HispanicBusiness

NEW YORK, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The first conference to look at investment opportunities in the U.S. Hispanic market will be held on Tuesday, April 12, in New York City. "The U.S. Hispanic Market Opportunity: Reality or Fiction?" will be co-sponsored and moderated by investment bank Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., the law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP, Zemi Communications and AMLA Consulting.

SEC Commissioner Roel Campos will be the keynote speaker. Other featured speakers will include Jeffrey Hinson, CFO, Univision Communications, Inc.; Richard Barrios, SVP and Corporate Treasurer, Banco Popular; Victor L. Maruri, co-founder and principal, Hispania Capital Partners; Aida Levitan, U.S. Hispanic market consultant, and Juan Solana, Chief Economist, Hispanic Business, Inc.

"The U.S. Hispanic Market Opportunity: Reality or Fiction?" will be held at the offices of Chadbourne & Parke, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York.

The conference will examine the overall financial performance of the U.S. Hispanic sector, as well as individual high growth sectors and opportunities for institutional and private investors. In addition, experts will share their know-how on raising capital and business expansion for Hispanic company CEOs. Leading Hispanic companies will be available for one-on-one meetings, including MasTec, Inc. (MTZ), Popular Inc. (BPOP), United Panam Financial Corp. (UPFC) and Eurobank (EUBK).

"Hispanic companies are outperforming the market. Revenues of U.S. Hispanic companies are growing at an average rate of 20 percent a year - three times faster than the rest of corporate America," said Jay C. Garcia, managing director of Ramirez & Co. "The Hispanic demographic is a large, loyal and growing customer base that provides a competitive edge for these companies, especially in banking, healthcare and media."

"Companies have tended to focus on marketing and advertising to the U.S. Hispanic community," said Talbert Navia, a partner and head of the Private Equity practice at Chadbourne & Parke. "Despite the continued rapid growth of the U.S. Hispanic market and the companies that serve this market, less than two percent of the private equity capital and fewer than a dozen funds are focused on this market. There needs to be a bridge created between the sources of capital and the need for capital in this dynamic market, whose purchasing power would be listed among the ten largest economies of the world."

"While Hispanic owned or led business ventures are being created at a very fast rate, few have exhibited a life cycle that transcends 15 years and even fewer have grown to become major market players. Those that succeed in staying and growing have the right mix of technology, communications and finance. We aim at instilling in the audience the need to unfold the right strategic communications strategy from inception," said Alan Stoga, Zemi's President and AMLA's Chairman.

Ramirez, which views the U.S. Hispanic sector as a distinct asset class, developed the Ramirez & Co. Hispanic Index (RCHI), a benchmark that tracks the performance of the ten largest publicly-traded Hispanic companies in the United States. The Ramirez Hispanic Index rose 24% in 2004, compared to 3% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 9% for the S&P 500.

The U.S. Hispanic population reached 40.4 million in 2004, a growth of more than 14% between 2000 and 2004, compared to 2% for the rest of the U.S. population. Hispanics' purchasing power has increased significantly over the past few years, reaching $700 billion at the end of 2004 according to HispanTelligence(R). It is forecasted to reach almost $900 billion at the end of 2007 and will likely surpass $1.0 trillion by 2010.

For a conference agenda, please log on to http://www.ramirezco.com/ or http://www.zemi.com/. For registration information, contact Iris Acevedo at Chadbourne & Parke, iacevedo@chadbourne.com.

About Samuel A. Ramirez & Company, Inc.

Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Inc (Ramirez) is a full service securities firm serving the investment needs of individuals, business owners, institutional investors and government agencies. Founded in 1971, Ramirez is the oldest and largest Hispanic owned investment bank in the U.S. The firm offers professional services focusing on wealth management, underwriting, banking, M&A/strategic business consulting, institutional brokerage, research and asset management. Ramirez provides retail and institutional trading expertise in tax-free municipal bonds, equities, government bonds, corporate bonds and alternative investments. The firm's main office is located in New York with branch offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Oakland, San Antonio, and San Juan Puerto Rico.

About Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Chadbourne & Parke LLP, an international law firm headquartered in New York City, provides a full range of legal services, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, project finance, corporate finance, energy, telecommunications, commercial and products liability litigation, securities litigation and regulatory enforcement, white collar defense, intellectual property, antitrust, domestic and international tax, reinsurance and insurance, environmental, real estate, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, employment law and ERISA, trusts and estates and government contract matters. The Firm has offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Houston, Moscow, Kyiv, Warsaw (through a Polish partnership), Beijing and a multinational partnership, Chadbourne & Parke, in London. For additional information, visit http://www.chadbourne.com/.

About Zemi Communications/AMLA Consulting

Zemi Communications, headquartered in New York, provides strategy based communication counsel and services to corporate and governmental clients from around the world, particularly those who raise capital, operate, or are affected by developments in the United States. http://www.zemi.com/. AMLA Consulting brings years of experience in government, in business, in the media, in finance to bear on your company's strategic and operating challenges in the many diverse markets that comprise the Spanish and Portuguese speaking Americas. AMLA helps clients succeed in building and sustaining lasting business relationships. http://www.consultamla.com/

Past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance. Ramirez & Co.

Web site: http://www.ramirezco.com/http://www.chadbourne.com/http://www.zemi.com/http://www.consultamla.com/