afstallionsbook_bronzemedal

Villain Now An Award Winner

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Villain is proud to announce its first major award sharing in a Bronze PICA (Print Industries Craftsmanship Award) for best offset printed brochure or book after having the Villain designed & managed Aquis Farm Stallions 2016 booklet submitted to the Print Industries Association Australia (PIAA).

pica-bronze-award

Print manager Dave Guyatt who nominated the Aquis Farm project for its nominated category was naturally rapt with the award.

“I was thrilled to receive the award. Many long hours and a tight schedule were part of this job and for it to come away with a bronze was a great result for my team as well as my client Villain and obviously their client Aquis Farm.”

Designer and Project Manager Chris Ahern said it was a fantastic team effort that required foresight and a ‘gutsy approach’ from the client in addition to a ‘can-do’ attitude from print and paper suppliers.

“Dave (Spot Productions) and Corinne (K.W.Doggett Fine Paper) were fantastic throughout the process. After the initial brief with Aquis Farm management, it was made clear to us that this particular piece was not only going to be the major marketing vehicle for their new stable of world-class stallions, it was also going to be the flagship promotional item of their new brand identity.”

Initial Concept Mockup
Initial Concept Mockup
“It needed a quality design and a sophisticated finish and we set about preparing the team that could deliver that.” “Turns out, that team is now an award winning one which I couldn’t be prouder of.”

“It has fuelled the fire for us to get more of our great work in front of some industry eyes in 2017.”

From concept to completion, The Aquis Farm Booklet carried the emerging Aquis Brand through purposeful embellishments, thoughtful paper stock and an earthy, tactile finish befitting a dynamic and prestigious industry steeped in tradition. Ahern said the Stallions booklet for 2016 is the first piece of the puzzle in creating that level of sophistication the brand needs to thrive in an industry where others don’t seem to have positioned themselves accordingly.

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“We’ve worked hard with Aquis Farm throughout 2016 to develop an emerging identity within the thoroughbred racing industry that positions them as the Premier Thoroughbred Farm In Australia.”  “We identified an opportunity for Aquis Farm to leapfrog some competitors and this seems to be happening already.”

“To be a leader in its space is a long-term goal for Aquis Farm but one which seems attainable at an ever-increasing pace because of their rapid success.” This is all down to the forward-thinking staff at Aquis Farm which always brings out the best in us.”

“They challenge us and we challenge them… it’s a healthy, robust relationship that keeps us producing good work at a fairly sharp rate.”

The case study behind the production of the Aquis Farm Stallions Booklet can be found here.

Villain whole-heartedly thanks all involved in the process, especially the PIAA for recognising the work.

Marketing and Publicity: What’s The Difference?

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[vc_row][vc_column][md_text md_text_title1=”pixflow_base64IA==” md_text_title_separator=”no”]After the success of Ben’s post on the difference between PR and publicity which subsequently broke our internet, we thought we’d dive headfirst once more into the world of marcomms, this time highlighting the difference between marketing and publicity. There’s an old saying; “Marketing is what you pay for, PR is what you pray for” which serves as a great introduction to marketing and publicity for the general public. Both marketing and publicity are key tools of any organisation, and while they both support an organisation’s underlying sales, contribute to the business’ bottom line and fall into similar creative categories, their individual processes and results differ tremendously. Evaluating your share of media depends on many factors including how your organisation measures consumer decision-making and how businesses value, measure and monitor their media content; in terms of ROI, a public relations-earned article can be upwards of ten times more valuable than a paid advertisement, according to some specialists. Below are some lists outlining the key differences between the publicity and marketing functions of a business.

Marketing is paid media

  • Marketing is cost-based, transactional
  • Advertising is allocated by sales/advertising representatives from the media outlet, not journalists
  • Guaranteed media placement
  • Audience knows the space is purchased
  • Client retains 100 per cent creative control of content
  • Message “You should buy this”

Publicity is earned media

  • Unpaid, ‘earned’ third party endorsement
  • Cannot be paid for
  • Requires strategy
  • Builds trust, builds credibility
  • Relationship-based between PR consultants and journalists
  • Requires in-depth media knowledge, exceptional communications skills for successful pitching
  • No guarantee of publication
  • Media controls final product
  • Message: “This is important”

The purpose of marketing is to create and bring to market a product or service that people will buy.

