Paul Woolner, CEO 4Sight Partners e-mail: pwoolner@4sightpartners.com

In early 1997, at a time when most Internet companies were still in their infancy, the founders of 4Sight Partners (4SP) recognized the enormous growth and investment opportunities in Internet-related developments. In their work with Digital 4Sight they realized, well in advance of the market, that the companies they had identified as innovators and leaders in adapting to technological change were rapidly emerging as the winners and success stories in their respective industries.

4SP was created in order to bring to the investment community the experience, insight, and intellectual capital that its founders had developed at Digital 4Sight. Paul Woolner, a co-founder of Digital 4Sight, led the founding of 4SP and was joined soon after by Michael Miloff, a Digital 4Sight principal. Don Tapscott, Alex Lowy and David Ticoll, also co-founders of Digital 4Sight, joined 4SP's Board of Directors, providing their insight and support to its activities.

Our Strengths

The goal of 4SP is to work in partnership with investment firms to create wealth through innovative investment vehicles that allow corporations and individuals to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the growth of e-business.

4SP’s areas of expertise include:

Developing e-business investment strategies. 4SP creates and initiates investment concepts and strategies related to the Internet.

Assessing Internet-related business models and investment opportunities. 4SP anticipates and evaluates investment opportunities that emerge from Internet-related trends and innovations. 4SP also assesses the business models and e-business strategies of individual companies whose operations have an Internet-related component.

Originating investments. 4SP has developed a reputation as an attractive investment partner for emerging Internet-related companies. Through its extensive network of contacts in the U.S., Canada and globally, 4SP develops opportunities for involvement in the financing of new e-businesses.

Providing mergers and acquisitions advice. 4SP advises corporations seeking to understand the e-business elements of investment decisions such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions.

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Digital 4Sight

As an affiliate of Digital 4Sight, 4SP draws on over five years of groundbreaking research into the implications that the Internet has for business.

Digital 4Sight was established in 1994, prior to the introduction of the first graphical browser, at a time when only a small fraction of Internet traffic traveled over the World Wide Web. Its founders came together in the belief that new technologies were poised to transform business in remarkable ways. They recognized that success in the new, digital economy would flow to those companies that acted quickly to integrate these technologies within their organizational strategy and overall business model.

The business community reacted enthusiastically to Digital 4Sight's vision and approach. Its first multi-client program, Interactive Multi-Media in the High-Performance Organization: Wealth Creation in the Digital Economy, attracted some of the most influential and innovative companies in North America and established Digital 4Sight as a world leader in research and consulting on e-business.

Clients of Digital 4Sight have included such prominent companies as: Andersen Consulting,  AT&T,  Bank of Montreal,  Bell Atlantic,  Bell Canada,  Ernst & Young,  FedEx,  Fujitsu,  General Motors,  Hewlett-Packard,  IBM,  Microsoft,  McGraw Hill,  Nortel,  Procter & Gamble,  and Xerox.

Digital 4Sight continues to explore the leading edge of technological change and has recently launched two new programs:

4SP & Altamira: A unique partnership

During 1997 and early 1998, 4SP explored a number of opportunities with a variety of investment firms in its search for a partnership with an investment manager. Among the many firms that expressed interest, Altamira best understood the impact that technological change was having on business models. Altamira was willing to act on this knowledge, at a time when the credibility of the Internet and e-business had not yet been well established among the investment community.

Altamira's support for 4SP's proposal was not surprising, given the investment firm's strength and experience in the high-technology sector. Altamira’s science and technology fund has been among the top-performing Canadian mutual funds and the company, under CEO Gordon Cheesbrough, understands the broader impact that technological change is having on business and investment.

Altamira was also open to 4SP's unique proposal for a partnership in the management of a mutual fund. They both recognized the potential synergies between 4SP's experience in understanding and anticipating the impact of technological change, and Altamira's strengths as a financial advisor and mutual fund manager.

Quality Research and Analysis

4SP analyses draws upon an extensive body of research and network of contacts. Its team provides insight into emerging market trends, technological innovations and changing business strategies.

Drawing on input from analysts at Digital 4Sight, Altamira Financial Services, as well as its extensive network of thought leaders, 4SP analysts review individual companies' e-business strategies and track developments across various sectors of the economy.

4SP monitors over 70 news and information sources on a daily basis in order to spot new technological developments and identify companies that are moving to take advantage of the opportunities presented by e-business.

Altamira e-business Fund

In November 1998, Altamira and 4SP co-founded the Altamira e-business Fund -- a unique and innovative fund that invests in companies taking advantage of emerging business opportunities in the digital economy.

The fund adopted 4SP's three-tiered approach to e-business, investing in:

Since its launch, the Altamira e-business Fund has consistently ranked as one of the top performing funds in Canada, demonstrating the fundamental strength of its approach in both rising and falling markets. While the fund has benefited from strong growth in Internet stock values, it has also been protected by its investments in more established "bricks-and-mortar" companies and infrastructure suppliers.

As a growing number of established companies move to integrate the Internet into their business models, the lines between these three categories will become increasingly blurred. By identifying at an early stage those companies that are moving most aggressively toward joining their physical and virtual operations, the fund has adopted a long-term perspective on the value of e-business.

Altamira and 4SP work in close consultation at all levels of the partnership, with managers and analysts from both companies remaining in close contact. At the strategic level, the CEOs of the two companies co-chair a Governance Committee where the direction of the partnership and the fund are managed. At the portfolio level, the fund team, made up of seven analysts from the two companies, works in close consultation to review the performance of the fund's investments and report on new developments in this rapidly changing sector. Analysts from 4SP draw upon their expertise and extensive knowledge network to present their insights on emerging trends and to identify high-quality e-business strategies, while Altamira's analysts bring forward their skills as proven investment managers with a strong track record in the technology sector.