The Do Write Campaign and Its Whispers from Kashmir Project

The chief executive officer of Caledonia Partners in Greenwich, Connecticut, Brian Lippey belongs to multiple professional and community organizations, including the the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the University Club of New York. Brian Lippey also supports a number of charities.

A digital communication and educational nonprofit, the Kashmir Art Quest seeks to encourage dialog and engender cultural awareness among teenagers from around the world. The organization places a particular emphasis on public health, human trafficking, domestic violence, and other issues that affect young women. 

The result of a partnership with Kashmir Art Quest, the Whispers from Kashmir Project provides creative encouragement and support to young artists in the war-torn region of Kashmir. Despite the ongoing turmoil and conflict within this contested land, Whispers from Kashmir provides ways for young people to display their talents and express their ideas to a global audience through words and artistic media.

The Pros and Cons of Investing in Emerging Markets

Brian Lippey serves as the founder and CEO of Caledonia Partners, a family-run financial firm with a focus on alternative investment strategies. Brian Lippey is especially experienced in emerging markets, particularly in Asia where he has traveled extensively. 

Emerging markets are the new frontiers in economics. These markets are characterized by rapid growth and increasing industrialization in historically less-developed nations, conditions which are often ripe for investing.

Emerging markets often represent high risks due to volatility and changing political and economic pressures. Political upheaval, fluctuations in currency, and regulatory changes can compound or mitigate these inherent risks, depending on circumstances. 

On the other hand, emerging markets represent a new place in global economics, and leaders in these markets may offer more opportunities for capital gains. These markets often grow rapidly while they develop, offering significantly more growth than a mature economy like the United States, which grows only three percent annually.

Consumer-Driven Resilience Amid Mixed Forecasts in Asian Economies

Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, Brian Lippey leads Caledonia Partners, where he provides financial investment management services focused on emerging economies. Brian Lippey has a particular interest in Asian markets and follows international trends that drive investment strategies. As reported in The Straits Times in August 2016 following the release of second-quarter data from Southeast Asian countries, robust consumer demand is driving positive medium-term growth forecasts.

A particular forerunner is the Philippines which, despite the uncertainties brought about by the new Rodrigo Duterte administration, achieved 7 percent annual GDP growth. By contrast, Thailand’s growth has been at half that rate and Indonesia’s is just over 5 percent. The lack of more robust growth in Thailand reflects a tapering off of tourism to the country, as domestic terror worries come to the fore.

One economy that continues to experience a mixed forecast is China. Some industry watchers view that country’s policymakers’ efforts to prop up short-term growth as impeding meaningful reforms. As current stimulus policies wind down, excess capacity is seen as a drag against future growth. Despite this, the Chinese economy managed 6.7 percent annualized growth in the second quarter, which beat expectations slightly.                            

Acoustic and Classical Guitars

With a master's degree in economics from Columbia University, Brian Lippey is the founder and CEO of Caledonia Partners, LLC, an investment management firm. Outside of his professional work, Brian Lippey is an avid guitarist and founded the Guitar Shop TV website for guitar enthusiasts.

Guitarshoptv.com brings together guitarists and fans, featuring videos of shows, interviews, gear reviews, and member-only resources such as The Ultimate Guide to Acoustic Guitars e-book. An acoustic guitar is a hollow wooden instrument that creates sound with the vibration of its strings.

Acoustic guitars generally have metal strings. A classical guitar is an acoustic guitar with nylon strings instead of metal. The classical guitar is a common choice for beginners because nylon strings are easier on the fingers than metal strings.

Classical guitars also usually cost less than other guitar styles. Since new guitarists often quit before they actually learn to play, buying an expensive guitar for a beginner may not be a wise investment.

Exploring Why Hedge Funds Invest in Distressed Securities

As founder and chief executive of Caledonia Partners, Brian Lippey invests in real estate, public and private equity, hedge funds, and alternative investments. As former global head of marketing and client management at Mount Kellett Capital, Brian Lippey helped raised a $3 billion private equity fund for global distressed investments.

Hedge funds are often active in distressed securities. This is because such securities offer promising returns if they can be turned around. Because of their distress, these securities sell for prices much lower than their par value. If they recover, they can be sold for substantially higher prices.

Hedge funds can invest in distressed securities through equity or debt. Owning debt in a distressed company is strategically better than owning equity because debt takes precedence in a claim over assets in the event of bankruptcy.

Hedge funds can access distressed debt in many ways including through mutual funds, bond markets, or directly to the distressed firm itself.

Through mutual funds, hedge funds can acquire significant distressed securities in a single transaction, avoiding the market price effects of such acquisitions as well as their associated high transaction commissions.

Through the bond market, hedge funds benefit from regulations that preclude mutual funds from holding securities that have defaulted. This leaves hedge funds with a huge supply of debt to acquire after default.

Hedge funds can also approach the company directly and lend it capital in the form of a bond or credit line to meet its obligations. Hedge funds have the option of doing this alone or through partnering with other financial institutions, spreading out risk.

Jimmy Page Reunites With Long-Lost Guitar

Since 2010, Brian Lippey has served as the chief executive officer of Caledonia Partners, LLC, a firm he also founded. When not working, Brian Lippey enjoys listening to classic rock acts such as Jimmy Page.

