Leaders in crowdfunding and angel investing, entrepreneurs, and lawyers are planning to meet the first week in January at the Jerome Hotel in Aspen, Colorado, for the 2014 Aspen Global Investment Forum.
With the passage of the JOBS Act of 2012, new opportunities have been created in the private investments industry. This legislation has resulted in high expectations of forthcoming opportunities but have also raised many concerns.
This past fall two major developments occurred: in September, an 80-year ban on general solicitation was removed, allowing private companies and investment funds to openly promote their fund-raising needs. Then, in October, the SEC voted on the rules for crowdfunding to allow non-accredited investors to participate. Aside from the legal battles, we witnessed the emergence of new crowdfunding portals and entrance into the industry of established financial institutions and global corporations.
Participants at the Aspen Forum will discuss new trends in the industry and how they will influence specific segments and the investment ecosystem in general.
Among the speakers are founders of seven real estate crowdfunding platforms, which offer investment opportunities through business loans to real estate developers, equity in commercial and residential projects, and distressed mortgages.
Healthcare entrepreneurs will learn from Andrew Farquharson, founder of equity crowdfunding platform VentureHealth; Dan Burnett, CEO of Channel Medsystems, a company currently raising money through crowdfunding; and Howard Leonhard, an inventor of more than 20 products for treating cardiovascular disease.
Those interested in portfolio diversification or business loans will benefit from attending the “Innovations in lending industry” panel. Speakers represent companies offering loans and lines of credit up to $500,000. Financial groups and investment funds have already started outsourcing some of their loan originations to lending platforms. With further progress in technology and significantly lower overhead costs, social lending will continue to grow and impact the financial world.
In addition, presentations will be devoted to the legal landscape of private placements, common misconceptions about equity crowdfunding, investor relations in the post-JOBS Act era, secondary markets for the new class of securities, investing through self-directed IRAs, and how global corporations can benefit from crowdfunding.
Other speakers will represent AngelList, the largest online community of private investors; SparkMarket, first US equity crowdfunding platform for nonaccredited investors; due diligence service providers; legal firms; and leaders of investment/crowdfunding communities from the UK, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, and Australia.
The Forum is organized by Crowdfund Productions LLC with financial support from Pepper Hamilton LLP, Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, and Patch of Land.