All of these solutions—and more—were presented at the 2025 RAISE Forum (Retention and Advancement for the Southeast at Emory) this past November. This hallmark event of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School brought together a dynamic mix of entrepreneurs, investors, and students. Now housed under the Center for Alternative Investments, the annual forum continues its mission to catalyze the Southeastern startup ecosystem while providing Goizueta students with unmatched experiential learning opportunities.

Raising the Profile of Atlanta’s Business Landscape  

Now in its 11^th year, the RAISE Forum is going strong, says Professor in the Practice of Finance and Executive Director of the Center for Alternative Investments Klaas Baks. 

“My colleague Charlie Goetz has been a driving force in bringing this program to Emory—I consider this event to be Charlie’s brainchild,” says Baks “I would describe myself as the ‘finance guy,’ while Charlie is the ‘entrepreneurship guy.’”  

The RAISE Forum is not dissimilar to the setup of the show Shark Tank. Its focus, though, is on connecting Southeastern startups with investors who are equally committed to the region’s growth. This year’s event featured seven startup companies pitching to 39 investors. Their specialties ran the gamut of industries, including healthcare, software, logistics, and even food circularity and waste reduction, showcasing the Southeast’s entrepreneurial depth.  

“Most companies are pretty niche, and they’re working to improve all kinds of issues,” says Rowland Lewis 25MBA, one of the event’s primary student organizers. “For example, one startup created a simple minimally invasive way to disrupt scar tissue from forming when performing surgery with a unique tool that almost looked like a toothbrush.” 

This year’s forum showcased startups like Good Agriculture, offering scalable, tech-enabled platforms for farmers to manage back-office tasks and improve profitability; EVQLV, revolutionizing antibody discovery in healthcare with AI to reduce timelines and increase success rates; and TendoNova, a med-tech company developing micro-invasive tools described by Rowland above. Other standout startups included Goodr, a logistics-based solution tackling food waste and hunger, and Smart Response, which applies AI and patented communication tools to enhance emergency response and 911 call efficiency. 

From Probable to Pitch-Perfect 

The RAISE Forum’s impact extends beyond pitch day. The process begins with an intensive application review, during which selected companies receive hands-on support to refine their pitches. Those companies selected participate in a preparatory mini-course to hone their presentation skills, focusing on crafting concise, impactful messages for investors. 

“The presentations are only 10–12 minutes long, so every moment counts,” said Baks. “We help entrepreneurs build the strongest case for their company in a way that resonates with investors.” 

“The Southeast gets less attention than other parts of the country,” Baks noted, “but the energy and innovation here are undeniable. This event helps companies secure critical funding while giving our students exposure to real-world investing and entrepreneurship.” 

Experiential Learning in Action 

Picture medical students. We hold them to a high standard; when training future doctors, medical students engage in “rounds,” observing professionals in action as they treat real patients in clinic or perform surgery in an operating room.  

Goizueta sets a similar standard for their students with opportunities like the RAISE Forum. The forum is much more than just a simple simulation. RAISE provides a genuine opportunity for start-ups in the Southeast to find the funding they need and for investors to continue transforming the entrepreneurial landscape—while permitting students a golden experiential learning opportunity. 

“The startup scene is competitive and exciting. It’s a difficult area to transition to, and our goal is to help launch students into these careers,” says Baks. 

The forum is part of the school’s Entrepreneurial Practicum course, allowing students to engage directly with both startups and investors. Students assist in organizing the event, observe entrepreneurial training sessions, and gain access to exclusive investor discussions. 

According to Baks, “Students see the interplay between entrepreneurs presenting their visions and investors analyzing the risks and opportunities. They learn to ask critical questions: Is the market big enough? Is the product proven? Is this the right team to bring this to success?” 

Rowland echoed the excitement: “Being in the room with bona fide entrepreneurs and investors is exhilarating. It’s an unparalleled opportunity to network, learn, and observe the questions that really matter to investors.” 

