MicroCap Review Q1 2022

Q1 - 2022 www.SNN.
Network
Microcap Review
T h e O f f i c i a l M a g a z i n e o f t h e M i c r oC a p S to c k M a r k e t S i n c e 2 0 0 6
8 F e a tu r e :
Introducing...
the MicroCap
Review Index
1 2 | Finding MicroCap Compounders: A Fool’s Errand

or a Labor of Love b y E u g e n e Ro b i n , CF A , Co v e St ree t C a p i ta l
88
4 2 | Crypto in 2022: The Year of DeFi and Regulation
b y Ca i t l i n Co o k, O n ra mp I n v es t
F E AT U R E 3 6 | Oil & Gas Outlook for 2022: Understanding Energy’s

Central Role in the Economy b y Jo s h Y o u n g , B i s o n I n t eres t s
Investors
1 5 Microbix Biosystems Inc. 3 4 East Side Games Group
Outlook for 2022 (TSX: MBX) (OTCQX: MBXBF) (TSX: EAGR) (OTC: EAGRF)
and Positioning 2 2 Network Media Group Inc. 4 1 VSBLTY Groupe

Yourself for (TSX-V: NTE) (OTC: NETWF) Technologies
(OTCQB: VSBGF) (CSE: VSBY)
3 0 UGE International Ltd.
Success (TSX-V: UGE) (OTCQB: UGEIF)
featuring Paul Andreola,
Kyle Cerminara and Kelvin Seetoh 46-57 MCRI Q1 2022 Constituent List
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Microcap Review
In Loving Memory of Our Precious
E d i tor i al
Daughter, and Sister, Sammi Kane Kraft
T
Published Since 2006 his issue marks a new beginning and the end of an era for
www.SNN.Network SNN’s MicroCap Review Magazine. I am so proud of this
Follow us: @StockNewsNow
magazine, published since 2006. It really has been my joy
SNN Inc. to contribute this way to the microcap market. From this issue
4055 Redwood Ave.
Suite 133 forward, we will be entirely digital, interactive and found on our
Los Angeles, CA 90066
www.SNN.network
new website SNN.Network and MicroCapReview.com. The magazine will no
PUBLISHER
longer be printed.
Robert K. Kraft, MBA
SNN Chief Executive Officer,
Executive Editor & Director Our most exciting news for 2022, is that SNN Inc., has created and launched
rkraft@snnwire.com
the MicroCap Review Index “MCRI” which will highlight US and Canadian
Shelly Kraft issuers included in the Index. The MCRI is as pure an index for microcap
SNN Founder, Publisher Emeritus
skraft@snnwire.com stocks as can be. We believe the MCRI will provide a much more accurate,
Lynda Lou “Lulu” Kraft in-depth, benchmark of the microcap stock universe, with equal weighting
SNN President & Director
lkkraft@snnwire.com
given across the board, regardless of company size. The MCRI will be rebal-
anced quarterly and published quarterly in the MicroCap Review magazine.
ASIAN PACIFIC CORRESPONDENT
Leslie Richardson
SNN Compliance and Along with the highlighted Index companies, will be our regular contributors
due diligence administration
Jack Leslie
and headline stories in our ecosystem. As I hand publishing reins over to my
son, Robert, who has led the charge to digital, I am quite proud of where we
chairman of snn advisory board
Dr. Leonard Makowka began our journey and now our future contributing to this space. He is in the
ADVERTISING and Sales
vanguard of the next generation of thought leaders as are his cohorts he has
info@snnwire.com met over these last years. I am confident in the continuation and excellence
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info@unitronmedia.com baton to the new technological generation with pride and gratitude.
SNN CONFERENCES
info@snnwire.com —Shelly Kraft, Founder of SNN Incorporated
©Copyright 2022 by MicroCap Review Magazine Inc. All Rights Re-
served. Reproduction without permission of the Publisher is prohib-
ited. The publishers and editors are not responsible for unsolicited
materials. Every effort has been made to assure that all Information
presented in this issue is accurate and neither MicroCap Review
Magazine or any of its staff or authors is responsible for omissions
or information that is inaccurate or misrepresented to the magazine.
As SNN enters a new era of it’s existence, the company’s DNA
MicroCap Review Magazine is owned and operated by SNN Inc.
will remain. For one, Shelly and Lulu aren’t retiring just yet,
This publication and its contents are not to be construed, under any
circumstances, as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or effect
transactions in any securities. No investment advice is provided
but in all seriousness, the grit, grind, commitment to integrity,
or should be construed to be provided herein. MicroCap Review
Magazine and its owners, employees and affiliates are not, nor do
any of them claim to be, registered broker-dealers or registered
compliance, quality, and delivering the highest quality content,
investment advisors. This publication may contain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation products and services will remain. I am truly thankful that I had
Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements
other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking state-
the opportunity not only to join SNN, I am grateful to have and continue to
ments” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including,
but not limited to, any projections of earnings, revenue or other fi- learn from my parents.
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of management for future operations; any statements concerning
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future economic conditions or performance; any statements of belief;
and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.
Such forward-looking statements of or concerning the companies
We are a unique family business – our Founder, Shelly Kraft, with over 30
mentioned herein are subject to numerous uncertainties and risk
factors, including uncertainties and risk factors that may not be set years experience on Wall Street, better known as “The Legend” from those
forth herein, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those stated herein. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. This publication
who did business with him “in the day”, and our President, Lulu Kraft, with
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements
that may be contained herein. MicroCap Review Magazine, its own- more than 25 years experience in the entertainment business producing
ers, employees, affiliates and their families may have investments
in companies featured in this publication, may purchase securities
of companies featured in this publication and may sell securities of
live television shows – from her early days at the original Financial News
companies featured in this publication, at any time and from time to
time. However, it is the general policy of this publication that such
persons will refrain from engaging in any pre-publication transactions
Network to the CableACE nominated talk show “Live From Queens.” I
in securities of companies featured in this publication until two trad-
ing days following the publication date. This publication may contain say this objectively, not just because they are my parents and I love them
company advertisements/advertorials indicated as such. Information
about a company contained in an advertisement/advertorial has
been furnished by the company, the publisher has not made any
dearly, are there two better people to learn about how to produce and run
independent investigation of the accuracy of any such information
and no warranty of the accuracy of any such information is provided a Financial Media company? The Small, Micro, Nano-cap world owes Shelly
by this publication, its owners, employees and affiliates. Pursuant to
Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in situations
where the publisher has received consideration for the advertise-
and Lulu a huge debt of gratitude for having shaped a lot of what we see
ment/advertorial of a company or security, the amount and nature
of such consideration will be disclosed in print. Readers should al-
ways conduct their own due diligence before making any investment
today, and I’m humbled to continue that legacy with SNN Network.
decision regarding the companies and securities mentioned in this
publication. Investment in securities generally, and many of the com-
panies and securities mentioned in this publication from time to time,
are speculative and carry a high degree of risk. The disclaimers set
forth at http://www.microcapreview.com/disclaimer/ - disclaimer are
—Robert Kraft, CEO of SNN Incorporated
incorporated herein by this reference.
MicroCap Review Magazine 5

CONTENTS
Fe atu r e s
8 Introducing…The MicroCap Review Index (MCRI™) by Robert Kraft, MBA, SNN Network
88 Investors Outlook for 2022 and Positioning Yourself for Success

featuring Paul Andreola, Kyle Cerminara and Kelvin Seetoh
Ins igh t s
12 Finding MicroCap Compounders: A Fool’s 76 Fund Manager Highlight: Joe Boskovich, Jr.,
Errand or a Labor of Love Co-Founder and Partner at Old West
by Eugene Robin, CFA, Cove Street Capital Investment Management, LLC
16 Outlook for SPACs by Louis Camhi, RLH Capital 80 Tackling the Five Frustrations of a
18
Business Owner by Jackie Kibler
Southeast Asia’s Digital Goldrush
by Drew Bernstein, CPA, MarcumBP 82 I’m a New Public Company, Now What?

24 Resource Markets Since Pandemic
by Shelly Kraft and Michael Porter
Outbreak by Gavin Wendt, MineLife 84 How to Raise Capital for Funds, From a VC
32 Accounting Corner: ESG is Coming Down
by Diane Woo
the Regulatory Pipeline

90 Why Buy Australian Dual-Trading
by Corey Fischer, CPA, Weinberg & Co. MicroCaps? by Richard Revelins
36 Oil & Gas Outlook for 2022 92 Amended SEC Rule 15C2-11: Creating a
by Josh Young, Bison Interests More Transparent, Global OTC Markets

38 Legal Corner: Vast Changes Coming to the
by Jason Paltrowitz, OTC Markets
Fundamental Structure of MicroCap

Financing by Jon Uretsky, Esq., PULLP Profiled Companies

42 Crypto in 2022: The Year of DeFi and 15 Microbix Biosystems Inc.
Regulation by Caitlin Cook, Onramp Invest (TSX: MBX) / (OTCQX: MBXBF)
58 MicroCap ETFs by Michael Krause, AltaVista Research 22 Network Media Group

62
Financing Small Biotech Companies in (TSX-V: NTE) / (OTC: NETWF)
2022 by John Bonfiglio, PhD 30 UGE International Ltd.

66 India’s MicroCap Ecosystem by Maneesh Nath (TSX-V: UGE) / (OTCQB: UGEIF)
72
Asia Corner: Hong Kong Stock Market 34 East Side Games Group
Slumps Amid Regulatory and Market (TSX: EAGR) / (OTC: EAGRF)
Pressures by Leslie Richardson
41 VSBLTY Groupe Technologies
74 Technology Trends to Watch in 2022: (OTCQB: VSBGF) / (CSE: VSBY)
Gen-Z Disruption, Consumer Data Privacy,
ESG and Renewables 46-57 MCRI Q1 2022 Constituent List
by Sean Peasgood, Sophic Capital
6 MicroCap Review Magazine www.SNN.Network

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www.SNN.Network MicroCap Review Magazine 7
Fe atu re
// By Robert Kraft, MBA
Introducing….the
MicroCap Review
Index (MCRI™)
The MCRI™ is as pure an index for microcap stocks as can be.
We believe the MCRI™ provides a much more accurate, in-depth,
benchmark of the microcap stock universe, with equal weighting
given across the board, regardless of size.
M
ost of the other microcap indices are market
cap weighted, giving preference to larger
companies with higher trading volumes, and
are reconstituted bi-annually or annually, versus
quarterly.
Source: MicroCap Review Index, as of January 3, 2022

“While you may expect most,
if not all, the Top 30 for each
sector will have positive share
price appreciation for the
quarter, that’s not always the
case.”
quarter was North Peak Resources (NPR:CA) - the

stock appreciated 621.52% during Q4 2021 following
the company’s announcements on the acquisition
of the Black Horse Gold Property in Nevada. 9 of
the Top 20 overall performing stocks for the quarter
Source: MicroCap Review Index, as of January 3, 2022
were Basic Materials, likely due in part to inflation
fears and gold being a traditional store of value and
Criteria anti-inflation asset.
•• U.S. (NYSE/AMEX, NASDAQ, OTCM) or Canada From Q1 2022, we were able to derive quite a bit
(TSX, TSX Venture, CSE, NEO) of information. MCRI™ constituents had a total
•• Primary Listing only (meaning, primary symbol aggregate market capitalization totaling: $38.9B;
of dual-listed companies an average market capitalization totaling: $121.2M;
•• On the final day of the quarter, all public com- a median market capitalization totaling: $100.9M.
panies: Additionally, the image below showcases the break-
•• Between $10 million and $300 million in Market down of constituents by exchange listing.
Capitalization
•• Share price equal to or greater than $0.10 The exchange distribution is an interesting statistic
•• Filed a 10Q or 10K in the preceding quarter that I’ll be following closely because one of our
criteria is searching for “Primary Listing Only”.
From there, the index comprises the Top 30 compa- Many of the 321 MCRI™ constituents are listed on a
nies from each sector based on 90-day share price secondary exchange, OTC Markets in particular. We
appreciation. At most, MCRI™ will consist of 330 wanted to use a company’s primary listing for MCRI™
constituents, from 11 sectors, all equally weighted. to prevent: multiple stock tickers representing the
same company and secondary listings (OTC Markets
Q1 2022 Breakdown in particular) only require regulatory disclosure on
the primary listing.
While you may expect most, if not all, the Top 30 for
each sector will have positive share price apprecia- Why MCRI™
tion for the quarter, that’s not always the case. This
last quarter, here’s a chart that breaks down the When we went back into the lab to re-imagine what
average price performance (%) by sector: we wanted to do with our magazine, including going
digital only, no longer printing the MicroCap Review,
Basic Materials sector far outperformed the second in conjunction with the launch of our new website,
highest sector, Healthcare, at an average company SNN.Network, the number one problem I wanted to
performance of 151% and 68% respectively. The only solve was: how do we make the discovery process
sector that had negative average performance was easier for any user interested in wanting to dig
Utilities at -8%. The top performing company for the deeper into the MicroCap universe? The MicroCap

Goal for MCRI™
The goal of MCRI™ is two-
fold: First, to curate the user The goal of MCRI™ is two-fold: First, to curate the
user experience by helping them get their start in
experience by helping them the discovery process in a universe of stocks that
can be extremely overwhelming. Second, to have a
get their start in the discovery benchmark that MicroCap individual investors and
process in a universe of fund managers can use to track their own perfor-
mance against. We believe our simple to understand,
stocks that can be extremely clear criteria for the MicroCap Review Index™ com-
bined with our expertise in producing entertaining
overwhelming. Second, to have and informative content revolving around MCRI™,
a benchmark that MicroCap will provide value for new and experienced investors
looking to hone their MicroCap investing skill set.
individual investors and fund Robert Kraft is the CEO of SNN Incorporated, publishers of the SNN
managers can use to track their Podcast Network, SNN.Network, MicroCap Review Magazine, Hosts of
the Planet MicroCap Showcase investor conference and SNN Network
family of virtual investor events. Since joining SNN in 2011, Robert has
own performance against. transformed the company into a fully-integrated digital media enterprise
providing the best in-class news, information, resources, analysis and data
covering the Small, Micro and Nano-cap markets. He is the host of the #1
podcast in the MicroCap space, the Planet MicroCap Podcast, which has
garnered more than 520,000+ downloads, which he’s parlayed into guest
appearances on legacy media networks including appearances in 2021
on “Making Money with Charles Payne” on Fox Business. Robert received a
B.A. in Communications from the University of California, San Diego and his
Review Index™ I believe answers that question in M.B.A. from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School with an emphasis in
Finance. He is most proud of being the father to his daughter and son, and
the following ways:
husband to his amazing wife.
•• The MicroCap universe, just in North America For more information about SNN Network and the MicroCap Review Index,
please visit: www.SNN.Network
alone, consists of more than 10,000+ publicly
traded companies
•• MCRI™ includes the top 30 performers across
every sector; any user now has (at most) 330
companies to explore and understand why and
how they performed the way they did, as well
as Sector breakdowns to understand why that
sector as a whole performed the way it did
•• MCRI™ can be that first easy-to-understand
screen of companies
SNN Network will provide news, resources and

information covering the entire global MicroCap
universe, however, a curated index helps us as news
providers and content creators to better understand
what’s happening in this universe on a day-to-day,
week-to-week, quarter-to-quarter, year-to-year
basis.
Furthermore, we feel that MCRI™ can ultimately

become a great benchmark for MicroCap investors
and fund managers to measure their performance
against. Now you can ask yourself, did my portfolio
perform better than the top 30 performing compa-
nies across 11 sectors in any given quarter?
MicroCap Review Index Disclaimer: As of rebalance date 01/03/2022, please see SNN’s full terms of service here: https://snn.network/terms-of-use

insi g hts
// By Eugene Robin, CFA
Finding MicroCap
Compounders
A Fool’s Errand or a Labor Of Love?
We have run across many different investors, potential and current,

who often remark that looking for “quality” companies in the micro/
nano cap space is a fool’s errand.
T
he issues facing us are massive: 1) little to any initial question of existence and point us to the right
Free Cash Flow to reinvest 2) no staying power questions to ask management --- we want to, in the
due to the subscale nature of operations 3) end, own businesses and not stocks. If you treat
grade C if not worse management teams that are your investment as a business and not a stock, you
interspersed in a sea of general charlatans and will think about the very same things.
do-nothings 4) illiquidity 5) a lack of overall capital
market sophistication on Boards and 6) “fill in the Value is self-explanatory but we put forth another
blank generic problem of being tiny here”. subset of what value really represents (beyond
straight valuation): catalysts of change. A tradition-
We do not argue any of these points, but instead, alist sense of value (cheapness) in our view has to
we embrace them as our guide to the possibilities be balanced by some outside force (change agent)
that lie within. As is the case when generalities and that can close a valuation gap in micro land. This
stereotypes are applied en masse, the nuances is of paramount importance since micro purgatory
and the differentiation points are painted over by is a real place, filled with real companies tied up
the prevailing wisdom. The ability to find a “quality” in a real malaise. These change agents are also
company or one that will, with proper oversight and important to avoid hitting the ever-looming plateau
care, grow to become something that can graduate of value accretion in micro land. Without change
into the general small cap universe is a difficult agents, many micro caps wind up twisting in the
task but Cove Street follows three basic principles/ proverbial wind, without a direction or any ability
variables that are applied to everything we do and to compound higher. Often times these are the real
especially in micro cap: BVP (Business – Value - pivot points of a micro investment: can this com-
People). pound higher or have we met the “right size” and
it should be sold (if management does not want to
The Businesses we look for are ones that “have a sell themselves). There are many instances where
reason to exist” even if they are subscale. These are “quality” companies have been stuck on a value
the first building blocks of any successful investment plateau due to various factors and only after a
and certainly of a compounder. If the business change agent enters the picture (almost exclusively
vanishes, would anyone care? Does it earn its cost new management) does the compounding engine
of capital? Are gross margins greater than 40% if restart.
it’s an industrial business? What is the historic track
record of ROIC? Trends in operating metrics? Proper This extrapolation of value dovetails nicely into
back office corporate support functions (read: ERP)? the final variable: management. The farther down
These are all generalities that strive to answer the the market cap spectrum one ventures, the more

important this variable becomes. In larger, scaled Mixed together, these are the three starting building
companies, using Peter Lynch’s maxim that we blocks for our all investments we make in microcap.
should “find a business even an idiot could run, The nuances and shades of grey abound, but this
because sooner or later an idiot probably will”, is the general template for how we operate. It is a
management is important at “quality” businesses but labor of love, no doubt, to sift through the filings of
not as much as the business itself. In micro land, this thousands of micro companies that are public for
is the exact opposite. Compounding quality business, various reasons. Nevertheless, the rewards can be
with a reason to exist, will be driven off a cliff to a large and the law of small numbers is always on our
fiery grave as soon as an idiot gets their hands on side!
the wheel. Management’s marginal impact on the
Eugene Robin, CFA joined Cove Street in 2011 as a research analyst from
probabilities of success and failure are amplified
Proton Capital, a family office where he developed investment ideas
exponentially and we are acutely aware of “betting in both public and private markets. As a firm principal, Eugene shares
on the wrong jockey”. How does one judge these generalist research efforts and is a Co-Portfolio Manager on our Firm’s
Micro cap strategy. He has also served on the Board of Directors of
people? Interrogations about investment philoso- VerifyMe (VRME) and currently sits on the Board of Research Solutions Inc
phies, business plans and HR goals are a start. As (RSSS). Eugene previously worked at ViaSat as a software engineer and
holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA
are operational plans, the team next to Dear Leader in Computer Science from UC San Diego.
must be probed. Incentive plans that are properly
Eugene lists Ukrainian intrigue, craft beer evaluation, lacrosse, and corral-
aligned with investors (for both C-level and the next ling his two sons as his preoccupations outside the office.
level of troops) are a must. We are avid readers
of proxies and believe in paying for performance. For more information about Cove Street Capital, please visit:
www.covestreetcapital.com
Micro cap land should not be a charity to executives
but neither can it be a penny scrimping exercise.
Everyone in the same boat rowing the same way is
what we want!
Note: This article is not an attempt to provide investment advice. The content is purely the author’s personal opinions and should not be
considered advice of any kind. Investors are advised to conduct their own research or seek the advice of a registered investment professional.

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Microbix Biosystems (TSX: MBX) / (OTCQX: MBXBF)
INVESTOR OVERVIEW
(Data compiled as of market close on February 4, 2022)
Update with Microbix Biosystems
(TSX: MBX) / (OTCQX: MBXBF)
SUMMARY
Share Price ($) 0.62

Market Cap ($M) 83.1
52-Week Low/High ($) 0.49 / 0.87
Shares on Issue (M) 134.6
Revenue Growth for Supporting COVID
Warrants (M) 16.3 Barriers to Entry
Fiscal Year 2021 Diagnostics
Options (M) 9.0
Fully Diluted Shares (M) 179.2 COMPANY OVERVIEW
Volume Weekly (M) 1.3
Microbix Biosystems Inc. develops and commercialises proprietary
biological and technological solutions for human health and well-
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OVERVIEW being in North America, Europe, and internationally. The Company
manufactures a range of critical biological materials for the diagnos-
Currency $CAD
tics industry, notably antigens for immunoassays and its laboratory
Cash ($m) 12.2 quality assessment and proficiency (QAPs) that support clinical lab
Debt ($m) 7.5 proficiency testing, assay development and validation, or clinical lab
FY21 Revenue ($M) 18.6 workflows. The Company also applies its biological expertise and
infrastructure to develop other proprietary products, primarily viral
FY21 Net Profit/Loss ($M) 3.2
transport medium (DxTM) and Kinlytic Urokinase.
TOP 5 INSIDER HOLDINGS (basic) %

Joseph Renner 6.7 12-MONTH SHARE PRICE CHART
Peter Blecher 1.8
Cameron Groome 1.5
Stratpath Management Inc. 1.2
Martin Marino 1.0
Total Insider shareholdings 13.1
MANAGEMENT & CONTACTS

CORPORATE FOCUS
Sector Biotechnology
QAPs
ANALYST COMMENT provided by Independent
Key Product/Market DxTM Investment Research
Antigen products MBX reported record results for fiscal year 2021 (September year-
end) with sales of $18.6m, up 77% on 2020, and a net profit of $3.2m.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT & CONTACT The Company reported strong margins with a gross profit margin
of 59.3% and an EBITDA margin of 30.4%. The Company is gearing
CEO Name Cameron Groome
up to support sales of C$100m p.a. in the years to come, with
Investor Relations Name Adelaide Capital
sales to be driven by the expanding portfolio of medical devices.
IR Email Address ir@microbix.com
The Company is seeking to scale up and automate production,
Headquarters Location Mississauga, Ontario
upgrade support infrastructure, and hire more staff to support
Website/URL https://microbix.com
growth aspirations. MBX are targeting fiscal 2022 to be another
record year, driven by improving antigens margins, further sales of
Please visit the company’s website for more information:
DxTM, and the growing QAPs portfolio. The Company is working
microbix.com to maintain double-digit growth in 2022 sales as well as seeking to
Note: This article has been undertaken by Independent Investment Research LLC (CRD#299837) & Independent Investment Research (Aust.) Pty Limited (Lic. No. 001242826), a maintain the gross and net margins in line with those achieved in
corporate authorized representative of Australian Financial Services Licensee (AFSL no. 410381) (“IIR”). Any opinion contained in the article is unsolicited general information only.
The reader of the article should seek advice from a qualified wealth adviser. This publication is not and should not be construed as, an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to
purchase or subscribe for any investment, nor should it be construed as a recommendation. 2021. The Company is well placed from a capital perspective with
This material contains forward-looking statements. In addition, from time to time, we or our representatives may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing. We base
these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking $10m in cash at 30 September 2021.
statements relate to future events or our future performance, including: our financial performance and projections; our growth in revenue and earnings; and our business prospects
and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as “may,” “should,” “expects,”
“anticipates,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “plans,” “projected,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “hopes” or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these
forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including: our ability to change the direction of the Company; our ability to keep pace with new technology and
changing market needs; and the competitive environment of our business. These and other factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking
statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this document and other statements made from time to time by us or our
representatives, may not occur, and actual events and results may differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us. We are not obligated to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this document and other
statements made from time to time by us or our representatives might not occur.
insi g hts
// By Louis Camhi
Outlook for
SPACs
SPACs remain terribly out of favor and yet I am very excited.
T
he implicit odds of SPACs successfully trans- Elevated redemption rates and rising terminations
acting is low and SPAC yields are attractive are the market’s way of showing that it is becoming
at ~3%. (Candidly, I’m not sure why an investor more discerning.
or corporate would buy 1-year duration treasuries
yielding ~75bps, when they could have the same It wouldn’t surprise me to see strong performance
exposure in a SPAC yielding 3%.) There is currently in 2022 from some of the “broken SPACs” that are
minimum optionality priced into SPAC shares and profitable. Some of these companies look like great
SPAC warrants are trading at some of the lowest opportunities for private equity take private transac-
levels in recent memory. The setup is 180 degrees tions. The IPO backlog has declined, including more
from where we were in early 2021, which should than 10 registrations withdrawn, and if we see a
bode well for prospective returns. I believe that we decrease in the number of SPACs seeking targets
will see an improvement in deal quality this year. that would be a positive for the space.
SPAC Redemption Rates Terminations

