In addition, a group of Dominican artists showcased and auctioned their works in an effort to aid the people in Haiti. These exciting and important events took place in the Covo Lounge at 701 West 135^th Street on 12^th Avnue.

The 4^th and 5^th place winners from each of the semifinals competed in an online video completion for the final spot at the finals.  This video comes from the Knicks Poetry Slam Semifinals and was used as part of the Digital Poet Competition.  Fans were then able to go to Knickspoetryslam.com and vote for the poet that they most liked.

The Knicks Poetry Slam is made possible thanks for the generosity of a number of sponsors.  These include Mercy College, the University of Wisconsin, the New York Knicks, Gregg Hymowitz and the Hymowitz Children’s Educational Foundation, Inc and others.

Others, however, such as Barry Weprin of the Milberg Law Firm, Gregg Hymowitz of EnTrust Capital and James Parrot of the Fiscal Policy Institute all had more wary words to report about the economy.  Issues that they addressed included pension relief, continued unemployment, tax reform, and more regulation needs for the financial sector.

The Knicks poetry slam is possible because of the generous contributions from its many sponsors. Such contributors include The University of Wisconsin, Mercy College, Urban Word NYC, the Hymowitz Children’s Educational Foundation, Inc., with Gregg Hymowitz and others.

New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli was the keynote speaker, and he addressed the financial situation in New York.  He reported that this year, the NYS pension fund has rebounded that that, as of September of 2009, it showed an 18% profit.  He explained, as well, that bonuses are now federally regulated and that Wall Street accounts for 24% of all wages pain in NYC.

There were many financial leaders involved in the panel discussion included Barry Weprin, Gregg Hymowitz, James Parrott and many others.

In this easy to watch slide show entitled, “Deconstructing Portable Alpha”  you will learn what Portable Alpha is, what it does and how it works; you will learn what the individual components of portable Alpha are; how the Beta Component works including the Equity Indices; Hedge Fund Market Share in 1990 which was valued at $39 Billion; Hedge Fund Strategy Market Share in 2007 which was $2 Trillion; Diversification and Returns; and much more.

In one of these forums Mr. Hymowitz was quoted as saying,

“You’ve already seen what the market is betting on. Clearly the market believes a Bush win would be good for the market, but it’s much more important to focus on valuations and quality companies.”

This is solid, common sense advice that would behoove investors to adhere to. It is dangerous and unwise to follow the crowd and invest in trendy things or in the market in general based on remarks of politicians, the latest movie hit or whether there will be rain or snow. According to Gregg Hymowitz investing in the stock market is not the same as betting on a horse race. It is rather a chance to put your faith in a company in which you believe will succeed based on objective criteria which can be investigated.

In 2004 John Hartigan joined EnTrust. He now is the Co-Chief Operating Officer of EnTrust Securities and the principal at the branch of EnTrust in Chicago.

Featured in this video is John Hartigan dicussing United Kingdom Trade and EnTrust Capital.

Two of the most common types of corporate pension funds are defined-benefit plans and defined-contribution plans.  Defined-benefit plans establish that an employee’s retirement benefits are tallied based on a set formula.  This formula usually takes into consideration the length of employment and the salary history of the employee.  The employer is responsible, in these cases, with funding the plan.  With defined-contribution plans, on the other hand, there isn’t a set amount that the employee will receive from the plan upon retirement.  The payout is dependent upon the success of the investment plan.

At this time, many companies are switching from defined-benefit to defined-contribution plans, as they require less from the employer.  This is, of course, more beneficial for the employer, but less so for the employee in many cases.

In particular, a corporate pension plan is an arrangement that has been made between the company and its employees, or the employee’s union.  The plan provides funds for the employee’s retirement and can be financed in a number of ways.  Usually, both the employee and the employer contribute to the plan with a fixed amount contributed each month.

There are many types of corporate pension plans.  Two of the most common plans are the defined-benefit plans and the defined-contribution plans.