Strengthening the Southeast Ecosystem 

The RAISE Forum remains committed to bolstering the Southeastern United States by requiring participating companies to remain in the region for at least five years if funded. This ensures that the innovation and economic benefits stay local, creating a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Sponsors such as Trevelino/Keller, Warren Averett, and Thompson Hine continue to provide critical support, while Emory alumni investors like Sig Mosley 68BBA (Mosley Ventures) and Jason Kuo 19MBA (Tech Square Ventures) underscore the university’s deep ties to the startup community. 

For many involved, the RAISE Forum is more than an event—it’s a career-defining experience. Rowland highlighted the mentorship from president of the Keiretsu Forum Atlanta and co-founder of the RAISE Forum Barry Etra and the collaborative opportunities with peers like Patrick Latting 25BBA and Andrew Rothberg 26MBA as yet another asset of the program that just can’t be replicated in a traditional classroom alone.  

“We get to expose our students to the real world,” says Baks. “I love it.”  

Established in 2008, the Center for Alternative Investments drives innovation and collaboration in private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, and real estate. Explore how the center is shaping the future of finance and join the conversation here. 

The post How the RAISE Forum Powers Southeast Startups and Shapes Student Futures  appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

The Alpharetta, GA-born Saladna chose Goizueta for his Evening MBA based on the experience of friends who attended Emory and the program’s focus on business. Saladna admits he did not know much about the time value of money. “I really liked how the Goizueta MBA focused on financing and consulting.” 

For his undergraduate degree, Saladna crossed the country to attend Southern Methodist University. While studying computer engineering, he completed two internships with Citigroup and later joined Splunk, a San Francisco-based data analytic firm traded on NASDAQ. In four years, he advanced from sales engineer into a leadership role. 

“I had the chance to start a global team with my company, make a huge impact, and hire talented people from different backgrounds,” Saladna recalls. “Tech is very open to talent as opposed to background.”  

With nothing but good things to say about Splunk, Saladna left the firm in late October to begin conceptualizing and strategizing for a yet-unnamed fintech company with two partners. 

Experiencing the Power of Positive Role Models Who Share Advice 

Saladna’s mother was in sales and was one of his most influential mentors. “I never realized it growing up, but the good business habits I have today were imprinted from her.” For his career move, though, he credits skills learned in Center for Alternative Investment courses like entrepreneurial private equity taught by Klaas Baks, professor of finance, and the Center for Alternative Investments executive director. 

Absorbing the wisdom from former student guest lecturers who have bought their own businesses or started their own funds, Saladna realized the value of getting more involved with the center’s executive management team. “I respect the real-world aspect of the experience and engaging with the former students who attest to the center’s value-add to their careers,” Saladna says. 

“I was working a full-time job and doing my MBA at the same time, but I will soon be diving into a startup and will have the chance to leverage my education, experience, and network to build a software company,” he says. 

Juggling his future startup, master’s level classwork, and still finding the time to assist the center takes a big commitment, Saladna admits, especially when he forgets to eat dinner on class nights. For motivation, he turns to the famous idiom of author Simon Sinek, “Find your why.” 

“By understanding that value driver, you gain a bigger appreciation for what you’re doing. Working, studying, and volunteering are big commitments, but if you know why you’re making them, the time invested is worthwhile.” 

Alex Saladna 23EvMBA

The Center for Alternative Investments actively engages professionals in the private equity, hedge fund, and real estate communities. Learn more about this thought leadership and research hub for students and practitioners interested in alternative investments.  

The post Entrepreneurial Private Equity Class Inspires New Student Fintech Firm appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Both came to Goizueta with successful business careers and a desire to pursue their passion for entrepreneurship and make valuable connections. Okebie had a strong finance and management foundation in the logistics industry, and Boland trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG Ireland, followed by a career working for a large multinational company, managing billions in annual logistics spend.

“It was an excellent experience from start to finish, where we were blessed to meet long-term friends and find great business partners,” Okebie  said. 

The two engaged in experiential learning as part of the Center for Alternative Investments and through an innovative Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) program taught by Klaas Baks, professor in the practice of finance and the center’s executive director. These classes were supported by the teachings, industry experience and influence of Goizueta Adjunct Lecturer David Panton, managing partner at SPAC Opportunity Partners LP.

