Despite the pre-election jitters, many sponsors of non-traded securities are continuing to raise significant amounts of debt/equity capital for real estate, energy, private equity and structured finance projects. In this session, you will hear from industry leaders what companies, products and strategies are effectively raising capital with the BD retail and RIA channels.

Speakers: Matthew Iak, U.S. Energy Development Corporation; Kevin Gannon, Robert A. Stanger & Co.; Kevin Bradburn, Orchard Securities

This is a "not-to-miss" session for due diligence officers, compliance officers, and selling advisors who market alternative investments to retail clients. In this session, we'll address the two components of Regulation BI, and we'll talk about FINRA's exam priorities and expectations concerning Reg BI as it relates to the sales of non-traded investments to retail clients. We will discuss past enforcement cases relating to Reg BI, as well as some facts and circumstances that weighed negatively for the broker-dealers in those cases. We will also discuss certain practices that FINRA broker-dealers can adopt in their efforts to comply with Reg BI from a rules/exam perspective.

Moderator: Brad Updike, Mick Law
Participants: John Grady, ABR Dynamic Funds; Miriam Lefkowitz, Miriam Lefkowitz LLC; Lori Patterson, Baker Donelson; Chris Kelly, Chiesa Shahinian Giantomasi

In this session, attendees will learn from industry experts how advisors are using alternatives in their practices, with a particular focus on sourcing and “diligencing” products. The panelists will look at what resources and tools are available to support advisors that use alts in their practices. They will also discuss rules that affect how advisors use and recommend alts, including the SEC’s Regulation BI and the DOL Fiduciary Rule.

Moderator: John Grady, ABR Dynamic Funds
Participants: Sylvia Kwan, Ellevest; Rizwan Ibrahim, Accretive Wealth; Stephen Lovell, Lovell Wealth Management

Due diligence experts review the analytics and investigative process they use to examine a product sponsor's ability to manage an investment program to successful conclusion, which will include an in-depth discussion of the investigative methods used by these experts to confirm a sponsor's financial wherewithal and ability to perform in prior programs/projects. As a part of this session, the panel will discuss the function/importance of a sponsor site visit and how the visit should be used to validate a sponsor's promotional claims. Also, this due diligence session will discuss some of the important lessons our industry has come to learn through references to programs that perform both well and poorly.

Moderator: Joanna Venetch, Hana Solutions
Speakers: Brad Updike, Mick Law; Steve Ogrin, Buttonwood Due Diligence; Julie Olsen, FactRight

Established industry leaders summarize the importance of establishing a robust educational platform around alternative products, the process of which includes due diligence, product training, specialized training for products with tax features, and executive and monitoring. In this session, you will hear from the panel how these functions work hand-in-hand to enable reps and advisors to effectively sell alternative products in a manner that satisfies Reg BI, as well as FINRA's suitability requirements.

Moderator: Mike Kell, iCapital
Participants: Lori Kamen, Aurora Securities; Tyler Green, Cetera Financial Group; Bryon Romine, Kessler Collins; Brandon Balkman, Net Lease Capital

Continuing the conference's focus upon proper alts product sales practices, this session will be dedicated to examining certain SEC/FINRA rules that affect the way such products can be sold, which will include discussions about Reg. D Rule 506 for private placements and FINRA Conduct Rule 2210, which governs the content of alts product marketing. As a part of the Rule 506 discussion, the panel will examine the difference between Rules 506(b) and 506(c), as well as the situations that might justify a sponsor's use of one exemption over the other. The session will also address the key marketing content requirements of FINRA Rule 2210, with a particular focus to be placed upon how the rule affects sales of alternative investment products.

Speakers: Thomas Voekler, Williams Mullen; Darryl Steinhause, DLA Piper; Jim Raper, WealthForge

Report by ADISA's Legislative & Regulatory Committee

ADISA's Legislative & Regulatory leadership provides updates as to some important developments that will affect the sales of alternative investment products this year and into 2025 and beyond. The session will focus upon both enacted rules, as well as rules being proposed for enactment by the SEC, FINRA and state regulators.

Speakers: Thomas Rosenfield, JD, CAE, HillStaffer; Catherine Bowman, The Bowman Law Firm

Hear from knowledgeable asset sector experts on the global and domestic developments affecting the values of real estate and oil/gas assets and projects. The real estate discussion will cover occupancies, credit trends and other economic developments affecting multiple sectors of the U.S. commercial real estate market, which includes multifamily, industrial, office, retail, hospitality, storage and other asset types. The oil/gas discussion will also focus upon world and domestic trends and issues affecting energy capital costs, revenues and cash flows. 

Speakers: Dan Steffens, Energy Prospectus Group; DJ Van Keuren, Evergreen

In this applied practice session, multiple product sponsors will be interviewed in a site visit setting about their assets, operations, finances, capital sources, prior performance, and transactional practices when dealing with affiliates and managed programs. This session, which is Part II of the sponsor due diligence track, is intended to expand upon some of the key site visit concepts shared in the prior session in terms of planning and process. Although the interviews will be primarily based upon the sponsor's actual business circumstances, the interviews, in some cases, will also include hypothetical dialog and responses in an effort to illustrate certain special circumstances in which it might be prudent to either reject a product or suspend a product selling agreement.

Moderator: Kyla Ehrisman, Mick Law
Sponsors: Matthew Iak, U.S. Energy Development Corporation; Ed Fernandez, 1031 CF Properties