Different Media Explained

Paid Media

  • A large portion of a marketing budget. Plays a major role in marketer’s campaign strategy. For example, TV advertisements.

Owned Media

  • Blogs, company website, Facebook and Twitter etc.
  • Usually involves both PR and marketing (PR for key messaging and marketing for allocating sponsored posts, advertising etc).

Earned Media

  • ‘Earned’ editorial coverage, generated through publicity

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How To Nail A Media Interview And Build Your Brand And Personal Profile

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prior-preparation-preents-piss-poor-press-performance I have been doing a bit of media training for clients lately and it has reminded what an incredibly daunting experience it can be for people who do not deal with the media on a daily basis. For the vast majority of executives – regardless of age, experience or gender – interacting with the media for the first few times can be cause to break out in a rash and immediately commence a search for any number of reasons why it is a bad idea (delegation to someone else to ‘help’ them develop their skills is a favorite!). Why engage with the media? Doing a media interview for the first time comes from the same place the fear of public speaking comes from, amplified to the size of the prospective audience. The fear of something going horribly wrong and the consequences for your career, business and social status can be terrifying. So why the hell would you put yourself through that? Because it is great for your business. Getting your name out through earned media channels allows you to reach a bigger audience with greater credibility than you could image with your paid or owned channels. Earned media drives four times the brand lift of paid media and 51% of millennials are more likely to be influenced by earned media (BazaarVoice, 2012) than advertising. There are plenty of other reasons why you should engage with the media.

Are you a goodie or baddie? To be simplistic, most interactions with the media can be characterised as either a threat or an opportunity. How you deal with the media depends heavily on this context and if you are a goodie or a baddie. Threats are where there is a risk your name or brand could be damaged as a result of a media report. The strategies you adopt in these circumstances are vastly different to how you deal with an opportunistic engagement. It will be fairly easy to tell the difference when the time comes. If you just jagged a $2 million bonus while profits and shareholder returns declined, you are the bad guy and should expect some tough questions. Your business just went into administration leaving customers high and dry. Expect some tough questions. Like it or lump it, asking these tough questions is a journalist’s job. In these situations, harm minimisation is the main priority. However, if you haven’t ripped anybody off lately talking to the media is something you should actively be pursuing and can deliver massive return, for minimal risk. The vast majority of interactions with the media are simple exchanges of information. You have knowledge, insight and expertise that the journalist wants to tell their reader, or viewer in an interesting and engaging way. It is a simple transaction. You get your name in the paper, they get a great story to tell their audience. Nailing the interview So your PR has done their job and pitched a story and the journalist wants to have a chat. Once you accept that all they want to write is an interesting story about you and your business, it is easy to let down the defences and focus on maximising the opportunity. The Seven Ps (Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Press Performance) Like anything, being prepared for a media interview will drastically improve the outcome. Your first step is to understand your audience, or more accurately, the audience of the news outlet you are talking to. Visit the publication’s website to get a feel of who they are trying to talk to. Understanding the publication will better prepare you for the kind of questions you may be asked. Take the time to red the journalists recent pieces to get an insight into what they are looking for. kmpsIt is also important to develop some key message points. If you already have some key messages make sure you review them and have some proof points handy. Your proof points support your messages and are important to justify your arguments. Key messages are not advertising ‘slogans’ but are based on the things you want to communicate about your organisation. Responding to media questions will be a smoother and easier process for you, and more beneficial for your organisation, if you have established these key messages and proof points. The simpler the messages the more easily understood they will be to reporters and the public.

 

Practice never hurt anybody. Ask one of your colleagues to ask you a couple of questions to make sure you are in the right frame of mind. Sometimes the most basic questions can be the hardest. What is your strategy? Tell me about the history of your business? What is your pricing structure? Interview basics Once you are actually on the phone or sitting in front of the journalist there are a few things you can do make the experience positive for both you, the journalist and your organisation. The best stories come from interviews where the journalist and the subject build a rapport. Treat an interview as a conversation with an old friend you are catching up with and telling them about your great new business. Get started by asking them about their day, other stories they are working on or what they are doing on the weekend. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions as well. Always be looking for opportunities to integrate your key messages while still staying focused on the question. Nothing will annoy a journalist more than simply parroting a bunch of canned lines that has nothing to do with the question. Remember your messages are just that and an interview is not a challenge of your ability to recite stuff verbatim from a cheat card. If there is one thing you should take away from this blog about interviews it is to try andbe interesting. That is particularly important for people who are not natural salespeople but find themselves as the CEO and media spokesperson. Remember you are competing for space with other organisations. Journalists even compete for page space or airtime within their own organisation. The simpler, more interesting and exciting your answers the more likely you are to secure your share, or more. Don’t use corporatese, legalese or any other style designed to put an audience to sleep. This is boring.