“The Entrepreneurial Private Equity course truly inspired us from day one,” Okebie added. “We were introduced to people who had been successful in the unique world of entrepreneurial private equity. It showed us that our dream was a real possibility, and that buying a business was statistically a better approach than trying to start your own business.”

The program – including classes such as Entrepreneurship, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Strategy – provided the road map to success they needed, as well as underscored the importance of choosing the right advisors and deal partners.

In fact, it was after one of these classes that Okebie and Boland got together to discuss their collective desire to acquire and manage a business. Okebie was inspired in part by his own experience of having started, grown, and sold an asset-based logistics business. And for Boland, who was inspired by a family of entrepreneurs in his native Ireland, business ownership was a path he had to pursue to stay true to his dream.

“A lot of people talked about it, but Onu was willing to put time and money into making our firm a reality,” Boland said.

Both Okebie and Boland learned from the EMBA program the benefit of diverse perspectives and experiences and wanted to leverage their uniquely different skillsets for a new joint venture.

Aligning Strategy for Success

As the saying goes, timing is everything. In 2017, Okebie and Boland officially launched Reserv Equity Partners while still enrolled in the EMBA program, spending countless hours working to stand up the firm.

After some near misses in recent years, the duo recently landed their first acquisition that matches perfectly with the company’s niche strategy: they acquired a full-service freight brokerage based in Charlotte, NC.

This acquisition was important to the Reserv team because it aligned closely to their investment thesis which is to target firms in the lower middle market ($5 to 50 million), a space in which many large private equity firms typically don’t participate.

“The seller inherited the business from his dad in the early 1990s and has grown it into a great business with a loyal customer base, which provided the stability we were looking for in a transaction,” Okebie said. “In addition, the processes in place at the company, while effective, presented opportunities for efficiencies through digitization and technology.”

Planning for Future Growth

Following the successful acquisition, both are now fully committed to growing their new business together. Okebie will serve as CEO managing the day-to-day operations along with the current management team. Boland will serve as CFO and business development lead, digitizing the finance and accounting functions and identifying further add-on opportunities to support inorganic growth. The team will conduct a “full court press” on sales and marketing to attract new customers and leverage their networks to bring in talent.

“We want to take our firm from zero to 60 as fast as we can, growing our business organically through additional marketing along with identifying potential add-on companies that fit our model,” Okebie said.

Acquiring the right company at the right time is validation, they say, that they made the right decision when they launched Reserv Equity with a strong foundation to build upon.

“It has been intense but exhilarating,” Okebie said. “From sourcing deals to due diligence, there is nothing like creating an investment thesis and executing on it.”

Boland agrees, noting that every day can bring about a new set of challenges that require a wider range of skills and immediate attention, in comparison to functional roles common in corporate America.

For others considering following a similar path, both have a bit of advice: Be passionate about your chosen path and be prepared for some ups and downs.  “It’s been an incredible journey so far,” Boland said. “It’s pretty intense, but I’m so glad we did it.”

Goizueta continues to elevate its commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation through the activities and scholarly work of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

The post Reserv Equity Founded by Goizueta Duo Poised for Success appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

SPACs are having a moment. 2021 is barely through its first quarter and the number of SPAC IPOs has surpassed 2020’s grand total of 248 and their $83 billion in collective proceeds. At the moment, there are over 400 SPACs—Special Purpose Acquisition Companies—on the market, each seeking a private company to take public. Even celebrities like basketball great Shaquille O’Neal and tennis star Serena Williams have joined the SPAC boom.

The current SPAC frenzy has led to predictions that the SPAC market is a bubble ready to burst, but Klaas Baks, professor in the practice of finance and executive director, Emory Center for Alternative Investments, doesn’t see it that way. He points to financial practices such as leveraged buyouts and securitization, both considered suspect in their heyday, but that are mainstream today. “We’re in the first inning of SPACs,” said Baks.