90% 80% 35
80% 30 5
67%
70%
58% 61% 61%
25
60% 53% 4
50% 45% 20
3
40% 15
29%
30% 21% 10 2 2 2
20% 15% 12% 14%
7% 5
10% 1 1
0% 0
Jan 21 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 21 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 22 0 0 0 0 0
21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21 21
Jan 21 Feb 21 Mar Apr 21 May Jun 21 Jul 21 Aug 21 Sep 21 Oct 21 Nov 21Dec 21 Jan 22
Avg Redemption Rate Deal Closings 21 21
IPOs vs. Announcements vs. Closings

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
January February March April May June July August September October November December January
IPOs Deal Announcements Deal Closings

There is no question that there
is a significant amount of SPAC
capital to be deployed, however,
the market opportunity is
quite larger. SPACs can target
assets from an array of owners
including families, private equity,
venture capital, or corporate to
name a few.
families, private equity, venture capital, or corporate

In late 2020 and early 2021 most SPAC sponsors to name a few. To highlight the size of the op-
looked at the market and tried to replicate the portunity set, based on their latest public filings,
transactions that were successful at the time. This the top five alternative asset managers, Blackstone,
included transacting in industries such as electric KKR, Apollo, Carlyle and Ares own a combined $157
vehicles and LIDAR and a focus on businesses billion of private equity investments in funds that are
forecasting lofty growth expectations with no beyond their investment periods. Adding their hold-
near-term profitability and in some cases no revenue. ings of real estate and other real assets increases
The sponsor community in general is financially that exposure to $253 billion. I am amazed that the
sophisticated and savvy. They will realize those $253 billion represents equity capital (not enterprise
transactions have lost favor and will likely make the value) and it’s only for those five firms. There are a
pivot to profitable companies at reasonable valu- lot of potential assets out there for SPACs to pursue.
ations. Furthermore, the current market volatility
may potentially limit the ability to consummate a
Mr. Camhi, is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of RLH Capital,
traditional IPO, making SPACs more attractive.
LLC where he is responsible for oversight of all investment management
and operational functions for the General Partner and manages the
I have written in the past about the challenges of the Partnership’s strategy on a day-to-day basis. In addition to his role with
RLH Capital, LLC, Mr. Camhi currently serves on the board of directors
PIPE market. Those challenges have been limited to of POSaBIT Systems Corporation (CSE: PBIT, OTC: POSAF). Mr. Camhi
equity PIPEs, however, the prevalence of structured previously worked at Citadel as an Analyst, managing a $500 million
equity long/short portfolio. Prior to Citadel, Mr. Camhi was a Senior Analyst
PIPEs in the form of convertible debt or convertible at Three Corner Global LP, a fundamental long/short equity hedge fund. Mr.
preferred stock has grown. Cash flow generating Camhi started his career at Credit Suisse where he worked as an analyst
and was promoted to associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions group. Mr.
companies can afford a convertible security in their Camhi received his Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from the
capital structure, which creates a path forward for a Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
SPAC transaction.
There is no question that there is a significant

amount of SPAC capital to be deployed, however,
the market opportunity is quite larger. SPACs can
target assets from an array of owners including

insi g hts
// By Drew Bernstein, CPA
Southeast asia’s
digital goldrush
For the past two decades, China has presented a unique
opportunity for emerging market investing at scale.
T
his is in large part due to its massive popula-
tion, growing middle class, and a high rate of
digital services adoption. Early investors in
companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com
made fortunes as they leveraged their access to
global capital markets to become digital goliaths
dominating online shopping, entertainment, pay-
ments and woven into Chinese consumers’ daily lives.
But tighter regulation over overseas listings have
many investors asking, “What is the next China-like
opportunity?” While no country can match the
impact that China has had on the global economy, I
believe Southeast Asia will be the next frontier. It will
become a major focus of investor attention and new
public company listings over the coming decade.
economies. The region’s median age is 30 years
In fact, MarcumBP is actively working to expand into old, and 50% of Southeast Asia’s population
Singapore - with more updates to come. We already lives in urban areas, which will provide additional
employ nearly 200 staff, the vast majority of which impetus to growth as urbanization continues.
are in Asia. As early entrants in China, MarcumBP This large, relatively young labor base makes
has been at the forefront of the intersection of the many countries attractive to Western enterprises
U.S. and Asia markets for 20 years. Now, we are seeking to build resilience into their global supply
eying Southeast Asia as we expand in line with the chains and mitigate the risks of the growing
opportunities for high growth emerging companies. rivalry between China and the U.S. While the
region has an enormous dispersion of incomes,
What is driving the emergence of Southeast Asia? ranging from GDP per capita of $60,000 in
Singapore to under $3,000 in Vietnam, there is
1. Favorable Demographics – If “demography is a growing middle class with a ravenous appetite
destiny,” then the center of energy in Asia will for consumer goods and services. This transition
be shifting southwards as North Asia’s industrial from subsistence to an urbanized middle class
powerhouses of China, Japan, and Korea all with disposable income is a powerful catalyst for
begin to experience dramatic declines in their economic growth.
working-age populations and overall population.
Southeast Asia has a population of 589 million, 2. Rapid Digital Adoption – Increasingly, Southeast
with 274 million in Indonesia, 110 million in the Asia’s consumers are turning to digital platforms
Philippines, and 97 million in Vietnam, with to satisfy their needs. A recent report put out by
significantly lower labor costs than other Asian Google, Temasek, and Bain Consulting entitled

“Roaring 20s: The SEA Digital Decade” forecast in 2021, resulting in 25 new “unicorns” with
that the size of the region’s digital economy will valuations above the $1 billion mark – more than
grow from $170 billion in 2021 to $1 trillion by the all the prior years combined. Singapore birthed
end of the decade. While the pandemic battered ten new unicorns last year, Indonesia had seven,
the region’s travel industry, it drove consumers and Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand all
and businesses to accelerate the transition had their first. These deals were funded by a
to digital shopping, food, transportation, and combination of global private equity investors
payment services. Forty million new internet and many family-owned conglomerates that
users came online in 2021 alone, bringing the have long dominated Southeast Asia’s economy.
region’s internet penetration to 75%. Southeast They now want to establish a foothold in fields
Asia’s small and medium businesses have also that will define the future, including digital
embraced digital, with 80% saying that they services, logistics, robotics, and fintech. Just as
expect more than 50% of sales to come from importantly, Southeast Asia now has a vibrant
digital in the future; one in three say that they culture of entrepreneurship, with the younger
would not have survived the pandemic without generation embracing the risk and reward of
the reach of digital channels. innovation and the private sector. Four hundred
eighty alumni from just one tech company, the
3. Venture Capital Pours In – These trends have e-commerce platform Lazada now controlled
not gone unnoticed by venture capital investors, by Alibaba, have gone on to found or lead new
who have been increasing their bets on emerg- startups of their own.
ing leaders of Southeast Asia’s digital economy.
According to Deal Street Asia, investment in the 4. Investments in Infrastructure – Not to be left
region’s startups nearly tripled to $25.7 billion behind, global digital giants are racing to con-

Facebook plans two major new Against the background of a trillion-dollar market op-
cables connecting the U.S. with portunity, it seems inevitable that Southeast Asia will
produce its fair share of new public companies that
Singapore and Indonesia and is combine disruptive business models with a powerful
demographic tailwind.
laying 3,000 kilometers of fiber
optic cable to connect its 140 One of the first names to catch the attention of
American investors is Grab, the ridesharing, and food
million users in Indonesia, its delivery “super app” that completed a SPAC merger
that netted $4.5 billion and had an initial valuation
third-largest market worldwide. of $40 billion. Grab’s stock has tumbled since the
completion of the merger, but the company still has
a market capitalization of $22 billion and remains the
largest SPAC deal ever completed.
nect Southeast Asia’s young and mobile popula- Two of Indonesia’s eCommerce leaders, Gojek
tion to their services. Facebook plans two major and Tokopedia, merged to form GoTo Group and
new cables connecting the U.S. with Singapore completed a $1.3 billion pre-IPO round in November
and Indonesia and is laying 3,000 kilometers of of 2021 with backers including Google, Tencent, and
fiber optic cable to connect its 140 million users Temasek. GoTo is said to be planning on an IPO on
in Indonesia, its third-largest market worldwide. Indonesia’s stock exchange later this year. Other
Google, Amazon Web Services, and Alibaba unicorns from Southeast Asia, including travel tech
are all building out data centers in the region to company Traveloka, online property marketplace
localize cloud services. As broadband becomes Property Guru, and logistics player J&T Express,
ubiquitous, this will increase video streaming, have been weighing IPOs or SPAC mergers as a path
edtech, gaming, and more bandwidth-intensive to public status.
applications. Investments in logistics infrastruc-
ture are also continuing apace, with 28% of the As Southeast Asia’s tech tigers build scale, they will
region enjoying same-day delivery service. likely consider tapping the U.S. equity markets to
enjoy higher valuations and deeper pools of liquidity
5. Regional Integration – One of the biggest than what local stock markets can offer. Several
challenges for Southeast Asia is its diversity, U.S.-listed SPACs have been in active discussions
encompassing a range of countries with different with companies from the region. NASDAQ and
stages of development, regulatory approaches, the Singapore Stock Exchange have announced
languages, and aspirations. But increasingly, a partnership to facilitate dual listings on the two
technology companies are adopting a pan- exchanges.
regional approach to provide sufficient scale to
compete with global players. Singapore provides As the business models of the current crop of
an efficient finance and administrative hub for venture-funded businesses mature, dozens of new
companies in the region, with mature financial public companies may be coming to U.S. shores. Of
markets and a strong tradition of the rule of law. course, some may stumble along the way, given how
Singapore has been ranked as the top jurisdic- competitive many verticals in e-commerce and digi-
tion globally for multinational corporations to tal services have become. The young management
establish subsidiaries based on its governance teams will also face a steep learning curve to meet
and regulatory regime. It has no capital gains international accounting, governance, and investor
tax, making it an attractive venue for invest- transparency standards that public shareholders
ment firms. And it was ranked #1 worldwide for rightfully expect. Rolling lockdowns due to the
crypto-currency regulation by Coincub due to its spread of variants of the COVID virus suppressed
“robust economy, positive legislative environment, the revenue trajectory of many companies in 2021,
and high rate of cryptocurrency adoption.” 43% but demand is expected to snap back in 2022 as
of Singaporeans own cryptocurrency, compared vaccination rates in the region increase.
with just 10.5% in the U.S.

The South China Morning Post, The Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! Finance,
Seasoned emerging markets investors are fond of and more regarding Chinese IPOs, China’s economic growth, investment
appetite, innovation trends, corporate governance, SEC regulations and
the saying: “Pioneers get arrows. Settlers take the more.
land.” Early investors in Southeast Asia’s digital gold
Bernstein graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in
rush will need to be prepared to dodge a few arrows. Accounting. Currently, he resides in New York City with his wife and children.
But the land is rich with opportunity. About MBP
Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP (MBP) offers specialized audit and
Drew Bernstein, Co-Managing Partner Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk (MBP)–
advisory services to support SPAC sponsors and SPAC targets in Asia.
a leader in SEC audit, accounting and consulting services to Chinese
MBP and its parent company, Marcum LLP, have been involved in more
companies seeking access to capital markets.
SPAC transactions than any other audit firm. MBP is the only audit firm to
have a dedicated SPAC team for Asia. MBP performs all audits for Marcum
In 1983, Drew Bernstein co-founded Bernstein & Pinchuk. Additionally, he
in Greater China, and MBP is a top-five auditor for Chinese companies
co-founded MarcumBP, which is a member of the Marcum Group and an
listed in the United States.
affiliate of Marcum LLP, a leading U.S. accounting and advisory firm. Both
firms have multiple offices within the United States and Asia.
The dedicated SPAC team has worked with SPAC sponsors, underwriters,
and targets. MBP draws on wide-ranging experience with the initial public
Bernstein is a distinguished expert with deep knowledge of the China and
offerings and subsequent business transactions forged by such companies.
U.S. financial ecosystem with experience extending across Asia, Europe
MBP has designed its audit platform to deliver the technical expertise,
and Africa. Industry experience encompasses technology, retail, manu-
efficiency, and urgency required by SPAC IPOs. This includes high-quality,
facturing, hospitality, pharmaceutical and real estate. Bernstein directs a
PCAOB-compliant audits for private Asian companies that are contemplat-
global team, featuring highly trained PCAOB and SEC accounting experts
ing entering a SPAC merger.
and financial consultants working in New York as well as Beijing, Tianjin,
Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou.
Website: U.S.: https://www.marcumbp.com;
Additionally, Bernstein is considered a valuable thought leader and news
China: https://cn.marcumbp.com
commentator. He has published articles for Forbes.com and China Daily
and is a frequently called upon source by prominent media such as China
Drew Bernstein does not own shares in any companies mentioned.
Global Television Network, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, The Financial Times,

Network Media Group Inc. (TSX-V: NTE) / (OTC: NETWF)
INVESTOR OVERVIEW
Update with Network Media Group Inc.
(TSX-V: NTE) / (OTC: NETWF)
SUMMARY

52-Week Low/High ($) 0.11 / 0.46
Leveraging Traditional Film Production for NFT Value Catalysts for
Warrants (M) 0.0
and Digital Content Initiatives 2022
Options (M) 10.5
Network Media Group Inc is a television, film, and NFT production
company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in the
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OVERVIEW development and production of entertainment content. The Compa-
ny develops and produces film, and television and NFT properties in
Currency $CAD
addition to providing production services to third parties. The princi-
Cash ($m) 0.4 pal business of the company is the development, financing, produc-
Debt ($m) 1.8 tion, marketing and distribution of documentaries and docu-series.
CY21 Revenue to 31 August 2021 ($M) 2.7 Network NFT Studios collaborates with IP owners, artists and top
talent to create engagement campaigns using non-fungible tokens
CY21 Net Profit/Loss to 31 August 2021 ($M) -1.8
(NFT’s). The Company was founded in 1999.
TOP SHAREHOLDERS %
12-MONTH SHARE PRICE CHART
Derik Murray 9.4
Paul Gertz 4.3
Gregory Zeschuk 3.5
Alidad Pejman 3.3
Timothy Gamble 1.1
Insiders 22.4

CORPORATE FOCUS
Sector Entertainment ANALYST COMMENT provided by Independent

Documentary Films Investment Research
Key Product/Market
Docu-series
NTE produces documentary films and docu-series. The Company
works closely with broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors to
SENIOR MANAGEMENT & CONTACT maximise the distribution and financial return of its productions.
Produced for theatrical, television, online, and home entertainment
CEO Name Derik Murray
distribution and exhibition, these productions are the foundation of
Investor Relations Name Trevor Treweeke
NTE’s brand. NTE’s revenues were significantly reduced for the first
IR Email Address trevor@networkentertainment.ca
three quarters of fiscal 2021 compared to 2020, due to the COVID-
Headquarters Location Vancouver, BC
related filming restrictions that affected the entire entertainment
Website/URL https://www.networkmediagroup.ca
industry. Despite the adverse effects resulting from COVID-19, NTE
remains optimistic about the future as the Company continues
to expand its partnerships and collaborations. The Company is
www.networkmediagroup.ca beginning to see early signals of increasing production levels and
Note: This article has been undertaken by Independent Investment Research LLC (CRD#299837) & Independent Investment Research (Aust.) Pty Limited (Lic. No. 001242826), a a return to a normalised schedule which will allow the Company to
purchase or subscribe for any investment, nor should it be construed as a recommendation. meet its growth targets. Network NFT Studios is a newly created
these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking division for the research and development of NFTs related to media
“anticipates,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “plans,” “projected,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “hopes” or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these and entertainment properties. In the December quarter 2021, the
statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this document and other statements made from time to time by us or our Company raised $2.075m through a private placement to fund the
statements made from time to time by us or our representatives might not occur. growth of the NFT Studios division.
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Copyright 2022 © Issuer Direct. All rights reserved.
insi g hts
// By Gavin Wendt
Resource Markets
Since Pandemic
Outbreak
What’s Happened, Why and Where We Are Right Now
T
he resources sector has performed strongly we initially saw China doing most of the heavy
for the past two years, recovering strongly lifting as far as commodity demand was concerned,
from the pandemic lows of early 2020, and boosted by government stimulus measures. This
this momentum culminated in a very strong Q4 2021 led to record prices of iron ore, in particular. The
performance, which in turn has generated positive bulk commodity has been a key ingredient in
momentum into 2022. This scenario is reflected in China’s economic growth policy for decades, used
the robust performance of the Bloomberg Commod- in residential construction and steel production on a
ity Index over the past couple of years. mammoth scale.
In the immediate pandemic environment of 2020, Iron ore prices have eased significantly from their

peak however, as China cleaned up its environ-
mental act ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics,
A dramatic increase in industrial
and simultaneously sought to jawbone prices in a production led to a spectacular
downward direction. But iron ore ominously seems
to be regaining some of its lost momentum, as increase in energy demand,
markets anticipate a rebound in China demand post
the Olympics.
which has since translated into
multi-year highs for all types
During 2020, we also saw gold outperforming the
rest of the commodity space, as investors sought of energy during Q4 2021 and
the security of gold bullion at a turbulent time, with
the spot price reaching an all-time high around
into 2022 – including crude oil,
US$2,030 per ounce. 2021 by contrast, however, natural gas, thermal coal and
was a somewhat disappointing year for the precious
metal, but this was not entirely surprising as financial uranium, as well as electricity
markets adopted a ‘risk-on’ mentality into 2021.
costs throughout Asia, Europe
We began to see rest-of-the-world commodity and North America.
demand begin to play catch-up towards the latter
stages of 2020 and into 2021, driven by government
stimulus measures to reboot economies, especially
in terms of future-facing industries like renewable
energy.
of energy during Q4 2021 and into 2022 – including
A dramatic increase in industrial production led to a crude oil, natural gas, thermal coal and uranium, as
spectacular increase in energy demand, which has well as electricity costs throughout Asia, Europe and
since translated into multi-year highs for all types North America.

Simultaneously, a whole host of industrial metals also formance has been driven by traditional near-term
soared to record highs during Q4 2021, with some demand factors, as well as an understanding that
maintaining their momentum into 2022. Their per- end-users want to get their hands on supply now

due to the medium and longer-term prospects for which is not surprising given the rising cost of
metals-intensive green energy. production inputs such as energy, raw materials, and
also transportation costs. And the consequences of
We’ve also seen the emergence of inflation as a this are clear. The cost of production is escalating
major influence in the global economic recovery, rapidly, and these additional charges are being

After being outshone during traded fund, recently recorded its biggest net inflow
2021 by the energy and in dollar terms since its listing in 2004 — worth $1.63
billion.
industrial metals sectors, it looks
And despite expectations for multiple US interest-
as though it’s time for gold to rate hikes this year, markets are betting that ‘real’
make up the ground it lost. Gold interest rates will stay negative. There is a feeling
that real yields will remain negative as the Fed
has just received a very bullish struggles to tighten policy enough to push interest
rates above inflation.
sign from investors who are
The year ahead will not be without its challenges for
returning to the precious metal resources markets – with inflation, covid and volatil-
in a big way. ity casting a shadow – but supply tightness with
respect to most commodities is likely to continue,
generating a supportive environment for commodity
prices.
Gavin is based in Sydney, Australia and has followed the fortunes of

international resource markets for the past 25 years, covering both
passed on to consumers. It is also clear that many equities and commodities, as a research analyst. He believes that the most
central bankers have underestimated (and continue interesting resource opportunities are typically found at the smaller end of
the market, which these days is his exclusive area of focus.
to underestimate) the prospect of inflation.
The resource sector is on an inexorable growth path, driven by an
ever-increasing world population and modernization of living standards
In terms of where we sit presently in early 2022, the in emerging economies, as well as a significant shift in how we generate
outlook for the commodity sector remains robust, energy. This will provide enormous growth in the demand for commodities
of all types.
driven by positive fundamentals in terms of strong
demand and supply shortages. If we look for exam- Gavin is the Head of Mining & Metals with research group Independent
ple at the six major industrial metals traded on the Investment Research (IIR) and he is the Founding Director and Senior
Resource Analyst with MineLife.
London Metal Exchange, we see that they are all in a
state of backwardation (a situation where buyers are For more information about MineLife, please visit: www.minelife.com.au
prepared to pay a premium for immediate delivery).
This situation of backwardation also applies to other

commodities at present, like crude oil. Brent crude
futures, which soared 50% during 2021, are up a
further 15% already in 2022 at seven-year highs of
$90 a barrel. Crude oil recently managed to register
its biggest January gain in at least 30 years, and also
its best monthly gain since February 2021, as robust
demand outpaced fresh supply. We are likely to see
more OPEC+ supply restraint, with many members
unable to meet their currently allowable production
quotas. With production capacity tight, inventories
low and geopolitics racking several producing
regions, oil is hurtling towards $100 a barrel.
After being outshone during 2021 by the energy and

industrial metals sectors, it looks as though it’s time
for gold to make up the ground it lost. Gold has just
received a very bullish sign from investors who are
returning to the precious metal in a big way. SPDR
Gold Shares, the largest bullion-backed exchange-

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UGE International Ltd (TSX-V: UGE) / (OTCQB: UGEIF)
INVESTOR OVERVIEW
Update with UGE International Ltd
(TSX-V: UGE) / (OTCQB: UGEIF)
SUMMARY

52-Week Low/High ($) 1.15 / 2.94
2022 Solar Industry Scale of UGE’s Solar
Warrants (M) 2.1 Customer Acquisition
Trends Projects
Options (M) 3.7
UGE International Ltd. is a solar and renewable energy solutions
company providing solar energy solutions to commercial and indus-
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OVERVIEW trial clients in Canada, the United States, and the Philippines. It de-
velops, builds, owns, operates, deploys, and finances solar projects,
Currency $USD
as well as offers engineering and consulting services. The Company
Cash ($m) 1.3 has developed over 700 solar projects in 90+ countries. The Com-
Debt ($m) 2.7 pany was founded in 2008 and is based in New York, New York.
CY21 Revenue to 30 September 2021 ($M) 1.5
CY21 Net Profit/Loss to 30 September 2021 ($M) -3.2 12-MONTH SHARE PRICE CHART
TOP SHAREHOLDERS %
Junfei Liu 15.5

Xiangrong Xie 10.2
Nicolas Blitterswyk 4.1
Yun Liu 2.5
Robert van Duynhoven 1.4
Insiders 34.7
MANAGEMENT & CONTACTS ANALYST COMMENT provided by Independent

CORPORATE FOCUS Investment Research
UGE is a solar energy solutions company focused on commercial
Sector Solar
and community solar energy solutions that deliver cheaper,
Community Solar
Key Product/Market cleaner, and more reliable electricity. UGE develops, builds, owns/
Commercial Solar
operates, and finances commercial and community solar projects
in the target markets of the US and Philippines. UGE also provide
SENIOR MANAGEMENT & CONTACT worldwide renewable energy engineering and consulting services.
In 2020, UGE shifted its business model to develop, build, own
CEO Name Nick Blitterswyk
and operate solar facilities for its own account. The Company
Investor Relations Name Sean Peasgood
energised its first self-financed systems in late 2020 and has four
IR Email Address investors@ugei.com
self-financed systems energised in the United States with a further
Headquarters Location New York, New York
four in the Philippines. UGE has a capital-light business model with
Website/URL https://ugei.com
long-term recurring revenues, usually at least 25 years. UGE has
a strong development pipeline with project backlog of158MW at
December-end 2021, ahead of the target of 120MW. The Company
ugei.com is seeking to have 100MW of operating assets and 100MW of
Note: This article has been undertaken by Independent Investment Research LLC (CRD#299837) & Independent Investment Research (Aust.) Pty Limited (Lic. No. 001242826), a annual project development capacity by 2024. Each MW provides
purchase or subscribe for any investment, nor should it be construed as a recommendation. US$0.5m-$1.0m in net retained value and US$0.15m-0.18m annual
these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking projected EBITDA (based on Company projections).
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Ac co u n ti n g CORNE R
// By Corey Fischer, CPA
ESG is Coming Down

the Regulatory
Pipeline
I
’m often asked by clients what they can expect in
the way of new financial reporting regulations that
may be in the regulatory pipeline. This question is
mostly asked around year end, but more often and
with greater intensity in an election year when there
is a change in presidential administrations.
A change in administrations obviously comes with a

new president and vice president, but it also comes
with new agency heads. With new agency heads
come a reshuffling of priorities.
When Gary Gensler took the helm as Chairman of

the Securities and Exchange Commission on April
17, 2021, he wasted no time in setting new priorities
for his agency. By June, the SEC disclosed a list of
49 proposed rule changes that were on the Commis- Act of 2010, including incentive-based compen-
sion’s agenda. sation arrangements, and conflicts of interest in
securitizations.
REGULATORY PRIORITIES •• Enhancing shareholder democracy.
•• Special purpose acquisition companies.
That agenda, which is continually updated, can be •• Mandated electronic filings and transfer agents.
found in the SEC’s Agency Rule List. The list includes
some notable proposed rules including:
COVERING THE PRIVATES
•• Disclosures relating to climate risk, human capi-
tal, including workforce diversity and corporate Clearly, regulators are addressing a wide swath of
board diversity, and cybersecurity risk. areas, and its regulatory footprint may increase even
•• Market structure modernization within equity wider. In a recent CNBC interview Chairman Gensler
markets, treasury markets, and other fixed said his staff is reviewing new rules that would
income markets. require more transparency from private companies
•• Transparency around stock buybacks, short as well.
sale disclosure, securities-based swaps owner-
ship, and the stock loan market. If such new rules are approved, it likely would affect
•• Investment fund rules, including money market large private companies which have opted to seek
funds, private funds, and ESG funds. growth capital through private capital markets. The
•• 10b5-1 affirmative defense provisions. SEC may consider tightening the qualifications of
•• Unfinished work directed by the Dodd-Frank investors who participate in private funds and may
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection change rules on how those investors are counted.

