All posts by LosAdmin

Fashion in LA

Fashion, , , ,

Historically, fashion has not been immediately associated with Los Angeles as a world capital.  Milan, New York and London and more likely synonymous with fashion than LA. But that just might be changing as Tom Ford among others move their design-plants over.

While Ford still has a studio for men’s clothing in London, the women’s fashion has moved to LA.  These days a lot of creative individuals are coming from New York and making fashion headlines in LA. Some examples include:  Tamara Mellon (shoe designer) Eddie Borgo (jewelry designer) Nicholas Kirkwood who is spending more time there as well as Chloé designer Natacha Ramsay-Levi.

According to Accessories Designer Clare Vivier of Clare V:

“Cities have ebbs and flows. And now L.A. is having a really beautiful burgeoning moment. The Annie Hall period was a really cool time to be in L.A. And today, Los Angeles fashion hearkens back to that seventies glamour. There’s a simplicity, an earthiness and an appreciation of natural materials.” Her husband Thierry Vivier added: “I think what’s interesting about L.A. is that artists are always the first people to go into uncharted territory and it’s usually about space. L.A. has space and light – two things the design world wants.”

Other designers who have moved to the region site “more room for individuality” and the capacity to “design in [their] own little bubble” as reasons that LA is up-and-coming in the design industry.

 

Pouya David Yadegar: A Long-Term Approach to Investing

Economy, , , , ,

Prime Opportunities Investment Group Founder and CIO Pouya David Yadegar transitioned from a successful real estate career to running one of the top performing hedge funds globally. We discussed the change with him in an interview last week and gained some insight into his journey:

What’s your investment background?

Prior to founding Prime Opportunities, I managed our family office wealth in Los Angeles, with a focus on the purchase and development of multifamily and retail real estate assets in high-end areas of Los Angeles County such as Beverly Hills and Brentwood. Our family office invests long-term with a very conservative mindset: I don’t think we’ve sold a property in 40 years, and thankfully this strategy has served us extremely well over the years.

Why did you start Prime Opportunities Investment Group?

 

I love real estate, but I also love studying publicly traded companies. Since I was very young, I’ve been tremendously passionate about it. My first exposure to the field was when I began reading Warren Buffett’s annual letters when I was 12 or 13 years old – I couldn’t put them down, and proceeded to read everything I could on the subject.

Also, although we experienced great success in real estate investing, I was consistently finding stocks that I believed were worth 3 to 5 times more than what they were trading for. What some people perhaps view as a drawback of the public markets – volatility – I saw as an opportunity for profitable long-term growth, when done right.

What were some of your best investments to date?

We invested in Amazon about 8 years ago, in Chipotle around the time of its inception (exiting the position several years ago, and re-entering recently), and in Tesla 5 years ago – all of which have increased around 10x since we bought them. Thankfully, many of our stocks have done exceedingly well as we’ve also been in FedEx, T-Mobile, Activision, Virgin America (before they were acquired) and many of the best performing companies – but those three stand out as the top performers.

A common thread, and one of the main themes in our strategy is the need for businesses to be “China Proof” – a term we coined several years ago. Our view is that China has many competitive advantages: a population of almost 1.4 billion people that work for 10 cents on the dollar – relative to the United States and other industrial nations – as well as the fact that they are hard-working, very smart, and have the support of their government behind them… and now the consumer has moved into their backyard. We find companies that are either immune to these competitive forces, or can actually capitalize on them by selling into the Chinese market on a sustainable basis. To have the performance we’ve been able to put up, you have to find investments that have huge competitive advantages, and can grow substantially in the future.

What is the single most important thing you look for in a company?

The biggest thing to look at is how big the company can grow. If you extrapolate out the business potential, and you align that with unbelievably good management, the numbers scream off the page. The ability to conceptualize business factors, combined with the mindset to see exactly how large a market, or an opportunity, can grow, is the backbone of amazing returns.