“If the external environment remains stable and we can execute our strategy effectively we expect to be able to achieve future growth in line with past performance.”

The silence you can hear is the journalist asleep on the other end of the phone. This is a quote.

“We’re killing it. We’ve got the best solution in the marketplace and our competitors can’t keep up. We expect to shoot the lights out over the next couple of years.”

By adopting these few simple techniques you can earn your business thousands of dollars, sometimes millions, of free publicity. If you’re interested in undertaking our media training workshops feel free to contact me on 0415 743 838 or ben@rgcommunications.com.au

simPRO Secures $40 Million In Funding To Drive Growth

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Australian cloud technology group simPRO Software has secured AUD$40 million in growth capital as part of an aggressive product innovation and expansion strategy that has seen the company enter the United States and the United Kingdom over the last two years. The funding was secured from New York-based growth equity firm Level Equity. simPRO has been self-funded since it was established in Brisbane in 2002 and is currently owned by private shareholders, including current staff. simPRO Software provides leading-edge job management software for the trade service industry. The cloud-based system helps businesses work smarter, provide exceptional service, and maximise their profitability. The software is designed for operators in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC and security industries. At the end of June 2016 simPRO had more than 2,500 clients and 80,000 users around the world, with clients ranging from small contracting operations through to corporate enterprises with thousands of staff. brad-couper-smallsimPRO Software CEO Brad Couper (pictured) said the investment by Level Equity would provide the capital to support a range of initiatives including product enhancements, growing customer support, and marketing. “We have set ambitious goals for our business over the next few years and believed a sophisticated investment partner with deep expertise in vertical market software could meaningfully enhance the velocity with which we achieve those goals,” Mr Couper said. “We have been flattered with a significant amount of interest in our business from investors around the globe and spent time with a range of partners both in Australia and the US before deciding on Level Equity. “Level has a nuanced understanding of our business model and the end markets in which we operate. Their knowledge and capital will be an important asset for simPRO moving forward.” Level Equity Founder Ben Levin said, “We speak with thousands of vertically specific SaaS businesses each year and have been impressed with what Brad and the team at simPRO have built with no external capital. “We engaged with the business over a long period of time and have a shared vision for continuing to build world class business software that serves contractors and other tradesmen, allowing them to be more successful as they grow their businesses.” Mr Couper recently relocated, along with a number of other corporate staff, from Australia to simPRO’s new offices in Boulder, Colorado, as part of a major push into the US market. simPRO has been slowly introducing its software platform to the US market since mid-2015, but plans to embark on a rapid growth strategy, launching in up to four states throughout the US over the next 12 months starting with Colorado. The business already attracts integrations with a range of global leading third-party software providers, such as Intuit, Xero, MYOB and many industry wholesalers. Mr Couper said product development and enhancement remained a core focus for the company and would unpderpin its future success. “Our goal is to be the dominant contractor software platform around the world. To do that we need to continue to lead the way in innovation for our clients, and be adaptable to their changing needs,” he said. “We want to be more than a software solution. We want to help our clients pursue what they are passionate about, whether it’s business growth, personal wealth, or the freedom to pursue life outside of work: we call it the simPRO journey.” The simPRO Story Company co-founder Stephen Bradshaw, an electrical contractor by trade, said the company had come a long way since he and co-founder Vaughan McKillop began working on a solution for managing his growing trade services business in 2002. “We only had three or four staff – any bigger than that and you started to lose control,” he said. “I realised that what electrical and other trade businesses really needed was systemisation and automation. We needed software to help us keep visibility and manageability, and many, many other trade businesses were in the same position.” 1 Around that time, Mr Bradshaw’s cousin introduced him to Mr McKillop, who was studying software engineering at Griffith University. Mr McKillop left his job delivering pizza to work part-time for Mr Bradshaw, doing data entry for the electrical business in his converted garage. One day, Mr Bradshaw asked Mr McKillop to create a website for the business. Mr McKillop explained that his strengths actually lay in writing software. The conversation quickly led to the creation of simPRO. “I didn’t want other people to have to go through the heartache of becoming a slave to their business. I saw an opportunity for Vaughan and I to try to create a solution together,” Mr Bradshaw said. Using the web-based PHP and MySQL languages Mr McKillop was familiar with, they began creating the first, cloud-based iteration of simPRO – starting with job lists, then working on a scheduling tool for allocating time and technicians. As the software grew, they realised they’d created a tool that could indeed help other businesses, and began sharing it with other electrical contractors to test its usefulness, and, eventually, selling it to them.

