Leading Alternatives Publisher Opalesque Ltd Forms Joint Venture with Janice M Johnson, CPA, JD to Launch Hedge Fund Conference Division

Released on: June 23, 2008, 9:53 pm

Press Release Author: Opalesque Ltd

Industry: Financial

Press Release Summary: Inaugural Series of Hedge Fund Workshops Starts in July - 16
Hours of Education Credit to CPAs and Attorneys

Press Release Body: New York, June 25, 2008 -- Opalesque, the world\'s largest
subscription-based publisher on alternative investments, has launched its
Conferences Division, which is a joint venture between publisher Opalesque Ltd., and
Janice M. Johnson, a widely recognized originator of alternative investment and
other tax and financial services conferences for the past two decades.

The first series produced by the Conferences Division will be a series of
Alternative Investment Workshops designed to more fully explore issues encountered
in advising and managing the formation and operation of funds. The workshops will be
held every Tuesday morning, beginning July 22, 2008 and running on consecutive
Tuesdays through August 12, 2008.

16 Hours of Education Credit to CPAs and Attorneys
Each workshop is designed to provide 4 hours of continuing education credits to CPAs
and attorneys. They are being sponsored overall by Crowell & Moring, and by the
newly combined organizations of Custom House and Equity Trust. All sessions will be
held at the Yale Club in New York City.

These four workshops are designed to give hedge fund professionals a better
understanding of specific issues confronting the hedge fund industry. They range in
coverage from Dissecting the Private Placement Memorandum, to an In-Depth
Exploration of Tax and Accounting Issues, to Planning for Hedge Fund Managers and
Investors, to Delving into the Growing World of Alternative Alternatives.

A brochure with all details can be downloaded here:
www.opalesque.com/files/OpalesqueWorkshopsFlyer.pdf

Chaired by Janice M. Johnson, CPA, JD
Opalesque Conferences Division is headed by Janice M. Johnson, CPA, JD. Janice M.
Johnson is a pioneer in advising on the structure of, and issues encountered by,
hedge funds in her capacity as Partner in several international CPA firms. She
previously chaired the Investment Partnerships Conference of the New York State
Society of CPAs for 8 years where it grew into a nationally recognized event drawing
more than 600 attendees. She is also the Founding Chair of the Taxation of
Financial Instruments and Transactions Committee of the NYSSCPA.

For five years, Janice wrote and taught in 30 cities the AICPA's Annual Tax Update
course. She has appeared numerous times over the past two decades on television and
radio programs to discuss investing and tax issues and she has spoken on these
topics, as well as on tax legislative initiatives, at various conferences around the
nation and abroad.

The initial workshop, Dissecting the Private Placement Memorandum, will be offered
on July 22, 2008 at the Yale Club and will examine the various provisions in the PPM
that are crucial to the operations of the hedge fund and to allocations of its
profits and losses. Among these provisions are the sections governing tax
allocations and trader versus investor descriptions; manager compensation;
permissible investments of the fund; break periods; types of investors that will be
allowed; and provisions governing distributions and withdrawals from the fund.

Following this session on July 29, 2008 will be An Exploration of Key Tax and
Accounting Issues for Hedge Funds. This morning session will cover the application
of the unrelated business tax, New York tax issues specific to investment
partnerships, valuing illiquid assets, and Form 1065 tricks and traps.

On August 5, 2008, the morning session will be devoted to Planning for Hedge Fund
Managers and Investors and will include an in-depth exploration of the issues
encountered in determining trader versus investor status and the consequences that
flow from either determination, as well as a session on the issues to be considered
in structuring funds and an overview of unique estate and gift tax planning issues.

The final workshop in the series, Alternative Alternative Investments, will be
presented on August 12, 2008 and will focus on issues related to funds investing
primarily in other than equities. Specifically, the issues related to investing in
hard assets, infrastructure and options strategies will be discussed.