Existing federal rules require companies with more about half of large company CFOs, and other finan-
than 2,000 shareholders “of record” to provide cial leaders it surveyed, said that they are unable
financial disclosure with the SEC, regardless of to determine the best metrics to measure ESG
whether they have gone public. Under the current performance. So far, the regulators haven’t been
rule, an unlimited number of individuals can own much help either.
shares through the same broker dealer or invest-
ment vehicle and still be counted as one shareholder. CFOs seeking to embrace ESGs must choose from
That could change, with each shareholder in an more than 15 competing sustainability reporting
investment vehicle or fund counted individually. If frameworks that vary in detail and scope. For U.S.
that number exceeds 2,000 shareholders, those companies that have attempted to address ESG
private entities may be required to comply with risk factors in their 10-Ks, the biggest questions and
the same disclosure requirements as their public headaches have revolved around the lack of clarity
company counterparts. regarding what is considered “material” by investors,
and what is not. Extrasensory perception (ESP)
NEED ESP FOR ESG? should not be required to comply with ESG.
The one item on the proposed regulatory agenda It was initially thought that the European Union,
that looms largest for CFOs involves the still to be which was an early proponent of creating and
defined disclosures relating to Environmental, Social adopting ESG standards, would by now have a
and Governance (ESG). framework in place that U.S. regulators could adopt
for U.S. companies. Not so. Chairman Gensler has
For the uninitiated, the “E” in ESG deals with such said that while SEC staff will take into consideration
things as energy efficiencies, carbon footprints, the vast array of global ESG standards, his agency is
greenhouse gases, and climate change; in essence, working on a U.S. version for mandatory disclosures.
what is the company doing to be a steward of nature. Staff-proposed ESG rules will be considered by SEC
The “S” involves how a company manages its relation- commissioners sometime this year. It is anticipated
ships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the that these SEC rules will likely parallel, but not
communities it serves, and covers such things as labor duplicate, global standards. Gensler also has asked
standards, wages, benefits, board diversity, racial staff to propose workforce disclosure rules.
justice, and pay. The “G” stands for governance – or
more to the point, governing over the “E” and “S”, Gensler said companies may need to report on
and includes such items as corporate board composi- metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, financial
tion, executive compensation, audits, internal controls, impacts of climate change and progress towards
shareholder rights, and even political contributions. climate-related goals. Such reports, he indicated,
may be required in an expanded Form 10-K and
Currently, there is no requirement for U.S. companies describe a company’s direct and indirect carbon
to provide disclosures on ESG matters, but there is emissions, including those by suppliers and partners
increasing social pressure, more legal challenges, in its “value chain.” Once risk factors are identified,
and a desire by a growing number of corporate companies will be required to quantify the potential
stakeholders. financial impact on the company and the timing of
when those risks likely will occur.
Financial rewards have been growing for early
adopters of ESG. Global investment in funds that The regulatory pipeline may be full, but it is ESG
feature companies committed to ESG was $35.3 compliance that will most challenge public company
trillion in 2021, compared to $22.8 trillion in 2016, a CFOs, finance executives and accounting professionals.
55% increase, according to the Global Sustainable
Investment Alliance. Such investments are predicted Corey Fischer, CPA, is Firm Managing Partner of Weinberg & Company, a
PCAOB and CPAB-Registered firm specializing in the audit, assurance, and
to exceed $50 trillion by 2025. tax needs of micro and small cap companies. He has more than 25 years
of experience, having worked with Big 4 accounting firms, and as an SEC
reporting officer for a number of NASDAQ-listed companies. Based in Los
Currently, there isn’t a clear path for companies Angeles, he is an expert in financial reporting, SEC compliance, raising debt
who want to be more environmentally and socially and equity, mergers and acquisitions and structuring accounting operations.
responsible. Consulting firm Accenture reports that E-mail: coreyf@weinbergla.com or 310-601-2200. Visit www.weinbergla.com

East Side Games Group (TSX: EAGR) / (OTC: EAGRF)
INVESTOR OVERVIEW
Update with East Side Games Group
(TSX: EAGR) / (OTC: EAGRF)
SUMMARY

52-Week Low/High ($) 2.19 / 5.80
Update on New Game
2022 Gaming Trends Pipeline Depth in 2022
Warrants (M) 0.65 Launch Success
Options (M) 2.99
Volume Weekly (M) .3 Leaf Mobile Inc. develops and publishes free-to-play mobile games
in the United States, Canada and Europe. The Company offers a
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OVERVIEW portfolio of original and licensed IP mobile games. The Company is
headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and has over 170 employees
Currency $CAD and operates multiple virtual studios under the East Side Games and
Cash ($m) 11.78 LDRLY Games banners. On 5 February 2021, the Company acquired
Eastside Games Inc. in a reverse takeover transaction. The Company
Debt ($m) 0.0
is seeking shareholder approval at the next AGM to formally change
FY21 Revenue ($M) 64.58
the company’s name to East Side Games Group.
FY21 Net Profit/Loss ($M) 0.16

TOP SHAREHOLDERS %
Jason Bailey 49.0

Joshua Nilson 5.3
Galan Akin 4.7
Michael Edwards 3.5
Pioneer Media Holdings Inc. 2.4
Insiders 70.2

ANALYST COMMENT provided by Independent
CORPORATE FOCUS
Investment Research
Sector Electronic Gaming and Multimedia
The Company’s revenues are primarily generated through in-app
Mobile Games purchases or in-game advertising sold to third parties. Additionally,
Key Product/Market
Game Kit the Company derives income from the licensing of their proprietary
“Game Kit” technology to third party developers. Post the acquisition
SENIOR MANAGEMENT & CONTACT of East Side Games Inc., the Company has opened up new capital
raising channels, listing on the OTCQB. The Company intends to raise
CEO Name Darcy Taylor
CAD$10m from the listing and the Company is expected to have a
Investor Relations Name Josh Peligal
market cap of ~GBP130m. Mobile Games is a fast growing market
IR Email Address ir@eastsidegamesgroup.com
with mobile games being the world’s most popular form of gaming.
According to the Company, mobile games are expected to reach 2.6
Website/URL https://eastsidegamesgroup.com/
billion players and generate revenues of USD$90b in 2021. FY2021
revenue to 30 September is up 32.1% to CAD$64.58m. Consensus
eastsidegamesgroup.com estimates are forecasting full year FY2021 revenue of CAD$90.22m,
Note: This article has been undertaken by Independent Investment Research LLC (CRD#299837) & Independent Investment Research (Aust.) Pty Limited (Lic. No. 001242826), a
corporate authorized representative of Australian Financial Services Licensee (AFSL no. 410381) (“IIR”). Any opinion contained in the article is unsolicited general information only. a 32.5% increase on FY2020. Consensus estimates are expecting the
purchase or subscribe for any investment, nor should it be construed as a recommendation.
Company to report a loss for FY2021, but are forecasting a rebound
these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking
statements relate to future events or our future performance, including: our financial performance and projections; our growth in revenue and earnings; and our business prospects in FY2022 to profitability with
forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including: our ability to change the direction of the Company; our ability to keep pace with new technology and revenue of CAD$168m and net income of CAD$8.12m.
The company paid consideration to SNN or its affiliates for this article.
o Interact with our retail broker/dealer/banking network to o Develop plans for aggressive outbound media outreach, when
facilitate the Company to potential Media Networks and set up requested, including existing shareholders, potential institutional
small group Dinner. and retail shareholders to ingest companies media.
o Continue periodic meetings, with locations to be determined, o Work with management to develop a clear comparison of the
with Media Anchors and Producers. firm's results to those of similar companies or competitors;
o Leverage relationships with media and financial journalists to o Position the management to effectively demonstrate the
effectively communicate the Company’s message; Including but Company’s strategies and objectives so that companies
not limited to, Cheddar, Fox Business News, TD Ameritrade interviews are clear & effective.
Network, Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq Marketsite, Jane King Media,
Modern Wall Street o Pinpointing of the proper media outlets to meet – and even the
right individuals within those firms for maximizing interviews.
o Work with Company to develop a full release calendar, timing
releases and important press announcements for utmost o Monthly analysis of who is watching interviews, along with
effectiveness; commentary on the ‘why’ behind these moves.
o Coordinate additional relationships with the goal of creating o Context around effective interviews, i.e. how does it pertain to
media awareness for the company; what we are seeing amongst peers, the sector and the broader
market. The qualitative analysis that comes from this assessment
o 24 h
hour situational crisis management with a concise strategy. provides company with insight into why Media Networks are
Assist in addressing issues such as product recalls, contract losses, doing what they are doing within their respective sector, allowing
regulatory actions, litigation, loss of key employees, and all Major them to have more pointed conversations with these Media
Media actions. Professionals and be more efficient with their time spent.
MONEY BALL NETWORKS

Money Ball Networks collaborates with premier investment
banks, prominent broker-dealers, boutique research firms, and
corporate professionals to provide an upscale experience for
industry events. Our venues include A-list entertainment,
top-shelf food & drink amidst alluring ambiance.
MONEYBALLNETWORKS.COM

insi g hts
// By Josh Young
Oil & Gas Outlook

for 2022
Understanding Energy’s Central Role in the Economy
We specialize in energy investments at Bison, with a focus on oil

and gas. So I’ll discuss our outlook for the industry and how we’re
positioned, which could be broadly relevant as oil prices rise and
investors are reminded of energy’s central role in the economy.
2022 is looking promising for the oil and gas industry depleted. With oil fundamentals strong and prices
on several fronts. Industry-wide investment in rising, oil production recovery challenges remain
exploration and production is at all-time lows as a under-appreciated, particularly in asset areas like US
percentage of cash flows, which is limiting long term shale, where misconceptions of “just turn on more
production capacity. This is partially due to un- oil” are prevalent. The flaws in this commonly held
economic “ESG” mandates by capital allocators and view include labor, supply chain and working capital,
increasingly unfriendly energy policy from regula- all of which should be expected after a prolonged
tors, both of which are restricting the availability of cyclical downturn.
capital. Additionally, producers themselves, with the
encouragement of their shareholders, are exerting The oil and gas industry has seen substantial turn-
capital discipline after a prior over-investment cycle. over of highly skilled and experienced labor, coming
Producers are mostly choosing to use excess cash after numerous rounds of layoffs in 2014 onwards.
flow to buy back shares and pay dividends, rather Industry veterans are becoming increasingly hard
than invest in new production. to replace, particularly as the oil and gas industry
falls out of favor with new college graduates and an
Against this backdrop of tepid supply growth, oil aging workforce retires.
demand continues to rise inexorably. The swift
recovery of oil demand is due to stronger-than While supply chain issues are well known and are
expected recoveries in post-pandemic economic being seen across the broader post-pandemic
activity and travel, and to a lesser extent to the economy, working capital depletion is under-appreci-
burning of oil for power generation amidst an en- ated. Drilling activity remains low versus 2019 levels,
ergy crisis in Europe and Asia. Longer term trends and even lower versus pre-2014 oil crash levels.
such as suburbanization, whereby people have With comparatively few new wells being drilled, the
moved out of cities in favour of more oil-intensive inventory of drilled uncompleted wells (DUCs) has
suburban lifestyles, and rising standards of living been depleted.
in developing countries, will continue to propel oil
demand higher. The prevailing “green transition,” Since the onset of the pandemic, the pace of
“oil is going away” narrative is challenged and may completions has far outpaced new drills, and so DUC
be slowly shifting. inventory has languished. This trend looks unlikely to
reverse anytime soon, especially as tough industry
As a result of this strong demand / weak supply conditions force producers to prioritize well comple-
dynamic, world oil inventories are being rapidly tion over new drilling, allowing them to maintain

production levels with less capital, and drilling rig with an embedded margin of safety. We believe
counts remain depressed. in concentration and are agnostic to volatility: if a
security has met our stringent requirements, we
Oil prices will likely need to move much higher to buy in size and wait. Letting winners run is key to
address this market imbalance—a tailwind for our generating outsized returns, and so portfolio turn-
portfolio at Bison. This fundamental market imbal- over is low, although we will sometimes add to core
ance will take time to resolve itself, and as such, positions on weakness and sell opportunistically.
we may be in the early innings of a multi-year bull
Josh is a Co-Founder of Bison Interests and serves as its Chief Investment
market in oil and associated equities. Of course, we
Officer, leading Bison’s research and investment process. He is focused
expect some volatility along the way. on idea generation, investment strategy and portfolio construction. He is
responsible for managing Bison’s outside advisers across geology, engi-
neering, finance and management. Josh has over a decade of professional
Our investment philosophy is simple, and we think experience investing in publicly traded oil & gas stocks. He was previously
positions us well for 2022. We buy high-quality oil Chairman of the board of Iron Bridge Resources, a publicly traded E&P. He
led the reconstitution of the board and management there, $80 million in
and gas related securities at a deep discount to asset sales, and the sale of the company for $142 million. Prior to Bison,
intrinsic value. Portfolio companies have high quality Josh was Portfolio Manager of Young Capital Management, a board
member of Lucas Energy (LEI) – a small cap publicly traded oil producer,
assets, proven management teams with a track- and an investment analyst at a multi-billion dollar, single family office,
record of success, and at least one other catalyst which was nominated as Institutional Investor’s Single Family Office of the
likely to galvanize a re-rate, such as “embedded” Year. He has been profiled on the front page of Bloomberg.com and in Oil
and Gas Investor Magazine, interviewed as an energy expert in broadcast
pipeline assets, “un-booked reserves”, rapid and media outlets like Fox News and Al Jazeera, quoted in publications includ-
underappreciated de-leveraging, or potential asset ing Barron’s and Reuters, and regularly speaks at industry events. Josh
graduated with honors from the University of Chicago where he earned his
or corporate sale. Companies we are interested in Bachelor’s in economics.
also have survivable balance sheets and are usually
For more information about Bison Interests, please visit:
trading at a discount to asset replacement costs, www.bisoninterests.com

L E GA L CORN ER
// By Jon Uretsky, Esq.
Vast Changes Coming

to the Fundamental
Structure of
MicroCap Financing
Has the SEC Thought This Through?
A
paradigm shift is coming to microcap financ- The Law
ing. Currently, regardless of the specific
method used to acquire shares in a public The actual language of the law doesn’t make that
company direct from the issuer, most microcap distinction. The Exchange Act defines a “dealer” as
financing involves some version of funds sent to “any person engaged in the business of buying and
the public company in exchange for shares issued selling securities… for such person’s own account
directly from the public company in question. After through a broker or otherwise.” So, you know,
a six-month waiting period, the shares can become everyone.
unrestricted, and are then sold at a discount to the
market. When things work out, both the lender and Traditionally, though, the SEC didn’t prosecute
public company are happy with the deal. When the everyone, and the reason was something known
deal doesn’t work out, one of the parties to the deal as the “trader exception.” Whether that exception
sues the other. But for decades, even when they applies turns on two questions: (1) whether a person
were suing each other, neither the lenders nor the is “buying and selling securities for its own account,”
issuers – or critically, the regulators - ever believed and (2) whether a person is engaged in that activity
that the structure was illegal. The SEC just changed “as part of a regular business.” Microcap finance was
its mind. built on this trader exception. Now the SEC thinks it
doesn’t apply…and never did.
It is difficult to overstate how much change this may
cause to microcap financing. First, some background. The underlying question behind the SEC’s pursuit
Traditionally, when a microcap public company is this: Should a person who regularly lends/buys/
wants funds to finance something, it doesn’t bother converts and then sells securities with their own
going to Goldman Sachs – because there’s no point. capital be considered someone who is “engaged
Most of the financing available for microcap compa- in the business of buying and selling securities”?
nies come from the same funds and firms that attend For the past several decades, the answer was “no.”
conferences like Planet Microcap – and very few Recently, the SEC changed its mind. Notably, the
are registered dealers. That’s because, for at least various courts to weigh in on the SEC’s new crusade
the past several decades, the entire industry had an disagree with each other, as discussed below.
understanding that these funds and firms weren’t
required to be registered dealers. Which makes JMJ Financial
sense - there’s a significant difference between
E-Trade executing trades for clients on the NYSE On January 21, 2022, the Court granted the SEC’s
and a microcap fund selling its own shares onto the motion for summary judgment against Justin Keener
OTC after a Rule 144 waiting period. and his firm, JMJ. The SEC persuaded the Court that

Keener/JMJ failed to register as a securities dealer not a dealer. According to the Court, Ironridge’s
with the SEC when he bought convertible notes from practice of acquiring stock at a discounted price was
penny stock issuers, converted those notes into new distinct from acquiring stock in the open market.
shares and sold them for a profit on a voluminous
and consistent basis. According to the SEC and the Conclusion
Court, Keener avoided certain regulatory obligations
for dealers that govern their conduct in the market- The takeaway here is that even the courts don’t
place. know what to make of the SEC abruptly changing
the way it interprets the “trader exception” after
The Court considered, but left unanswered, the real several decades. The SEC plainly hasn’t thought this
question: how much is too much? When a retired through. The fundamental architecture of most of
person sits at home, making three trades a day, microcap financing structures was built on the prem-
are they a dealer? What about 10? 100? Refusing ise that the trader exception applied. According to
to answer the question, the Court characterized the SEC, now it doesn’t, and retroactively never did.
this threshold as being “more than a few isolated PULLP represents both issuers and investor/lender
transactions.” This definition is arguably so broad funds – funds often sue issuer public companies
that it likely captures fund managers, family officers, and vice versa – and as such can say that if this
day traders, and other similar investors. new interpretation prevails, the whole of microcap
financing will see a paradigm shift that may be
JDF Capital harmful to both issuers and funds. Companies need
some way of financing operations, and lender/inves-
The SEC filed an identical complaint against John D. tor funds won’t make any money without companies
Fierro and his business, JDF Capital. The court here to fund. What does that mean going forward? The
also denied Fierro’s motion to dismiss in December best approach is for issuers and funds to work
2020, stating that the factors set forth in various together, using the Beyond Commerce approach
SEC no-action letters and other guidance are neither as an example. Retaining experienced microcap
exclusive nor controlling. litigators like PULLP will be crucial to proving to
courts that each new case is distinguishable from
Beyond Commerce1 JMJ, and is more like Beyond Commerce. We invite
you to contact uretsky@pullp.com or 212.571.1164 for
The District of Nevada Court came to a different a complimentary analysis.
conclusion. This Court ruled in November, 2021 that
PULLP is one of the only law firms specializing in microcap litigation. Jon
Discover Growth Fund, who the Court acknowledged
Uretsky is the founding and managing partner of PULLP. Mr. Uretsky has
“has invested in convertible securities of many small a broad multidisciplinary practice that includes extensive experience in
public companies, which it has converted into billions litigation and dispute resolution, regulatory investigations (including FINRA
and SEC matters like those described above). In addition, he counsels
of shares of common stock that it resold into the corporate boards, board committees (including special committees) as
public markets,” should be deemed a trader and was well as being a personal adviser to many entrepreneurs, business leaders
and corporate executives. He has counseled clients on significant litigation,
thus not required to register as a dealer. The Court regulatory and transactional matters across multiple industry sectors.
delineated the plain language “part of a regular Additionally, the PULLP team has extensive experience negotiated mergers
and acquisitions (including reverse mergers); domestic and cross-border
business” to mean “a dealer must be engaged in the investments/joint ventures; the representation of private equity; venture
securities business and be buying and selling for his capital and other private investment funds; securities offerings; and private
own account.” Ultimately, the Court did not find that and public financings.
Notes:
Discover engaged in these activities.
1. Special thanks to Anna Adelstein, Counsel at PULLP, and Kayshana
Mohanaraj, a Law Clerk at PULLP, for their assistance in researching and
Ironridge Global IV the preparation of this article, as well as their help in the many matters
PULLP handles.
2. This article is not an attempt to provide investment advice. The content
Similarly, in November 2021, the Delaware Bankrupt- is purely the author’s personal opinions and should not be considered
cy Court analyzed the difference between the term advice of any kind. Investors are advised to conduct their own research or
seek the advice of a registered investment professional.
“dealer” and “trader” and held that Ironridge was
For more information about PULLP, please visit: www.pullp.com
1 The author of this article serves as outside counsel to Beyond

Commerce and was involved in the referenced case.