Our thesis was different for each company, but they all shared the fact that we believed the market was vastly underestimating their value. We believe successful investing takes hard work. For every company we look at – Amazon, Chipotle, and Tesla included – we spend countless hours reading and analyzing their operations and future prospects, before making an investment.

Your long-only fund has returned an average of 30.5% per year, over the last 9+ years, before fees. The S&P 500 has returned 15.5% per year during the same time period. You’ve outperformed the market by a very large margin, and you’ve done this with no leverage or options – simply pure stock-picking. To what do you attribute your outperformance?

Ultimately, I believe the most important thing is your ability to accurately assess the long-term prospects of companies. In order to figure that out, we have a simple (but difficult) process: We read. A lot.

Among the numerous factors we analyze when evaluating a company, we assess the strength and durability of its competitive advantages, the talent and ability of management, the growth potential, and the return-on-capital profile of the business. In the end, your performance is tied to your ability to accurately assess the variables that matter.

Do you see this type of performance continuing? What is your current outlook?

Every day, we work diligently to study companies as thoroughly as we can, seeking new opportunities – and re-assessing our current positions. I am pleased to see that – as we continue to research companies – we are finding opportunities that are just as undervalued as when we first started. Over the short term, the market is predictably unpredictable. Our approach is to take a long-term view of the businesses we invest in – and through that lens, I am optimistic as to the potential our investments hold.

LA Wage Increases

Employment, ,

Employees in LA in certain industries are looking at wage increases.  One example is starting lawyers at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy in Century City who will see an extra $10,000 per annum in their pay packets from next month.  This kind of increase is always welcome but especially now for the firm’s associates who have not encountered any increase in the last two years. For those who have worked at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy for more than four years, the increase will be $15,000. This  move – globally increasing salaries this way – is unprecedented for a major law firm.

This trend needs to be more widespread though, especially when looking at a large majority of huge corporations that are not respectfully paying their employees a “living wage.”  Recently Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke out against this at a rally attended by many Disneyland Resort workers.  He said:

“The struggle that you are waging here in Anaheim is not just for you. It is a struggle for millions of workers all across this country who are sick and tired of working longer hours for lower wages.”

At least Target Corporation seems to be getting on board with its second increase in less than 6 months in its minimum wage to $12

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Infrastructure, , ,

With the move over to increased use of electric vehicles in California, infrastructure needs escalate. As such, close to $768 million is being invested into the region’s infrastructure by the California Public Utilities Commission over the next five years.  The other focus of the financing will be put toward fighting against traffic and air pollution as well as reaching the goal of 5 million zero-emission cars by 2030.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. is joining this venture providing $136 million of the money that will be used to offer rebates to approximately 60,000 customers to install home charging stations.  230 direct current fast-charging stations will be built by Pacific Gas & Electric for approximately $22.5 million. PG&E and Southern California Edison are also making substantial contributions.

Californian Employment Stats: A Snapshot

News,

While unemployment figures in California might not lookterrible, on closer investigation the stats are not showing the whole picture. For example, there is something known as “stranded workers” – those individuals who are not able to advance in their position – and in LA, over three quarters of a million of those are 34 years old or under

Discussions have taken place through Future of Work MeetUp forums over the last few months to come up with ways on how to address this.  As well, a couple of years ago the One Million Worker Challenge was launched by the California Economic Summit in an effort to “increase the pool of middle skills workers by that number over the next decade.”

Recently, industry leaders in tech, international trade, logistics, SMEs and healthcare attended an LA MeetUp to figure out what “future ready skills” are most likely to be beneficial.  According to the California Community Colleges Executive Vice Chancellor, Van Ton Quinlivan:

“There’s a need for future ready skills… [but] the quality of a fully-supported online education is improving [which need to] offer a high-support student experience that makes sure stranded workers—about half of whom are Spanish-language dominant—can enroll and participate in a way that can make them successful.”

