The Girvan Institute of Technology cordially invites you to an Industry Briefing Breakfast: OVERCOMING THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS BY INVESTING IN “GREEN” INFRASTRUCTURE
Wednesday, March 11th, 8.00am – 10.30am
Sponsored by Merrill Lynch(www.ml.com)andFenwick & West LLP (www.fenwick.com)
This is the second event of the 2009 Industry Briefing Breakfast (“GIBB”) series organized by the Girvan Institute of Technology (www.girvan.org). The idea of these events is to generate brief and to-the-point discussion sessions around certain aspects of key industries. In each session we hope that in addition to some valuable insights provided by an industry expert we will also have an open and friendly debate among the audience, in which both entrepreneurs and investors will be encouraged to share their views and experiences. In this edition we are pleased to host Peter Monty, Vice President at DWS Scudder, and Enrique Figueroa, Vice President at Merrill Lynch. Peter and Enrique will discuss a current report done by DWS Scudder analyzing the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank intended to have a primary focus on “green” infrastructure. Alongside other supportive policies, this “green” National Infrastructure Bank will enable the scale-up of “green” industries and the creation of high-quality jobs.
As policy makers search for solutions to the current economic downturn, a well tried and understood response is an infrastructure spending program. A number of policymakers and economists have recently noted that in the current economic downturn, a large infrastructure stimulus would be desirable. These include former US Vice President Al Gore, who has been advocating for an investment in the electric power grid, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has discussed proposing a stimulus package of $150 billion or more, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who recently noted that it is “a good time to engage in some serious infrastructure spending,” and Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, who believes that a stimulus would be appropriate, given current economic conditions. It is a unique confluence of necessity and opportunity that brings together this need to tackle future environmental cost issues, such as climate change, an economic crisis and energy security at the start of a new administration in the United States. A variety of attractive proposals are emerging in the US, including a National Infrastructure Bank that would provide direct federal spending, tax credits, and financing to states, municipalities and the private sector.
As a bonus track we will also have Stefano Quintini, attorney with Fenwick and West, to give us an overview on carbon regulations and how these may play within the proposed plan.
After the presentations we will have a Q&A session and an open discussion. The idea is to go beyond merely scratching the surface of these issues and hopefully have some of you to voice your opinions and ideas.
We hope to see you all there!
Santiago L. Balcarce
Director Biz. Dev.
Girvan Institute of Technology
Details
Date: Wednesday, March 11th 2009
Time: 8:00am – 10.30m
Location: Manhattan Room
Girvan Institute of Technology
3940 Freedom Circle
Santa Clara, CA 95054
RSVP to events@girvan.org (Please, specify name, organization, and position.)
Agenda
8.00am-8.30am: Reception and networking
8.30am-9.40am: Introduction and Presentation
9.40am-10.30am: Q&A session and open discussion
Speakers’ Bios
Peter Monty, Vice President, DWS Scudder
Peter Monty is a senior regional vice president for the Broker Dealer Division covering northern California. Peter joined DWS Scudder in 2006 and is based in San Francisco. Prior to joining DWS Scudder, he held positions with Sun Life and Hartford. Peter also played professional football for the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants before starting his career in the financial world. Peter received his undergraduate degree in Business from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He holds his NASD Series 7, 63 and Life Insurance licenses.
Enrique Figueroa, Vice President, Merrill Lynch
Enrique returned to join Merrill Lynch in 2007 after serving as the Chief Investment Officer, Senior Wealth Manager, and Executive Committee Member at Sand Hill Advisors, a wealth advisory service in Palo Alto, CA. At Sand Hill Advisors, Enrique oversaw $1.3 billion in firm’s assets and directly managed $270 million in assets for some of the firm’s most complex high net worth, foundation, and non-profit clients. Previously, Enrique was a First Vice President in Merrill Lynch’s Equity Research Department and a Vice President at Oppenheimer and HSBC James Capel. While at Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer, Enrique was ranked the top Latin American food and beverage analyst by Greenwich Associates and a runner up by Institutional Investor magazine. Prior to his career in investments, Enrique was the Manager of Financial Planning for a PepsiCo subsidiary and an Associate for McKinsey & Co management consulting firm.
Stefano Quintini, Attorney, Fenwick and West
Stefano is an attorney in the Technology Transactions Group of Fenwick and West. His practice focuses on structuring and negotiating commercial transactions in a broad range of industries, with a focus on international deals. He is a member the firm's Clean Tech Group and has expertise in the area of commercial arrangements for the development and commercialization of carbon emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. He joined Fenwick in 2005, after having practiced for a number of years in Europe.
About Fenwick & West LLP (www.fenwick.com)
Fenwick & West is a national law firm that provides comprehensive legal services to technology and life sciences clients of national and international prominence. We have over 275 attorneys, with offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle and Boise.
Fenwick & West is committed to providing innovative, cost-effective and practical legal services that focus on global technology industries and issues. We differentiate ourselves by having a deeper understanding of our clients' technologies, industry environments and business needs than is typically expected of lawyers.
About Merrill Lynch(www.ml.com )
The merger between Merrill Lynch and Bank of America has yielded one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 25 million active users. It offers industry leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500.
About Girvan Institute of Technology(www.girvan.org)
Girvan Institute of Technology is chartered to foster and support entrepreneurial business ventures, especially early stage high-tech companies. The Institute was established in January 2002. It is a non-profit, public-benefit California corporation.
The Institute works to:
- Help launch high-tech companies. One of the Institute's key components is providing assistance and technology for early stage high-tech companies;
- Transfer innovative technologies. The Institute works to affect such transfers from larger R&D organizations at universities, government labs, and corporate labs to the industrial-commercial sector. The Institute also helps larger companies find technologies with which to strengthen their businesses;
- Introduce companies to sources of capital. The Institute has excellent connections within both the Angel and Venture Capital community and has successfully introduced companies to new sources of capital;
- Provide office space to early stage companies. The Institute has office space available to companies in both Silicon Valley and Los Angeles;
- Showcase new companies and technologies. The Institute regularly hosts technology showcases focused on various industry sectors to promote and support the commercialization of up-and-coming technologies and start-up companies.
