Revenue Royalties Summit Draws 100 Companies, Investors

LOS ANGELES - April 21, 2015 - PRLog -- “The markets that raise capital for growing private companies are broken.” So declared Arthur Lipper, veteran of more than 50 years' experience in Wall Street finance, at the opening of the Revenue Royalties Summit, organized by Intelliversity on April 19 and 20.

“This session demonstrates that revenue royalties are being recognized as a useful alternative asset class by investors and companies alike,” continued Lipper, originator of the Lipper Index. “Revenue royalties offer distinct advantages over equity and debt, and they could open the gates to more efficient private finance. A great deal of economic potential is bottled up, ready to be released.”

Over 100 business owners and investors attended the event. Lipper, assisted by his partner in Pacific Royalties, Michael North, spent time with many companies, walking through financial models of how royalty contracts may be structured.

Nine outstanding companies were then selected to make condensed pitches to Mr. Lipper, who responded with challenging rapid-fire questions in the style of “Shark Tank.”

Robert Steven Kramarz, head of Intelliversity which organized the conference, commented, “Today we hosted an impressive array of Southern California companies -- medical technology, security, energy, marketing, publishing, water, nutrition, non-profits -- who are seeking capital. A number of potential investors examined the advantages of royalty investing as a long-term strategy for delivering market-beating returns.” Intelliversity announced its Revenue Royalties Mastery Program, a series of 12 online seminars beginning May 19, to teach how to construct revenue royalties plans, with the help of their own professional advisors.

Pacific Royalties, founded by Arthur Lipper and Michael North, was present to identify companies that might be eligible for royalty financing, and to educate investors on the fundamentals of this new field.

Michael North said, “Capital markets today are dominated by two polar opposites -- equity and debt, with their many flavors and derivatives. Royalties represent a third option -- a contract to participate directly in a percentage of future topline revenues. The contentious complexities of dilution, valuation and exit strategy are no longer an issue between investors and entrepreneurs.”

Peter McCrea came to the Summit from the American Endowment Foundation in New York, a sponsor of the event and a national, independent donor-advised fund. He said, “Donor-advised funds and foundations look for steady, long-term returns with lower risk. Royalties have a unique diminishing risk profile, and could open up capital to many socially and environmentally responsible companies that don’t otherwise qualify for equity or debt financing. I believe Impact Investors will be receptive to deploying their philanthropic assets using this important new approach.”

G. Noah Newmark was one of the conference attendees, representing the 360 Power Group. He noted, “I’ve been in corporate finance for many years, including management posts at Merrill Lynch and Becker-Paribas. So I approached this conference with significant skepticism. Now I understand the details, and I’m impressed; this could become a significant new force in capital markets.”

Erik Fulkerson made a lightning presentation for Predictive Labs. He said, “Our company uses DNA testing to avoid adverse drug reactions; it’s the best in modern precision medicine, backed by a Nobel Laureate -- but raising capital is a challenge. We don’t want to sell cheap stock now, because we would have to surrender too much equity at a low valuation. The royalties method, which is equity-free, may help us secure the capital we need in exchange for a percentage of our gross revenues, and I’m comfortable with that calculus.”

Pacific Royalties advises fund managers that raise capital for royalties partnerships and funds; the company announced its core management and advisory group today. The executive team is headed by Arthur Lipper and Michael North, with participation from Peter Carlisle, the former mayor of Honolulu; Roger Epstein, a leading tax and corporate attorney; and Albert Pleus, an active investor and private equity expert.

A dynamic group of advisors includes venture capital manager Robert Robinson; bond expert and family office advisor Cris Borden; wealth management executive David Chang; Randall Warren and Michael Little, experts in the VIX (Volatility Index); expert in Chinese markets Xiao Fang Zhou North; and Rob Kramarz, an investment educator and head of his own family office.

Details are available at http://www.pacificroyalties.com/management/.

Arthur Lipper has been called a financial Thomas Edison; he led innovations in mutual funds analysis, sttock index futures, stock index funds, institutional stock lending and commodities futures that helped to shape today’s financial landscape. He concluded with this observation: “Many potentially-great companies have difficulty because they cannot secure sufficient capital on reasonable terms. Revenue royalties will help those companies to acquire the funds they need, and reward investors with superior risk-adjusted returns.”

Websites for companies mentioned in this release:

Pacific Royalties: http://www.pacificroyalties.com

Intelliversity: http://www.intelliversitycampus.org

American Endowment Foundation: http://www.aefonline.org