CFA Institute Conference: Asset Allocation for Private Clients

Strategies for Private Clients

8–9 June 2010
Hyatt Regency Bellevue
Bellevue, Washington, United States

Hosted by the CFA Society of Seattle

Price:

US$995 Members

US$995 Candidates

US$1,295 Non-Members

Credits:

11.00 CE
0.00 SER

Topics covered:

Economics
Portfolio Management
Private Wealth Management

As private wealth managers adapt to global market turmoil, the job of consistently demonstrating risk-weighted long-term returns for high-net-worth clients has taken on greater complexity. Transitioning from outmoded investments, evaluating new opportunities, and counseling worried clients through this process require greater resources and discipline. But the current investing environment may also represent a turning point with unique opportunities for those prepared to act.

This conference brings together leading practitioners to examine asset allocation strategies that family office investors and private wealth managers can use in the current economic environment.

Who Should Attend

Portfolio managers and strategists
Relationship managers
Family office professionals
Investment advisers
Private client consultants
Private client group executives/Chief investment officers

Download the Asset Allocation for Private Clients brochure (PDF)

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

7:00 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m.
Conference Welcome and Opening Remarks
Scott D. Welch
Senior Managing Director
Fortigent, LLC

8:15 a.m.
Back to the Basics: Deriving After-Tax Assumptions
Doug S. Rogers, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Ascensio Asset Management

A systematic approach to modeling forward-looking risk and return assumptions for tax-aware asset allocation
An example of how elite practitioners provide a tax-aware optimal solution within the mean–variance framework
A supplement for strategic solutions that uses a tactical outlook in a taxable environment

9:15 a.m.
Wealth Preservation for Long-Term Global Investors: Actively Hedging U.S. Dollar Asset Values
Ronald Liesching
Chairman
Mountain Pacific Group

10:15 a.m.
Refreshment Break with Exhibitors

10:35 a.m.
Asset/Liability Management for Private Clients
Jack Brown, CFA
President
Laureola Asset Management

Recognizing the underutilized benefits of ALM, and using it as a risk management technique for private client asset allocation
Using customized ALM to provide a framework to manage risks and obligations unique to each client
Using the ALM process to define an investor’s ability to accept risk, strengthen a practitioner’s understanding of circumstances, and enhance the qualitative discussions about asset allocation, risk management, and advice in volatile environments

11:35 a.m.
Exploring the Frontier Emerging Equity Markets
Cliff Quisenberry, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Caravan Capital

How to define frontier emerging markets
Why investors should consider these markets: The rewards, risks, and unique characteristics
How investors should approach capacity constraints, liquidity, and other challenges

12:35 p.m.
Lunch followed by Dessert with Exhibitors

1:45 p.m.
A New Era for Municipal Bonds: Opportunities and Risks
Anthony L. Baruffi, CFA
Senior Vice President
SNW Asset Management

How has the financial crisis changed the muni market, and what is it likely to look like going forward?
To what degree have fiscal challenges at the municipal level increased credit risk in the muni market, and are investors being appropriately compensated?
With bond insurance broken and with rating agencies suffering eroding credibility, how should investors approach the market?

2:45 p.m.
How, When, and Why to Use Downside Measures of Risk
Gregory W. Kasten
President and CEO
Unified Trust Company, NA

Modern portfolio theory’s failure to quantify true risk for many investors
Appropriate measures of risk and return for the individual investor
Post modern portfolio theory and fiduciary best practices — its use when formulating investment policy and building portfolios

3:45 p.m.
Refreshment Break with Exhibitors

4:05 p.m.
Geopolitics in a World of Financial Instability
D.J. Peterson
Director, Corporate Advisory Services
Eurasia Group

The destabilizing potential of economic stress
Global political trends investors should be following
Potential areas of concern

5:15 p.m.
Networking Reception

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

7:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m.
Financial Engineering in Tax and Estate Planning
Robert N. Gordon
President
Twenty-First Securities Corporation

Using option theory to take advantage of the uncertain tax and estate environment
How to use GRATs most effectively in the current tax environment
Making the most of options in estate valuation

9:00 a.m.
The Case for Investing in Farmland
Terry Kastens
Advisory Partner
Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners

Shonda Warner
Partner
Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners

Why is investing in farmland real estate different from commercial or residential real estate?
How do macroeconomic factors, such as inflation, affect this asset class?
What may impact the future of agriculture? Technological, alternative fuel, and supply and demand considerations, and their effects on the coming decade.