Jimmy Page, lead guitarist of the legendary rock group Led Zeppelin, was recently reported to have made a reunion with a guitar which he used when he was still starting out: a Bigsby B7-loaded model nicknamed "Les Paul Black Beauty." Page reportedly played the 1960-made guitar on many of his sessions before he joined Led Zeppelin and even made a rare appearance at the band's Royal Albert Hall show in 1970.

But it was reported to have been stolen in 1970 at an airport. Since then, it has surfaced until recently with the help of collector Perry Margouleff who helped track it down. This particular guitar is notable because while Page had other Bigsby-loaded “Black Beauties” through the years, the recently returned 1960 model was the original one that helped him rise to fame.

The Do Write Campaign Inspires Teens Worldwide

Caledonia Partners founder Brian Lippey devotes much of his time to management. Alongside his professional endeavors, Brian Lippey supports non-profit organizations such as the Do Write Campaign.

Founded in 2011, the Do Write Campaign is an international online forum designed for young people.It encourages young people all over the world to collaboratively dream of a better future, expressing their ideas through the written word and other artistic pursuits.

The organization maintains a special focus on the issues that impact young people around the world. Contributors share stories and artwork related to their experiences with poverty, education, and development issues. By expressing themselves through written articles or artwork, thousands of young people contribute their unique voices to the discussion of such problems.

Artwork and poetry are selected for the Global Literary Magazine, the organization’s online publication. Through their artistic work, young people express the dreams of a generation, whether they relate to things like personal identity development or dealing with life's challenges. The magazine reads like a blog, inviting readers to join in and add their own voices to the dialogue started by the Do Write Campaign.

Daily Points of Light Award Presented in MusiCorps in January 2016

Brian Lippey brings more than 20 years of global capital markets experience to the Connecticut-based Caledonia Partners. In his spare time, Brian Lippey provides support to initiatives benefitting veterans such as MusiCorps, a nonprofit music rehabilitation program for veterans injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. MusiCorps has received numerous honors for its work in the adaptive music field and was selected for a Daily Point of Light Award in 2016.

Established by President George H.W. Bush in 1993, the Daily Point of Light Award and its parent organization, the Points of Light Foundation, were created to honor the volunteer community and further President Bush’s agenda for addressing America’s social problems through community service. The Corporation for National and Community Service assisted in reinstating the award 1998 with the mission of honoring individuals and groups that actively work toward change in their communities.

Points of Light has presented the Daily Point of Light Award to more than 5,000 recipients since its formation. Eligible recipients include any individual or group that works toward the betterment of society and underprivileged peoples without the intention of obtaining rewards in return. The organization accepts nominations for potential recipients, although nominees may not consist of board members, staff, or committee personnel with Points of Light or the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Understanding Emerging Markets - Columbia U. Lecture Series Highlights

With a career in finance spanning over two decades, Brian Lippey operates as the CEO of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Caledonia Partners, LLC. Drawing on his experience, Brian Lippey presented a lecture series for students at Columbia University in 2013. Below are some key highlights regarding emerging markets from that series.

Emerging markets, and a less developed subset of countries known as frontier markets, pose a unique assortment of challenges to investors. First, they tend to be less liquid than developed markets. Additionally, these regions commonly face volatile political climates and under-developed institutions. Investors might face problems when it comes to unloading their positions since many overseas buyers are risk averse and there are often few local buyers. Myanmar illustrates this problem, because the potential for profitable investment is significant, yet the government Institutions and polices are still evolving.

Despite these obstacles, emerging markets pose a number of advantages for savvy investors. They commonly boast a wealth of natural resources, strategic locations, and an underdeveloped infrastructure, all of which offer niche markets for financiers

Brian Lippey Hosted Three-Part Hedge Fund Series in 2013

A global capital market executive with more than two decades of experience, Brian Lippey is the founder of Caledonia Partners in Greenwich, Connecticut. Over the course of his career, Brian Lippey has hosted a number of seminars that cover a variety of financial topics. In April 2013, he launched the three-part Hedge Fund Lecture series for the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

The series consisted of three brown-bag-lunch discussions held once a month consecutively between February and April and attended by over 30 students with major concentrations in international finance and economic policy (IFEP). Each session focused on a different subject relevant to hedge funds. Students broke into small groups during the seminars in order to establish their own portfolios.

During the first lecture, students learned about global trends in the hedge fund industry and how to enhance their competitiveness. The second lecture featured an overview of emerging and frontier markets and included a lengthy discussion regarding research and risk-mitigation methods, in addition to other strategies for evaluating investments. Hedge fund consultant Owain D. Morgan joined the panel for the final seminar, which primarily involved discussion on risk assessment and the types of risks managers face throughout a fund’s lifetime.

About Brian Lippey

Brian Lippey holds a bachelor of arts with honors in international relations and economics from The American University and a master of arts with honors in international finance and economics from Columbia University. After serving in a series of management positions with major asset management firms, such at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, Brian Lippey returned to the academic environment to complete the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Lippey serves as the managing principal and chief executive officer at Caledonia Partners, LLC. Since founding the Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm in 2012, he has created and implemented a wide range of global equity, hedge fund, and real estate asset management strategies.

Away from his work at Caledonia Partners, Brian Lippey is an avid guitar player and the founder of the website Guitar Shop TV. He also enjoys scuba diving, boating, and deep-sea fishing. An inveterate global traveler, he has visited more than 50 countries.