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VSBLTY Groupe Technologies (OTCQB: VSBGF) / (CSE: VSBY)
INVESTOR OVERVIEW
Update with VSBLTY Groupe Technologies
(OTCQB: VSBGF) / (CSE: VSBY)
SUMMARY

52-Week Low/High ($) 0.43 / 1.99
Partnership with Mexico’s Grupo Modelo to 2022: Focus on Executing Upon
Warrants (M) 68.9
Install and Manage In-Store Media Network Recently Announced Partnerships
Options (M) 12.2
VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp. operates as a security and retail
analytics technology company. Its software modules include Vision-
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OVERVIEW Captor, a digital signage content management system; DataCaptor,
a software module that leverages camera and sensor technology
Currency $USD
with artificial intelligence to provide real time analytics and audience
Cash ($m) 1.92 measurement; and VSBLTY Vector, a facial detection software mod-
Debt ($m) 0.0 ule that interfaces with a local or remote database to detect persons
CY21 Revenue to 30 September 2021($M) 0.95 or objects of interest within a camera’s field of view. The company
also provides retail hardware solutions, which can be integrated with
CY21 Net Profit/Loss to 30 September 2021 ($M) -11.15
the digital screen.
TOP SHAREHOLDERS %
Guy Lombardo 6.35
Actus Interactive Software, LLC 5.49
Fred Potok 2.43
Thomas Hays 0.89
James Hutton 0.48
Insiders 10.45

CORPORATE FOCUS
Sector Application Software ANALYST COMMENT provided by Independent

DataCaptor Investment Research
Key Product/Market VisionCaptor
VSBY software empowers computer visions and artificial intelligence
VSBLTY Vector
to improve the way we live, shop and protect. VSBY has three
software modules that focus on two verticals: (1) The security
SENIOR MANAGEMENT & CONTACT application enables security cameras to monitor cast areas, detail
specific items and identify persons of interest, measure audiences
CEO Name Jay Hutton
and see objects and potential threats; and (2) The digital display
Investor Relations Name n/a
application allows users to engage and analyse their customer
IR Email Address Investor@vsblty.net
behaviours and take action based on the information gathered.
VSBY has entered into a number of partnerships including a Joint
Website/URL https://vsblty.net
Venture (JV) with Retailigent Media and Grupo Modelo. Under the
Please visit the company’s website for more information: JV, VSBY will supply proprietary software for analytics, security
vsblty.net and visual displays throughout the network of 50,000 stores and
Note: This article has been undertaken by Independent Investment Research LLC (CRD#299837) & Independent Investment Research (Aust.) Pty Limited (Lic. No. 001242826), a independent neighbourhood bodegas in Mexico and across Latin
purchase or subscribe for any investment, nor should it be construed as a recommendation. America. VSBY will receive licensing revenue (forecast revenue
these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking of $10m p.a. by year 4) and 33% of the media value, which has a
“anticipates,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “plans,” “projected,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “hopes” or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these projected value of in excess of $250m p.a. by year 4. The JV in
statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this document and other statements made from time to time by us or our addition to a number of other key partnerships are expected to
statements made from time to time by us or our representatives might not occur. drive revenue growth in coming years.
The company paid consideration to SNN or its affiliates for this article.
insi g hts
// By Caitlin Cook
Crypto in 2022
The Year of DeFi and Regulation
With the highest returning coins and tokens up by multiple

thousands of percents, it’s safe to say that 2021 was a positive year
for a majority of the cryptoasset ecosystem.
A
metric far more eye popping than annual increasing efficiency and transparency while lower-
returns, however, was the overwhelming num- ing friction, fees, barriers to entry, and more. In 2022,
ber of new entrants to the asset class. As of investors can expect to see continued expansion of
the end of 2021, there were over 300 million cryp- the DeFi ecosystem into less obvious places than the
toasset users globally, a number that sat at around products listed above. Below are a few areas that
just 100 million the year prior in 2020. investors should keep a close eye on:
Explosive growth of the asset class in recent years, The Metaverse

as well as the easily observable increase in both
acceptance and adoption of the crypto ecosystem The term metaverse made its foray into the general
via celebrity endorsements, Super Bowl ads, and public in 2021, with Facebook even going as far as
more, are setting the stage for an exciting year renaming their company to Meta… but what is it? The
ahead. There are a variety of ongoing developments metaverse can be loosely defined as a network of
in the space; so many, in fact, that it may often feel virtual 3D worlds that facilitate social connection and
hard to keep up. So, I’ve highlighted what I believe the trade of digital goods and services amongst indi-
to be the largest areas of opportunity and important viduals. While the internet allows people to connect
themes for investors to focus on when it comes to on a common interface in real time, the metaverse
crypto in the year ahead. will allow individuals to do this to a greater extent,
even enabling the use of custom avatars in place of
natural appearance, virtual landscapes, and more,
Themes to follow in 2022: within a 3D world. The metaverse is in its early stages
The year of DeFi of development, but will be an area to watch through-
out the year as builders in the DeFi space, along with
traditional corporations such as Microsoft, Facebook,
The Decentralized Finance (DeFi) movement is based and even Walmart, all look to build towards this eco-
on the idea that the financial system should not be system in a variety of ways.
controlled by intermediaries and third parties, but
should rather be governed by permissionless peer- NFTs
to-peer networks and infrastructure via blockchain
technology. Commonly known existing DeFi appli- From celebrities and pro athletes changing their pro-
cations include stablecoins, decentralized exchang- file pictures to Bored Apes, to sporting events giving
es, peer-to-peer lending services, and non-fungible out one-of-a-kind collectibles to attendees, NFTs
digital assets or tokens (NFTs). While some of these had quite the year in 2021. 2022 will be the year that
products are entirely new, many of these devel- the general public begins to understand many of
opments were created as alternatives attempting the emerging use cases for NFTs outside of art. The
to improve upon traditional financial systems by immutability and transparency of blockchain technol-

ogy, among other characteristics, make NFTs desir- nue for the adoption of DeFi products. Axie Infinity
able for a variety of use cases. Proof of attendance and Decentraland are two of the biggest play-to-
and certifications, identity verification, secure stor- earn games in the space at present, but onlookers
age of sensitive data (particularly in industries such can expect to see a flood of entrants, both new and
as legal and healthcare), documentation of intellec- old (legacy gaming firms in the coming calendar year
tual property and patent rights, supply chain tracking as the space continues to develop.
and transparency, and tracking ownership of digital
assets in play-to-earn games such as virtual land or In many ways, the games offered in DeFi are akin to
avatar costumes are just a few of the many ways in those that gamers are already familiar with, such as
which NFTs can be used at scale. Fortnight, Call of Duty, Minecraft, or Animal Crossing.
However, simply put, play-to-earn games allow par-
Play-to-Earn and the Gamification of DeFi ticipants to earn cryptoassets in return for their
time and efforts as they participate in the gaming
With billions of players globally, the gaming industry ecosystem. Even if you aren’t a gamer yourself, it is
has provided participants with entertainment and important to note that the gamification of blockchain
ample opportunities for building virtual communi- technology, cryptoassets, and DeFi will play a critical
ties with fellow participants online. For many, par- role in promoting mainstream adoption of the indus-
ticipation in the gaming industry has historically been try in the coming years.
driven by a desire for stimulation and entertainment
from the comfort of their homes; the newest itera- Continued Corporate Adoption
tion of gaming will provide an opportunity for income
generation as well. Play-to-earn gaming, otherwise Much of the world has started to accept crypto as
known as GameFi, is a coming together of DeFi and a space that is unlikely to go away. As we approach
the Metaverse that will introduce new use cases, mass adoption, the industry will need to secure the
potential income streams, and provide another ave- buy-in of more traditional players. from financial

institutions to large corporations and other organiza- of comments, often contradicting each other, in
tions that contribute to mainstream culture in mate- regard to their outlooks on the asset class. However,
rial ways. But it’s not just about these groups buying much of this is purely speculatory as very few defini-
and holding bitcoin. Many corporations are beginning tive decisions have been made about the future of
to interact with the crypto economy in interesting the space.
ways. This is an important development to keep in
mind when assessing the acceleration of adoption. As evidenced by the comments above, many con-
Rather than focus on short term price action, true sider the current regulatory landscape to be opaque-
long-term investors should be focusing on the big understandably so, with the amount of noise put
picture. Below are just a few examples of how tra- out into the ether (crypto pun intended). However,
ditional organizations are building to the emerging what the average investor should anticipate is this:
crypto space Regulation will come to a head in the coming calen-
dar year as Congress continues to cooperate with
•• Over 25 publicly held companies hold bitcoin on leaders in the crypto industry to better understand
their balance sheets the underlying technology before putting more con-
•• Mastercard partnered with Coinbase so that us- crete legislation forward. While the CFTC, SEC, and
ers of the crypto exchange will be able to make others have gone back and forth on who will be
purchases with Mastercard credit and debit primarily responsible for the regulation of the asset
cards. Mastercard had previously announced class at large, it is highly probable that the SEC will
back in October that it’s teaming up with Bakkt be leading the charge. An alternative idea put out
to let banks and merchants in its network offer by crypto-friendly representatives, however, is the
crypto-related services. creation of an entirely new regulatory body exclu-
•• 300 community banks announced that they sively responsible for oversight of this emerging
will allow customers to buy and sell bitcoin on space. Rather than try to fit a square peg in a round
mobile banking apps. hole by fitting traditional regulatory frameworks to a
•• Visa has partnered with more than 65 crypto novel and futuristic asset class, the creation of a new
platforms and shared that 100 million vendors regulatory body entirely could likely better cater to
worldwide are accepting crypto payments. the unique characteristics of this space. Time will tell,
•• Square, now called Block, has integrated of course, as it always does, but know that regula-
lightning network payments , enabling users tion is coming. Stablecoins and yield products have
to send bitcoin to each other for free and near been cited on several occasions as a main area of
instantaneously. concern, and financial institutions looking to get more
•• TurboTax is now offering the ability for custom- involved in the asset class will have to do so while
ers to receive tax refunds in cryptoassets. jumping through many regulatory hoops primarily
•• Nike, Adidas, Disney, Walmart, Coca-Cola, created to promote investor protections. In regard
Anheuser-Busch, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are to more immediate concerns, retail investors that
now selling NFTs. participated in the crypto economy in 2021 should be
•• Sports Illustrated is launching a sport based NFT sure to closely track their transaction history; the IRA
marketplace has explicitly stated that they will be cracking down
•• Gamestop is launching a gaming based NFT on those who leave crypto activity out of their 2021
marketplace tax filings.
Caitlin Cook is Head of Community at Onramp Invest and VP of Operations
Regulation at Onramp Academy. She is also host of the popular show, “The Chicks of
Fintwit” podcast - an investing podcast by women, for everyone. Known as
@DeadCaitBounce Twitter, Caitlin has cultivated an incredible community
Saving the least sexy topic for last, 2022 will undoubt- of folks that are actively looking to learn more about how they can use
edly be the year that crypto regulation takes center finance and investing in order to accomplish their own financial goals. And
please, Get Outside today.
stage. The evolving regulatory landscape of crypto
and DeFi is a systemic risk factor that should be con- For more information about Onramp Invest, please visit:
www.onrampinvest.com
sidered by any prudent investor.
The CFTC, SEC, FINRA, IRS, White House, Congress,

Senate and other major bodies have given a variety

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Microcap Review INDEX
Q1 2022 Constituent List
Microcap Review INDEX Microcap Review INDEX
ABVC ABVC BioPharma Inc. ARKR Ark Restaurants Corp.

Healthcare Consumer Cyclical
http://abvcpharma.com/ https://arkrestaurants.com/
ACNB ACNB Corporation ARMP Armata Pharmaceuticcals Inc.

Financial Services Healthcare
https://www.acnb.com/ https://www.armatapharma.com/
ACU Acme United Corporation ARR:CA Altius Renewable Royalties Corp.

Consumer Defensive Utilities
https://www.acmeunited.com/ https://www.altiusminerals.com/
ACY AeroCentury Corp. ART:CA ARHT Media Inc.

Industrials Technology
https://www.aerocentury.com/ https://arhtmedia.com/
ADN Advent Technologies Holdings Inc. ASRT Assertio Holdings Inc.

Utilities Healthcare
https://www.advent.energy/ https://www.assertiotx.com/
AFGC American Financial Group Inc. 5.125% ATX:CA Atex Resources Inc.
Subordinated Debentures due 2059 Basic Materials
Real Estate https://www.atexresources.com/
AGRI AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd. AUTO AutoWeb Inc.

Consumer Defensive Communication Services
https://agriforcegs.com/ https://www.autoweb.com/
ALCO Alico Inc. AWKN:AQL AWAKN Life Sciences Corp.

Consumer Defensive Healthcare
https://www.alicoinc.com/ https://awaknlifesciences.com/
ALJJ ALJ Regional Holdings Inc. AXE:CA Acceleware Ltd.

Industrials Technology
http://www.aljregionalholdings.com/alj/ https://www.acceleware.com/
ALY:CA AnalytixInsight Inc. AXR AMREP Corporation

Financial Services Real Estate
https://www.analytixinsight.com/ https://amrepcorp.com/
AMPD:CNX AMPD Ventures Inc. BAC:CNX BacTech Environmeental Corp.

Financial Services Industrials
https://ampd.tech/ https://bactechgreen.com/
AN:CA Arena Minerals Inc. BBQ BBQ Holdings Inc.

Basic Materials Consumer Cyclical
https://arenaminerals.com/ https://www.bbq-holdings.com/
ARC ARC Document Solutions Inc. BCLI Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc.
Industrials Healthcare
https://www.e-arc.com/ https://brainstorm-cell.com/
ARCH:CA Arch Biopartners Inc. BDI:CA Black Diamond Group Limited

Healthcare Industrials
https://www.archbiopartners.com/ https://www.blackdiamondgroup.com/
Note: As of rebalance date 01/03/2022, please see SNN’s criteria for inclusion in the MicroCap Review Index here: https://snn.network/key-criteria

BDL Flanigan’s Enterprises Inc. CFW:CA Calfrac Well Services Ltd.

Consumer Cyclical Energy
https://www.flanigans.net/ https://www.calfrac.com/
BGI Birks Group Inc. CHCI Comstock Holding Companies Inc.

Consumer Cyclical Real Estate
https://comstockcompanies.com/
BGSF BGSF Inc.
Industrials CHMI Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment
https://bgsf.com/ Corporation
Real Estate
BHSC:CNX BioHarvest Sciences Inc. https://www.chmireit.com/
Healthcare
https://bioharvest.com/ CHW:CA Chesswood Group Limited
Financial Services
BITE:CNX Blender Bites Limited https://www.chesswoodgroup.com/
Consumer Defensive
https://blenderbites.com/ CLPR Clipper Realty Inc.
Real Estate
BK:CA Canadian Banc Corp. https://www.clipperrealty.com/
Financial Services
https://www.quadravest.com/ CNET ZW Data Action Technologies Inc.
Communication Services
BNKR:CNX Bunker Hill Mining
Basic Materials
https://www.bunkerhillmining.com/
COIN:AQL Tokens.com Corp.
Financial Services
https://www.tokens.com/
BRE:CA Bridgemarq Real Estate Services Inc.
Real Estate CPHC Canterbury Park Holding Corporation
https://www.bridgemarq.com/ Consumer Cyclical
https://www.canterburypark.com/investor-relations/
BRID Bridgeford Foods Corporation
Consumer Defensive CPIX Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc.
https://www.bridgford.com/ Healthcare
https://www.cumberlandpharma.com/
BTCY Biotricity Inc.
Healthcare
https://www.biotricity.com/
CPL:CA Copper Lake Resources Ltd.
Basic Materials
http://copperlakeresources.com/
BWMN Bowman Consulting Group Ltd.
Industrials
https://bowman.com/
CPOP Pop Culture Group Co. Ltd
http://cpop.cn/
CALB California BanCorp
Financial Services
https://www.californiabankofcommerce.com/
CPSS Consumer Portfolio Services Inc.
Financial Services
https://www.consumerportfolio.com/
CDX:CA Cloud DX Inc.
Healthcare
https://www.clouddx.com/#/ CREG China Recycling Energy Corporation
Utilities
http://www.creg-cn.com/en/
CDZI Cadiz Inc.
Utilities
https://www.cadizinc.com/ CRKR Creek Road Miners Inc
Financial Services
https://creekroadminers.com/

CRP:CA Ceres Global Ag Corp. DOGZ Dogness (International) Corporation

Industrials Consumer Defensive
https://ceresglobalagcorp.com/ https://webus.dogness.com/index?lang=en
CRUZ:CNX Cruz Battery Metals Corp Com DTEA DAVIDsTEA Inc.

Basic Materials Consumer Defensive
https://www.cruzbatterymetals.com/ https://www.davidstea.com/
CSCW Color Star Technology Co. Ltd. DXYN The Dixie Group Inc.
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.thedixiegroup.com/
https://www.colorstarinternational.com/
CTG Computer Task Group Incorporated EAGR:CA East Side Games Group
Technology
https://eastsidegamesgroup.com/
https://www.ctg.com/
CUSN:CA Cornish Metals Inc. EARN Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT of

Basic Materials Beneficial Interest
https://www.cornishmetals.com/ Real Estate
http://www.earnreit.com/
CWCO Consolidated Water Co. Ltd.
Utilities EDN Empresa Distribuidora Y
https://cwco.com/ Comercializadora Norte S.A.
Utilities
CYAN Cyanotech Corporation
Consumer Defensive
https://www.cyanotech.com/
EDUC Educational Development Corporation
https://www.edcpub.com/
DALN DallasNews Corporation
https://www.dallasnewscorporation.com/
EEX Emerald Holding Inc.
https://www.emeraldx.com/
DCM:CA Data Communications Management
Corp. EFOI Energy Focus Inc.
Industrials
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.datacm.com/
https://www.energyfocus.com/company/
DEAL:CA Playgon Games Inc. EGT:CA Eguana Technologies Inc.

Industrials
https://www.playgon.com/
https://www.eguanatech.com/
DIT AMCON Distributing Company ELA Envela Corporation

Consumer Defensive
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.amcon.com/#/
https://envela.com/
DLA Delta Apparel Inc. ELSE Electro-Sensors Inc.

Consumer Cyclical
Technology
https://www.deltaapparelinc.com/
https://www.electro-sensors.com/
DLCG:CA Dominion Lending Centres Inc. ENSC Ensysce Biosciences Inc.

Financial Services
Healthcare
https://dominionlending.ca/
https://ensysce.com/
DLHC DLH Holdings Corp. ESE:CA ESE Entertainment Inc.

Industrials
https://www.dlhcorp.com/
https://esegaming.com/

ESN:CA Essential Energy Services Ltd. GFED Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc.
Energy Financial Services
https://essentialenergy.ca/ https://www.gbankmo.com/
ESSC East Stone Acquisition Corporation GIGM GigaMedia Limited

Financial Services Communication Services
http://www.gigamedia.com/EN/home/Default.asp
EVGN:CA EverGen Infrastructure Corp.

Utilities GIII:CA ReGen III Corp.
https://www.evergeninfra.com/ Energy
https://www.regeniii.com/
FAT FAT Brands Inc.

Consumer Cyclical GIP:CA Green Impact Partners Inc.
https://www.fatbrands.com/ Utilities
https://www.greenipi.com/
FAT:CNX Foremost Lithium Resource &

GLDC:CA Cassiar Gold Corp.
Technology Ltd Com Basic Materials
Basic Materials https://cassiargold.com/
https://foremostlithium.com/
GNE Genie Energy Ltd. Class B Stock

FDM:CNX Fandom Sports Media Corp. Utilities
Technology https://genie.com/
https://www.fandomesports.com/#/
GNPX Genprex Inc.

FHYD:CA First Hydrogen Corp. Healthcare
Consumer Cyclical https://www.genprex.com/
https://firsthydrogen.com/
GRB:CA Greenbriar Capital Corp.

FLNT Fluent Inc. Utilities
Communication Services https://greenbriarcapitalcorp.ca/
https://www.fluentco.com/
GVP GSE Systems Inc.

FNGR FingerMotion Inc. Technology
Communication Services https://www.gses.com/
https://www.fingermotion.com/
GWAY:CNX Greenway Greenhouse Cannabis

FNWB First Northwest Bancorp
Financial Services Corporation
https://www.ffnwb.com/ Healthcare
https://www.greenway.ca/
FRBK Republic First Bancorp Inc.

Financial Services GXE:CA Gear Energy Ltd.
https://www.myrepublicbank.com/ Energy
https://gearenergy.com/
FUU:CA Fission 3.0 Corp.
Energy GXU:CA GoviEx Uranium Inc.
https://www.fission3corp.com/ Energy
https://goviex.com/
GASS StealthGas Inc.
Industrials HAMR:CNX Silver Hammer Mining Corp Com
https://www.stealthgas.com/ Basic Materials
https://silverhammermining.com/
GASX:CA NG Energy International Corp.
Energy HBP Huttig Building Products Inc.
https://ngenergyintl.com/ Industrials
https://www.huttig.com/

HCDI Harbor Custom Development Inc. IDG:CA Indigo Books & Music Inc.
Real Estate Consumer Cyclical
https://harborcustomhomes.com/ https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/
HEO:CA H2O Innovation Inc. IEI:CA Imperial Equities Inc.

Utilities Real Estate
https://www.h2oinnovation.com/ https://imperialequities.com/
HGSH China HGS Real Estate Inc. IFRX InflaRx N.V.

Real Estate Healthcare
http://www.chinahgs.com/ https://www.inflarx.de/
HHS Harte-Hanks, Inc. IINN Inspira Technologies Oxy B.H.N. Ltd.

Communication Services Healthcare
https://www.hartehanks.com/ https://inspira-technologies.com/
HME:CA Hemisphere Energy Corporation ILI:CA Imagine Lithium Inc Com

Energy Basic Materials
https://www.hemisphereenergy.ca/ https://www.imaginelithium.com/
HOLD:AQL IMMUTABLE HOLDINGS INC. IMBI iMedia Brands Inc.

Financial Services Consumer Cyclical
https://www.immutableholdings.com/ https://www.imediabrands.com/
HPS.A:CA Hammond Power Solutions Inc. Class A IMUX Immunic Inc.

Healthcare
Subordinate Voting Shares https://imux.com/
Industrials
https://americas.hammondpowersolutions.com/
INTG The Intergroup Corporation
Consumer Cyclical
HSON Hudson Global Inc. https://www.intgla.com/
Industrials
https://www.hudsonrpo.com/
IPO:CA InPlay Oil Corp.
Energy
HTIA Healthcare Trust Inc. https://www.inplayoil.com/
Real Estate
http://www.healthcaretrustinc.com/
IROQ IF Bancorp Inc.
Financial Services
HTOO Fusion Fuel Green PLC https://www.iroquoisfed.com/
Utilities
https://www.fusion-fuel.eu/
ISIG Insignia Systems Inc.
HWBK Hawthorn Bancshares Inc. https://insigniasystems.com/
Financial Services
https://www.hawthornbancshares.com
ISPC iSpecimen Inc.
Healthcare
HWO:CA High Arctic Energy Services Inc. https://www.ispecimen.com/
Energy
https://haes.ca/ IVAC Intevac Inc.
Industrials
HZN Horizon Global Corporation https://www.intevac.com/
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.horizonglobal.com/
JE:CA Just Energy Group Inc.
Utilities
IBAT:CNX International Battery https://investors.justenergy.com/
Basic Materials
https://www.ibatterymetals.com/

JILL J. Jill Inc. LFVN Lifevantage Corporation

Consumer Cyclical Consumer Defensive
https://www.jjill.com/ https://www.lifevantage.com/us-en/
JOB GEE Group Inc. LGVN Longeveron Inc.

https://www.geegroup.com/ https://www.longeveron.com/
JOY:CA Journey Energy Inc. LINC Lincoln Educational Services

Energy Corporation
https://www.journeyenergy.ca/ Consumer Defensive
https://www.lincolntech.edu/
JRJC China Finance Online Co. Limited
Financial Services LIQT LiqTech International Inc.
http://www.chinafinanceonline.com/ Industrials
https://liqtech.com/
JVA Coffee Holding Co. Inc. LIS:CA Lithium South Development

Consumer Defensive
https://coffeeholding.com/ Corporation
Basic Materials
https://www.lithiumsouth.com/
JWEL Jowell Global Ltd.
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.1juhao.com/ LMB Limbach Holdings Inc.
Industrials
https://www.limbachinc.com/
KFS Kingsway Financial Services Inc.
Consumer Cyclical
https://kingsway-financial.com/ LMNR Limoneira Co
Consumer Defensive
https://www.limoneira.com/
KPT:CA KP Tissue Inc.
Consumer Defensive
https://www.kptissueinc.com/home LMRKO Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP
Real Estate
https://www.landmarkmlp.com/
KULR KULR Technology Group Inc.
Technology
https://www.kulrtechnology.com/
LOV Spark Networks Inc. American
Depositary Shares
LAKE Lakeland Industries Inc. https://www.spark.net/
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.lakeland.com/us
LQDA Liquidia Corporation
Healthcare
LAZY Lazydays Holdings Inc. https://www.liquidia.com/
Consumer Cyclical
https://lazydays.com/
LQID:CNX Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc.
Technology
LEE Lee Enterprises Incorporated https://liquidavatartechnologies.com/
https://lee.net/
LTBR Lightbridge Corporation
Industrials
LEM:CA Leading Edge Materials Corp. https://www.ltbridge.com/
Basic Materials
https://leadingedgematerials.com/
LTRX Lantronix Inc.
Technology
LFT Lument Finance Trust Inc. https://www.lantronix.com/
Real Estate
https://www.lumentfinancetrust.com/

LXE:CA Leucrotta Exploration Inc. MTEX Mannatech Incorporated

Energy Consumer Defensive
https://www.leucrotta.ca/ https://us.mannatech.com
MAYS J. W. Mays Inc. MXG:CA Maxim Power Corp.

Real Estate Utilities
http://www.jwmays.com/ https://maximpowercorp.com/
MBX:CA Microbix Biosystems Inc. NBVA:CA Nubeva Technologies Ltd.

Healthcare Technology
https://microbix.com/ https://www.nubeva.com/
MCR:CA Macro Enterprises Inc. NCX:CA NorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc.
Energy Basic Materials
http://www.macroindustries.ca/ https://www.northisle.ca/
MFH Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. NEN New England Realty Associates
Financial Services
https://mercurityfintech.com/
Limited Partnership Class A Depositary
Receipts Evidencing Units of Limited
MHC.U:CA Flagship Communities Real Estate Partnership
Real Estate
Investment Trust
Real Estate
https://flagshipcommunities.com/ NGC:CA Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp. III
Basic Materials
MIR:CA MedMira Inc. http://www.northerngenesis.com/
Healthcare
https://medmira.com/ NGEX:CA NGEx Minerals Ltd.
Basic Materials
MITT AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. https://ngexminerals.com/
Real Estate
https://www.agmortgageinvestmenttrust.com/ NOW:CA NowVertical Group Inc.
Technology
MLP Maui Land & Pineapple Company Inc. https://www.nowvertical.com/
Real Estate
https://mauiland.com/
NPK:CA Verde Agritech Plc Ordinary Shares
Basic Materials
MOVE:AQL POWERTAP HYDROGEN CAPITAL https://investor.verde.ag/
CORP.
Utilities NPR:CA North Peak Resources Ltd.
https://powertapfuels.com/ Basic Materials
https://northpeakresources.com/
MPM:CA Millennial Precious Metals Corp.
Basic Materials NREF NexPoint Real Estate Finance Inc -
https://millennialpreciousmetals.com/
Ordinary Shares
Real Estate
MRAM Everspin Technologies Inc. https://www.nexpointfinance.com
Technology
https://www.everspin.com/
NSE:CA New Stratus Energy Inc.
MRBK Meridian Corporation Energy
Financial Services https://newstratusenergy.com/
http://www.meridian-ks.com/meridian/
NTE:CA Network Media Group Inc.
https://www.networkmediagroup.ca/

NTRB Nutriband Inc. PETV PetVivo Holdings Inc.