This could be in line with Governor Brown’s proposal to establish a statewide online community college, resulting in increased opportunities for these “stranded workers,” who often are unable to access further education through traditional methods.

In more nationwide news, it should be noted that today’s internet sector contributes around 6 percent of GDP – $1 trillion – to the national economy along with three million jobs and 231,000 businesses. Digital jobs seem to be thriving everywhere.

These digital economy jobs and businesses are thriving in almost every city — and in metro areas across the country.he truth is undeniable: cities are shaping the next chapter in America’s history, and the digital economy is a driving force. While venture capital in the tech industry has historically concentrated in a handful of U.S. cities, metro areas nationwide are benefiting from the internet sector.

 

Verizon 5G

Technology,

Verizon has announced that LA is the second US city it is choosing for its 5G services.  According to Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon, the company purchased:

“36 million miles of fiber [providing for the capacity of] big pipes [to] feed the cells. [They] will have hundreds of megahertz of bandwidth to deliver the whole suite of services of 5G [and] 1,000 cell sites up and operating on th    e global standard.”

As such, LA will be subject to fixed wireless 5G which means that consumers will get broadband service via wireless equipment on a tower/cell site, using customer premise equipment. millimeter wave spectrum bands will be used.  Through its research, the company has found that transmissions in higher brands are able to pass through foliage.  In addition, transmitters and receivers will be placed 2,000 feet apart.

California Cannabis Awards

Awards, , ,

In recognition of the incredible growth of the industry, WebJoint hosted LA’s first ever annual California Cannabis Awards at Novo Theater five days ago.  awards were given within the following categories:

  1. Best Accountant/CPA,
  2. Best Cannabis Influencer
  3. Best Cannabis Brand
  4. Best Cultivator
  5. Best Dispensary
  6. Best Delivery Service
  7. Best Distributor
  8. Most Innovative Product
  9. Most Innovative Tech Company, and
  10. Best Lawyer

The event was hosted by Paragon’s founder Sam Zartoshty, cannabis influencer Alice Moon and WebJoint CEO and founder, Christopher Dell’Olio.  In the words of Dell’Olio:

“Our industry is maturing and growing so quickly, so we wanted to take a minute to pause and recognize the trailblazers and influencers. We’re pulling together a mix of people, from influential speakers such as Sam and Alice, to cultural leaders like Berner, with the goal of cementing cannabis’ status as an industry that’s here to stay. We’re poised to push that expansion forward by presenting the industry’s only cannabis-focused platform that helps dispensaries and delivery services manage their entire operations.”

 

LA 2018: Economy: Real Estate

Economy,

Agility seems to be the word on the street when it comes to LA’s economic outlook this year. According to Spencer Levy, Americas Head of Research for CBRE and a senior member of the company’s global research team, “Agility is more important than ever for investors and occupiers.” Here, he discusses the corporation’s recently-released US Real Estate Market Outlook.

Cinco de Mayo and Los Angeleans

Entertainment, , ,

It might be Cinco de Mayo but all that means is May 5th…literally.  For Los Angeleans however it’s a day that is marked with a lot of respect, perhaps more so than in any other region throughout the US.

LA has an abundance of Mexican-American communities.  On May 5 you will find Fiesta Broadway abuzz with festivities as it turns into a street fair featuring vendor booths, music, games and more.  indeed from 4th Street to Broadway (including Grand Park) from 11am to 6pm free festivities are open to the public.

Step up the beat at night and enjoy some great weekend activities as you bounce into the weekend thanks to the celebratory markings at the Plaza Kiosko.  There you will be subject to lots of classic pastimes including piñatas, Folklorico dancers, alongside kids activities at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument in Downtown LA.

A lot of the Cinco de Mayo LA festivities turn have become a weekend bash beginning on the day itself and continuing right through until Sunday.  So check press for further details and get your sombrero ready!