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(March 8, 2007) Alterra Capital announced that Wellington West will be the exclusive principal agent for the Alterra U.S. Venture Capital Fund, a private offering with a $50 million maximum that is designed to allow individual investors access to the U.S. venture capital market.

Alterra said the fund will be sub-advised by Spencer Trask Asset Management, a subsidiary of venture capital firm Spencer Trask & Co.

The fund’s investment objective is to generate superior returns from a portfolio of 20 to 30 U.S. venture capital holdings. Alterra said the fund will attempt to be diversified across U.S. industry sectors and geographical regions, focusing on high-growth-potential, investment-stage companies in the healthcare, biotechnology, medical devices, enterprise software, Internet services, hardware technology and telecommunications industries.

Charlie Spiring, Wellington West’s chairman, said venture capital has consistently demonstrated the highest historical returns on investment. “The U.S. leads the world in developing companies that can alter entire marketplaces,” he said.

Accredited Canadian investors will need to make a minimum investment of $40,000, paid into the fund over three years.

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CRA extends halt on tax processing

(March 8, 2007) The Canada Revenue Agency said it continues to experience electronic system difficulties that prevent the public from accessing some electronic services such as Netfile, Telefile and Efile. Access to the services will remain temporarily shut down.

Yesterday, the CRA suspended these services, citing system vulnerabilities resulting from software maintenance that could compromise taxpayer information. The CRA said security and integrity of taxpayer data have not been compromised and stressed the problem is not the result of computer hackers or a virus. The agency added that it has a team working to restore its systems, but it will be a matter of days before the problems are resolved.

Returns that have already been submitted, either in electronic or paper form, cannot be processed, so refunds will be delayed until the system is fixed.

The CRA expects all benefit payments, including the March 20 universal child care benefit and Canada child tax benefit and the April 5 GST tax credit, to be made on time and without interruption.

The CRA hasn’t determined whether the tax deadline will be extended, but taxpayers can still file returns in person at their financial institution, online via the financial institution’s banking service, or by sending a payment to the CRA by mail.

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Firm conducts renewable energy credit trading

(March 8, 2007) World Energy Solutions said on Thursday that it has completed the first online forward auction for selling renewable solar energy credits.

Using its World Energy Exchange platform, the company said it oversaw the trade of renewable solar energy credits on behalf of MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Municipal Mortgage & Equity, LLC

Renewable solar energy credits are a new feature popping up in light of New Jersey’s renewable portfolio standards, which will require all electricity producers in the state to get 7–10% of their output from renewable sources of energy like solar power by 2012, and 17–22% by 2020.

SRECs, as they’re called, allow utility providers to buy energy at a wholesale cost without having to produce it themselves. World Energy said the auction resulted in the sale of 1,500 SRECs, the equivalent of 1,500 MWh of renewable energy, to be delivered over a 28-month contract period beginning in January 2007.

MMA Renewable Ventures financed a solar power project initiative through a power purchase agreement where a third-party company agreed to the installation of solar panels on the roof of its manufacturing facility in return for a guaranteed source of energy to help power its facilities.

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Winfund integrated with GlobeAdvisor

(March 8, 2007) Winfund Software Corp. announced its account management and trading tools for financial advisors can now be integrated with GlobeAdvisor’s ProStation for no extra cost.

Winfund said that advisors should be able to securely export their client account information from the Winfund system directly into ProStation.

David Keith, vice-president of digital media for The Globe and Mail, said the partnership between the GlobeAdvisor and Winfund is a good fit. “GlobeAdvisor ProStation has the performance data, research, portfolio and presentation tools to help advisors understand how their clients are doing. Winfund has the back-office capabilities to help advisors monitor client accounts and make transactions.”

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(03/08/07)