Your resource for the latest trends, best practices and thought leadership in the world of global private equity.

Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center

Thunderbird's Global Private Equity Center (TPEC) believes in the restorative economic power of global private equity investing. As part of the Thunderbird Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship, TPEC strives to be the leading globally recognized thought leadership platform for students, business executives, investors and alumni to enhance understanding and advance knowledge on the key issues and trends facing private equity investing worldwide.
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SAVE THE DATE AUGUST 12-18, 2012:

For information regarding the trade mission, please contact Jessica.Tartell@thunderbird.edu or +1 602 978-7501.

NOTES FROM THE ACADEMIC DIRECTOR, Summer 2012

Dr. Gary Gibbons
Academic Director
Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance

Dr. Gibbons is the driving force behind the Center's academic research initiatives, as well as the development of the private equity & venture capital curriculum and research.

ENTREPRENEURIAL/ENTERPRISE FINANCE EMPHASIS APPROVED

I am very pleased to announce that full-time, traditional MBA students and MS students now may have an emphasis in Entrepreneurial Finance. This coursework is offered in few business schools in the world and we are pleased to define Thunderbird as being one of the schools. This emphasis complements and aligns will the school's program and focus on Entrepreneurship.

After taking basic finance, data analysis and accounting, students interested in this emphasis would take courses GF 5421 Valuation of the Private Firm and GF 5425 Financing and Forecasting the Entrepreneurial Firm to which they would have to add 6 units of other courses in the finance discipline; 3 of these units may come from our GF 5820 Corporate Partners course. Additionally, our courses GF 5421 and GF 5425 will count as finance units for students desiring to take the courses but who would like them to count towards a finance emphasis or elective.  

PRIVATE EQUITY ROAD SHOW TO SOUTH AMERICA

I will be traveling to Chile, Peru and Colombia with private equity and venture capital fund managers along with Road Show Director, Jessica Tartell '10, in August. We will be meeting with LPs representing pension funds, family offices and high wealth individuals in these countries over the course of a week. The Road Show is a highly interactive experience

• Provides GPs with intimate interaction with South American GPs
• Promotes US PE and VC firms and introduces South American VCs, GPs entrepreneurs, business and government leaders
• Establishes a network of contacts to the US firms attending

We will only be taking a maximum if 10 US-based GPs. To apply contact Jessica Tartell at +1-602-978-7501 or jessica.tartell@thunderbird.edu.

ARIZONA STATE RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO ENGAGE WITH CORPORATE PARTNERS COURSE THIS FALL

The Arizona State Retirement System has requested that our Corporate Partners students conduct a “cost vs. expected risk adjusted rate of return” analysis for the various assets classes in which the ASRS invests. This project is aimed at “pricing the diversification and return over the diversified market index in terms of actual management costs, lower liquidity and lack of marketability that occurs when managing non-public assets."

Our Corporate Partners course has been an extraordinary experience for our students and partners alike. The purpose of the course is to provide students with practical experience and knowledge in the PE/VC market place while proving an exceptional product for our partners.  Please contact our office if you are interested in engaging in our Corporate Partners or Independent Study coursework.

VISITING UKRAINIAN POST DOC TO CONDUCT RESEARCH AT TPEC 

Olga Kugatkina, Ph.D. and I will be authoring an article on LP Preferences with Respect to Manager Selection. She has executed, designed and led more than 50 buy- and sell-side financial due diligence assignments on behalf of international investment banks, private equity funds, and industry investors. Olga is an experienced M&A professional, certified charted accountant. Olga holds Ph.D. in International Economics and recently received her MBA from Thunderbird where she concentrated on private equity, financial engineering, valuation and financial modeling and is engaged in research of private equity industry and analysis of private equity returns.

A visiting professor in the Walker Center, Dr. Gibbons received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Claremont Graduate School - The Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management. He holds an MS from California State University, a BS from the University of Arizona and is a Principal and Portfolio Manager with the Coleridge Group in Phoenix, Arizona.

WHAT WE DO AT TPEC:

Coursework

TPEC specializes in the area of enterprise finance (i.e., finance as it applies to non-publicly traded firms, entrepreneurs, etc.). TPEC provides course work, training programs and employment opportunities for students wishing to pursue careers in enterprise finance.  In the past three years, the number of students per year who enrolled in this coursework grew from 0 to 90 per year.  Full time traditional MBA students and MS student my opt to have an emphasis in Entrepreneurial Finance. After taking their basic finance, data analysis and accounting, students interested in this emphasis would take courses GF 5421 Valuation of the Private Firm and GF 5425 Financing and Forecasting the Entrepreneurial Firm to which they would have to add 6 units of other courses in the finance discipline; 3 of these units may come from our GF 5820 Corporate Partners course. Additionally, our courses GF 5421 and GF 5425 will count as finance units for students desiring to take the courses but who would like them to count towards a finance emphasis or elective.  