Healthcare Healthcare
https://nutriband.com/ https://petvivo.com/
NUZE NuZee Inc. PETZ TDH Holdings Inc.

Consumer Defensive Consumer Defensive
https://mynuzee.com/
PEX:CA Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd.
NVVE Nuvve Holding Corp. Basic Materials
Consumer Cyclical https://pacificridgeexploration.com/
https://nuvve.com/
PGLD:CA P2 Gold Inc.
NYC New York City REIT Inc. Class A Basic Materials
Real Estate https://www.p2gold.com/
http://www.newyorkcityreit.com/
PHUN Phunware Inc.
OAM:CA OverActive Media Corp. Technology
Communication Services https://www.phunware.com/
https://overactivemedia.com/
PINE Alpine Income Property Trust Inc.
OBT Orange County Bancorp Inc Real Estate
Financial Services https://alpinereit.com/
https://www.orangebanktrust.com/
OCC Optical Cable Corporation PINK:CA Perimeter Medical Imaging AI Inc.

Technology Healthcare
https://www.occfiber.com/ https://www.perimetermed.com/
OCG Oriental Culture Holding LTD PLIN China Xiangtai Food Co. Ltd.
Consumer Cyclical Consumer Defensive
http://www.ocgroup.hk/ http://ir.plinfood.com/
OEG Orbital Energy Group Inc. PMKR:CA Playmaker Capital Inc.

Utilities Consumer Cyclical
https://www.orbitalenergygroup.com/ https://www.playmaker.fans/
OG:CA Organic Garage Ltd. PMT:CA Perpetual Energy Inc.

Consumer Defensive Energy
https://www.organicgarage.com/investors http://www.perpetualenergyinc.com/
OPBK OP Bancorp PPIH Perma-Pipe International Holdings Inc.

https://myopenbank.com/ https://www.permapipe.com/
OPT:CA Optiva Inc. PPR:CA Prairie Provident Resources Inc.

Technology Energy
https://optiva.com/ https://www.ppr.ca/
OXBR Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited PPSI Pioneer Power Solutions Inc.

http://www.oxbridgere.com/ https://www.pioneerpowersolutions.com/
PDFI:CNX Prophecy DeFi Inc. Subordinate Voting PRPH ProPhase Labs Inc.
Shares Healthcare
Financial Services https://www.prophaselabs.com/
https://www.prophecydefi.com/

PRQ:CA Petrus Resources Ltd. RHC:CA Royal Helium Ltd.

Energy Energy
http://www.petrusresources.com/ https://royalheliumltd.com/
PSD:CA Pulse Seismic Inc. RMCF Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc.
Energy Consumer Defensive
https://www.pulseseismic.com/ https://www.rmcf.com/
PSH:CA PetroShale Inc. ROOT:CA Roots Corporation

Energy Consumer Cyclical
http://www.petroshaleinc.com/ https://www.roots.com/
PTPI Petros Pharmaceuticals Inc. RZE:CA Razor Energy Corp.

Healthcare Energy
https://www.petrospharma.com/ https://www.razor-energy.com/
PVT:CA Pivotree Inc. SACH Sachem Capital Corp.

Technology Real Estate
https://pivotree.com/ https://www.sachemcapitalcorp.com/
PW Power REIT SALT:CA Atlas Salt Inc.

Real Estate
Basic Materials
https://www.pwreit.com/
https://atlassalt.com/
QRHC Quest Resource Holding Corporation SANW S&W Seed Company

Industrials
Consumer Defensive
https://www.questrmg.com/
https://swseedco.com/
RCMT RCM Technologies Inc. SATO:CA Invesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto

Industrials
https://www.rcmt.com/ Economy ETF
Financial Services
https://www.invesco.com/us/financial-products/etfs/product-
RDCM Radcom Ltd. detail?audienceType=Advisor&productId=ETF-SATO
https://radcom.com/
SAU:CA St. Augustine Gold and Copper Limited
RELI Reliance Global Group Inc. Basic Materials
Industrials https://www.sagcmining.com/
https://relianceglobalgroup.com/
SCYX SCYNEXIS Inc.
RELL Richardson Electronics Ltd. Healthcare
Technology https://www.scynexis.com/
https://www.rell.com/
SEAC SeaChange International Inc.
RET.A:CA Reitmans (Canada) Limited Technology
Consumer Cyclical https://www.seachange.com/
http://www.reitmanscanadalimited.com/
SECU:CA SSC Security Services Corp.
Consumer Defensive
RETO ReTo Eco-Solutions Inc. https://securityservicescorp.ca/
Basic Materials
http://en.retoeco.com/intro/1.html
SELF Global Self Storage Inc.
Real Estate
RGCO RGC Resources Inc. https://www.globalselfstorage.us/
Utilities
https://www.rgcresources.com/

SEV:CA Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. SPG:CA Spark Power Group Inc.

Technology Utilities
https://www.spectra7.com/ https://sparkpowercorp.com/
SEVN Seven Hills Realty Trust SPN:CA Snipp Interactive Inc.

Real Estate Communication Services
https://sevnreit.com/home/default.aspx https://www.snipp.com/
SGA Saga Communications Inc. SQFT Presidio Property Trust Inc.

Communication Services Real Estate
https://sagacom.com/ https://presidiopt.com/
SGLY Singularity Future Technology Ltd SRTS Sensus Healthcare Inc.

https://www.sino-global.com/investor-relations/corporate- https://www.sensushealthcare.com/
profile/default.aspx
STG Sunlands Technology Group American
SHLE:CA Source Energy Services Ltd. Depositary Shares representing Class A
Energy
Consumer Defensive
https://www.sourceenergyservices.com/
http://www.sunlands.com/
SJ Scienjoy Holding Corporation STON StoneMor Inc.

Consumer Cyclical
https://ir.scienjoy.com/
https://www.stonemor.com/
SKLL:CNX Royal Wins Corporation

Consumer Cyclical STS:CA South Star Battery Metals Corp.
https://royalwins.com/ Basic Materials
https://www.southstarbatterymetals.com/
SLNH Soluna Holdings Inc.
Technology SUMR Summer Infant Inc.
https://www.solunacomputing.com/ Consumer Defensive
https://www.summerinfant.com/home
SMC:CA Sulliden Mining Capital Inc. SV Spring Valley Acquisition Corp.

Basic Materials
Financial Services
http://sulliden.com/
https://sv-ac.com/
SMID Smith-Midland Corporation SWP:CA Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc.

Basic Materials Consumer Defensive
https://smithmidland.com/ https://www.swisswater.com/
SMIT Schmitt Industries Inc. SXP:CA Supremex Inc.

Technology Consumer Cyclical
https://www.schmittindustries.com/ https://www.supremex.com/
SOIL:CA Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. TATT TAT Technologies Ltd.
Energy Industrials
https://www.saturnoil.com/ https://tat-technologies.com/
SONA:CNX Sona Nanotech Inc TBRD:CA Thunderbird Entertainment

Healthcare Communication Services
https://sonanano.com/ https://thunderbird.tv/
SOTK Sono-Tek Corporation TC TuanChe Limited

Technology Communication Services
https://www.sono-tek.com/ http://ir.tuanche.com/

TDAC Lottery.com Com TYUM:CNX Yumy Candy Co Inc Com

Financial Services Consumer Defensive
https://lottery.com/ https://yumybear.com/
TGL:CA TransGlobe Energy Corporation UBCP United Bancorp Inc.

https://www.trans-globe.com/home/default.aspx https://www.unitedbancorp.com/corporate-information/
corporate-profile/default.aspx
TGO:CA TeraGo Inc.
Communication Services UG United-Guardian Inc.
https://terago.ca/ Consumer Defensive
https://u-g.com/
TLT:CA Theralase Technologies Inc.
Healthcare UGE:CA UGE International Ltd.
https://theralase.com/ Technology
https://ugei.com/
TNY:CNX The Tinley Beverage Company Inc
Consumer Defensive UNTY Unity Bancorp Inc.
https://drinktinley.com/ Financial Services
https://unitybank.com/
TNZ:CA Tenaz Energy Corp. USAK USA Truck Inc.

Energy
Industrials
https://www.tenazenergy.com/
https://www.usa-truck.com/
TOMZ TOMI Environmental Solutions Inc. UTI Universal Technical Institute Inc
Industrials
Consumer Defensive
https://tomimist.com/
https://www.uti.edu/
TOT:CA Total Energy Services Inc. VBFC Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp.
https://www.totalenergy.ca/ https://www.villagebank.com/investor-relations/
TPHS Trinity Place Holdings Inc. VENZ:CA Venzee Technologies Inc.

Real Estate Technology
https://tphs.com/ https://venzee.com/
TRKA Troika Media Group Inc. VIA Via Renewables Inc.

Communication Services Utilities
https://www.troikamedia.com/ https://viarenewables.com/
TRL:CA Trilogy International Partners Inc. VLI:CA Vision Lithium Inc.

Basic Materials
https://visionlithium.com/
TRT Trio-Tech International
Technology
https://www.triotech.com/
VO:CA Valore Metals Corp.
Energy
http://valoremetals.com/
TSQ Townsquare Media Inc. Class A
https://www.townsquaremedia.com/
VRAR The Glimpse Group Inc.
Technology
https://www.theglimpsegroup.com/
TTX:CNX Tantalex Resources Corporation
Basic Materials VSBY:CNX VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp -
https://www.tantalexlithium.com/
Ordinary Shares
Technology
https://vsblty.net/investors/

VUI:CA Virginia Energy Resources Inc. WHY:CA West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources
Energy
http://virginiaenergyresources.com/
Ltd.
Basic Materials
http://www.whyresources.com/
VWTR Vidler Water Resources Inc.
Utilities
http://www.vidlerwater.com/
WNDR:AQL WONDERFI TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Technology
https://www.wonder.fi/
WAVD WaveDancer Inc.
Technology
https://wavedancer.com/ WSTG Wayside Technology Group Inc.
Technology
https://www.waysidetechnology.com/
WAVE Eco Wave Power Global AB
Utilities
https://www.ecowavepower.com/ WWT:CA Water Ways Technologies Inc.
Industrials
https://water-ways-technologies.com/
WDR:CNX Wondr Gaming Corp.
https://www.wondrgaming.com/wondr-nft/ XSPA XpresSpa Group Inc.
Consumer Cyclical
https://xpresspagroup.com/
WEB:CA Westbridge Energy Corporation
Energy
https://www.westbridge.energy/
YAK:CA Mongolia Growth Group Ltd.
Real Estate
https://www.mongoliagrowthgroup.com/
WEE:CA Wavefront Technology Solutions Inc.
Energy YQ 17 Education & Technology Group Inc.
https://onthewavefront.com/ Consumer Defensive
https://ir.17zuoye.com/
WEYS Weyco Group Inc.
Consumer Cyclical
https://www.weycogroup.com/home/index.html

ET F CORN ER
// By Michael Krause
Microcap ETFs
ETF Landscape to a company’s fundamentals. Few investors have

been willing pay the hefty charges, with the fund
Microcap stocks offer many attractions for inves- gathering only about $6 million in AUM so far.
tors, and ETFs are an easy and popular way to
gain exposure to this segment of the equity Under the Hood
market. There are three ETFs explicitly tracking U.S.
microcap stocks. The oldest and largest by far is the Let us look under the hood to see how these funds
iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC), with almost $1.1 billion differ from one another, focusing primarily on how
in assets under management (AUM). The fund takes the broad-based passive approach of IWC contrasts
a traditional, passive approach to microcaps by with the selective approach of FDM. The two funds
tracking a broad, market-cap weighted index includ- have 178 holdings in common (89% of FDM’s 207
ing nearly 1,800 stocks (Table 1). stocks) but overlap by weight is just 20% (Figure 1).
This results in significant differences in sector ex-
In contrast, the First Trust Dow Jones Select Micro- posure, with IWC offering significantly more Health
Cap ETF (FDM) takes a more selective approach Care (+14%) but less exposure to Financials (-13%).
by including only 207 microcap stocks that are
screened for both liquidity and fundamentals such as This gives FDM somewhat of a “Value” tilt relative to
their price-to-earnings ratio, operating profit margins IWC, not surprising given the former’s fundamental-
and EPS growth. Its performance history is nearly as ly-driven screening criteria. This is further supported
long as IWC’s, and both funds have an expense ratio when looking at valuation metrics of the two funds.
of 60 basis points.
Stocks in the broader IWC are significantly more
Finally, the AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Micro-Cap expensive in aggregate than their counterparts in
ETF (DWMC) is an actively managed fund with an FDM based traditional valuation metrics including
expense ratio to match of 127 basis points. This price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-book value (P/BV)
seems excessive to us given that the ETF follows a and others (Table 2). The difference in the P/E ratio
systematically-driven methodology based on relative is particularly large but can be explained by the high
strength, with stock selection done without regard number of loss-making companies in IWC (which
Table 1: Microcap ETFs
Fund (Ticker) Expense Ratio # of Holdings Inception Date AUM (mns)

iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) 60 bp 1,786 8/12/2005 $1,091
First Trust DJ Select MicroCap ETF 60 bp 207 9/27/2005 $170
(FDM)
AdvisorShares Dorsey Wright Micro- 127 bp 163 7/10/18 $6
Cap ETF (DWMC)
Source: www.etfrc.com

Figure 1: Overlap Analysis
IWC vs. FDM
depresses overall profits and drives the P/E ratio up). for those in FDM. The result is that on a price-to-
The presence of many loss-making companies is growth basis (P/E divided by the LTG estimate, or
understandable in a microcap index which is bound “PEG”), IWC actually appears a bit cheaper than FDM.
to include many early-stage, high-growth companies. (For perspective, the LTG forecast for firms in the
The methodology behind FDM on the other hand S&P 500 is 12%).
screens most of these companies out.
Performance
FDM’s attractive valuation multiples do not come
without some tradeoffs. The biggest is that compa- Both IWC and FDM have a lengthy performance
nies in IWC are forecast to have a much higher long history for comparison. As Figure 2 below shows,
term EPS growth rate of 58% compared to just 10% returns for the two were nearly identical for their
Table 2: Valuation Metrics
IWC FDM
Fwd. Price-to-Sales (P/S) 0.8x 0.7x
Fwd. Price-to-Earnings (P/E) 41.5x 11.5x
Fwd. Price-to-Cash Flow (P/CF) 10.0x 6.9x
Fwd. Price-to-Book Value (P/BV) 1.9x 1.4x
Fwd. Yield 2.0% 2.4%
Long Term EPS Growth Est. (LTG) 58% 10%
Price-to-Growth (PEG) 0.7x 1.2x
Source: www.etfrc.com as of 2/4/22

Figure 2: Total Returns (Rebased)
IWC vs. FDM, 9/30/05 – 1/31/22 returns resulting from FDM’s more selective portfolio
versus the broad microcap portfolio tracked by
400 IWC—over the most periods over the 15-year history
IWC FDM
350 examined was minimal, at less than ±1.0. The lone
except is the most recent one-year period, where
300
FDM has done significantly better.
250
200 If history is any guide, then over the very long term
150 it may not make much of a difference in which of
100 these two ETFs one chooses to invest. Over the
50 intermediate term, however, we have seen that
returns can diverge quite substantially. Whether one
0
2005 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023 of these outperforms in the next few years will likely
depend on whether the recent rotation towards
value—which tends to benefit stocks in FDM—per-
sists or proves to be fleeting.
Why invest via ETFs?

first 10 years in existence. But in mid-2015 returns
began to diverge, with FDM opening a considerable When stock returns are reasonably well dispersed
lead over IWC until the pandemic hit the market in with a normal distribution, then investors stand at
February 2020. Subsequently, FDM experienced a least a 50/50 chance of improving returns through
greater drawdown, followed by a weaker recovery stock selection as opposed to owning a broad swath
rally such that the two ETFs ended up with virtually of the asset class as with an ETF.
identical long-term returns through the fall of 2021.
Recently however, returns have begun to diverge However, that is often not the case in the microcap
again, with the sell-off of stocks in IWC accelerating segment of the equity markets where “losers” often
in January 2022, while the smaller group stocks in outnumber “winners” but a few of the winners have
FDM have held up relatively well. exceptional returns. Returns are not normally distrib-
uted, but rather skewed towards the below-average.
Further analysis shows that the two funds tended to
be highly correlated, with an r-squared value ranging For example, the average return for stocks in IWC
between 76% and 91%, and volatility generally within with full five-year results for the period ending
a percentage point of each other (Table 3). As a January 31, 2022 was a gain of 35%, but the median
result, the information ratio—that is, the risk-adjusted return was just 2%. Looked at another way, 855 out
Table 3: Performance Analysis
1 YR 3 YRS 5 YRS 10 YRS 15 YRS

Annual Returns
IWC -6.3% 12.7% 9.5% 11.4% 6.4%
FDM 20.8% 11.9% 8.5% 12.2% 7.4%
Volatility
IWC 16.0% 26.8% 23.4% 19.8% 22.2%
FDM 17.4% 26.8% 23.0% 19.5% 21.8%
Information Ratio
FDM vs. IWC 11.0 -0.3 -0.4 0.4 0.5

of 1,289 stocks, or 66%, had below-average per- numerous laggards. This is especially true for inves-
formance, making it a tough environment for stock tors who see the appeal of the microcap space but
pickers (Figure 3). lack the time to do sufficient research these often-
overlooked companies.
This makes an index-based approach to microcap
Mr. Krause is a pioneer in the research of Exchange Traded Funds, having
investing ideal in our opinion, where the few big
developed a process for aggregating a fundamental analysis of the funds’
outperformers will be somewhere among the more underlying constituents into a unique, forward-looking set of ratings and
metrics for each ETF. He founded AltaVista Research in 2003, which today
tracks more than 2,400 ETFs. The company publishes its ratings and
analysis, along with portfolio building tools, on the ETF Research Center
Figure 3: Histogram of 1YR returns website (www.etfrc.com).
Stocks in the iShares Micro-Cap ETF
Michael Krause does not own shares in any ETF’s mentioned.
400
number of stocks
avg. return
350
35%
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
<-50% 0-50% 100-150% 200-300% 400%+

insi g hts
// By John Bonfiglio, PhD
Financing
small biotech
companies in 2022
A Serial CEO’s perspective
It has been a difficult few years for microcap biotech companies

both in terms of funding and drug development.
M
y 20 plus years experience as a CEO and
COO for several microcap and private bio-
tech companies has given me some unique
perspectives on issues that can affect financing and
increasing valuations. Most of my career has been
spent running and advising public companies but
recently I have been advising pre-IPO companies.
The issues can be remarkably similar.
Every company has its own history and “baggage”

and path to success. However, there are many
similarities that can cause difficulties in raising capital.
For example, let’s examine a private company
whose founder is the CEO and owns most of the
Company’s shares or the original funding for the
start-up of the company was friends and family
investors. Rarely are venture capital or outside of a company’s shares as a private company without
funding sources early in the process. Founders often funding.
times have a strong desire to protect the equity of
the early investors when raising capital. Company Unfortunately, some companies go public either
Board members want to take the company public through an IPO or a reverse merger prematurely.
but can’t decide by which pathway or are not The expectations of the possibilities derived from
connected in the investment banking community. publicly trading often times lead to tremendous
Today many choices exist; IPO? Reverse merger? disappointment when they have no stock trading
SPAC? Each have their own pros and cons but what volume, no institutional support, and it is very diffi-
they have in common is more than likely the process cult to raise additional capital. Once reality replaces
will involve the need to reverse stock split along wishful thinking there remains no easy solution for
with a capital raise. Ultimately the Board needs to this situation. Raising awareness for the company
convince the CEO/founder that owning a substantial and its technology is critical at this point. A strong
percentage of a well-funded public company with a management team with experience is also important
decent market cap is better than owning all or most at this juncture. Experienced management has been

there done that so the planning for each stage
capital formation for the public company relation-
“Unfortunately some companies
ship with investors is hopefully management’s go public either through
strength. But again, there must be an appetite for
the company’s technology and a clear pathway to a an IPO or a reverse merger
major inflection point in the stock or the company’s
valuation will suffer even after capital is raised.
prematurely. The expectations
of the possibilities derived from
What are the answers? As you already know there is
no one answer for all situations. Let’s talk internal is- publicly trading often times lead
sues first. I have found that small private companies
with very little capital have neglected auditing their
to tremendous disappointment
financials on a yearly basis to preserve capital. It is when they have no stock trading
essential for companies looking to raise institutional
capital to bring the financials up to date. Then there volume, no institutional support,
is the mindset of the company. I have seen many
Boards and CEOs balk at the pre-money valuations and it is very difficult to raise
offered by potential investors. I understand the additional capital.”
consternation especially if the valuation is far less
than the last round of financing. The two options
are to look for a different source of funding or to
negotiate with the existing investor. Remember too
that if this is a public company a reverse stock split
may be required as well.
There is another internal issue that can be sensi- 3. Why this technology fills an unmet medical
tive – who is the best person to be the face of the need?
company? Of course, normally it is the CEO or the 4. Milestone slide with reasonable timelines. The
CFO. However, in my experience, sometimes the lead timelines need to be real regardless if it pushes
person is not a good presenter. I’ve seen CEOs lose filing of an NDA or BLA out further. Include
their audience in the first five minutes of a presenta- potential meetings with FDA or results of
tion. Why? The presenter doesn’t tailor the presenta- meetings if applicable.
tion to the audience. If you are presenting to a 5. Pipeline slide if applicable.
potential institutional investor and there is an analyst 6. Intellectual property status – what is the major
in the room, a presentation with a technical slant is coverage? Is it composition of matter, use,
fine. If however, you are speaking to an audience of formulation?
stock brokers, a presentation that leaves them with 7. Use of funds overlaid with milestones.
at most three key takeaways they can pitch to their 8. Exit strategy if any for the company. Sale,
clients is needed. A good external coach can help merger, or licensing deal.
sometimes but other times its best to find a different 9. Management team and Board with short bio’s.
senior manager or Board member to help.
In seeking capital, it is important to realize investors
In my opinion, many companies do not spend are looking for some tangible milestones that will
enough time on their corporate presentations. A increase the value of the company over time. This
good investor presentation can greatly help get seems self-explanatory but it sometimes is not
attention from potential investors. The presentation clear. Some companies are afraid of asking for the
should include the following: capital they need to move the company forward
simply because they believe the investors will balk
1. A clear mission statement of the company’s at such a large amount. I believe it is critical that the
goal and area of focus. timelines and capital needed are spelled out in detail.
2. Slides on the technology, unmet medical need If it is possible to tranche the raise based on hitting
and market potential. milestones, then that is one option. The other option

John N. Bonfiglio PhD MBA and has over 30 years’ experience in the
is to simply base the capital raise on the first several biotech/pharmaceutical industry Including over 20 years as a C-level
milestones and plan on another raise hopefully at executive in the biotech industry.
a higher valuation once the milestones have been Dr. Bonfiglio started his career with 11 years at Allergan pharmaceuticals.
completed. Many times meeting a milestone can trig- He spent 3 years at Baxter HealthCare before starting a career in small
biotech companies. He rose to the position of CEO at Peregrine Pharma-
ger a cash infusion for further growth as an example ceuticals where he turned around the financially strapped public company.
calling outstanding in the money warrants.
Dr. Bonfiglio was named COO at Cypress Bioscience while the company
was reinventing itself as neuro-pharmaceutical company. He then joined
Finally, the senior management team and the Board the Immune Response Corporation as CEO and was responsible for raising
have to realize the importance of market awareness over $50M and restarting clinicals in the HIV and MS areas.
investor visibility and an outside investor relations As CEO at Argos Therapeutics a privately held oncology company, he
group. The right group can increase awareness, set raised $35M through a series C financing. His tenure at Argos produced
clinical data which led to an IPO and subsequent financings.
up meetings with potential investors, advise the
company on which meetings to attend and which Following Argos, he became President and CEO at Oragenics in Tampa, Fl.
Here he completed two strategic deals with Intrexon Corporation, raised
are not worth the time or expense. They can also $29M relisted the company on the NYSE:MKT and refocused the company
help put together presentations and press releases. on new novel and proprietary antibiotics
It is difficult to convince some Boards and CEOs to Dr. Bonfiglio was the COO at TapImmune where he was responsible for
spend much needed cash on these activities how- starting a clinical program, raising capital and relisting the company on
ever, they are critical and I believe hard to manage Nasdaq. The company is now known as Marker Therapeutics (MRKR
-Nasdaq).
internally while trying to move the company forward.
Dr. Bonfiglio has held independent Board positions at GT BioPharma
(GTBP), Microlin and Genprex (GNPX).
I hope this short article will help put some of the criti-
cal issues into focus. Obviously, types of financing, He recently joined Sequella a private company developing new therapies
for Multi Drug Resistant tuberculosis as an executive Board director.
investment bank choices, and when to raise capital
also need to be discussed. I’ll save those discussions To reach Dr. Bonfiglio:
bonfiglio.john@gmail.com
for my next article.