SPACs defined

SPACs have been in existence since 1993. Historically known as blank-check companies, SPACs are shell companies that list on a public exchange (such as the NASDAQ or NYSE) with the sole purpose of acquiring a private “target” company (or companies) to take public within a set timeframe, generally 18 to 24 months. Like all IPOs, SPACs raise capital from third-party investors. Unlike other IPOs, nearly all the capital raised is placed in a trust and later used to acquire the target company. Since target companies aren’t yet identified when the SPAC goes public, the expertise and reputation of the SPAC’s “sponsors,” oftentimes former CEOs and large asset managers, are what attracts investors. When the private company and the SPAC merge (“the business combination”), the newly acquired company adopts the SPAC’s spot on the public exchange, thereby becoming a public company.

According to Baks, SPACs are coming into their own for several reasons: recently updated rules and regulations around SPACs, a glut of capital in search of investment, and a seemingly infinite number of private companies wanting to go public. “This generation of SPACs has the right economic equilibrium between investors, sponsors, and companies that want to go public by merging with a SPAC,” noted Baks.

SPACs help close the gap between private and public markets

Before the dot.com crash in 1998, there were more than 8000 publically traded companies. Today, there are roughly 4000. “There are a lot more dollars chasing fewer companies,” noted Rahul Wadhwa 20BBA, associate, Navigation Capital Partner’s SPAC Operations Group. Wadhwa was in his final semester at Goizueta when he learned about SPACs as Baks’ research assistant. “SPACs bridge the gap between public and private markets,” he explained. “Once you have an understanding of how many companies the venture capital (VC) world has invested in and how many the private equity (PE) world is backing, what’s happening with SPACs starts to make sense.”

In 2020, according to PitchBook, a financial data company, private equity firms completed more than 5300 deals with a total deal value of more than $708 billion in the U.S. Statista.com puts the value of VC investments in 2020 at approximately $130 billion. “There is a desperate need for these funds to exit their investments,” Wadhwa said. Navigation Capital Partners’ website estimates that global dry powder—funds looking for investment opportunities—totals $2 trillion. If the current SPAC IPO pace continues, 2021 totals would hit 1000 SPACs with proceeds of more than $300 billion. That would still leave $1.3 trillion in dry powder in search of investments. “It’s been wild out there,” said Wadhwa. “But if you look behind the curtain, it’s justified.”

Creating the SPAC

In exchange for their initial investment as well as the time and effort needed to find and acquire a private company, SPAC sponsors receive shares equal to 20% of the total shares outstanding after the SPAC IPO. For example, a sponsor that invests $8 million in a $200 million SPAC will receive 5 million shares. Sponsors also receive founder warrants, which give them the right to purchase additional shares later, at a fixed price.

On the downside, if the sponsors don’t find a company to acquire, the sponsors lose their initial investment. “But there is a tremendous upside,” noted Baks. “There is a lot of money to be made.” A recent study by JP Morgan noted that, on average, SPAC sponsors make a return of almost 10 times their investment.

Typical SPAC sponsors include outfits such as Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. VC and PE firms have begun their own forays into SPAC sponsorship—often raising more money in less time with reduced risk than they could in the private market. One of the best known SPAC sponsors is venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive and the founder and CEO of Social Capital. In the last three years, Palihapitiya has invested in six SPACs, including one that took commercial aerospace company Virgin Galactic public in 2019. Forbes estimates Palihapitiya has received returns of roughly $1 billion from his six SPACs.

Different investors at different stages

Since SPACs are shell companies until the business combination, at IPO, all SPACs have the same structure. IPO investors receive “units” priced at $10/unit. (Units are comprised of shares, warrants and/or rights.) Shortly after the IPO, the SPAC splits the units into its various elements—shares, warrants and rights—after which each element can be traded separately. All investors that purchase shares prior to the SPAC’s business combination receive “redemption rights,” or the right to recoup their investment, with interest, if they don’t like the SPAC’s proposed acquisition. “What’s really unique about this is that you’re limited on the downside,” said Baks.

Investors in SPAC IPOs include the so-called “SPAC mafia,” a concentrated group of Wall Street insiders and hedge funds. However, the vast majority of “SPAC mafia” investors redeems its shares or sells them pre-merger. According to Forbes, by doing so, “SPAC mafia” firms routinely notch returns of around 20 percent. After these investors redeem their shares, that capital needs to be replaced.