V2H Australia Appoints Glenn Davis As Chairman Following Capital Raising Completion

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Queensland radial drilling technology group V2H Australia (V2HA) has appointed highly-regarded and experienced company director Glenn Davis as Chairman following the completion of a multi-million dollar capital raising.

He is a director of a number of public and private companies including as Chairman of ASX-listed Beach Energy Limited (ASX: BPT).  He is a principal with DMAW Lawyers a firm he founded, and has for 30 years advised companies in the energy industry.

Glenn has extensive experience in the energy sector and governance.

The appointment follows the completion of a Series A capital raising by V2HA. Approximately 40% of the company’s shares were placed to a range of high net worth individuals and institutions. The raising was managed by Adelaide’s SRG Partners and was undertaken as a co-investment with the company’s deployment partner, the Nitschke Group.

The funds will be used to fund working capital.

v2ha-jumpsuit

Mr Davis welcomed the opportunity to work with current V2HA board and executive team as it embarked on a new phase of growth.

“V2HA’s technology is very exciting and has the potential to be a significant step change in the oil and gas industry,” he said. “I look forward to working with Darren Rice and the team as they move from being a technology company to a commercial operation focused on growth.”

V2HA CEO Darren Rice said Mr Davis would be a valuable asset to the company.

“Glenn has extensive experience and contacts in the oil and gas industry as well as the respect of everyone in the industry,” he said.

V2HA is a subsidiary of V2H International, which was created as a result of a merger between technology group Coal Bed Methane Innovations (a spin-off company of CRCMining) and Texas-based Zero Radius Laterals (ZRL).

V2HA will be the world’s leading radial drilling water jet technology company, and plans to expand internationally through partnerships and licensing agreements.

The patented technology owned by V2H International has been under development for a number of years and has applications in both conventional and unconventional oil & gas wells, specifically the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) industry in Australia. 

More than $40 million to date has been spent developing the technology and in Australia, successful field trials have been completed by BHP and Peabody Energy.

The technology, which is environmentally friendly, can increase production and recovery from existing (or new) oil & gas wells. The system deploys a high-pressure water system that rapidly installs extensive patterns of lateral radial boreholes into multiple coal seams from vertical production wells. 

