Boston – March 18, 2008 – The Hedge Fund Association is pleased to present Emerging Marketplaces with speakers Kirk Inglis, the CFO of Prosper and Justin A. Brownhill, the Co-founder and CEO of The Receivables Exchange. Generously sponsored by Fidelity Ventures, the event will take place at the Downtown Boston Harvard Club, One Federal Street, 38th Floor, on Wednesday, March 26th from 6-8pm. Registration begins at 6:00pm; the program starts promptly at 6:15pm followed by cocktails. Registration is open to Association members and non-members for $25, and can be completed online at www.thehfa.org.
“The Hedge Fund Association is global in scope, but the ingenuity of our members begins locally,” stated David Friedland, HFA President. “With a bottom up approach to supporting our membership, one of the major objectives of the HFA is to present valuable information that is impacting the global hedge fund industry to our local chapters. We believe this presentation on thriving alternative marketplaces will offer new possibilities to the Boston hedge fund community.”
“Prosper is America’s largest peer-to-peer marketplace with over 600,000 members,” stated Kirk Inglis, CFO of Prosper. “As credit markets experience unprecedented changes, institutional lenders, including hedge funds, are using Prosper to diversify portfolio returns without the lack of transparency and fees associated with structured consumer debt products.”
“The Receivables Exchange is poised to transform the accounts receivable financing industry, providing hedge fund managers and other capital providers access to an entirely new asset class,” stated Justin A. Brownhill, the Co-founder and CEO of The Receivables Exchange. “We are delighted to participate in the HFA’s effort to build local chapters and inspire continued excellence, innovation and thought-leadership in the hedge fund industry.”
About the Hedge Fund Association™
The Hedge Fund Association (HFA) is a not-for-profit international industry group whose mission is to provide a meaningful forum for thought leaders, innovators, practitioners and investors who are shaping the way business is conducted in the global hedge fund industry. Membership in the HFA includes hedge fund firms and funds of hedge funds firms; global financial institutions with hedge fund offerings including retail and private banks, asset management firms and broker dealers; investors including family offices, public and private pension funds, endowments and foundations, and high net worth individuals; allocators; and the hedge fund industry’s service providers including prime brokers, administrators, custodians, auditors, lawyers, risk managers, technologists and third party marketers. To join or learn more, please visit www.thehfa.org.
About Prosper
Prosper is America’s largest peer-to-peer marketplace with over 600,000 members, and was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding. Over $122 million in loans have been originated through Prosper since 2006. Prosper’s market is intuitive to people who have used eBay – it is an auction platform for money, instead of items, allowing lenders to create a consumer debt portfolio based on their quantitative risk preferences. Prosper was co-founded by Chris Larsen, co-founder of E-LOAN, and John Witchel, technology entrepreneur. Backed by Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, Meritech Capital, and Omidyar Network, Prosper has raised approximately $40 million. Prosper’s marketplace platform is patent pending. For more information, please visit www.prosper.com.
About The Receivables Exchange
The Receivables Exchange is America’s first online marketplace for trading accounts receivables. The Receivables Exchange provides a new dimension in working capital management by connecting companies to a global network of accredited capital providers who compete in real time to buy and trade receivables. Exchange participants benefit from immediate and flexible access to working capital finance at the most competitive rates. The Receivables Exchange is a fast and efficient way to manage working capital at a fraction of traditional financing costs. The Receivables Exchange has secured financing from Prism VentureWorks and Fidelity Ventures, the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments. The exchange’s trading platform is based on the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) bond trading platform. For more information, please visit www.receivablesxchange.com.
About Fidelity Ventures
Fidelity Ventures invests in companies ready to enter the market and those poised for the next phase of growth. Its 40-year track record includes hundreds of successful investments in the consumer, communications, systems and software markets. Fidelity Ventures is distinguished by the ability to accelerate market adoption for its portfolio companies’ offerings through a global network of senior technology and business executives. Fidelity Ventures actively manages over $800 million from offices in Boston and London. Fidelity Ventures is also a very active investor in the financial technology sector with portfolio companies such as Prosper Marketplace, Asset Control, eCredit, Xoom, and The Receivables Exchange. For more information, please visit: www.fidelityventures.com.