To ensure the SPAC has sufficient funds to acquire the target company, SPAC sponsors often seek “backstop” or PIPE—private investment in a public entity—financing. This capital tends to come from a small pool of investors, including institutional investors and, more recently, VC and PE firms. PIPEs are attractive to investors as they are able to buy shares in the SPAC for below market value. They’re also given more access to the target company’s financials, which helps validate the price of the target’s acquisition.

The Retail Investor

Lured in by the buzz around SPACs, retail investors are increasingly buying shares in SPACs. One of the best performing SPACs of 2020, DraftKings went public via SPAC last April. In late March, DraftKings stock was trading around $67 per share—significantly more than its $10 initial offering. However, a 2020 study by the Financial Times found that the majority of companies that went public via SPAC between 2015 and 2019 were trading below $10 per share.

In addition, Wadhwa cautions that SPAC shares “are really not like normal stocks,” he said, referring to the breaking of units into shares, warrants, and rights after a SPAC goes public. If SPAC IPO investors decide to exercise their warrants, that act can greatly dilute a retail investor’s shares. “When you invest in SPACs you’re getting more [than a regular stock]. It’s a bundle of securities that you can potentially redeem,” Wadhwa added.

Why do target companies sell to a SPAC?

Assume there is a high-growth technology company with $50 million in annual revenues and a private equity valuation of six to eight times revenue, or $400 million to $600 million, posited Charlie Goetz, senior lecturer in Organization & Management and distinguished lecturer in Entrepreneurship. “Sounds nice, right?” he asked. But, Goetz added, if this high growth company were public, it could easily have a price-to-earnings ratio of 30—meaning investors in the public market would value the company at 30 times its current earnings—or $1.5 billion. “A hot technology company will find that the private market won’t pay it what the public market will,” explained Goetz.

That said, noted Goetz, the sweet spot for private companies wanting to go public via SPAC is in the $200 million to $700 million range. Traditional IPOs tend to be reserved for “unicorns” such as ride-sharing stalwart UBER, which had a 2019 IPO valuation of $82.4 billion. According to SPACinsider, in 2020, the average SPAC IPO was $336 million. SPAC IPOs also face less stringent regulatory hurdles than traditional IPOs. As an added bonus, the leadership teams of SPAC-acquired companies tend to retain control of their companies, unlike many PE-backed firms.

SPACs—going forward

In 2020, only two SPACs failed to merge with a target company, a success rate of 97 percent. But as the number of SPACs increase, Wadhwa expects the number of SPAC failures to rise. “You’re always going to have bad apples,” he said.

That said, Wadhwa believes SPACs are here to stay. “Ten years from now SPACs will still be strong because they’re a useful tool,” he explained. “The SPAC space is a great place to be.”

Find out more about topics like cryptocurrency, frontier markets, and the importance of SPACs on our economy at The Center for Alternative Investments at Goizueta.

The post New SPAC IPOs Inspire Happy Investors to Sign Blank Checks appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Alok Gupta 09MBA
Founding Managing Partner, Loki Group Inc./Loki Equity Ventures
Partner, The Koblentz Group

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a seasoned global business professional with expertise in M&A and strategy, and I am involved in multiple ventures. First as a partner for more than three years at The Koblentz Group, recognized for successfully recruiting executive leaders and board directors for public companies, investor-controlled enterprises and family businesses, globally. Second, I am chairman and founding managing partner of Loki Group, where I advise on M&A activity including M&A strategy, exit strategy, target analysis and integration/divestiture execution mainly for small/mid-cap companies. I’m also the lead at Loki Equity Ventures, which conducts venture capital and private equity investments.

You also teach MBAs the IMPACT course. What do you enjoy most?

One of the most enjoyable parts of teaching is seeing the “lightbulb” moments, and not just for the students but myself or the clients. Some of the recommendations the students develop for their IMPACT projects are truly innovative. For instance, the evening students recently completed work for Emory’s Nell School of Nursing and its data analytics tool Project Nell, and their recommendations will be key as the nursing school moves forward with this initiative.

How did Goizueta prepare you for the field(s) you are in today?