PR Fail Files: Ryan Lochte’s Good Morning America Interview

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U.S. Olympic medallist and ultimate-bro Ryan Lochte has a catchline he blasts at every media opportunity post the Rio ‘robbery’ scandal: “I over-exaggerated.” This would be OK if you’re a five-year-old fibbing about the size of your Peppa Pig collection, but when you’re a 12-time Olympic gold medallist with an image to uphold, it only takes one “over-exaggeration” for you to be labelled a liar.. Forever… Across the world. And just like that, the plug is pulled on your career, and the pool water gurgles down the drain taking your millions in sponsorships with it. Bye bye, Ralph Lauren. So long, Speedo USA. Such was the case with Lochte after Rio authorities revealed that the swimming sensation’s initial recount of being “robbed” and “having a gun at his forehead” was false. During his Good Morning America interview in the weeks following, Lochte owned up to his blunder but also rapidly blamed journalists for reporting his “huge mistake” and turning it into “the worst weeks of his life.” Said Lochte; “I have a great team. They are dealing with it, all the legal issues. We’re just trying to get this over with. It’s been dragged out way [for] too long. The media has taken this to a whole new level. I want to put this behind me and move on and move forward, and I think the rest of the world wants that, too. There are other, bigger issues that this world is facing..” There’s a lot wrong with his interview – for example, blaming everything on the media is a great way to attract even further negative press – but the one standout way Lochte made this a PR disaster can be generally summed up in one way. He waited too long to say sorry. And I’m not just talking about the big picture timeline of events. In this interview, Lochte made sure to correct his version of events, made an effort to thank his team, fans and family, and discuss the negative impact of the events on both his teammates and Team USA. His semi-apology – “I’m taking full responsibility” – then came later. By this time, though, it’s too late in the discourse. Lochte’s apologies were also peppered with elements of self-defense. For example, Lochte wasn’t sorry for the incident, he was simply sorry for “not being more careful” in explaining the “traumatic” events. See the difference? Lochte has lost an estimated $1m in sponsorship agreements since the Rio incident, including been dropped from leading brands like Speedo USA and Ralph Lauren, that many hard-working, deserving athletes would jump hurdles for. His swimming career is over, but his recent drama is likely to fuel strong interest in his reality television switch when he appears on US ‘Dancing with the Stars’. In light of this, here’s a sentence that I never thought I’d find myself uttering: Can ‘Dancing with the Stars’ redeem Ryan Lochte? Here’s the crazy part… With the right PR strategy and media training, it actually could.

3 Easy, Afforable Tools To Produce Great Video Content

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video-content Video is massive. It is quickly becoming the main weapon in any marketers social or content marketing toolbox. If you’re not convinced the stats speak for themselves.

  • Facebook users watch more than 4 billion video clips a day
  • 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future
  • By 2019, 80% of all internet traffic will be video.

Still not convinced here are 31 Video marketing Statistics To Inform Your Strategy Jamming hard up against this opportunity is the clear challenge of producing video content in a simple, cost effective way. For most SMBs the days of hiring a camera operator, sound guy, producer and editor to produce 60 seconds of video for $30,000 are well and truly in the past. Thankfully, like many industries, there are lots of smart people out there finding ways to let companies produce relatively affordable video content.

Biteable

Hobart-based startup Biteable is not only slicing down that time to less than 10 minutes, but also making the process as simple as it is to create graphics on Canva and as cheap as creating professional videos can get. So how does it work? You create a free account on biteable.com; and then start making videos by selecting a ‘scene’, customising the colours and text, adding more scenes to your heart’s content, and pressing done. A watermarked version of the video will be sent to your email in 15 minutes or less; and if you’re happy with your creation, you can purchase a High Definition non-watermarked version for $99, which can then be posted anywhere online. If you’re not happy, you can always go back and edit as many times as you like. We used Biteable to create our explainer for Content on Demand. Took me one hour to create the initial video and will take half as long again next time.

Shootsta

The Shootsta platform provides large companies with the necessary training and camera kits for them to shoot their own videos, with the footage then sent back to the startup for post-production. In just six months the company has secured more than 20 clients, including Qantas, Bank of Queensland and Toyota. It has also scored a $1 million investment from AdCorp. In their own words.

“We came from the corporate video production world and constantly had clients tell us they wanted to produce internal, marketing or promotional videos every week but it was just too hard and too expensive. We realised if we could equip companies with the right gear and training they could film their own content and we could do all the heavy lifting with the post production. And that’s when Shootsta was born.”

Shootsta offers packages starting at $2,000 per month on a 12 month plan which includes 2 videos per month. The $9,800/month package includes unlimited videos, 24-hour turnaround as well asa  range of add-ons.

Big Review TV

Big Review TV Ltd is an ASX-listed group providing online video content, video reviews and online marketing services to small and medium enter- prise through bigreviewtv.com Bigreviewtv.com is a brand new video review platform aimed at consumers. It is a video review platform that integrates video review shows, video marketing, and user- generated video content with social media via the Big Review TV app. The Big Review TV App is a free video review mobile phone application that allows consumers to search and view video reviews of places of interest, and produce their own video reviews that upload automatically to Bigreviewtv.com and can be shared via social media networks. The app can also be used by merchants as a video marketing tool to communicate with customers by uploading video news and updates to their business profile page on Bigreviewtv.com It then uploads the videos to its tech platform, allowing customers hungry for reviews of products, events, restaurants and more, to actually see what they want in living colour – a big edge over a written review. Following the initial video, the company then charges subscription fees to the merchant for a place on this online eco-system – providing exposure and customer engagement for businesses while giving people access to slick video content that helps them to decide where to spend their cash. A win for everyone. Customers can then upload their own video reviews to this company’s website, adding to the community conversation and to the value of the service.

