On this edition of DeKalb Business Today, host Jason Becknell explores a unique investment opportunity: the cannabis industry. Derwin Wallace joins the show to discuss where medical marijuana laws stand here in Georgia and how the changing laws here and across the country could mean big bucks for cannabis investors.
Derwin Wallace/President & CEO of Investor Webcast
Investor relations, financial communications and finance professional at companies which include Canna Investor Relations, First Data, National Association of Investor Corps., ResCare, The Home Depot, Cox Communications, Isle of Capri Casinos and Chatfield Dean Investment Banking.
I am bringing my Fortune 500 Company investor relations experience to the CANNA industry.
Founder
Canna Investor Relations, Funding, Webcast & Conferencing
July 2014 – Present (1 year 6 months)Greater Atlanta Area
•Canna investor relations consulting (e.g. earnings, press releases, investor communications, investor roadshows
•Canna funding via hedge funds, private equity, foreign/domestic family offices, venture capital and public
•Increase canna publicly-traded companies’ liquidity, awareness, and exposure.
•Project management, sales, hosting, coordinating and marketing of the monthly Canna Investor Webcast &
•Connect canna publicly-traded companies with investors, analysts, and financial media.
Please visit:
CANNA INVESTOR WEBCAST (www.cannawebcast.com)
CANNA PUBLICLY-TRADED COMPANIES – INVESTOR CONFERENCE (www.cannainvestorconference.com)
Director of Canna Investor Conference – Independent Contractor
Benzinga
May 2014 – July 2014 (3 months)Greater Denver Area
My responsibilities included hosting, coordinating and sales for Canna Investor Conference in Denver, CO on June
29 – July 1, 2014, where we connected industry privately-held and publicly traded companies with industry investors.
Director of Investor Relations / Financial Communications
First Data Corporation
October 2012 – December 2013 (1 year 3 months)Greater Atlanta Area
•Support the Executive Committee and Head of Investor Relations in all aspects of the Investor Relations program.
•The preparation of official company disclosures (press release, presentations, transcripts, annual reports,etc).
•Track sell-side consensus and compare to internal forecasts, creating a plan of action if necessary to alter external
•Establish and maintain effective relations with sell-side analysts and investors.
•Acting as day to day contact and provide responses to questions and information requests from the financial community including investors and analysts.
•Act as internal consultant for the Company regarding financial markets, as well as industry and competitor
•Prepare Q&A for deals, events, company news, etc.
•Organization and/or management of logistics for earnings and other releases, investor day(s), investor meetings.
•Accompany executive management or other company executives on roadshows and broker conferences.
•Planning for company attendance/presentations/investor meetings at conferences.
•Prepare PowerPoint presentations and related material for investor and media meetings.
•Share internal responsibility for the regular update and maintenance of the Investor Relations website.
•Maintain databases of investors, analysts and media.
Director of Corporate Development & Investor Relations
BetterInvesting
February 2010 – October 2012 (2 years 9 months)Detroit, MI
•Responsible for corporate investor relations for one of the largest retail investor organizations in the U.S.
•Main point of contact for retail investors who collectively invest $75M monthly with a portfolio value of $70B.
•Create specialized programs that help corporations meet their retail investor targeting goals.
•Work closely with publicly traded companies CEO, CFO, V.P of IR, V.P. of Marketing and V.P. of Public Relations to expand retail investor targeting efforts.
•Coordinate investor conferences (physical and virtual).
•Identify opportunities for corporations to gain retail investor exposure via conferences, website, virtual presentations and webinars, magazine, direct mail and e-mail.
•Keep publicly traded companies apprised of new product and service offerings to reach the retail investor
•Assist corporations with event coordination to present investor presentation to large retail investor audience.
•Expand client base of publicly traded companies.
•Develop marketing collateral and presentation materials to attract publicly traded companies.
•Produce weekly closed and forecasted revenue reports and annual departmental budget reports.
•Create specific reports for corporation’s senior management team to gauge exposure impact.
Director of Investor Relations / Financial Communications
ResCare
June 2007 – January 2010 (2 years 8 months)Louisville, KY
•Develop, or support the development of various communication materials, such as quarterly earnings announcements and releases, conference call scripts, Q&A, investor presentations.
•Provide ongoing, direct interface with institutional and retail investors, and research analysts.
•Company, peer and industry performance, research and analysis.
•Keeping senior management and Board of Directors informed regarding capital / debt market issues and trends.
•Company presentations at investor conferences, road-shows, one-on-ones and analyst day.
•Annual Meeting coordination.
•Main point of contact for buy-side and industry sell-side.
•Institutional, retail investor targeting and shareholder identification.
•Oversee Investor Relations and Corporate Governance website content.
•Communicate regarding the company’s current events, strategic objectives and investment community perceptions; present appropriate guidance (within the confines of Regulation Fair Disclosure) to the investment community regarding the company’s operating results, business strategies and effects of special developments.
