In November, Amber Landis, who recently was named vice president of public policy at the Association for Corporate Growth, will relocate to Washington, D.C., to open ACG’s new office on Capitol Hill. Her move reflects the trade association’s growing commitment to promoting the middle-market business sector and the private equity industry that fuels its growth.
“My goal is to ensure that ACG’s middle-market voice is heard by legislators, lawmakers and regulators in Washington,” Landis explains. “Many people on Capitol Hill and outside the beltway do not understand the important role private equity plays in the U.S. economy by investing in, operating and growing middle-market companies, and how this contributes to business growth and job creation. To raise awareness of the work being done by ACG and its members who are active in private equity, I will devote considerable time in the nation’s capital to lobbying legislators directly, engaging regulators and educating decision makers.”
At this year’s Michigan Global Private Equity Conference, Landis will participate in an Oct. 9 public policy panel discussion focused on registration and regulatory compliance issues stemming from the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and more stringent Securities and Exchange Commission oversight, which have strongly impacted the PE industry during the past five years. “These changes have been challenging for the PE industry,” Landis says. “This new landscape has shifted private equity’s day-to-day attention to compliance issues versus helping middle-market portfolio companies grow.” Other proposals on Capitol Hill to reduce the favorable tax treatment of carried interest and to limit interest deductibility on corporate debt also will stimulate a lively debate among the public policy panelists.
ACG has recognized the need to inform and mobilize its members, who include middle-market PE professionals, investment bankers who help to fund PE deals and attorneys and advisors who facilitate PE transactions and other activities, according to Landis. “Our new PE regulatory task force will develop industry best practices related to co-investment, valuation and other matters and provide a platform where PE fund CFOs can connect and communicate with each other,” she says. “The task force also will outline key principles that we will share with legislators and regulators to increase their understanding of private equity and its positive impact.”
Register for the Private Equity Conference here: http://www.zli.bus.umich.edu/mpec/registration/index.html
Check out these other private equity events taking place on Thurs. Oct. 8: Ross Fireside Chat: PE consulting career panel and student meet & greet at the Ross School of Business (https://www.facebook.com/umfiresidechats/); and the Women Who Fund Forum, designed to connect women-owned business leaders with women in the venture capital and private equity industries (http://www.bus.umich.edu/conferences/Women-Who-Fund/ViewConference.aspx