Another Type of Conference

I had the pleasure of attending a conference that was not sponsored by an investment bank. It was held by one of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Institute societies and was decidedly more low key. The accommodations were not at a posh hotel but at the society's offices. It was an open event; there were no gatekeepers. Anyone who would pay the fee could attend. There were also no breakout meetings scheduled. Everything was on a presentation basis, either by a single person or a moderated panel.

In general, there was an industry theme - how to find and select good fund managers. Experts from different financial firms such as Brown Brothers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Avenue Capital spoke for about an hour on various topics in Wealth Management, took questions from the audience and gave their views on the current state of the markets. It was an opportunity to sell their products as well.

Anyone interested in experiencing a conference without being in a buy side firm can go to one sponsored by their local CFA Institute society. You can go to www.nyssa.org to view a list of conferences to attend. Unfortunately, the food is not as good as an investment bank's industry conference.