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MicroCap Review Magazine 65
www.SNN.Network
insi g hts
// By Maneesh Nath
India’s MicroCap
Ecosystem
India became a $1Trillion economy in 2007, during the past 15
years; it has grown at around 8% per annum and has more than
tripled to $3.1 Trillion in 2022.
G
iven the tremendous amount of growth rate out of India for the foreseeable future. Starting from
in the Indian economy, Indian equity markets the microcap region, it provides a long runway for
have also performed well in the past decade the company to grow so it really helps the portfo-
and expect to give good results for the next few de- lio performance to find these multi-baggers.
cades. So, many new big companies will be coming
June 2020 to Feb 2022 US Small Cap Stocks Portfolio 1.7 Years Performance Summary:
Inception Price on 1st 10th Feb 2022 Since Inception 1st Jun 2020 to
S.NO. Ticker Holding Jun 2020 (USD) Market Price (USD) date (Gain/Loss %)
1 CASH Meta Financial Grp Inc 18.5 60 224%
2 SHYF The Shyft Group Inc 16.8 44 164%
3 RCM R1 RCM Inc 10.8 27 147%
4 VBTX Veritex Holdings Inc 17.8 41 132%
5 STC Sangoma Technologies Corp 1.7 4 129%
6 VCTR Victory Capital Holdings Inc 16.6 37 123%
7 MED Medifast Inc 103.3 197 90%
8 VRTU Virtusa Corp 30.4 54 76%
9 MITK Mitek Systems Inc 9.4 16 75%
10 FFXDF Fairfax India Holdings Corp 7.7 12 60%
11 CSIQ Canadian Solar Inc 18.4 29 57%
12 SNEX INTL FCStone Inc 51.2 77 51%
13 MBUU Malibu Boats Inc 47.1 71 51%
14 REGI Renewable Energy Group Inc 28.6 39 37%
15 GRVY GRAVITY Co Ltd 51.2 65 27%
16 VNDA Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc 11.4 14 26%
17 EGO Eldorado Gold Corp 8.4 10 22%
18 ELA Envela Corp 3.5 4 20%
19 CNXN PC Connection Inc 43.4 50 16%
20 MHH Mastech Digital Inc 18.3 20 7%
21 OESX Orion Energy Systems Inc 4.5 4 -9%
Index on 1st June 10th Feb 2022
S.NO. Symbol Benchmark 2020 Index Value 73%
1 ^RUT Russell 2000 1406 2051 46%

Since June 2020, Best performing stock in the US Small Cap portfolio: Meta Financial Grp Inc (CASH) is up 224% (3.3X) in 1.7 years
After doing lot of research, it was quite clear that companies, I started venturing in the Indian microcap
in the Indian equity markets, very high growth companies. Eventually, using the positive feedback
rate happens up to the company reaches market loop of portfolio company’s results, I developed a
cap of $5 Billion. So to get a 100X in a decade better framework and getting good success rate in
or less in a stock idea, I have to start looking at the Indian microcap segment as well.
companies around $50 Million market cap. Now
Indian equity markets have roughly 2000 publicly In June 2020, with the help of my Systematic Stock
listed companies in the $5Million to $300M market Selection Process (SSSP) framework, I created
cap range. Most of these companies are under an equally weighted 21 US Small Cap companies
researched and has lack of institutional and big portfolio. In the past twenty months (1.7 years), my
investor’s coverage. US portfolio (also published in the SNN Microcap
Review Magazine Aug 2020 edition) has generated
This provides a vast variety of companies and if a cumulative return of 73%, out-performing the
carefully studied, lot of good wealth creators can be Russell 2000 Index benchmark by 27%.
found early on. So, I fine tuned my framework which
I had earlier developed for the US equity markets to Following seven stocks which have more than
take care of the vast amount of companies and com- doubled in the past 1.7 years are as follows: Meta
plexities of the Indian equity markets. Once, I started Financial Grp Inc (CASH), The Shyft Group Inc
getting some success in the mid and small cap Indian (SHYF), R1 RCM Inc (RCM), Veritex Holdings Inc

May 2020 to Feb 2022 India Small Cap Stocks Portfolio 1.8 Years Performance Summary:
Inception Price on 8th 10th Feb 2022 Market Since Inception 8th May
S.NO. Ticker Holding May 2020 (INR) Price (INR) 2020 to date (Gain/Loss %)
1 HLEG.BO HLE Glascoat Ltd 727 6425 784%
2 INAM.BO Indo Amines Ltd 22 112 409%
3 PAUS.BO Paushak Ltd 1955 9900 406%
4 AOLL.NS Apollo Pipes Ltd 108 512 374%
5 ELHO.BO Eldeco Housing And Industries Ltd 171 795 365%
6 PRIVISCL.NS Privi Speciality Chemicals Ltd 442 1978 348%
7 AXTL.BO Axtel Industries Ltd 98 385 293%
8 GUFI.BO Gufic BioSciences Ltd 58 227 291%
9 NEWG.NS Newgen Software Technologies Ltd 150 560 273%
10 ASTE.BO Astec LifeSciences Ltd 514 1664 224%
11 ASAL.BO Associated Alcohols & Breweries Ltd 188 476 153%
12 AJAN.NS Amrutanjan Health Care Ltd 352 832 136%
13 BHAGERIA.NS Bhageria Industries Ltd 112 252 125%
14 GTHM.BO Gujarat Themis Biosyn Ltd 192 421 119%
15 HEST.BO Hester Biosciences Ltd 1132 2432 115%
16 BATP.BO Bharat Parenterals Ltd 202 377 87%
17 GMBR.NS G M Breweries Ltd 411 668 63%
18 VALN.BO Valiant Organics Ltd 732 1070 46%
19 TSPK.BO Transpek Industry Ltd 1584 2182 38%
20 IOLCP.NS IOL Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd 328 407 24%
Index on 8th May 10th Feb 2022 Index
S.NO. Symbol Benchmark 2020 Value 234%
1 BSE-SMLCAP S&P BSE SmallCap 10639 29074 173%
(VBTX), Sangoma Technologies Corp (STC), Victory small cap portfolio has generated a cumulative
Capital Holdings Inc (VCTR), Medifast Inc (MED). return of 234%, out-performing the S&P BSE Small-
Cap Index benchmark by 61%.
Thirteen out of 21 stocks (62%) in the portfolio are
out-performing the benchmark index. Only one Following ten stocks which have more than tripled
out of twenty one stocks (4.8%) is in negative ter- in the past 1.8 years are as follows: HLE Glascoat Ltd
ritory. Latest Super stock (Portfolio) level metrics (HLEG.BO), Indo Amines Ltd (INAM.BO), Paushak
compared to June 2020 are stable and most of Ltd (PAUS.BO), Apollo Pipes Ltd (AOLL.NS), Eldeco
the companies are showing signs of growth. I will Housing And Industries Ltd (ELHO.BO), Privi Special-
change the allocation when more earnings data is ity Chemicals Ltd (PRIVISCL.NS), Axtel Industries
incorporated in the coming quarters. Ltd (AXTL.BO), Gufic BioSciences Ltd (GUFI.BO),
Newgen Software Technologies Ltd (NEWG.NS),
India Small Cap Portfolio Update May 2020 Astec LifeSciences Ltd (ASTE.BO)
to Feb 2022
Ten out of 20 stocks (50%) in the portfolio are
When I created the above US small cap portfolio, I out-performing the benchmark index. All the twenty
had also created an India small cap stocks portfolio. stocks are in positive territory.
I am here sharing the performance of that 20 stocks
equally weighted portfolio here as well. My long term strategy is to find multi-baggers and
stay with them for over a period of time. If some of
In the past twenty one months (1.8 years), my India the portfolio companies grow tenfold in the next

Since May 2020, Best performing stock in the India Small Cap Since 2012, Best performing stock in the India Small Cap portfolio:
portfolio: HLE Glascoat Ltd (HLEG.BO) is up 784% (9X) in 1.8 Paushak Ltd. (PAUS.BO) is up 19035% (190X) in 10 years
years
Top 41 Multi-baggers, which I found in the Indian Stock Market in the past decade, are as follows:
May 2012 Buying 10th Feb 2022 Market

S.NO. Ticker Multibaggers 2012 to 2022 Price (INR) Price (INR) Gain%
1 PAUS.BO Paushak Ltd. 52 9,950 19035%
2 ASPT.NS Astral Poly Technik Ltd 18 2,080 11456%
3 SHJP.BO Shri Jagdamba Polymers Ltd. 9 957 10533%
4 NGLF.BO NGL Fine Chem Ltd. 24 2,202 9075%
5 AVNT.NS Avanti Feeds Ltd. 7 601 8486%
6 RLXO.NS Relaxo Footwears Ltd 20 1,308 6440%
7 ATLP.NS Atul Ltd 197 9,560 4753%
8 ADRG.NS Aarti Drugs Ltd. 13 517 4003%
9 VNTI.NS Vinati Organics Ltd. 52 1,915 3604%
10 LAOP.BO La Opala RG Ltd. 11 381 3364%
11 GRAN.NS Granules India Ltd 9 307 3311%
12 THIN.NS Expleo Solutions Ltd. (Thinksoft Global.) 46 1,399 2941%
13 CCLP.BO CCL Products (India) Ltd. 19 474 2395%
14 PERS.NS Persistent Systems Ltd. 171 4,263 2393%
15 RMT.NS Ratnamani Metals and Tubes Ltd 99 2,199 2121%
16 ROTP.BO Roto Pumps Ltd. 20 421 2005%
17 TVSM.NS TVS Motor Company Limited 32 660 1963%
18 CHLA.BO Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. 34 680 1900%
19 CERA.BO Cera Sanitaryware Ltd. 251 4,472 1682%
20 SAKS.NS Saksoft Ltd. 60 941 1468%
21 FNXC.NS Finolex Cables Ltd 35 485 1286%
22 PLYP.NS Polyplex Corp.Ltd. 153 2,051 1241%
23 TREN.NS Trent Ltd 90 1,072 1091%
24 CEAT.BO Ceat Ltd. 94 1,067 1035%
25 DYPR.NS Dynemic Products Ltd. 50 553 1006%
26 SUVP.BO Suven Life Sciences Ltd. 8 86 975%
27 MAYU.BO Mayur Uniquoters Ltd. 48 492 925%
28 RPGL.NS RPG Life Sciences 59 570 866%
29 TEML.NS Tech Mahindra Ltd. 148 1,428 865%
30 SYMP.NS Symphony Ltd 108 999 825%
31 FIIN.BO FIEM Inds Ltd. 135 1,117 727%
32 DHNP.BO Dhanuka Agritech Ltd. 93 764 722%
33 HCLT.NS HCL Technologies Ltd 143 1,169 717%
34 TORP.NS Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. 320 2,582 707%
35 BAYE.NS Bayer CropScience Ltd 799 4,599 476%
36 TCS.NS Tata Consultancy Services Ltd 649 3,704 471%
37 GRPL.NS Greenply Industries Ltd. 42 203 383%
38 AMAR.NS Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. 137 615 349%
39 WIMP.BO Wim Plast Ltd. 101 449 345%
40 AXBK.NS Axis Bank Ltd 200 804 302%
41 LART.NS Larsen & Toubro Ltd 725 1,859 156%

10 Stocks have gone up in
between 35X and 190X, 10
stocks have gone up in between
15X and 34X, 10 stocks have
gone up in between 10X and 14
X and 10 Stocks have gone up in
between 4X to 9X.
three years, it takes care of the overall portfolio Profile Information: Maneesh Nath assisted the Hedge Fund Manager of
Arcstone Capital starting 2013 which in 2014 became the World # 1 Rank
returns. Hedge Fund among all the 17,000 hedge funds across all asset classes
globally. Maneesh Nath is a world-class portfolio manager with over 12+
years of international investing experience in the US, EU, and Indian Equi-
India Portfolio Update for the Past
ties. Maneesh has a proven track record of generating 1500%+ absolute
Decade (2012 to 2022) returns and out-performing the USD Adjusted BSE India Small-Cap Index
by 1000%+ during the period May 2012 to Feb 2022 (Ann. Returns of 31%
vs. 15% of Index over the 10 years). Major Performers in the portfolio were:
Since 2013, in the past 9 years, India Small Cap Paushak Ltd. (PAUS.BO) is up 190X, Astral Poly Technik Ltd. (APTL: BO)
Model Portfolio is up 15X. is up 115X, Shri Jagdamba Polymers Ltd. (SHJP.BO) is up 105X , NGL Fine
Chem Ltd. (NGLF.BO) is up 90X, Avanti Feeds Ltd. (AVNT.BO) is up 85X. In
Oct 2012, Maneesh created a model portfolio of 10 large & mid-cap stocks
Cumulative performance of the portfolio is 1400% from MSCI India Index which outperformed the index for the next 9.3 years.
Top picks included Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd.,
(Ann. 37%) vs. S&P BSE Small Cap Index Benchmark Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank Ltd. In Jan 2009, Maneesh created a USA Model
400% (Ann. 21%). Portfolio of 17 Mid and Large Cap USA Companies (equally weighted)
which outperformed the DJIA for 13 years (Jan 2009 to Jan 2022). During
this period, his USA Model Portfolio went up ~8 folds in 13 years (with
Using my Systematic Stock Selection Framework, no turnover) vs 3.8 folds of DJIA, Cumulative Returns of 700% vs. 280%
which I have developed over the past few decades, I DJIA and Annualized Returns of 18% vs 11% DJIA; Major Performers in the
portfolio were: TJX Companies Inc., Ingersoll-Rand PLC, Harris Corporation,
have found these wealth creating stocks. Stryker Corporation, FMC Corporation, Varian Medical Systems, Inc. In Jun
2015, Maneesh created a Model Portfolio of 24 USA Small Cap companies
(created in Jun 2015) delivered Cumulative gains of 62%, (Ann. Returns of
10 Stocks have gone up in between 35X and 190X, 13.1%+) over the 4 years Jun 2015 to May 2019, out-performing the Russell
10 stocks have gone up in between 15X and 34X, 10 2000 benchmark by 8% (Ann). Top stock picks included EnviroStar Inc
(EVI) +700%, Richmont Mines Inc (RIC) +220%, Omega Flex Inc (OFLX)
stocks have gone up in between 10X and 14 X and 10 +200%.
Stocks have gone up in between 4X to 9X. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maneeshnath
Email: maneeshnath.devraj@gmail.com
Phone: +91 727 510 8108
In the past couple of years, there has been a lot of
volatility in the markets due to Covid-19 crisis, my Note: This article is not an attempt to provide investment advice. The
content is purely the author’s personal opinions and should not be
portfolios which have endured and out-performed considered advice of any kind. Investors are advised to conduct their own
during this period shows the resilience of the frame- research or seek the advice of a registered investment professional.
Maneeth Nath do not own any shares of companies discussed.
work which I have developed over the past two
decades. Going forward also, I am optimistic with
the companies in the portfolio to do well and create
wealth for the investors.

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camera on your phone. MicroCap Review Magazine 71
ASIA CORN ER
// By Leslie Richardson
Hong Kong Stock

Market Slumps Amid
Regulatory and
Market Pressures
R
eversing the strong start in the first months of
2021, Hong Kong stocks were hit by a multitude
of obstacles throughout the year ranging from
China’s widespread crackdowns across numerous
industries, uncertainly of contagion from China’s real
estate industry to increasing geopolitical tensions
between the US and China. As of November 8th, the
Hang Seng Index was down around 10% for the year.
Dragging down the market is a weakening senti-

ment for Chinese tech stocks which represent
approximately a quarter of the index’s weighting.
This summer, China shook up the markets in an
unprecedented crackdown covering a broad range of year. Additionally, Macau’s casino stocks lost $17 bil-
industries as it moves to build a fairer society through lion after authorities proposed regulations to tighten
its “common prosperity” policy. The regulatory oversight, and some medical beauty stocks suffered
crackdown gave rise to an atmosphere of uncertainly following a government move to tighten advertising
around the unpredictability of China’s economic and guidelines in the industry. However, in the light of
financial policies and increased investors’ anxiety as the lower than expected GDP of 4.9% for the third
hundreds of billions of dollars were wiped out from quarter, investors are expected to get some relief as
global markets. Leading the broader crash in Chinese China eases on its common prosperity policies in an
tech stocks was video streaming platform Kuaishou effort to rejuvenate growth.
Technology which raised $6.2 billion in February in
the largest IPO in Hong Kong this year. Kuaishou is Additional concerns weighing on Hong Kong’s
among the worst performing stocks of the year down market is the uncertainly around China’s $62 trillion
over 69% from its initial offering as its business took real estate market which contributes to approxi-
a blow from China’s policies to curtail inappropriate mately 28% to 30% of the country’s GDP. China’s
online content and the influencer industry. China second largest property developer, Evergrande,
set limitations on the time and content minors can made worldwide news as it experienced a liquidity
consume on gaming, live-streaming platforms and crunch in September. Contagion effects have
social networks in its newly published 10-year national rattled investors as risk of a fallout could impact
guidelines on children’s development. The govern- the economy with problems spilling over to direct
ment also put the brakes on its $70 billion online and indirect suppliers, many of which are small and
education industry by banning tutoring firms from medium-size enterprises. Six developers have so far
making a profit on subjects taught in school causing run into trouble. According to The Guardian, nearly
New Oriental Education to plunge over 85% for the a third of China’s property developers may struggle

to pay their debts over the next twelve months while Shui On Land submitted an application for its Xintiandi
credit agency S&P warned many other property division. The spin-off could raise at least $500 million
developers could be headed for bankruptcy. in a public offering next year.
While investors remain cautious about the macro Hong Kong’s fastest growing IPO market segment
environment, Hong Kong’s deep liquidity and access is biotech with the number of total listing possibly
to international investors continues to attract mainland tripling this year and over 50 healthcare companies
companies. IPO and secondary listings in Hong Kong in the pipeline to list in the city. Hong Kong Exchange
reached record level in the first nine months of 2021, has been striving to become the global leader in
raising $35.9 billion for 73 companies, according to biotech fundraising after making major reforms to list-
Refinitiv. A further 200 companies are in the pipeline ing requirements in 2018 and is on track to overtake
to launch their IPO in Hong Kong, the highest on NASDAQ in five to ten years. Fueling new listings is
record. Homecoming listings are leading Hong Kong’s China’s move to become a biotech superpower as
IPO market as China intensifies oversight on overseas the sector is growing at a torrid pace and leaders are
listings. Homecoming listings Baidu, Bilibili, Trip, and emerging in critical areas such as cancer treatment.
online car portal Autohome raised a combined $8.1 According to McKinsey, China’s biotech industry is
billion, representing approximately 31% of the city’s expected to advance in three major areas, faster drug
IPO proceeds in the first six months of 2021. Xpeng development, deeper differentiation, and the ambition
raised $1.4 billion in its summer dual listing debut while to make an impact on the global innovation landscape.
LiAuto raised $1.5 billion. Electric vehicle makers are In just over the past twelve months, Chinese biotechs
specifically attracting investors as China looks to domi- have signed a record 12 major out-licensing deals for
nate the global electric vehicle market. With tighter innovative drugs with MNC. Founder and managing
oversight and restrictions from both China and the US, partner at leading biotech venture capital firm Lilly
more mainland firms are revaluating plans to list in the Asia Ventures, Shi Yi, stated that around 90% of the
U.S. Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu (Little Red Chinese healthcare companies in its portfolio have
Book), e-commerce platform Meicai, Hong Kong logis- plans to go public in Hong Kong.
tics start-up Lalamove, medical data solutions provider
LinkDoc Technology, bike sharing firm backed by Ant Still some companies are taking a more caution
group, Hello Inc, China’s artificial intelligent chip firm approach as several potential billion dollar IPOs
Horizon Robotics, social platform popular with Gen-Z have fallen by the wayside during China’s regulatory
SoulGate Inc, China’s biggest online audio platform onslaught. NetEase Inc delayed the $1 billion Hong
Ximalaya and the fitness app Keep are among the Kong IPO of its music streaming service Cloud Vil-
firms that have delayed or scrapped listing plans in lage because of volatile trading in China’s major tech
the US in recent months. Many have already entered companies. IPO applications for Tencent backed We
discussions to go public in Hong Kong. Doctor and WM Tech lapsed as oversight increases
on business operations and how tech giants’ mange
While the pace of IPO listings weakened in the third the data collected. WeDoctor was seeking to raise
quarter as dozens of companies paused plans to list up to $3 billion while supermarket owner WM Tech
amid increasing regulation, there are positive signs was looking to raise up to $1 billion. Additionally,
for future IPOs as markets expect activity to pick up real estate trading platform, Anjuke’s IPO application
again in 2022. The much anticipated IPO for China’s that was submitted in April has become invalid.
largest artificial intelligence company, SenseTime
Group, was announced in late August with the com- Ms. Leslie Richardson has over 20 years of investment management and equity
research experience. She operates a boutique investor relations firm in Hong
pany possibly raising up to $2 billion. Electric vehicle Kong for Asian companies listed in the U.S. and Hong Kong. She also assists
market Leapmaker has just picked three banks for its private companies develop investment material and build an investor following
in preparation for a public listing. Additionally, she is the Asian Correspondent
planned $1billion Hong Kong IPO. Asian logistic carrier, for Micro-Cap Review, www.microcapreview.com, a financial magazine focused
58 Freight also filed its application to list in Hong Kong on mirco-cap companies. Previously, she worked for CCG Elite in assisting
Asian-based, U.S. listed clients formulate key communication strategies. Ms.
while Malaysia’s Top Glove, the world’s biggest rubber Richardson began her investment career at U.S. Trust Company then went on
glove maker, is renewing its plan to list in Hong Kong to join Odyssey Advisors as a portfolio manager and Director of Research. Ms.
Richardson specialized in high growth sectors such as bio-tech, alternative
as it looks to raise up to $545 million in a dual listing energy, IT and telecommunications. She earned her M.B.A. from the University
to attract a new group of investors. After scrapping of Southern California. Ms. Richardson is based in Hong Kong. www.elite-ir.com.
plans to list in the US, Shanghai –based property firm Leslie Richardson does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.

insi g hts
// By Sean Peasgood
Technology
Trends to
Watch in 2022
Gen-Z Disruption, Consumer Data Privacy, ESG and Renewables
Despite tax loss selling, the pandemic, pending Central Bank rate
hikes and the end of the world, SNN’s MCRI tech subsector’s 64%
return in Q4 2021 outperformed the S&P 500’s 11% appreciation,
the NASDAQ Composite’s 8%, and the Russell 2000’s 2%.
W
hat accounts for this significant outperfor-
mance? The answer comes from how in-
dex returns are calculated. The most com-
mon indices are price-weighted, market-weighted,
and equal-weighted. A price-weighted index (such
as the DJIA) sums the share prices of all constituents
and assigns each stock a weighting based upon its
share price relative to the sum. For example, if your
price-weighted index has 2 stocks (one is $1/share
and the other is $2/share), the sum of stocks would
be $3. The first stock would be weighted 1/3 and
the second 2/3, so your index would be (1/3 × $1) +
(2/3 × $2) = $1.67. You’d calculate a market-weighted
index (like the S&P500, NASDAQ Composite, and
Russell 2000) like a price-weighted index but use
constituent market capitalizations instead of share help provide context when comparing to your own
prices. An equal-weighted index (SNN MCRI) invests portfolio’s returns.
an equal amount of money in each constituent. In
the prior 2-stock example, each stock would have a The table above shows the performance of the 11
50% weight, so the index would be ($1 × 50%) + ($2 sectors tracked by the MCRI. Sophic Capital’s bread
× 50%) = $1.50. and butter is founded in developing capital markets
strategies for technology issuers, so naturally we are
The day after each quarter end, the MCRI replaces pleased to see tech place third. We are continually
underperformers across 11 sectors with the top 30 asked what tech trends we are watching and which
or so outperforming microcap stocks in each sector. companies could benefit. For 2022, here are a few
The idea is to highlight the top performers and let of the trends we are watching along with a couple
them run for a quarter. So, while the MCRI’s returns potential beneficiaries:
are impressive, knowing how they are calculated can

