2009 Governor of Victoria Export Awards - applications will be open until Friday 17 July 2009. More information	AVCAL 2009 PARTNERS RESEARCH PARTNER REGIONAL PARTNER
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