Since its formation in 2008, GCA has played a leadership role in the industry:

Building Investor Relationships

• Unlike the public bond markets, the US Private Placement market is a relatively small world of bankers, lawyers and investors who have often known each other for decades. Personal relationships have been the building blocks upon which successful firms have built franchises and individuals their careers. GCA recognized early on that, given the nature of their involvement in the market, issuers were disadvantaged in having few opportunities to build long-term personal relationships with their investors.
• Recognizing that strong investor relationships enhanced the issuer's ability to successfully launch follow-on transactions as well as navigate amendment/waiver negotiations, GCA led the industry in establishing an Investor Relations Advisory practice, providing issuers with on-going points-of-contact and involvement with both their existing as well as prospective investor base.

Leading Industry Forums

• GCA is a founding member of the national Advisory Board of the Private Placements Industry Forum
• Each year, representatives of GCA chair key panel discussions at the annual Private Placement Conference addressing topics on critical issues facing the market. These panels cover the full range of issues, such as:
  • Finding Value in Relationship Management (2009);
  • Amendments, Waivers and Restructurings (2010);
  • Issuer Case Studies: Insight from Recent Issuers and Why They Decided to Tap the Private Placement Market (2011);
  • Relationships Matter: The Dynamics between Issuers, Agents and Investors – How to Build Effective Communication Between Industry Stakeholders (2012);
  • Ratings in the USPP Market: Views from Investors, the NAIC and Rating Agencies (2012, 2013) - Robert Weiss, Senior Advisor, GCA - Moderator
  • Issuer Boot Camp: Designed for Issuers (2013) - A "How to" teach-in led by Mark Nichols, Managing Director-Global Capital Advisors, including presentations from:
    • John Fowler, Chief Financial Officer, Quad Graphics;
    • Amy Judd, Senior Vice President, Director-Private Placement Portfolio, AllianceBernstein;
    • Scott Ashton, Of Counsel, Morrison & Foerster; and
    • Michael Verrier, Group Treasurer, Wolseley plc
    
    Attendees were provided with a complete Source Book for issuing Private Placements covering key issues likely to arise pre-launch, during execution and post-Closing.

Creating Innovative vehicles for Relationship Building

Employing social media to provide a venue for those active in the US Private Placement Market to share issues and concerns; as well as to enhance opportunities for building stronger personal relationships among issuers, investors, bankers and lawyers, GCA created the Debt Private Placements Forum on LinkedIn. This discussion group is open to professionals actively engaged in the US Private Placement Market as well as those in transition. Since its formation in 2009, the DPPF's membership has grown to over 500 members and is the largest such group in the market.