• Financing and Forecasting the Entrepreneurial Firm (GF 5425) (3 units) *Offered in Fall Trimester Only
• Valuation of the Private Firm (GF 5421) (3 units) *Offered in Spring Trimester Only
• Corporate Partners (GF 5820) (3 units)  **Course fulfills TIE II requirement
  - Fall 2012: Investment Allocation, Returns and Management Costs (Partner: Arizona State Retirement System)
  - Spring 2012: Worldwide Private Equity (Partner: United States Department of Commerce) 
  - Fall 2011: Investment Policy for Non-Public Assets (Partner: Arizona State Retirement System)
  - Spring 2011: Restructuring Resort Property Financing (Partner: Large Scottsdale-based resort ownership)
  - Spring 2010: Business Plan Development and Management Plan (Partner: University of Arizona, College of Agriculture)

• Topics in Global Business: Independent Studies (GF 5903) (3 units)
  - In-depth analysis of PE/VC activity in Arizona. 
  - The status of PE/VC investing in Chile, Peru and Colombia.
  - PE exit strategies in Vietnam.

Student Private Equity Venture Capital Club

Through its programs, presentations and conferences, TPEC supports a student private equity club. The club is student-run and averages about 25 student members per year.

Conferences

TPEC holds conferences annually in India, Southeast Asia and the United States. 

We currently present practice-oriented conferences on a regular basis. These conferences are topically organized to cover contemporary issues in private enterprise finance. The format involves local and topical experts and panel discussions. Information, including agendas, speakers and sponsors from previous Conferences is available under the events tab.

Jobs and Internships

A key part of TPEC’s mission is to get both jobs and internships for students. Over the past year, the organization has reached out to participants in the private equity, valuation, international venture and venture capital spaces to solicit both internships and jobs. We have now had students accepted as employees or interns at a number of outstanding firms. Please contact our office at +1 602-978-7501 if you are interested in utilizing interns from our program or if you are interested in hiring students in our program.

Trade Road Shows

TPEC is conducting Certified Trade Road Shows with the US Department of Commerce. The South American Road Show will be to Chile, Peru and Colombia, August 2012. US-based fund managers will be attending as delegates and in each location TPEC will be conducting an informational/educational program that will be attended by the delegate fund managers and in-country representatives of institutional investors.

The Journal of Private Equity

The editorship of the Journal of Private Equity (JPE) is housed at Thunderbird. Dr. John Mathis is the editor and Dr. Gary Gibbons is on the advisory editorial board.

Articles and Research

Gibbons, G. and H.M. Stone, “PE Managers as Registered Investment Advisors”, The Journal of Private Equity, Volume 15, #1. 2011
http://www.iijournals.com/doi/abs/10.3905/jpe.2011.15.1.008 (Abstract; April 1, 2012)

Articles In Progress:

Dr. Gibbons and Thunderbird students Maria Iliopoulou and Hao Diep (a Thunderbird alumnae) are writing a case study on Mobi-vi. Mobi-vi is a two-year-old startup company in the financial services industry. The company is based in Vietnam. (Targeted to be completed in June 2012.)

Dr. Gibbons, Olga Kugatkina, Ph.D. (WCGE Post-Doctoral Fellow) and Alex Jones (Vice President, Preqin) are authoring an article on LP Preferences with Respect to Manager Selection. (Targeted to be completed in August 2012.)

Books In Progress:

Dr. Gary Gibbons, Dr. Robert Hisrich and Carlos Silva are authoring a book titled, “Entrepreneurial Finance: Finance for Entrepreneurs with a Global Vision.” (Targeted to be completed in December 2012.)

Research In Progress:

Dr. Gibbons is conducting research on private firm value in cooperation with Dinan & Company. The research objective is to construct an index of private firm sector values that can be assembled into a descriptive index of private firm value. The desired result would be to produce an index similar to the Case/Schiller index of real estate values but for non-public firms. Dinan & Company is the largest independent buy side advisor in North America in the PE market. This project is in the early stages.

Support TPEC

It is because of generous contributions from our supporters that we are able to continue to offer superior programs and services to industry professionals, alumni, and students. We invite you to become more involved with TPEC by attending our upcoming forums, our 2013 conference and by providing your ideas and insights for future programs, publications, and initiatives. 

For additional information, please contact:

Katherine Hutton

Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center (TPEC)

Phone: 602-978-7173
Fax: 602-439-1435
E-mail: katherine.hutton@thunderbird.edu

Thunderbird School of Global Management
1 Global Place
Glendale, AZ 85306-6000
USA

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