Events to come:
2008 conferences will include a November 10, 2008 forum dedicated to updating hedge
fund advisers and insiders on need-to-know developments in the industry, the Hedge
Fund Insiders' Update.

On January 12, 2009, a Primer on Hedge Funds, will be offered in New York City, to
allow those wanting to understand the alternative investment industry to obtain a
firm footing in its unique concepts and issues.

More details, registration here: www.opalesque.com/workshops
A brochure with all details can be downloaded here:
www.opalesque.com/files/OpalesqueWorkshopsFlyer.pdf

About Opalesque:

Opalesque leads the finance media space for its in-depth and innovative products.
Since February 2003, Opalesque has published Alternative Market Briefing, the
premium news service on hedge funds and alternatives. The launch of these Briefings
was a revolution in the hedge fund media space (\"Opalesque changed the world by
bringing transparency where there was opacity and by delivering an accurate
professional reporting service.\" - Nigel Blanchard, Culross) combining proprietary
news with the "clipping service" approach of integrating third party news. Each
week, Opalesque publications are read by more than 400,000 industry professionals in
over 100 countries.

Opalesque is the only daily hedge fund publisher which is actually read by the elite
managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html).
About Opalesque Conferences:

In 2008 Opalesque launched its Conference Division, bringing together the leaders in
the Hedge Fund Industry to educate, debate, and network. 2008 conferences will
include a November 10, 2008 forum dedicated to updating hedge fund advisers and
insiders on need-to-know developments in the industry, the Hedge Fund Insiders'
Update. The series of summer 2008 workshops will allow interested hedge fund
community members to drill down into specific areas of hedge fund expertise such as
tax and accounting issues, private placement memoranda hot button issues, financial
and estate planning for hedge fund managers and investors, and exploring in-depth
the developing array of alternative investments. On January 12, 2009, a Primer on
Hedge Funds will be offered in New York City, to allow those wanting to understand
the alternative investment industry to obtain a firm footing in its unique concepts
and issues.

About Opalesque Publications:

Alternative Market Briefing is a daily newsletter on the global hedge fund industry,
highly praised for its completeness and timely delivery of the most important daily
news for professionals dealing with hedge funds. Alternative Market Briefing offers
both a quick overview and in-depth coverage. Subscribers can also access the
industry's largest news archive ( 27,000+ articles ) on hedge funds and related
topics.

A SQUARE is the first web publication, globally, that is dedicated exclusively to
alternative investments. A SQUARE\'s weekly selections feature unique investment
opportunities that bear virtually no correlation to the main stream hedge fund
strategies and/or distinguish themselves by virtue of their \"alternative\" motive -
for instance, social or behavioral strategies or those focused on natural resources
or sustainable/environment-related investing.

With its \"research that reveals\" approach, fast facts and investment oriented
analysis, A SQUARE offers diversification and complementary ideas for private, high
net-worth and institutional investors, pension funds and endowments, portfolio and
hedge fund managers.

Technical Research Briefing delivers three times a week a global
perspective/overview on all major markets, including equity Indices, fixed Income,
currencies, and commodities. Opalesque Technical Research is unique compared to most
available research which is fundamental in nature and not technically (chart)
oriented.

Opalesque Roundtable Series:

In an Opalesque Roundtable, some of the leading hedge fund managers (single and
multi strategy managers) as well as representatives of the local investor base
(institutions, fund of funds, advisers) are united to gain unique insights into the
specific idiosyncrasies and developments, as well as the issues and advantages of
specific global hedge fund centers.

Through the series, hedge fund investors looking for new talent, a hedge fund
interested in diversifying its investor base service providers looking for new
clients will all get to know some of the leaders in each hedge fund center and will
find invaluable information and intelligence without any travel involved.

For more information, please go to http://www.opalesque.com



Web Site: http://www.opalesque.com/

Contact Details: 8TH SAMOU STREET, NICOSIA, CYPRUS.
PHONE- +91-80-5853
EMAIL-nisha@opalesque.com

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