Goizueta helped provide me the core business understanding and innovation, which built upon my Georgia Tech engineering and problem-solving skills.

What was your favorite course at Goizueta?

It’s hard to pick just one. While I was at Goizueta, my two favorite classes were Multinational Firms & Strategy with Professor L.G. Thomas, and Ideation & Creativity with Adjunct Professor Joey Reiman. Multinational Firms was a very high-interest area for me, as I desired to better understand global business and executive decision-making. Ideation was very different for me, as it focused on creativity; the course pushed and helped me develop a whole different part of myself. Sometime after I graduated, a new class, Entrepreneurial Private Equity, was created with Professor Klaas Baks and Adjunct Professor David Panton, and they were great to let me sit in on some classes. That course provided the foundational knowledge I needed to start Loki Equity Ventures.

Who inspires you and why?

My family inspires me. They inspire me to be the best version of myself. They are the reason I work as hard as I do, and they’re also the ones that remind me to not get lost in the work. At the end of the day, they are what matter most to me, and I hope I make them proud. 

What is the best advice you’ve ever received, in business or life?

“Remember what matters most … the project/job/company will be around tomorrow. Your health and the moment with loved ones may not.” This reminds me to take time away from work. Yes, there may be times that work will be intense, but don’t let it be the only thing you are about.

What advice do you have for today’s business students?

Have a vision of what you want to be doing and who you want to be 10 years in the future. (This may change or further develop each day). Keep that vision in the back of your mind, and make sure that each step you take helps you develop toward those goals. Some steps may be sideways or backwards, which is fine; just keep working towards your goal.

The post Know Your Network: Alok Gupta 09MBA appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Thrill seekers, gamblers and high-risk investors share a passion for the big payoff. At the same time, they also weigh potentially high risk against those potential high rewards. “It takes a special kind of investor to work in new financial frontiers with limited infrastructure and corporate governance,” said Steven Jasmin 05BBA, chairman and managing director of Smart City Clearing Company Ltd., a frontier market merchant bank based in the British Virgin Islands. “In frontier markets like Guyana, everything is in play.”

Since 2017, Jasmin has built a core team in Guyana and invested off his own balance sheet. In 38 months he’s helped to finance critical country infrastructure improvements and to assist with capacity building in the Oil and Gas Sector, including launching the country’s first full-service, western style commercial real estate firm – Acarai Properties Guyana.  According to Jasmin, he’s helped lease over a half a million square feet to oilfield service companies; established a multinational joint venture in the oil and gas services industry; and is in the pre-development process of building an eight-acre, 600,000 square foot medical complex; and is working with partners to develop vital commercial and industrial sites to support the growing oil, gold mining and agriculture industries through Acarai Properties.

“The personal sacrifice is absolutely worth it. Now, it is mission above self,” he said. “Laws here are underdeveloped. Businesses need to be built from scratch with corporate structure, support staff and funding. I’m the boots on the ground to run those businesses as a private equity partner.”

Many say, “Globalization will lift all boats”

“Unlike in mature markets with established stock exchanges and substantial financial checks and balances, frontier markets typically have less developed stock markets, less foreign direct capital investment and an economic landscape dominated by four or five companies that were formally state-owned, such as phone, oil, gas and banking,” said Mark Bell, adjunct finance professor at Goizueta and head of private capital at Balentine.

“Some investors have long held the view that frontier markets are the right way to go as an early mover,” Bell said. “Yet we’ve continued to see economic growth somewhat stunted in some of those markets. Economists have historically speculated that in 15, 20, 30 years, as international restrictions in trade would diminish, economies would only become more integrated. But today, from the political perspective, imposing trade restrictions and tariffs influences financial gain. If the United States becomes more isolationist in the post-COVID-19 world, what will that mean for frontier markets?”

The financial risks are weighty. “Frontier markets are extremely risky and are known for high volatility with potential for growth,” said Klaas Baks, professor in the practice of finance and co-founder and executive director of the Goizueta Center for Alternative Investment. “These markets can be equated to an early-stage startup before it gets funded. As an investor, you stand a good chance of losing money and know that a financial return could take a long time.”

