Products October 29, 2003

Winklevoss Unveils Pension 'What-If' Scenario Generator

October 29, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Winklevoss Technologies has released a desktop tool kit for plan sponsors, investment advisors and consultants to answer "what-if" questions surrounding pension plan disclosure and budgeting.
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ProVal PS, a companion product to ProVal, allows plan sponsors to answer questions surrounding financial sensitivities and asset allocation in addition to disclosure and budgeting, according to a news release.    Among the projections and variables that can be accounted for:

  • What should be budgeted for next year’s expense?
  • What should be budgeted for next year’s contribution?
  • Will this year’s disclosure include a reduction to equity?
  • What will be the plan’s future contributions and expense?
  • What if investment returns are poor?
  • What if inflation is higher?
  • What if interest rates change?
  • What contributions and expense are expected under the plan’s current asset mix?
  • What is the potential downside?
  • Are there alternative asset mixes that will better meet the plan’s goals?

Visit  www.provalps.com  to download a demonstration version of the software or see a Flash demo of the software.   Further information is available at the company’s Web site,  www.winklevoss.com or by contacting Joe Gilbert at (203) 861-5514.

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Investing October 28, 2003

Venture Capitalists Invest $4.2 billion in Third Quarter

October 28, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com)—During the third quarter venture capitalists invested $4.2 billion in 148 companies, a decline of 8% from the second quarter, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Survey.
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This was the fifth consecutive quarter, beginning with the third quarter of 2002, to see venture capitalist investments around $4 billion.

Biotechnology displaced Software as the sector attracting the most money from venture capitalists, receiving $873 million, an increase of 31% from the previous quarter and 88% from a year ago.   Life Sciences, a larger sector, including Biotechnology and Medical Devices & Equipment, drew $1.24 billion, or 30% of dollars invested, the PwC/TVE/NVCA MoneyTree Survey reported.

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Other sectors attracting investment included:

  • Software ($819 million)
  • Telecommunications ($492 million)
  • Medical Devices ($376 million)
  • Networking ($331 million)

First-time investment remained steady to that of previous quarters, with 22% of all companies receiving $766 million.  

Of the first-time investment dollars:

  • 28 Software companies received $138 million
  • 16 Biotechnology companies received $72 million
  • 15 Medical Devices companies received $54 million.
  • Seven Telecommunications companies and six Networking companies received first-time investment.

More than half of the investments made by venture capitalists went to expansion stage companies, later stage companies received 22% of all money invested and 20% of investments went to early stage companies according to the PwC/TVE/NVCA MoneyTree Survey.

Alison Cooke

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