Gen-Z ESG and Renewables
Gen-Z, people born in the mid-to-late 1990s, are We believe existing trends, such as ESG and Renew-
the world’s largest demographic, especially in ables, will only get bigger. Corporations continue to
Africa where the median age is 19.7 years. We like establish and update their Environment, Social, and
this demographic because they will be customers Governance (ESG) standards. Many of the largest
for decades to come. Brands think they can throw institutional investors screen for ESG, many govern-
a bunch of cash at marketing and Gen-Z will pay ments have regulations surrounding ESG; but perhaps
attention. If it were only so easy. the most important driver is Gen-Z (remember them?).
Gen-Z will not only be consumers for decades to come
Gen-Z tends to be very different from us old fogies. but are also employees and investors. They’ll shun any
They have no brand loyalty and value community, business that harms the environment, does not stand
trust, and social justice. Marketers ignoring these up for what’s socially correct, or has an inequitable
aspects won’t be employed for long. Fortunately, workplace. The number of issuers that leverage ESG
several brands understand how to resonate with continually grows; here are some of our favorites:
Gen-Z; especially esports companies (gaming is Gen-
Z’s favorite entertainment activity). Here are some •• UGE International (TSXV:UGE) – develops, owns,
companies worth investigating that could benefit and operates community solar project across
from this trend: the Northeastern U.S. and was recently added
to SNN’s MCRI index (congratulations!)
•• Swarmio Media (CSE:SWRM) – helps telcos •• Legend Power Systems (TSXV:LPS) – detects
attract Gen-Z subscribers via EDGE technology and corrects power issues from utility grid
that reduces lag for gamers and a gaming connections to commercial buildings, reducing
community platform electricity waste and greenhouse gases
•• Mijem (CSE:MJEM) – social media meets buy & •• Clear Blue Technologies (TSXV:CBLU) – wire-
sell for Gen-Z university/college students less, renewable power solutions that bring
•• GameSquare Esports (CSE:GSQ) – connecting telecom, internet, and IoT services to remote
brands to Gen-Z via esports and influencers locations, particularly in developing nations
•• Real Luck Group (TSXV:LUCK) – esports betting •• OneSoft Solutions (TSXV:OSS) – as the world
•• GA Pizza (TSXV:GA) – first online subscription transitions to renewable energy over the next
pizza service few decades, it’s imperative to safeguard fossil
fuel transportation infrastructure and OneSoft’s
machine learning solution predicts when and
Consumer Data Privacy where pipeline failures could occur.
For decades, businesses have monetized your So now you know the key tech trends we’re follow-
personal online data without your consent and ing. Sophic Capital is always happy to discuss these
without compensating you. That is slowly starting to and other issuers with you, and we’d love to hear
change: what you find interesting. Feel free to reach out any
time at All@SophicCapital.com.
Europe has GDPR for protecting personal data. Cali-
fornia, Virginia, and Colorado followed suit (another All companies named may be clients of Sophic Capital. Please review
Sophic Capital’s full disclaimer on their website here: https://sophiccapital.
30 states are going through the process). However, com/disclaimers/
Big Tech could provide the impetus to safeguard our
Sophic Capital’s President and CEO, Sean Peasgood, has enjoyed a suc-
personal data. Apple allows iOS users to opt-out of cessful career as a sell-side Analyst for over eight years. As an Analyst, he
ad tracking. Google is banning cookies in its Chrome covered a diverse set of clean technology and technology stocks, including
hardware and software companies that ranged from micro-cap to large-cap
browser (following actions by Firefox and Safari). stocks. Sean has experience with all segments of the capital markets: Equity
Online advertising businesses are facing headwinds. Research (Technology and Clean Technology), Investor Relations, Raising
Capital, Corporate Presentations, Financial Modeling, Deal and Non-Deal
Reklaim (TSXV:MYID) allows users to recapture their Roadshows,Valuation, Initial Public Offerings, Strategic Communications,
personal data and monetize it should they choose. Equity Sales, Mergers and Acquisitions and Investment Banking.
For more information about Sophic Capital, please visit:

www.sophiccapital.com

insi g hts
// By Joe Boskovich, Jr.
Fund Manager
Highlight
Joe Boskovich, Jr., Co-Founder and Partner at
Old West Investment Management, LLC
In each issue of the MicroCap Review Magazine moving forward,

we want to highlight fund managers who are either specifically
focused on Small, Micro, Nano-caps (“SMN-caps”), have a “SMN-
cap” strategy, exposure to “SMN-caps” that are adding a ton of
value, not only for their constituents vis a vis quality performance,
but also for our universe at large from an education perspective.
For this issue, I’d like to highlight someone who I’ve market investing in solid companies from a variety of
interviewed many times on the Planet MicroCap industries that we have uncovered with our internal
Podcast, Joe Boskovich, Jr., Co-Founder and Partner research process. We are confident we will continue
at Old West Investment Management, LLC. He’s to outperform the market given the extraordinary
an incredibly thoughtful investor who looks for opportunities in our portfolios.
opportunity in every sector. For this “Fund Manager
Highlight”, we are re-publishing Joe’s Q4 2021 letter With the exception of brief corrections in 2018 and
because I think it provides one of the best overviews 2020 (Covid), the stock market has grown dramati-
of what happened from an investing perspective in cally since 2009. Scores of young people in the
2021 and why. Please enjoy! market today, many of whom are decision makers,
have never seen a bona fide bear market. The
market has been driven by the Federal Reserve Bank
T
he stock market finished 2021 on a strong note manipulating interest rates to near zero, which has
with the S&P 500 index up 29% for the year caused bubbles in every asset class including stocks,
and that comes on top of a 18% return in 2020. bonds, private equity, venture capital, cryptocurren-
These are not easy returns to compete against, but cies, real estate, art, classic cars and more. This is
we at Old West are thrilled to have easily beaten the most expensive stock market in history, including
the market once again. Our long only separate 1929 and 2000. Our team is keenly aware of this and
managed accounts were up from 45% to 51% net of we love being invested in areas of the market where
fees. Our three L.P’s had an outstanding year with few have traveled.
our long/short fund up 39%, our Income Fund up
42%, and our Opportunity Fund up an eye popping Although the current low rate environment seems
66%, all net of fees. As you know, technology stocks like it’s been in place forever, it might be coming
have driven overall market performance for the to an end. In my letter to investors of last April I
past ten years, but we have been able to beat the discussed the threat of runaway inflation and what

effect it could have on markets. As everyone knows, and for the past year Brian has been doing a tre-
we now have inflation that is much more than transi- mendous amount of research in another commodity
tory and is dramatically affecting people worldwide. that is greatly misunderstood and has little following,
My heart goes out to the construction worker that tin. You’ve all heard of tin cans and tin roof, but few
pays $100 to fill his tank on Monday morning. Food, people, and few professional investors realize how
utilities, gas, healthcare, housing, and other daily critical tin is to today’s economy. Brian writes the
expenses have all risen dramatically. This will cause following:
the Fed to take away the punch bowl which might
result in a bear market. We first highlighted tin in our Q2 letter as part of a
broader theme of critical minerals that we had been
The market began reacting to these facts the past researching along with our work in uranium. We are
several months. Investors continue to crowd into the always interested when areas with excellent pros-
mega cap tech stocks (you know the names) think- pects are relatively underfollowed by the investment
ing they are safe havens immune to correction. At community because it gives us time to examine the
year end with the S&P at an all time high, over 300 industry while valuations are still attractive. Often
NYSE companies were trading at their 52 week low, we discover outstanding fundamental characteristics
more than double the number trading at 52 week where the main impediment to a more robust valua-
highs. The last time that happened was just before tion is merely a lack of awareness.
the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000.
Of specific interest to us are niche commodities
Another warning signal for the market is that for the where supply/demand imbalances can form with
past few years 80% of the market increase has come relative ease, leading to either current or expected
from multiple expansion and only 20% from earnings shortages. This could be from falling supply due
growth. That is not a recipe for continued market to natural depletion or lack of investment during a
upside. low price environment. Alternatively, technological
developments may lead to an increase in demand
If I sound negative about the prospects for the for certain materials faster than supply can respond.
market this year, I am. As I have said many times, This has certainly been the case for a wide variety
with trillions of dollars invested in index funds that of specialty metals necessary to enable the global
are market weighted, everyone is crowded into the transition to clean energy. At a recent conference
same handful of companies. Investors have become in Glasgow, Treasury Secretary Yellen referenced
conditioned to think today’s mega cap companies an estimate of $150 trillion in spending needed to
are not risky investments. Go back just twenty years achieve climate goals. We have already begun to
and the largest companies by market cap were witness significant price increases for many of the
General Motors, Wal-Mart, Exxon, Ford and General raw materials that will be needed.
Electric. I find it amazing that not one of these
companies is in the top five today. If history is any Tin is a fairly small market, only about 2% the size of
guide, the list twenty years from now will look very copper, but essential to the functioning of electronic
different from today’s top five. devices that are ubiquitous in an increasingly digital
world. The largest use of tin is in solder, the conduc-
Most money managers do not like to invest in tive material which connects electronic components
companies that produce commodities because the in printed circuit boards. Demand received a boost
price of the commodity has such great influence on around the turn of the millennium with the switch to
the profitability of the company. We have always lead-free solder in many regions for environmental
welcomed the opportunity to invest in these com- reasons. Semiconductor demand has also been
panies, one, because they normally aren’t crowded strong, especially recently as the pandemic forced
trades, and two because they are essential to our people into their homes and spending increased on
economy. Over the past few years, our investments electronic goods like laptops and cell phones. TSMC,
in uranium miners and companies involved in the the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer,
nuclear fuel cycle have been large contributors to recently raised their growth guidance amid surging
our outstanding performance. Old West partner demand from what they call a multi-year industry
Brian Laks spearheaded our investments in this area, megatrend.

Two major areas driving this growth are the push truly is. Some companies are considering reopening
to 5G networks and the development of an Internet centuries-old mines, and others are proposing to
of Things. 5G networks require more densely dis- mine what would normally be considered waste rock.
tributed transmission equipment and an Internet of There are also very few investment options. The
Things would see billions of objects interconnected, large producers trade on local exchanges in places
each requiring additional circuitry to operate and like Shenzhen, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Lima.
communicate with one another. More data centers Companies that do trade on Western exchanges
will also be required to process the large increase in may have assets in challenging jurisdictions or low
information generated. Another area of increasing share liquidity making it difficult for large institutions
demand is electric vehicles, which typically require to invest.
twice as much tin as an internal combustion engine
vehicle. One of the newest demand drivers is solar These types of situations are often ripe with op-
ribbon, copper wire that has been coated in tin portunity, and we have identified a few bright spots
and used to connect individual solar cells together for further research. At current prices there are
into panels. As renewable energy continues to be producers trading at 3-4x EBITDA and development
deployed widely, this is expected to become a major projects trading at a fraction of net asset value. This
demand driver for tin in the future. is in stark contrast to other areas of the market
which we view to be wildly overvalued with much
Against this backdrop of strong demand is a sup- less fundamental support. We have not been this
ply situation that is quite fragile. The two largest intrigued by an idea since we started researching
producers, China and Indonesia, control roughly half the uranium industry several years ago. As you have
the market and have seen their production decline seen in your account statements, that diligence and
over the last two decades. In China much of the patience translated into exceptional returns over the
production comes from the southwestern province last two years. We encourage current and prospec-
of Yunnan, where extreme weather and rising coal tive investors to contact us to learn more about this
prices have led to power rationing that has impacted new opportunity.
supply. Indonesia has mined much of their onshore
resource and miners have been forced into shallow It will be fascinating to see how 2022 plays out and
offshore waters to dredge alluvial tin from the sea we are very comfortable and optimistic with how
floor. The country has also considered an export ban we are positioned in our portfolios. Thank you for
on mineral concentrates as a way to capture more of your continued loyalty and support and we wish
the value chain locally, a move which would further you a happy, healthy and prosperous year. Sincerely,
tighten global supplies. The third largest producer, Joseph Boskovich, Sr. Chairman and Chief Invest-
Myanmar, is politically unstable and was recently ment Officer
beset by a coup. A relatively new entrant to the
major producers, large scale production only began Sincerely,
in the last decade and peaked after several years Joseph Boskovich, Sr.
of rapid growth. Much of their high grade discovery Chairman and Chief Investment Officer
has been depleted and they will be forced to go into
more complex underground mining of lower grade
At Old West, Joe serves as a member of the Portfolio Management Team
material to halt further production declines. and Old West Investment Committee.
Prior to joining Old West, Joe spent five years as First Vice President at
Tin is attractive to us because there are not many Aletheia Research and Management, Inc. At Aletheia, Joe established and
high quality development projects to fill the growing cultivated some of the firm’s largest institutional relationships, and had
a meaningful part in growing the firm from $300 million in assets under
supply gap. Lower quality projects require a higher management to roughly $ 11 billion. Joe began his career at the Century
price to be economic, and recently the tin price City office of Bear Stearns & Co., working in the private wealth manage-
ment division.
has been setting record highs suggesting that such
projects may actually be needed. Global inventories Joe graduated from the Marshall School of Business at the University of
are near all-time lows and consumers are forced to Southern California, where he was a four year letterman and Academic
All-American on USC’s National Championship Football Team.
pay high premiums for immediate delivery. One need
only look at the extremely low grades of projects For more information about Old West Investment Management, please
visit: www.oldwestim.com
being floated to see how dire the supply outlook

EVER WONDER
WHERE THE PEOPLE
WITH ALL THE ANSWERS,
GET ALL THE ANSWERS?
Ask MARCUM
For More Information:
CLICK HERE

insi g hts
// By Jackie Kibler
Tackling the Five

Frustrations of a
Business Owner
Regardless of the system they follow, every business leadership
coach has one primary task: help their clients overcome the
impediments to their success.
W
hen Gino Wickman developed the Entre-
preneurial Operating System®, he wanted
to help entrepreneurs overcome what he
called the “Five Frustrations of an Entrepreneur.”
In my work as a Certified EOS Implementer®, I’ve

seen how EOS® addresses each of the Five Frustra-
tions. Here are some examples.
Frustration 1: Lack of Control
Entrepreneurs and business owners tend to be

optimists. Where others may see problems, they see
endless opportunities. However, this perspective can
change as circumstances begin to put speedbumps
in front of what started as a seemingly perfect changed the way they plan for the future without
business model. changing who they are culturally.
I have a client that specializes in building components Frustration 2: Lack of Profit

for the Southern California light industrial manufactur-
ing sector. When we started working together on Not many business owners or CEO’s I meet are
their EOS Journey, the CEO shared with me the first motivated by money. They have a passion for
following thought: “With our business so dependent what they do. However, each agrees that making a
on how the economy is going, it often feels like we’re profit is essential. When a business hits the ceil-
just blowing in the wind. I want to change that.” ing, its profits tend to drop along with the team’s
productivity.
What EOS has helped them do is to become more
creative. EOS hasn’t stopped the wind from blowing, One of the marketing agencies I work with experi-
but it has helped their team focus on what they enced this very issue. They reached a tipping point:
can control. Each quarter, they agree to a set of at first glance, they seemed to have too many
company Rocks (90 day priorities for the company) projects and not enough people, so they were
aimed at diversifying into growth sectors. It has constantly losing profitability to contractor fees.

EOS helped them see that the roots of their prob- sary for our first six months working together. The
lems were not quite what they thought. After identi- growth experienced by the business had changed
fying their Core Focus™, they discovered that a few some of the roles within, and certain employees
of their high volume, low profitability engagements weren’t suitable fits for the business’s needs. For the
were outside their target market. They also learned greater good of the company, a few people needed
that they had people in seats that didn’t belong to to be let go. But it set them on the right track for
them. By correcting those things, they began seeing renewed growth.
the business’s profitability edge higher.
Frustration 5: Nothing Works
Frustration 3: People
Perhaps the most pressing frustration is that no
Finding the right help is never easy. Most business amount of effort seems to address them. Ironically,
owners & CEO’s have experienced the unsettling re- visionaries tend to struggle with what is required to
ality that even finding the proper help won’t always unstick an organization’s gears: structure.
result in a perfectly resolved process. Colleagues fall
out of alignment, pulling in different directions and That was the case with the founder of a construction
getting frustrated. Projects don’t get done on time, business I met a few years ago. We got talking
and quality suffers. about the role of the Integrator—an idea he’d never
heard about—and he told me, “That’s what I ask my
I work with a Visionary who came into EOS feeling secretary to do.” I told him if his secretary was a
deeply unsure of herself as a leader. She’d made good Integrator, he’d better give her a promotion, a
a few strategic hires that had gone sideways: their new title, and a raise.
irregular meetings had become tense and awkward,
with mixed signals passing down to the rest of the Fast forward to today, and that construction com-
company and creating confusion. pany is running on EOS with a dedicated Integrator.
“It’s like night and day,” their CEO told me the other
EOS helped her see that the problem wasn’t with day. “I had no idea I was so disorganized.” Coming
her people, but with her process. The Accountability from someone who works in a precision industry,
Chart was a huge help for her. She calls it her team’s that’s saying something.
“clarity chart.” With clear responsibilities, her team
isn’t getting in its own way anymore. Those strategic Ready to tackle your frustrations?
hires are free to exercise their talents without
running into conflicts. Do the Five Frustrations sound familiar to you? EOS
might be the answer you’re looking for. As a Certified
Frustration 4: Hitting the Ceiling EOS Implementer, I work with business owners and
entrepreneurs at every phase of business growth to
Many entrepreneurs hit the ceiling and don’t know overcome obstacles using the tools offered by EOS.
why. They’ve done so well up to this point; why Send me an email or give me a call at (818) 649-1103.
aren’t old tricks still working? Without a framework,
Jackie Kibler grew up in an entrepreneurial family with her father in the music
answering that question—or even knowing to ask
and entertainment business. Her father had a passion for music and like
it —can be difficult. many entrepreneurs, wasn’t able to create a solid business infrastructure to
grow the business. At a very early age, Jackie realized her passion was to
help business owners get more from their businesses.
That happened to a small service company I work
with. Their Visionary is great at building relationships After college, Jackie worked for larger companies like Dun and Bradstreet,
Wells Fargo, Corporate Executive Board and Vistage Worldwide to learn
and closing sales. He’d built a successful business, best practices. She progressed through the leadership ranks and over the
but new clients weren’t getting the attention they next 25 years, quickly became known as the “go-to person” for underper-
forming offices, regions, or companies using a strategic mix of goal setting,
expected, and older clients were starting to slip away. process development, and personal accountability.
As a result, the team was scrambling to keep all the
At Vistage Worldwide, and partnered with over 100 entrepreneurial CEOs to
details straight, and he knew he needed help.
help them improve their businesses. Within 12 months her region improved
in rankings from #10 to #2 nationally. It was there that she learned about
Getting the right people into the right seats (think EOS and when she read the book Traction, she immediately aligned. It was
everything she had done, in a proven process that was being used globally
Jim Collin’s in his book “Good to Great”) was neces- with entrepreneurs in all types of businesses.

insi g hts
// By Shelly Kraft and Michael Porter
“I’m a New
Public Company,
Now What?”
I wondered what could I write to provide today’s microcap
company C suite management teams some sage advice coping
and dealing with investors, shareholders, media, and investor
relations?
I
wrote an outline with my ideas and sent it to
Michael Porter, of Porter Levey & Rose Investor
Relations to join me in this endeavor. Mike added
his 2 cents and turned my outline into this article.
Mike has been doing IR for 55 years he refers to me
as “the kid” since I only started on Wall Street 38
years ago. Anyway that’s 93 years of experience!
I know some of you have ties older than that. For
today’s CEO’s things have changed but, in many
ways, they have stayed the same. Here are some
insights for our readers especially company leaders,
so keep this article like a blackjack player keeps a
rules card of when to split, double-down, hit or stay.
By the way, Porter and I are still close friends and
speak every day! Most of all we love the microcap the challenges you’ll face sharing your story with
space and enjoy helping small emerging growth current and potential shareholders. This note is meant
companies. Cheers to that! to offer some assistance in navigating these waters.
••• A listing guarantees very little, and your objective

now is to differentiate your company as an invest-
You are now a listed company. Congratulations! It ment vehicle not only from other opportunities
was quite a long road to get here, wasn’t it? Yes, but in your niche or space but from the entire global
the rewards are worth it. We want to help you stay investment ecosystem. This is no small feat. As a
listed and grow and thrive. This means you need to microcap company there are crucial dos and don’ts
manage your expectations and qualify your next to which you must adhere to right out of the gate, in
steps. We want to help you. We understand the time the first few quarters after your IPO. Here is a brief
and effort you, your staff, your attorneys and your ac- list:
countants put in to making this happen, not to mention
all of the costs it took to get here, but now your ticker •• Establish your investor relations (IR) budget
symbol is live and good things are on the horizon, and figure out what you hope to achieve. This
alongside numerous compliance risks, the relentless includes price ascension, liquidity, new share-
incoming service provider sales calls and emails, and holder engagement, market recognitions, M&A

opportunities, institutional investment, buying as your company may not yet enjoy the luxury of
acceptance and the provision of guidance to coverage by banks and wire houses. Investors must
current and potential investors. be “courted” – they must be made to feel comfort-
•• Choose a course of action. You need to decide able in weighing the potential growth of a company
how your company will interface with the with the risk of investing in a “new” company.
markets. As a new public company, you need an
investor relations representative, either a mem- In today’s marketplace, management credibility has
ber of your team or an account executive from to be established and maintained to attract longer-
an outside agency, to serve as your first point of term holders who will help maintain the stock price
contact – this individual must be a gatekeeper, and increase its value. Many U.S. investors approach
a diplomat, a detective, user-friendly and polite, companies with a “back the jockey, not the horse”
informative yet compliant, and preferably mentality, and a sound IR program regularly high-
familiar with the landscape. lights management’s achievements and pedigree
•• Cohesive messaging and branding. You’ll need – your ability to grow the business is a major factor
to organize and categorize your marketing in driving investment. Operational performance is
plan, since whatever you do and announce is quite important, but your credibility is your best
now subject to SEC regulations and must be card, one that will give you more long-term stability,
announced publicly via press release. It sounds through good times and bad. This credibility is core
simple, but this is where strategy plays a big to a solid investor relations program, and the first
part in your relationship with investors. The step to building and concretizing this credibility is
nuances of when, where, how, why and what of by committing to transparency and by educating
your press releases are many times so involved the investment community. Your mission should be
management, boards and professionals must to make sure investors clearly understand manage-
participate for careful wording, compliance, ment’s philosophy, appreciate its accomplishments
timing and follow-up. In the end, your press and believe it can achieve its operational goals.
releases will serve as your company’s sema-
phores, the message you send from the deck of We believe good companies have an excellent
your ship. opportunity, after listing, to establish themselves as
exciting investment opportunities and to communi-
What can a strategic IR program do for your cate their stories to the right audiences, those that
company? It will increase your visibility and influence can make a difference to their valuations. For more
key players in the global financial community – from information, please contact skraft@snnwire.com and
institutional and retail investors to family offices – mike@plrinvest.com. And congratulations, again, on
and ensure your messages are articulated accurately your achievement. We wish you immense success.
and disseminated as widely as possible to the right
Michael Porter has been in the investor relations industry for more than
audiences. Given the amount of stock promotion
40 years and co-founded PLR in 1971. In addition, he has served on the
on the Internet and the ever-increasing prevalence board of several publicly held companies. In his earlier career, Michael
of opinion shared on social media, the investment was an analyst and portfolio manager for a NYSE member firm and major
institution and has served on the board of directors of several companies.
community has become increasingly dependent on Michael earned a BS in Finance from Rider University and completed The
credible, reliable and responsive corporate liaisons Owners, Presidents and Managers course at Harvard University School of
Business in May 2004. In 2009, Michael was appointed to the President’s
to inform and educate them on a company’s invest- Council at Rider University.
ment thesis. A successful IR program combines
In his time spent on Wall Street as a retail stockbroker and OTC market
digital communication practices an old-school maker, investment banker, author, and as President of Emanuel & Co., Mr.
commitment to relationships. The right IR agency Kraft has met many incredible people. He retains many of those friends
and contacts to this very day. In his early career in the Wall Street trenches
will also help you nimbly navigate SEC rules and
he often wondered when he would finally reach the pinnacle of wisdom
regulations – the agency should be fully versed in and understanding he so diligently craved; well here it is 2022, and he
Regulation FD and Sarbanes-Oxley. says: “I am still wondering.” He has had many great experiences, been an
influencer his whole career and today supports the team at SNN Inc., SNN.
Network, MicroCap Review Magazine (2022 is the 17th year publishing)
To be successful in the current market means you now digital, and the popular in person event Planet MicroCap Showcase,
May 3-5, 2022, Bally’s Las Vegas. Mr. Kraft’s legendary career stems from
must ascend above the noise. One of the best ways his devotion to MicroCap pubco’s and private companies, his over 10,000
to do this is to develop personal relationships with CEO live video interviews, his writings and appearances, today Mr. Kraft
remains one of the MicroCap Stock Market’s great ambassadors.
influential members of the investment community,

insi g hts
// By Diane Woo
How to Raise
Capital for Funds,
From a VC
When it comes to raising capital for VC investments, entrepreneurs

will generally receive capital through one of two primary avenues;
direct investments from a VC’s own capital, or from a fund.
W
hat most entrepreneurs don’t realize, how-
ever, is that raising capital for an invest-
ment fund as a VC is one of the most chal-
lenging and tasking parts of being a venture capitalist.
It takes a certain degree of skill, as well as a strong
capability for networking and building relationships
with other VC, in order for an investment fund to gain
the necessary attention from the right investors.
For over 15 years, I have honed my knowledge and

skill set as a coach and mentor to hundreds of busi-
nesses and startup ventures, as well as an investor
to dozens of additional companies and VC funds
throughout the United States. As a result of my
experience, I have been able to hone my abilities as
a venture capitalist and have helped to fundraise mil- and hurdles that come with fundraising. Depending
lions of dollars for a broad array of VC funds target- on your firm, along with any firms or Limited Partners
ing the retail tech, medtech, consumer goods, and (LPs) you or your firm are partnered with, you will
restaurant industries. likely need to give those LPs or other partners any-
where from 90-180 days’ (or 3-6 months) notice of
In this article, I want to help highlight the skills and your fundraising initiatives. From there, you will need
abilities you will need as a venture capitalist or inves- to prepare material and data to present to your part-
tor to help raise capital for a VC fund. ners so that they can perform their due diligence.
Scale to a level where VC fundraising is Once the official fundraising begins, expect for it to
necessary take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to
finalize. This time frame also depends on the type of
First things first: before you begin attempting to raise fund you plan to raise. Newer funds often take longer
capital for a VC fund, you need to ensure that you to raise capital than those with proven successes in
— as an investor — are prepared for the challenges the past. If your fund is newer and doesn’t yet pos-

sess this track record, expect to hear “no” a lot from One common mistake newer investors and VCs make
other investors, VCs, LPs, and general partners (GPs) when networking is that they tend to immediately
you pitch the fund to, and be prepared to deploy a want to target larger and more established institu-
greater portion of your own capital in order to raise tional investors and partners. While the draw of these
the funds you need to. If you cross-analyze the fund’s larger investors is obvious, you shouldn’t overlook
finances and realize that you’ll need to deploy a sig- the potential value and ROI of networking with less-
nificant amount of your own capital in the fundraising institutionalized individual investors and smaller cor-
process, you may not have scaled to a high enough porate offices.
level where VC fundraising is needed yet.
Think of this step as raising funds for a new startup:
Build your network and find the right if you’re early on in the fundraising process, you
investors for your fund would want to focus more on finding angel investors
rather than larger, more established VCs. If your fund
My second piece of advice is this: network, network, is newer and less established, you want to ensure
network, and then network some more. that you focus your time and efforts on meeting and
building relationships with those who are most likely
Most of us are familiar with the old adage, “it’s about to invest in your fund now—not 5 or 10 years down
who you know, not about what you know.” This the road.
saying could not hold more true in the realm of VC
fundraising if it tried. For VCs and investors who are Be able to efficiently (and effectively)
relatively new to fundraising, you should expect to negotiate with investors
make dozens of new connections (if not more) with
potential investors, LPs, and/or GPs each week prior The final piece of advice I want to bestow in this
to and during the fundraising process. article is knowing how to negotiate with the investors
you pitch your fund to. By this point, you should have