 

Oliver Hume Secures 1,000 Lots Across Four Victorian Projects

by Client News

PROPERTY services group Oliver Hume has cemented its position as Victoria’s leading property marketing group with the appointment to four different projects in the last eight weeks with a combined yield of nearly 1,000 lots. The new lots, which have an estimated value of about $300 million, adds to Oliver Hume’s existing portfolio of more than 40 communities in Victoria. The appointments include a high profile role with Places Victoria, the State Government’s property development agency, as part of the development of a site on the edge of the Point Cook Town Centre overlooking the Boardwalk Boulevard Wetlands. The new appointments secured in the last two months include:

  • Point Cook – Oliver Hume will work alongside Places Victoria on the sales and marketing of a new townhouse development.
  • Tarneit – A boutique development comprising approximately 400 lots, set to come to market in October this year.
  • Willandra, Melton – A 700-lot development that launched in 2012, Oliver Hume will take responsibility of the sales and project marketing for the remainder of the project.
  • Mornington – Consisting of 38 half-acre to acre lots, the Mornington development will set a new benchmark in the Peninsula corridor.

Oliver Hume’s existing clients include some of country’s most established developers including Villawood Properties, Amex Corp, ID LAND, Pask Group and ISPT Super Fund. Oliver Hume Director Paul Ciprian said the appointments reflected the company’s ability to provide developers with a competitive edge in the development, marketing and sale of new residential communities. “While some segments of the property market are displaying signs of stress, the outer suburban land and communities market is still experiencing strong demand from a diversified base of first and second home buyers and investors,” he said. “Our research shows the average time on market for project land in the three months to the end of April was just 2.5 months, down from 6.6 months in the last quarter of 2012,” he said. “This is indicative of the fact we are at the high point of the cycle with sales and production volumes at capacity while prices remain affordable, particularly when compared to Sydney.” Mr Ciprian said developers competing for market share would ensure prices remained affordable for buyers but not to the extent it would impact developers’ profit margins. “It is a good market where there is something for everyone,” he said. Oliver Hume Victorian Research Manager George Bougias said the success of the new communities would be underpinned by Melbourne’s continued population growth and interstate migration, including robust overseas and interstate migration. “Interest in new land estates remains very robust with value and affordability being key drivers – especially given price growth in Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs which has been especially strong in the current cycle,” he said.

