Marcum MicroCap Conference Featured in Opalesque Article "Economists, Hedge Funds, Hopeful Micro-Cap Companies Gather at Marcum MicroCap"

Excerpt:

Micro-cap companies looking for investors, and corporate growth support presented their case before hedge funds, private equity firms, investors and advisors at the invitation-only Marcum MicroCap conference. Now in its second year, Marcum MicroCap is dedicated to introducing investors to the very best, undiscovered companies under $500m in market capitalization. Over 120 public companies presented in 30 minute increments to a group of more than 1000 attendees today at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.

Marcum is one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms, operating offices around the world. The company is part of the Marcum Group which provides an array of professional services including advisory, technology solutions, wealth management, and executive and professional recruiting. This year Marcum partnered with KCSA Strategic Communications and Launchpad Investor Relations to host the conference.

“We have been really pleased with the response of both investors and companies so far,” Robert Derbabian, Senior Director, Business Development, Marcum told Opalesque. “We hope it will continue to grow.”

Companies that present at the conference have 30 minute slots to present their value proposition, recent performance and future growth prospects, in short presentations followed by a question and answer session. Ahead of the conference, companies that wish to present submit an application which is then examined by a panel of experts that choose the top companies from the pool of applicants. Presenters come from a variety of industries and may be pre-IPO to public, and looking to grow. Marcum also facilitates private one-on-one meetings for companies and investors throughout the day.

“We wanted to present at Marcum to get our story out, and answer any questions about what we do,” said Jeffrey Bacha, President and CEO of DelMar Pharmaceuticals, one of the companies presenting at the conference in an interview with Opalesque. The company works on cancer treatments and has significant operations in the US and China. In addition to the DelMar story, Bacha and CFO Scott Praill, took attendees through recent clinical work and new findings for their cancer treatment drugs. “We’ve had some early feedback, which was good, and we plan to keep talking to people all year,” Bacha says.

The conference was punctuated with expert panels that included fund managers, auditors, lawyers, and former regulators, weighing in on business issues unique to the micro-cap space. A panel on the JOBS Act opened the day, with speakers from Schulte, Roth & Zable; Akerman, Senterfitt; OTC Markets Group, and Lucosky Brookman, noting that the rules of most interest to investment firms and public companies, have yet to be implemented. The panelists were optimistic that with the entry of a new SEC Chair, rules may move forward, bolstered by an impatient congress which is considering bills to establish hard dates for implementation of JOBS Act rules, like allowances for general solicitation on private placements. Other topics included valuation, going public, and how institutional investors view micro-cap companies.

Steven Rattner, Economist and Chairman of Willet Advisors, was the keynote speaker, offering his view of the current global economic environment. During the presentation, he called for real wage increases in America in order to support economic growth, and voiced concerns over using sequestration to force spending cuts. “There is no doubt this is a ham handed way to deal with the budget,” he said.