10:00 a.m.
Refreshment Break with Exhibitors

10:20 a.m.
Managing Portfolios in Volatile Markets
Sebastien Page, CFA
Executive Vice President
PIMCO

Why diversification grossly oversimplifies the challenge of portfolio construction
How measuring turbulence in a rigorous mathematical framework (a turbulence index) empowers investors to estimate risk parameters more reliably, construct more robust portfolios, and scale risk exposure in anticipation of regime shifts
How the turbulence index compares with other risk measures, such as swap spreads and the VIX

11:20 a.m.
Managing Risks in Funds of Funds
Kristoffer Houlihan
Director
Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company

Attacking potential risk management problems during times of market turbulence: Concentration of risks, rising correlations, and illiquidity
Monitoring manager behavior to assess style drift, equity market timing, and correlations
Involving risk managers in the entire investment decision-making process

12:30 p.m.
Conference Close

Anthony Baruffi, CFA

Anthony Baruffi, CFA, is a senior vice president and portfolio manager at SNW Asset Management. Previously, he worked as an assistant portfolio manager at Pugh Capital Management and as a principal and portfolio manager at Sirach Capital Management. Mr. Baruffi’s other work experience includes time spent as a global bond and currency trader at Payden & Rygel and working as a fixed-income administrator at The Capital Group. He holds a BA degree in economics from Pepperdine University.

Jack Brown, CFA

Jack Brown, CFA, is founder of Laureola Asset Management Company, where his primary responsibilities include portfolio management and investment research. Previously, he was a director for Prudential's Strategic Investment Research Group, a manager of research at Smith Barney's Consulting Group, and an industry analyst for UBS covering closed-end funds. Mr. Brown is president of the CFA Society of Naples. He holds a BA degree in economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MBA degree focusing in economics from Drexel University.

Robert N. Gordon

Robert N. Gordon is founder and president of Twenty-First Securities Corporation. Previously, he was the partner in charge of risk and tax arbitrage at Oppenheimer & Company and a regional manager and senior vice president at Laidlaw, Adams & Peck. Mr. Gordon is an adjunct professor at New York University’s Graduate School of Business and has served as both a lecturer and the chairman of the Wharton School’s Securities Industry Institute. In addition to writing a monthly column for Investment News, Mr. Gordon has authored and co-authored many articles, as well as the book Wall Street Secrets for Tax-Efficient Investing (with Jan Rosen). He serves on the editorial advisory boards of Derivatives Report, the Journal of Taxation and Investments, and the Journal of Wealth Management.

Kristoffer Houlihan

Kristoffer Houlihan is a director in the risk management group and a member of the risk management committee at PAAMCO. Previously, he worked as a vice president in the quantitative risk group at JPMorgan, where he was part of the hedge funds quantitative risk management group and managed the firm’s portfolio risk margining service. Mr. Houlihan’s work on the risk margining service assisted hedge funds in designing risk offsets and was a critical component of JPMorgan’s ability to manage exposure through VaR and various stress analyses. He also has an extensive background in investment banking risk management technology.

Gregory W. Kasten

Gregory W. Kasten is founder, president, and CEO of Unified Trust Company, NA. He is the author of more than 75 papers and articles on financial planning and investment-related topics in various financial and business journals and has written two editions of the book Retirement Success. In 2005, Dr. Kasten received first place in the Journal of Financial Planning Call for Papers competition for co-authoring the paper “Post Modern Portfolio Theory.” He holds an MD degree from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and an MBA degree with an emphasis on finance and investment management from the University of Kentucky College of Business Graduate School.

Terry Kastens

Terry Kastens is an advisory partner at Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners and a professor and extension agricultural economist in the department of agricultural economics at Kansas State University. His research focuses on economic risk management issues at the farm level, and the risk and profit expected from new production and management technologies. Dr. Kastens’ expertise includes applying unconventional statistical predictive modeling techniques to generate more accurate mathematical models to assist producers, investors, and other agribusiness decision makers in increasing profit and managing risk. Dr. Kastens holds a BA degree in economics from the University of Kansas and a PhD degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University.

