Greeting from the CEO for this Special Edition |
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Hola a todas y todos!
Hopefully, by now you are well into your New Year’s resolutions, working away at that new plan for 2022.
On our end, we also have great plans for all NAA members and extended family. We started by sharing the experiences, actions, and work of the past year in our 2021 Annual Review -link below-, in which we explore and examine the challenges we had in the past year, and the triumphs and goals we attained.
Personally, what shined through for me was the incredible work by the NAA team (NAA members, particularly Board members, consultants, staff, and extended friends) who, despite all challenges, including their illness or that of loved ones, still carried through their objectives. Their newfound resourcefulness to meet the challenges and get the job done was amazing.
Thus, in this issue of the Bears & Bulls, we share with you a summary of some of the accomplishments of 2021, the Year of the New Reality! Please read on and let me know if you want to discuss further or have any questions.
It gives me great pleasure to begin 2022 welcoming Jose Miguel Guzman, as our new Chief Operating Officer. Jose is an “old” friend of NAA, as he has participated in NAA conferences and meetings as a guest in the past. Now, he will strengthen the organization’s efforts from within, with the knowledge and understanding of its mission and objectives.
Lastly, we are proud to share the 2022 Puerto Rico Market Sentiment Report -link below-, research presented by NAA member and strategic partner Cameron McKenzie. He is the founder of McKenzie & Associates, LLC, a corporate financial advisory firm focusing on helping middle-market companies thrive through CFO and Investment Banking Services. The report brings insightful information about the perspective of business leaders from "La Isla del Encanto.”
As I said, we have great expectations and plans for 2022, including a new NAA Board, renewed efforts in Advocacy and Transparency, and hopefully, we will be able to go back to virtual meetings and live events that we will share with you soon. Stay tuned!
¡Felicidad y prosperidad en 2022!
Solange F. Brooks
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2021 THE YEAR OF THE NEW REALITY |
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"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent: it is the one most adaptable to change."
- Charles Darwin, British naturalist.
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As we welcome 2022, it is important to take a moment to reflect on the past year - our goals, our challenges, and the creativity found among you - NAA members - to push our goals and objectives forward. 2021 was the Year of the New Reality!
After "making lemonade out of lemons" in 2020, the ability to adapt to business and personal changes with constant revisions became a natural part of our everyday lives in 2021 - and NAA thrived!
The organization had a remarkable year of noteworthy progress in the area of advocacy, innovative programs forging the next generation of leaders, and collaborations...
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Jose M. Guzman, NAA's Chief Operating Officer |
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New America Alliance welcomes its new Chief Operating Officer, Jose M. Guzman. Born and raised in New York City from a Dominican family, Guzman graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Business Administration, and a Dual Major in Finance and Entrepreneurship.
He has been in the private equity industry for over 10 years, starting his career at Cerberus Capital Management, where he performed market research, financial statement analysis, and operational due diligence on companies across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
He then spent some time as an Investment Officer in Private Equity at the New York City Comptroller's Office Bureau of Asset Management. He committed $3 billion across middle market/large-cap buyout, growth capital, and distressed investments opportunities in the US and abroad. "In this position, I was instrumental with their emerging managers' program, trying to find more diverse managers for
the portfolio."
And just recently, he has been accomplishing some advisory work, assisting different GPs on how to best position themselves to raise capital from various LPs. "LPs have been asking to see some smaller managers because they don't have the bandwidth or the capacity to search for them. They are looking for ways to diversify their pipeline of investments," Guzman said.
The New America Alliance is not new to Guzman. He has known the organization for about six years and engaged with the organization while he was at the pension plan. "I was a big supporter and attended various events and conferences. I'm a big believer in the mission, as I see diverse founders are not getting as much capital as others, and I've been striving to change that imbalance. Interestingly enough, I was already involved in this type of mission before being offered the job. So I'm eager to join others trying to achieve the same goals. And I think highly of the organization, so it just seemed like a great fit for both," Guzman continued.
Guzman's new role as Chief Operating Officer comes hand in hand with a significant number of GPs and LPs contacts and the fact that he has been researching, advising, and advocating for emerging managers. "I can help increase awareness and make people more knowledgeable about the organization and what it is trying to accomplish," he added. "I think it would be interesting to continuously highlight a lot of the trends that are happening in the marketplace. And ultimately, really engage with the people who have the capital and show them why supporting diverse managers is very accretive to their portfolios. Given that I've been a limited partner and I've advocated for capital, I have much credibility with them because I know how to communicate with LPs," he assured.
He has seen firsthand the diverse managers' struggles; some were amazing managers though it was tough to get one of them into the portfolio. "I do believe there's still a lot more work to be done. Mostly, there's a need to increase the level of education on both parts because I have met many managers that just weren't ready for some of these larger institutional investors. However, the largest investors need to understand that these managers need some flexibility and that both sides must have a deeper involvement in the process. I hope to balance both sides," Guzman asserted.
Although he thinks the industry is moving in the correct direction, the differences have become more prevalent during the pandemic. Diverse founders are just not getting enough capital, according to Guzman. The percentage of emerging managers has decreased during the pandemic, even though the actual dollar amount seems to have increased. "There is a lot more capital out there, and it is going predominantly to mainstream managers," he stated.
One of the reasons, Guzman believes, is that people tend "to fish in the ponds they know."
"If I'm a diverse manager, for example, and I don't know certain people, or they don't know of me, then I'm not going to get that capital. And one other issue is if you're not part of a circle to get introduced to someone very influential who has the capital or maybe someone they trust referred you, makes it extremely challenging as well. I've noticed having access to the networks, and being in certain circles makes a huge difference. Belonging to an organization like NAA can open those circles for its members, taking advantage of the advocacy work they do on their behalf. I'm very excited to take on this role and help the organization and its members achieve those goals," Guzman concluded.
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NAA Member and Strategic Partner McKenzie & Associates |
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We recently received the 2022 Puerto Rico Market Sentiment Report from NAA member Cameron McKenzie. He is the founder of McKenzie & Associates, LLC, a corporate financial advisory firm focusing on helping middle-market companies thrive through CFO and Investment Banking Services.
Many business leaders (90% of respondents) have a strong revenue outlook for 2022, which was revealed through multiple data points: sales growth, business expansion, net hiring, and working capital.
Executives believe the Consumer Discretionary & Hospitality, Financial & Insurance Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Industrials, Construction & Manufacturing sectors will do well in 2022 while the Energy industry is expected to have a challenging year.
The report is a window into Puerto Rican business leaders' expectations for 2022. It helps executives evaluate their industry business practices and motivates professionals to focus on succession planning, an area of organizational weakness for many companies that could lead to catastrophic business disruption if disregarded.
[See and download the full report here]
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