Fraccing Alternative Set To Revolutionise Oil And Gas Industry

by Client News

A new, environmentally-safe jetting technology will be rolled out across the Australian oil and gas industry over coming months after the completion of a merger between technology group Coal Bed Methane Innovations (a spin-off company of CRCMining) and Texas-based Zero Radius Laterals (ZRL). The new Australian-based company, V2H International, will be the world’s leading water jet technology company and plans to expand internationally through partnerships and licensing agreements with major oil and gas producers. The patented technology owned by V2H International has been under development for a number of years and has application on both surface and underground operations, as well as in the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) industry. More than $40 million to date has been spent developing the technology and in Australia, successful field trials have been completed by BHP and Peabody Energy. The technology replaces traditional drill heads with a high-pressure water system that can rapidly install extensive patterns of lateral radial boreholes into multiple coal seams from a vertical production well. The speed and steering capabilities means more gas can be drained from each well and all laterals are steered ‘in-seam’ to maximise drainage efficiency. For producers the technology has the capacity to dramatically lower capital and operational expenditure, increase well recoverability and lower environmental impacts. After successful trials and operational crew training in the United States in recent weeks the first V2H system arrived in Sydney in June and will be deployed by the company’s local subsidiary V2H Australia (v2h.com.au) in the coming weeks. V2H International CEO Darren Rice said the completion of the merger and the success of the testing program in the United States would allow the company to begin rolling out the technology on a commercial basis. “The technology has applications across a variety oil and gas drilling operations, but we see a particular opportunity to compete against and possibly replace hydraulic fracturing (fraccing) in the CSG industry because of its low environmental impacts,” he said. V2H Australia is also currently negotiating with a number of Australian oil and gas producers in Australia to deploy V2H as a workover technology on existing wells that have already been drilled to recover considerably more of the oil/gas that is in place. As a ‘green’ technology, no fluid or chemical additives need to be added for drilling using the V2H system, and the system can drill with recycled CSG water. V2H reduces the total number of wells required, with enhanced production due to multiple coal seams being accessible from a single vertical well. Surface spacing of wells can be increased, with reduced surface infrastructure. V2H is also an enabler in some geological locations where there is currently no economic means of recovery. Kevin Greenwood, COO of CRCMining said CRCMining had a long history of successfully commercialising cutting edge research into the mining industry. “The establishment of the world’s leading water jet technology company has only been made possible through the support of BHP Billiton and CRCMining’s member companies,” he said. “We’d like to formally recognise those past funding contributions in driving the technology to where it is today.” Mr Rice said the technology had the potential to revolutionise oil and gas markets around the world. “It’s been a two year journey since I originally identified the value opportunity in merging the complementary technologies of the two companies. We are all very pleased with the outcome and look forward to developing the business going forward,” he said. He said V2H aimed to use it superior environmental and technical benefits to re-energise the Australian oil and gas sector. “Due to a range of factors there have been no wells drilled in the Australian oil and gas industry this year; this puts the future cost of energy under intense pressure,” he said. “Where environmental or commercial issues are the concern, we think we have found the solution.”

FIIG Securities’ Managed Portfolio Service For Bonds hits $100 million

by BlogClient News

mips_herobanner_flat

Australia’s first of its type managed portfolio service for bonds has now exceeded  $100 million in investments, with a range of individual, institutional and not-for-profits (NFPs) embracing the service for its high level of control, transparency and performance.

FIIG Securities launched the Managed Income Portfolio Service (MIPS) in mid 2015 as a way for investors to retain direct ownership of their bond portfolio and either receive fixed income or reinvest it while delegating the portfolio’s day-to-day management.

FIIG developed four different Investment Programs for MIPS, from which investors can select depending on their requirements for return and tolerance for risk, with the minimum investment starting at $250,000. Customised programs are available for larger investors ($5 million+). 

Performance has been a key driver of demand for MIPS with average performance, net of fees, for each of each program for the three months to end of May 2016, outlined below. 

 

Month ended May 31, 2016

Quarterly to May 31, 2016

Annualised (quarterly)

Conservative

Launched May 2016

Core Income

1.31%

.88%

3.54%

Income Plus

1.11%

1.48%

5.90%

Inflation Linked

0.88%

0.68%

2.72%

 

Since launching, more than over 50 investors with an average investment of around $1.75 million have utilised MIPS with total investments passing $100 million last week, with the most popular being the ‘Income Plus’ program.

FIIG Head of Institutional Markets John Cummins said the service provided clients with direct access to a well-diversified portfolio of direct bonds combined with professional management and oversight.

“Direct ownership of bonds has many advantages over buying them indirectly through a bond fund,” he said. “MIPS gives you all the benefits of beneficial ownership while delegating the day-to-day running of your portfolio to our fixed income experts.”

“Since launching we have experienced a steady inflow of investments with many investors increasing their programs once they fully understand the benefits,” he said. The success of the service over the last 12 months has gives us confidence there is a strong market for the MIPS and we will continue to grow well into the future.”

Under the MIPS offering investors simply set a mandate and FIIG’s portfolio management team manages the portfolio for them.

Investors through MIPS receive full professional investment management, retain beneficial ownership of their bonds, can choose to receive  or reinvest income,  and enjoy full transparency, with online access to details of their portfolio such as portfolio performance, valuations and transactions. (cont’d)        

FIIG Securities Limited, which is licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), is Australia’s largest specialist fixed-income dealer. FIIG now facilitates over $1 billion of corporate Bond transactions per month for individuals and corporate investors.

FIIG has more than $11 billion in term deposits and corporate bonds under advice in its short-term money market, bonds and custody business.  The company has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. For more information about FIIG Securities please visit www.fiig.com.au

ENDS: Media enquiries to Ben Ready on 0415 743 838.