•Act as an internal consultant by bringing industry and competitor information and perspectives from the investment community to management.
•Direct and execute the collection, analysis, and presentation of feedback to the company of investors perceptions and opinion’s, analyst’s positions and summaries, relative stock price movements, and periodic ownership analysis.
•Identify the core messages, appropriate information content and optimal positioning to obtain an accurate valuation of the company in the market.
•Analyze quarterly results and compile relevant information for use at the quarterly conference call with analysts/investors and throughout the quarter during regular discussions with investors.
•Review and analyze external research reports and earnings models.
Director of Financial Planning & Analysis / Financial Controller
Isle of Capri Casino
October 2004 – September 2006 (2 years)Biloxi, MS
•Manage the planning and analysis function (e.g. gaming analysis, strategic planning, budgeting, marketing)
•Preparing, updating and improving financial models for monthly and quarterly P&L forecasting.
•Budget vs. Actual variance analysis.
•Financial statement review.
•Management reporting at each monthly and quarterly-end.
•Create quarterly forecasts, annual budget and 5 year strategic plan.
•Generate reports, graphs, and financial metrics.
•Calculation of DCF, NPV, IRR, ROI, ROA etc.
•Review and edit UK section of the 10Q, 10K / Annual Report.
•Create Board of Directors quarterly meeting presentation materials.
•Monitor debt and debt compliance at United Kingdom subsidiaries.
•Generate CAPEX reports and monitor actual to plan variances for new casino development projects.
•Development of measurable objectives or Key Performing Indicators (KPI’s).
•Perform sensitivity, regression, customer and profitability analysis.
Investor Relations/ Financial Communications – Senior Analyst
Cox Communications
April 2003 – October 2004 (1 year 7 months)Greater Atlanta Area
•Support the corporate goal of ensuring that market valuations for company debt and equity accurately reflect the value of its future earnings.
•Company, peer and industry performance, research and analysis.
•Point of contact for all prospective investor’s, proactively build relationships with investment community, including buy/sell side analysts and institutional/retail investors.
•Assist in the development of key messages and communication materials for earnings releases, earnings conference calls, annual reports, investor meetings/presentations, BOD meetings and industry events.
•Develop and coordinate company outreach to target list of institutional investors.
•Review analyst’s reports on company, peers and competitors and report findings to senior management.
•Monitor peers and competitor’s earnings conference calls and relay key messages to senior management.
•Monitor ratings and earnings estimates from sell-side analysts and stock market activity.
•Determine which institutions, were buying and selling company stock.
•Manage investor relations section of company web-site and planning of annual shareholder meeting and analyst
•Assist in ensuring compliance with disclosure requirements through adherence to Regulation FD, Sarbanes-Oxley, and SEC requirements (10-Qs, 10-Ks, proxies).
•Keeping senior management and Board of Directors informed regarding capital / debt market issues and trends.
•Company presentations at investor conferences, road-shows one-on-ones and analyst day.
Investor Relations / Financial Communications – Analyst
Home Depot
July 1995 – April 2003 (7 years 10 months)Greater Atlanta Area
•Evaluate and critique twenty-four Wall Street analyst’s financial models and relay key assumptions to senior
•Analyzing and summarizing research on an extensive list of customers, suppliers, and peers as well as the industry
•Maintaining industry competitor analysis to track the trading performance of industry peers, key suppliers and customers, and track analyst consensus estimates.
•Assisting in the quarterly earnings process which includes creating and/or editing scripts, earnings releases and
•Maintaining the online investor database and assist with investor targeting analyses.
•Assisting the team with participation in analyst conferences and investor meetings which involves preparing investor summaries, press releases, slide presentations, and coordinating the details for our participation with
•Managing investor relations website and respond to email requests.
•Assisting in the coordination of our major annual investor and analyst event.
•Development of quarterly presentations for Board of Directors meetings.
•Development of investor kit and investor fact sheet materials for investors and analyst.
Equity Capital Markets Analyst
Chatfield Dean Investment Banking
January 1992 – July 1995 (3 years 7 months)Greater Atlanta Area
•Assist in structuring, marketing and distribution of all public equity offerings (initial public offerings, secondary transactions and convertible equity offerings).
•Compiling industry and company information and conducting detailed financial and public offering data analysis.
•Development of presentations for road-shows to Corporate Investment Banking clients.
•Summarization of broader market conditions and compilation of institutional investor feedback and historical transaction pricing metrics.
•Assist in the use and building of financial models (depicting a company’s historical and future results).
•Analyze companies’ financial performance (ratio analysis) and operational performance.
•Assist with financial valuation (M&A valuation, comps, LBO, DCF, projections).
•Assisting with preparation of marketing materials (pitch book, prospectus, brochures, newsletters, fact sheets, etc.
•Organize and prepare presentations and participate in deal pitches (which explain industry trends, discuss client options, and recommend strategies to meet client goals).