Ron Liesching

Ron Liesching is founding member and chairman of Mountain Pacific Group. Previously, he was a co-founder and chairman emeritus of Pareto Partners, director of quantitative products for County NatWest Investment Management, and managing director at Chase Manhattan Bank. He is the author of the book Risk Budgeting: A Cutting Edge Guide to Enhancing Fund Management and has lectured extensively on commodities, currency, and risk management techniques. Mr. Liesching holds a BA in mathematics and economics from Lancaster University.

Sebastien Page, CFA

Sébastien Page, CFA, is an executive vice president and head of the client analytics group at PIMCO. Previously, he was a senior managing director and head of the portfolio and risk management group at State Street Global Markets. Mr. Page has written and spoken extensively on issues pertaining to portfolio analytics throughout his career, receiving first prize in the Montreal CFA Society’s 2000 August Hagedorn Contest for his research article on value at risk and winning the 2003 Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award for Best Article in the Journal of Portfolio Management. He holds an MSc degree in finance from Sherbrooke University in Canada.

D.J. Peterson

D.J. Peterson is director of corporate advisory services at Eurasia Group. Previously, he was senior political scientist and acting director of the environment, energy, and economic development program at the RAND Corporation, a consultant to the National Intelligence Council and the Central Intelligence Agency, and a public policy scholar at the Wilson Center. Dr. Peterson has published more than 50 articles, reports, and book chapters, and his work has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. He holds a BA degree from Duke University and an MA degree and a PhD degree in political science from University of California, Los Angeles.

Cliff Quisenberry, CFA

Cliff Quisenberry, CFA, is chief investment officer of Caravan Capital Management, the adviser to The Emerging Frontiers Fund, a fund dedicated to frontier and early stage frontier emerging markets. Previously, he was director of research at Parametric Portfolio Associates, portfolio manager/analyst at Fred Alger Management, and portfolio manager of the Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Emerging Markets Fund, which achieved a five-star rating and a top decile performance track record in Morningstar’s universe of emerging market equity funds. Mr. Quisenberry’s work has been published in Pensions & Investments and the Journal of Wealth Management, and he has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and interviewed by CNBC. He holds a BA degree in economics from Yale University.

Doug S. Rogers, CFA

Douglas S. Rogers, CFA, is chief investment officer of Acensio Asset Management. Previously, he was chief investment officer of Laird Norton Tyee and a senior consultant and director of traditional manager research for a wealth management firm. Mr. Rogers is the author of the book Tax-Aware Investment Management: The Essential Guide and has received the Journal of Performance Measurement’s Peter Dietz Award. He has served as chair of the CFA Institute (formerly AIMR) Subcommittee for After-Tax Reporting and is currently assisting the Investment Management Consultants Association with their educational programming. Mr. Rogers holds an MBA degree in finance from Southern Methodist University.

Shonda Warner

Shonda Warner is a partner at Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners. Previously, she was co-managing director and part owner of Montier Partners, executive director at Bear Stearns, and manager of the proprietary warrant trading business and later executive director of Goldman Sachs. Ms. Warner began her career at Cargill, Inc., where her initial experience was in trading grains and then in financial instruments arbitrage. She was born and raised farming in Nebraska and has worked in many facets of the agricultural industry through her career. Ms. Warner graduated from the University of Texas with a BS degree in anthropology and zoology.

Scott D. Welch

Scott D. Welch is a senior managing director and member of the executive committee at Fortigent, LLC. He oversees Fortigent’s 10 research professionals and is chair of the investment and investment quality assurance committees. Previously, Mr. Welch worked at the Globecon Group and Swiss Bank Corporation. A frequent speaker at conferences and seminars on the topics of wealth and risk management, he has authored articles that have appeared in a number of journals. He holds the CIMA (Certified Investment Management Analyst) designation from the Investment Management Consultants Association. He received a BS degree in mathematics from the University of California at Irvine and an MBA degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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