Prior to any sort of negotiation deal possible when raising capital for your fund, no
taking place, it’s paramount that matter how new or established that fund may be.
some level of mutual trust has Diane Yoo is a results-driven entrepreneur and venture capitalist with more
than 15+ years of experience. As an accredited investor, she has invested
been established between you

in 35+ companies with a focus on diverse founders. She created 15 funds in
the last year alone and is in the 1% of Asian-American female founders who
are also a partner. Diane has founded angel networks, venture funds, and
and the investor(s) your fund is investment networks. She is Founding Partner for a Medtech and Health-
tech venture capital firm in partnership with the largest medical center of
pitched to. the world. With VC and accelerator expertise, she works extensively with
over 700+ global companies and her firm has deployed significant capital
into the startup ecosystem. She has launched numerous venture funds for
over 15 universities across the US and has built a powerful co-investor US
network with offices in Texas and New York. Diane is Co-founder of Global
She Ventures, an accelerator in partnership with Rice University to catalyze
global women entrepreneurs. Diane is also Co-founder to a national media
platform, Identity Unveiled highlights trailblazing Asian American women
who have broken barriers and become firsts in their industry. She is also
a clearer idea of which types or demographics of an investment partner to several Silicon Valley funds including the largest
women’s fund and the first FemTech fund in the nation.
investors you want to pitch. If you have already met
with these individuals or partners, at least a handful Diane is also mentor/partner to Global Venture Accelerator, a Rice
University initiative. She serves as mentor/judge to Rice Business Plan
of them should be qualified using your fund’s invest- Challenge, Rice University’s 48 Hr Accelerator, Gener8tor, Brandery, and
ment criteria, and you should have a better under- Mass Challenge. She sits on numerous boards and advises other venture
capital funds, diversity funds, and the largest women’s fund in Texas.
standing of what they are looking for when investing Diane was awarded “Diane Yoo Day” on August 26th for her international
in a fund. achievements in diversity leadership. She received her MBA from Jesse H.
Jones School of Business at Rice University.
For those investors who are looking to sign smaller https://www.dianesyoo.com/

checks for your fund, typically only 2-3 meetings
https://www.identityunveiled.org/
need to happen before a decision is made on their
end. If your fund needs larger amounts of capi- https://www.globalsheventures.com/
tal investiture, however, consider the benefits and https://www.parliament-ventures.com/

downsides of potentially having to wait longer for
Otter PR 6.18.21
them to make a decision. Whatever the case, be pre-
pared to negotiate on the amount they wish to invest, Growing up as a second generation Korean American with immigrant
parents, I lived in a one bedroom apartment with newspaper as our
what (and/or how much) they expect in return, as
furniture and a car that would occasionally choke start. My parents
well as the specific terms of their investment. worked 5 jobs and my father ate salt cubes just to keep up with all the
manual labor. He endured racial discrimination and fought off bullies as
he was working only to put a roof over his family’s head. I grew up in a
Prior to any sort of negotiation taking place, it’s predominantly white neighborhood where I constantly struggled with my
paramount that some level of mutual trust has cultural identity and experienced bullying. The first time I ever felt like I
belonged was when I was an exchange student in Korea. That summer
been established between you and the investor(s) was eye opening. I looked around and everyone around looked like me
your fund is pitched to. Without that, your deal is and smelled like me, and finally for the first time I felt a sigh of relief. Such
tumultuous times forged my trailblazing impact in the world of VC. I aim
bound to fall through before it even begins. When to support underserved women and diverse talent, so they don’t have to
it comes time to negotiate dollar amounts and hesitate when an opportunity because they feel like they don’t belong
there. You belong there; take full command. When you get a seat at the
terms, it can be easy to become bogged down by
table, pull the chair out next to you for others to come.
sheer numbers, but numbers are only part of the
puzzle. If you can clearly communicate the value
and ROI of investing in your fund outside of dollars
and cents, you create more leverage for yourself at
the negotiation table.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I always rec-

ommend having a knowledgeable and experienced
business lawyer on your side; preferably one with
prior experience in VC and investing, as well. They
will help guide you through the negotiation process
as well as help ensure that you are getting the best

www.fyklaw.com
Fe atu re
Investors Outlook
for 2022 and
Positioning Yourself
for Success
featuring Paul Andreola, Kyle Cerminara and Kelvin Seetoh
2021 is in the rear-view mirror, and for most, based on most of

the Q4 2021 fund manager letters, I would say are happy that the
calendar year has flipped.
A
s host of the Planet MicroCap Podcast, I’ve important than usual. I’m not much
had the chance to speak with and get to of a trend guy and have much
know some of the best investors of our more of a bottom-up approach
generation, and while none of them are oracles to stock selection. That said I
or have a crystal ball, experience begets wisdom, expect to find good opportuni-
which in turn begets doing our best to make edu- ties in a few sectors and have
cated guesses on what the future may hold. As of recently been very active in the
this publishing, we’re already more than halfway energy service sector.
through Q1 2022, but as we can all agree in this Paul Andreola
post-pandemic era, even a day seems like an eterni- Energy stocks were the best per-
ty in the stock market. With that, I wanted to show- forming sector in 2021 but energy service companies
case how some incredibly well-respected investors lagged energy stocks considerably. Larger service
are thinking about the year ahead and how they are companies have been moving higher but many of the
positioning themselves for success. small players have yet to move in a meaningful way. I
suspect there is still a lot of hesitancy to play the sec-
Paul Andreola, Small Cap Discoveries tor because of how devastating the bear market has
been over the past decade. I also suspect that insti-
Website: https://smallcapdiscoveries.com/ tutional money has been more willing to buy some
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulAndreola of the more liquid, larger names and have ignored
the smaller, less liquid names. I’ve been finding some
2021 was extremely rough for many of the micro- very cheap opportunities in some of the very small
caps I follow. The fact it was so tough makes me energy service companies.
feel much more optimistic for 2022 since valuations I’m finding good values in companies that have low
have declined significantly even though many of institutional ownership, are undiscovered and or mis-
these companies have had record financial results. understood. This includes smaller commodity service
We’ll be battling inflation and higher interest rates companies and several different niche businesses. I’m
which I believe will make stock picking much more looking for small businesses solving current logistics

problems, local suppliers of materials and companies now in index or closet index strate-
that are “onshoring” products and services. gies compared to a much smaller
number 10 or 20 years ago. We
I think 2022 could be one of the better buying believe the number is likely even
opportunities in the very small nano-cap stocks. higher when you include all of
Notice I didn’t say a good year for nanocaps as the closet indexers and newly
I’m terrible at predicting when markets will turn up. created strategies like smart beta.
The current environment for nanocaps/microcaps Equity flows dominate and momen-
reminds me of the brief period in late 2019 early Kyle Cerminara tum strategies have benefited from
2020 prior to the onset of Covid. Smaller stocks were positive equity flows into many of
very illiquid, large stocks were garnering the atten- these index-based strategies. If you think about it
tion. Smaller stocks were very cheap, and it turned logically, the higher a stock price goes, the greater
out to be a great buying opportunity. I saw similar the rebalance as a % of the index the following year
buying opportunities back in 2012/2013. I’m finding, and vice versa for the underperforming names.
due to inflation and higher interest rate concerns,
and expect to continue to find good buying oppor- We believe this has caused a bubble in a few large-
tunities in smaller companies growing at double digit cap names and dramatic undervaluation in compa-
rates but trading at single digit valuation metrics. nies that are (a) not in the index, such as micro caps
that are too small and (b) companies that have had
If small company valuations stay depressed, I think poor performance right before they are rebalanced
we will see an increase in small company take- lower causing all of the index-based strategies to
overs and go-private transactions. We’ve seen it sell them for potentially non-fundamental reasons.
start already and have had two companies recently Fundamental is in our name and we love special
acquired by larger players. In many cases it will be situations investing where we can find very under-
cheaper to buy than build for some of the large valued companies to own and work to realize that
companies. I believe investors need to think like value over time.
these acquirers.
We are positioned accordingly and have taken a
Kyle Cerminara, Fundamental Global significant role in each of the companies we invest
Investors either as a board member or similar position. I think
great fundamental investors focused on smaller-cap
Website:https://fundamentalglobal.com/ companies are going to do very well over the next
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kcerminara few years. I also believe that as these smaller com-
panies grow and get into the major indices, they will
We are well over a decade into a bull market for the benefit from a much larger investor opportunity set.
major market indices, but there are still incredible
values to be found investing in smaller companies Kelvin Seetoh
such as micro caps. Fundamental Global Investors is
fascinated by what we deem to be a very unfortu- Twitter: https://twitter.com/
nate trend towards passive and index-based invest- SlingshotCap
ing over the last few decades with active manage-
ment becoming a smaller and smaller percentage From a high level, 2022 will be
of total equity assets under management and larger filled with a lot of uncertainty
cap investing dominating the indices vs. smaller and because it’s the year where inflation
micro-cap investing. is running rampant. While inflation is Kelvin Seetoh
mostly caused by supply chain issues,
So much investing power has been placed in the the Federal Reserve is going ahead to hike the inter-
hands of a very small group of index providers. An est rates. This creates a downward pressure on
index addition or elimination and the rebalancing valuations. As long-term investors, we have to select
can in many cases have a positive (or negative) companies exhibiting durable growth potential.
impact on stock prices. Many of the studies we have Strong growth compounded over many years would
read suggest that well over 50% of the market is be able to offset price multiple contractions.

insi g hts
// By Richard Revelins
Why Buy
Australian
Dual-Trading
MicroCaps?
“Buy low- Sell High”, we hear that all the time, it is initiatively
obvious, and pretty much the way in which the majority of so-called
hedge funds and institutional investors outperform the market.
T
he term, “Hedge Fund” is often a mis-used
description, as most hedge funds don’t in fact
“hedge” anything. They prefer to invest at an
early or development stage of a company’s growth
cycle and use their financial backing and corporate
influence to grow the subject company into a much
larger business, to then on-sell to later stage inves-
tors, or the general public, through a trade sale, an
Initial Public Offering (IPO) or into a SPAC. They can
do this because of their well-established financial
engineering models and depth of expertise in certain
industry sectors.
So where does this leave ordinary investors?

Generally, this leaves ordinary investors paying full
retail at the IPO stage, when the smart money is How do Aussie Microcaps provide superior invest-
already in at a fraction of the eventual issue price. ment opportunities? I have opined on this subject
before, but simply it comes down to structural differ-
OK, so how can I get into an investment at an ences between US and Australian equity markets. At
earlier stage and what are the risks? Investment is the top end these markets function fundamentally in
always a risk/return equation. The greater the risk the same way. Share prices and markets caps are a
the greater the anticipated upside should be, and function of fiscal performance, industry outlook and
the converse applies for larger established, dividend earnings multiples. At the earlier, more speculative
paying investments. If you have little, or no risk toler- microcap end, it is more to do with the past track
ance, then you are probably not a MicroCap Review record/credibility of the management teams, the
Magazine subscriber in the first place! The common robustness (if that is a real word) of the project and
idea behind microcap investing is we are all looking the level of appetite in the market. As a career wide
for that diamond in the rough, or that undervalued/ speculative investor I have had investments which
overlooked/misunderstood investment opportunity. have made 10, 20, 50 time return on capital, and I
have also had investments where I have lost the lot.

This is only sustainable if the winners exceed the los-
ers and the best way to make that happen is to be
The Aussies keep coming, look
diligent, perform your own evaluation and analysis out for them through OTC
and back credible, experienced management teams.
A good management team can make an average Markets and keep reading
project succeed, but a bad management team can
kill a great project.
MicroCap Review Magazine
for potential superior return on
To secure a full listing on the Australian Securi-
ties Exchange (“ASX”) a company need only investment opportunities.
demonstrate net tangible assets of AUD $ 4 million
(USD $ 2.84 million) (net of costs of fundraising)
OR 12-month Profit from Continuing Operations
of $500,000 (USD$ 355,000). Compared to the
requirements of NASDAQ or NYSE, companies in in December 2019. At the time the application was
Australia are often listed and traded at a far earlier filed Lake’s stock price was around AUD 3 cents and
stage. This provides investors with the opportunity the market cap was around AUD $ 40 million. After
to participate at an earlier stage of the growth cycle, trading commenced on QB, the stock moved up to
with the protection of Continuous Disclosure, Fully around 6 cents per share and subsequently 10 cents
Audited Financial Accounts, and compliance with once DTC was established. A number of positive
the ASX Listing Rules. There are of course risks commercial developments significantly accelerated
associated with earlier stage companies, however the share price which reached a high of $1.15 on 1
investors can mitigate these risks to a large degree November 2021. This represented a return of over
by reliance on full and complete market disclosure of 38 times on the initial share price. The current share
material activities. price is AUD $ 0.92 providing a market cap of
around $1.1 billion.
How do US Retail Investors trade Australian
shares? Most broker/ dealers have reciprocal Many other of other ASX dual trading companies
arrangements with brokers in foreign jurisdictions, possess similar upside potential and trade at sub-
however this can sometimes be more complex and stantial discounts to their NASDAQ or NYSE peers,
costly and doesn’t work well with online trading this particularly true right now in the area of battery
platforms. An increasing number of ASX listed enti- materials and battery technologies.
ties are bridging this gap by establishing dual trading
on the Over-The-Counter Markets in the US and in The Aussies keep coming, look out for them through
particular OTCQX and OTCQB. Exemption 12g3- OTC Markets and keep reading MicroCap Review
2(b) of the Securities Exchange Act allows foreign Magazine for potential superior return on investment
companies who are listed on an approved foreign opportunities.
exchange to apply for dual quotation and trading
in the US. This allows US investors to buy and sell Richard Revelins has worked as an international investment banker for over
30 years and specializes in listed public companies. He is a co-founder of
shares during US trading hours and settle trades Peregrine Corporate Limited based in Australia and is also a Managing
through their existing trading platforms. Most dual Director at Cappello Group Limited based in Los Angeles, USA. He
currently resides in Venice, California and divides his time between the US
trading Aussie issuers are taking the additional step and Australia.
of applying for DTC eligibility which offers faster and
Rick Revelins does not own shares of Lake Resources.
cheaper settlement of trades. There is a growing
trend with many broker/dealers introducing trading
restrictions whereby they are no longer facilitating
trading in non-DTC eligible securities.
As an example of what can happen when an ASX

stock becomes “discovered” and traded on both
OTCQB and ASX, Lake Resource N.L. (ASX: LKE,
OTCQB: LLKKF) commenced trading on the OTCQB

insi g hts
// By Jason Paltrowitz
Amended SEC Rule

15c2-11
Creating A More Transparent, Global OTC Markets
On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, amended SEC Rule 15c2-11

became effective.
R
ule 15c2-11 serves as a regulatory gateway to
the public markets, establishing the require-
ments for public quoting in OTC stocks (i.e.,
those not listed on an exchange). The Rule’s imple-
mentation represents a transformational moment
for OTC Markets Group, as a Qualified Interdealer
Quotation System operator— recognizing our
mission-critical role and aligning with the data-driven
disclosure standards we’ve created as the core
foundation of our OTCQX, OTCQB and Pink markets.
By requiring companies to provide current, public
disclosure as a pre-requisite for general distribu-
tion of proprietary market maker quotes, the Rule
facilitates better-informed, more efficient financial
markets and upholds our commitment to investor
protection. As a regulated market operator, OTC ATS, whether on a proprietary basis or on behalf of
Markets Group now plays a greater role in bringing a customer order. Accordingly, the Rule does not
companies onto our markets and streamlining the apply to the underlying transactions or the ability of
pathway to the public market for companies meet- an investor to buy or sell a security, but rather the
ing their disclosure requirements. ability to publish a quotation, or an “indication of
interest,” to the greater investing public.
What is Rule 15c2-11?
What are the most significant changes to
First adopted nearly fifty years ago in 1971, long Rule 15c2-11?
before the existence of electronic trading, Rule
15c2-11 was originally designed to deter fraudulent While the final Rule contains many changes, the
quoting activity by broker-dealers in OTC securities overarching framework aims to modernize the OTC
by requiring brokers to obtain and review specified market in the following ways:
information about the issuer before initiating a
quoted market. Companies are now required to publish current in-
formation in order to be publicly quoted on OTC Link
The Rule governs a broker’s ability to submit or ATS. By requiring current information and shifting
publish quotations (i.e. bids and offers) in OTC the information review obligations to the operator of
securities in trading systems such as our OTC Link the trading system, issuers are encouraged to make

disclosure available, and brokers can more easily How has Rule 15c2-11 transformed the OTC
rely upon our current information designations to market?
quote and trade OTC securities.
The modernized Rule has brought greater transpar-
Companies that do not make current information ency and efficiency to the OTC market. Importantly,
publicly available and meet the requirements for it formally recognizes our existing information
ongoing quoting, will be shifted to our ‘Expert Market’ review and compliance processes that issuers use to
efficiently disclose information and that brokers and
OTC Markets Group designates certain securities investors rely on to price risk and make informed
for quoting on the Expert Market based on a lack of investment decisions.
issuer disclosure and other security attributes. The
Expert Market is a regulated and transparent market The amended rule also introduced several new
for broker-dealers to meet their best execution exemptions to facilitate the development of public
responsibilities under FINRA Rules and serve the markets in stocks that are less susceptible to
needs of sophisticated investors in different types of fraud. Securities of large, liquid companies that
restricted securities. meet minimum financial standards, and those
issued in underwritten offerings, now have a
This means broker-dealers can publish unsolicited streamlined pathway to a public market under the
quotes representing Limit Orders from retail and new Rule.
institutional investors who are not affiliates or
insiders of the issuer. Distribution of Expert Market September 28th also marked the beginning of our
quotations is limited to broker-dealers and other role as a Qualified Interdealer Quotation System
professional and sophisticated investors. under the rule as a regulated market operator

building reliable processes and systems to serve our •• No changes in Proprietary Quote Eligibility
customers while enhancing regulatory compliance. status for OTCQX and OTCQB securities
The amendments provide a new opportunity for The Data above compares security level information
us as a market operator to 1) streamline the on- on December 31, 2021 with data from September 27,
boarding of new securities, 2) offer transparent 2021 (the final day of the prior rule set)
trading for brokers, and 3) oversee ongoing issuer
disclosure and compliance that is relied upon by As a regulated entity and Qualified Interdealer
investors, broker-dealers, and regulators. Quotation System, OTC Markets Group has assumed
greater responsibility as a trusted information
Lastly, on the heels of the SEC’s amendments to source for broker-dealers. The changes we’ve seen
Rule 15c2-11, effective November 8, 2021 FINRA as a result of amended SEC Rule 15c2-11 underscore
ceased operation of its OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB), the evolution of our market and solidify our trajec-
the legacy quotation system for OTC securities tory as a global, transparent market operator that
empowers today’s investors with data to make
Impact of Rule 15c2-11 post September 28, informed decisions.
2021 effective date
Supporting Links and Resources:
Preliminary analysis indicates that these changes
created more transparency for investors while also SEC Final Rulemaking
significantly increasing the number of quoted global SEC Press Release
securities. Notably, over 3,000 securities became 15c211 Resource Center
eligible for public market maker price quotations on
In his dual role as Director, OTC Markets Group International Ltd. and
OTC Markets after meeting the new rule’s require-
EVP, Corporate Services, Jason Paltrowitz manages the company’s
ments. international and domestic Corporate Services business, supporting more
than 1,200 companies that trade on the premium OTCQX and OTCQB
Markets. Leveraging his background in financial services and expertise
Snapshot of High-level numbers: in cross-border trading, Jason spearheads sales initiatives and alliances
to provide issuers with efficient alternatives to raise capital, access U.S.
investors, and help small-cap companies alleviate the cost and complexity
associated with being a public company.
•• Nearly 1,000 companies subscribed to provide
Prior to joining OTC Markets Group in October 2013, Jason was Managing
public disclosure in 2021 Director and Segment Head at JP Morgan Chase responsible for the
•• The total number of Proprietary (Market Maker) custody, clearing and collateral management business in the Corporate
and Investment Bank division. Jason also held multiple senior management
Quote Eligible securities increased to 10,144 – a
positions at BNY Mellon, most notably, as Head of M&A for the Financial
12% increase Markets and Treasury Services Sector and 11 years as the Head of the
•• 2,165 former Pink No Information securities Global Capital Markets Group in the Depositary Receipt Division.
Jason served on the Board of Directors of the Crowdfunding Professional
shifted to the Expert Market tier, where Association (CfPA) from 2017 - 2020. He previously served as a member
securities may only be quoted on an Unsolicited of the Board of Directors at OTC Markets Group from 2008 - 2011. Jason
holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Boston University
(customer order) basis. While this represents a and received his MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.
large number of securities, it represented less
For more information about OTC Markets Group, please visit:
than 5% of the total dollar volume www.otcmarkets.com
•• 1,666 Pink No Information securities lost Propri-
etary (Market Maker) Quote Eligibility status
•• 1,064 Grey Market securities gained Proprietary
Quote Eligibility and shifted to either the Pink
Current or Pink Limited tiers. These securities
qualified under the Large Company Exemption
available under amended 15c2-11. The Large
Company Exemption is available to international
securities which have total assets greater than
$50 million, shareholder equity greater than $10
million and average worldwide dollar volume for
the past 60 days greater than $100,000

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