Guyana, a small country with a gross domestic product of 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, is experiencing an economic boom due to oil production that began in earnest in December 2019. “A primary driver of our positive investment thesis on Guyana is the simple fact that Guyana is currently forecast to be the single fastest growing economy in the world,” Jasmin wrote in a LinkedIn post titled, “Guyana’s Economic Outlook: A Rising Tide Lifting All Ships.” “Before the COVID-19 global pandemic, the growth rate was predicted at 85.6% and has since been revised to more than 50%. Guyana is projected to be among the world’s largest per-capita oil producers by 2025.”

Baks posed the question, “Is oil production truly a win for Guyana? Historically, we often see a negative trend. When countries, like people, get rich, some underlying problems worsen,” he said. “The second stage for countries that find riches from natural resources such as diamonds, gold and oil, is that development tends to be uneven or non-existent.”

To Baks’ point, Jasmin cites a colloquialism: “The international community counts on Guyana to experience the ‘crabs in a barrel’ mentality, where instead of working together, locals will tear each other down to get to the top.” Still, Jasmin remains confident and optimistic about his commitment to growing Guyana’s market. “As the local economy begins to experience tremendous incremental investment in all sectors, driven by the windfall of oil production royalty revenue, we believe Guyana—and nearly all local businesses—are poised to benefit.”

Challenges and caveats for investing in frontier and emerging markets

“Frontier markets are less advanced capital markets in the developing world. A frontier market is a country that is more established than the least developed countries (LDCs) but still less established than the emerging markets because it is too small, carries too much inherent risk or is too illiquid to be considered an emerging market,” according to the definition in Investopedia. “Frontier markets are also known as ‘pre-emerging markets.’”

To enable overseas investing, Lucas Marulanda 08MBA, a director for a United States–based private equity fund with a global presence, noted that “Most countries have agencies to incentivize foreign investment. It’s a good way to understand things like taxes, regulations, trends and more,” he said. “Of course, finding really attractive opportunities would require additional work and, depending on the size, perhaps the assistance of local financial advisors or legal counsel.”

American businesses may also look to broaden their corporate portfolios with foreign market investments. Marulanda said, “This opens doors to relatively large countries like Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Colombia, which together have more than the population of the United States, a growing middle class and a fairly young population. Putting all of these factors together, you have markets growing in the 5 to 10% range and local players with limited resources and some industries with the potential for consolidation.”

For investors considering the move into the frontier of Guyana or more emerging market economies like those in Chile or South Africa, “Local knowledge is key. The language barrier still exists, and these are small economies where knowing who is who matters,” Marulanda said. “We have a good balance between best international practices that we share across the globe and local teams with in-depth business connections and understanding of the local dynamics.

“The challenges investors face in conducting business in a growing and potentially illiquid economy are debt availability, exit and potential target,” he continued. “Commercial banks and bondholders normally offer higher interest rates and shorter tenures for debt instruments vis-à-vis the United States. This limits the amount of leverage and lowers the expected returns. As a result, investment opportunities require high conviction on organic growth, margin improvements or mergers and acquisitions.”

Marulanda explained, “The IPO market is limited even for large companies in most Latin American countries, therefore, buying a private company requires a profound understanding of who will be the buyers five to seven years down the road and, particularly, of the multiple exit mechanisms embedded in the transaction documentation if one is buying a minority stake.”

In the past, “When buying a business with other people, the capital of the business would be restructured,” Baks explained. “Today, private equity is more focused on operational value creation. Money has become very competitive. Purchasing small businesses that can be easily molded may have more impact with a three- to five-year exit strategy.”

Bell noted that as U.S. private equity has become more competitive, investors begin to look abroad with a revised buy-and-hold strategy. “Big endowments that invest billions in private equity may invest in areas that have inefficiencies and redomicile businesses in tax havens to avoid double taxation. When that investor holds a business for 100 years and aligns for the long term, generational wealth is created.”

