Robb Rill

Founder
The 20/22 Act Society

Robb Rill is the founder of The Strategic Group PR (TSG), headquartered in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico, which is a private equity firm that specializes in investing in private companies, with an emphasis in finance and technology. While TSG takes majority or full ownership stakes in companies, Strategic Capital, a related proprietary fund focuses on identifying microcap frauds in the market and short-selling their public securities. The fund achieved unparalleled returns in excess of 60% per annum on a non-compounded basis from 1998 to 2005, before short selling restrictions hampered the main strategy. Mr. Rill’s security analysis in the public markets has, in part, been responsible for exposing several fraudulent companies which resulted in the companies delisting or ceasing operations. Mr. Rill has also been involved with taking companies public as the lead outside investor, including Abazias.com (a publicly traded company until it's sale in 2009), which was the largest diamond company on the internet by inventory. Mr. Rill facilitated a contentious, management-led buyout of Directed Manufacturing Inc. (a 3D aerospace manufacturer) from its former parent company in 2011. Four years, later after a successful turnaround of the company, he sold the company (FBR was the advisor) to publicly traded metals company RTI in 2014, for an exit of eight times revenues (a first for a 3D manufacturer). Most recently TSG has made its first biotech investment in DRG Labs, one of the only companies in the world doing diagnostic testing of the microbiome. Sixty million Americans have gastrointestinal disorders that benefit from this type of testing and sales have grown one hundred times over since it was founded four years ago. As one of the pioneer recipients of new tax incentive laws in Puerto Rico intended to motivate asset managers to relocate to Puerto Rico in exchange for a 4% tax rate, he was one of the first ten recipients to move to the island in 2013. Mr. Rill is the founder of The 20/22 Act Society, an organization with several hundred members, which has become the epicenter for tax grant recipients, which are primarily but not exclusively hedge funds and private equity firms seeking to take advantage of these new programs. Mr. Rill helps to advise these recipients on how to structure their entities. Mr. Rill’s work has been profiled in several prominent publications including among others Bloomberg, Business Week, and Reuters. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (B.S.) in Finance from the University of Florida and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Finance and Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Florida. On a personal level Mr. Rill is the founder, along with his wife Tara, of The 20/22 Act Foundation, which is the main charitable vehicle for recipients of tax incentives on the island. The Foundation has led the charge in not just financially supporting numerous charitable initiatives locally, but leading landmark legislation to effect change for the estimated 300,000 abandoned and stray dogs on the island. He is also on the board of directors and is the local chapter head for World Computer Exchange, an international organization with over 600 partners worldwide which sends refurbished computers with educational content to children mostly in Third World countries in order to bridge the digital divide. His efforts, using his financial and commercial expertise, have been instrumental in leveraging technologies and implementing fund raising efforts which now account for up to a quarter of their budget. Mr. Rill has been an invite-only participant to TED several times, which is an annual conference for thought leaders primarily from Silicon Valley but has global participation including world leaders Bill and Melinda Gates and the Dali Lama. Mr. Rill is also an avid sports car enthusiast and has participated in several national and world recognized events such as the Dakar Rally (being one of fewer than fifty Americans to ever do so in its thirty-year history), which is recognized as one of the most challenging motorsport events in the world. He has also competed in the Baja 1000 and in the World Rally Championship Mexico, as well as several professional auto rallies. In addition, he has competed in numerous triathlons, marathons, and is currently a Shodan candidate (black belt) in Renshinkan Karate. He lives primarily in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico, with Tara, his wife of twenty years, and their eight-year-old rescued-from-the-street Golden Retriever, Chloe. They all enjoy spending summers in Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as spending time in Gainesville, Florida.