Oscar Hilt Tatum IV holds a postgraduate business degree from the University of Oxford’s Said Business School. Also the founder and lead partner at iPoint Capital Partners, Oscar Hilt Tatum IV steers the private equity firm in creating value in its portfolio companies.

Value is what attracts customers to a business and makes stakeholders eager to transact with a business. In many ways, therefore, value is not fixed or tangible but exists in the mindset of the client or stakeholder.

Businesses often seek an understanding of what value means to their customers, then strive to deliver it. Businesses can create value in three ways:

1) Create new value. This requires that a business break into a new sector. Businesses can create new value by going after a new market segment or tapping into a demand for a new product. For example, a business seeking to increase membership can create new value by opening a new category of membership to include vendors who sell in that industry.

2) Create more value. More value is created when the purchase price of a product or service is kept the same but more is delivered, when the purchase price is lowered but the same quality is delivered, or both. Here, the focus is on the quantity - such as added features in a phone or levels in a game.

3) Create better value. As the name implies, better value is based on pre-existing value. However, unlike more value, which focuses on increasing quantity, better value focuses on increasing quality. For example, journals create better value by launching an online forum to encourage discussion, and cleaning companies achieve this end by cleaning apartments beyond competitors’ standards, thus improving the quality of their service.

As founding partner and president of iPoint Capital Partners, Hilt Tatum IV oversees a Panama City, Panama-based investment and venture capital firm that operates in countries around the globe. Outside of the office, Hilt Tatum IV enjoys fishing and belongs to the International Game Fish Association, a group that supports anglers and works to conserve the world’s fisheries through various programs and activities.

The International Game Fish Association is currently accepting abstract submissions for the 6th International Billfish Symposium, which will be held September 14-17, 2016, at the IGFA’s headquarters in Dania Beach, Florida. First held in 1972, the International Billfish Symposium was launched to provide a forum to discuss billfish biology, research, and management.

This year, a multidisciplinary audience from around the world will attend the four-day event to exchange information in five topic areas: management, assessment, movement and habitat utilization, basic biology, and commercial and recreational fisheries. Outside of the learning activities and presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to unwind at several networking events, including daily socials and a farewell banquet.

Additional information, including registration details, can be found at www.bfsymposium.org.