Frontier and pre-emerging markets do offer high risk/high reward opportunities for investors. “I grew up as a blue-collar kid from Perth Amboy, New Jersey,” said Jasmin. “My Goizueta business education, my corporate experience and my family background prepared me for the challenge of working here in Guyana. To literally have a hand in building a country’s skyline is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Want to learn more about “frontier assets” like cryptocurrency, reinsurance, intellectual property, royalties and the impact of illiquidity? This fall, Baks and Bell will teach Frontiers and Illiquidity in Alternative Investments. The course, offered through the Center for Alternative Investments, “Examines the illiquid aspects of modern alternative investing. The explosive growth of investments in highly illiquid instruments, driven in part by increased competition for excess returns and in part by changes in views of portfolio allocation, has made this an important area for students,” Baks said. “Just as private equity and venture capital were relatively esoteric topics over a decade ago, today sparse attention is paid to the important activity at the periphery of the alternative space, which this course terms ‘frontiers’ and many others are increasingly calling ‘alternatives to alternatives.’ These frontiers, and the implications of their illiquidity, are the focus of this course.” Learn more here.

The post High risk/high reward: Investing in frontier markets appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Wendy Case, director of Student Affairs in the Executive MBA Program and Klaas Baks, associate professor in the Practice of Finance received the Donald R. Keough Award for Excellence, which is named for and endowed by former Coca-Cola President and COO Donald Keough. The award is the school’s highest service award and recognizes contributions by faculty and staff.

Case is described as the rock of the Executive MBA Program. She is the go-to person in EMBA because of her meticulous attention to detail, she never seems to get flustered and her work ethic is incomparable. Above all, Case is extremely caring and consistently goes beyond what is required to be available for the students.

Baks has been instrumental in developing the Center for Alternative Investments which continues to be an attraction to students to Goizueta. Additionally, his speaker series for his classes draws preeminent global leaders in the world of finance. His distinguishing attribute, however, is his generosity with his time as Baks meets one-on-one with every single student to discuss their goals.

“[Keough Award winners] that have gone before me are all people I respect and are great contributors to the school,” Baks said. “To be recognized among that group of people is just an honor.”

The post Case, Baks take home Donald R. Keough Award for Excellence appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Q: Professor Black, you offer a number of excellent courses, but you’ve also provided students with experiential learning opportunities outside the classroom. What are you doing now, and what do you aspire to do in the future?

Black: Our specialty is real estate capital markets, so a lot of our students go into that area. We are located in one of the best real estate markets in the country, and we need to leverage that. There is an enormous classroom just west of us, and it stretches 16 miles up and down Peachtree Street. Students are good about taking advantage of it.

We bring in speakers for the BBA and MBA clubs’ Dinner and Learn series. Our adjunct professors are professionals who are currently working on high-profile real-estate cases. Who better to teach real estate development than them? We also have private equity funds that are run by a student board. The students are actually investing real money that is part of the Emory endowment.

Q: How is the board doing?

Black: Tremendously well. One investment made a 35.9% annual return. That’s not common, but it’s a huge success, nonetheless. Right now, we have about 20-25 students on the board, and that’s a perfect size. We have an active membership. Everybody knows each other, and that’s a good thing.

Q: Professor Baks, your courses also have a strong experiential component, as you welcome speakers like the billionaire Michael Lee-Chin and others to speak on investment issues. Why is this an important component for your courses?

Baks: Bringing in individuals who have success in the field of investing exposes students to the craft and process of thinking through an investing strategy in a different way. This augments the analysis-intensive coursework and expands the way students approach real-world problems.

Q: Research in the area of alternative investments continues to be a centerpiece of your work. What topics are you examining currently or are garnering media attention?

Baks: The field of alternative investments continues to evolve and encompass more business ventures. Topics of late include flipping houses and financing entrepreneurial ventures.

Q: This is such a vibrant city; how has the Atlanta business community
responded?

Black: Making contact in the business community gets us internships opportunities and job offers. The Career Management Center does a terrific job at placement, and our network ensures alumni have lifelong support. We receive internship offers from alumni, as well.

Baks: The growing number of new business ventures, especially startups and film ventures, makes Atlanta a prime location for observing the way alternative investments are tapped to seal deals of all kinds.—Nicole Golston

The post Real Estate, Private Equity and the art of the deal appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.