CHICAGO, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With an
increasing number of assets flowing into exchange-traded funds and
the need for expert analysis about these investment vehicles also
on the rise, Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider
of independent investment research, will hold its first ETF Invest
Conference Sept. 15-17 at the
Swissotel in Chicago. The
conference will bring together Morningstar's ETF analysts and
investing experts with the best and brightest in the ETF industry
to offer thought-provoking dialogue about strategic and tactical
ETF investing for an audience of financial advisors, money
managers, and ETF investors.
"ETFs have dramatically risen in popularity and have become one
of the most talked-about investment choices," said Scott Burns, Morningstar's director of ETF
research. "Our new ETF conference is a response to the demand we've
heard for an event that speaks directly to ETF investing ideas to
help investors make informed decisions when including these
products in their portfolios."
Keynote speakers are Gregg
Easterbrook, noted author, ESPN.com columnist, and
Fulbright Scholar, who will speak at a luncheon on Sept. 16; and Matt
Tucker, managing director for U.S. fixed income strategy
at BlackRock, who will deliver the conference's closing keynote
address.
General sessions at ETF Invest will feature some of the ETF
industry's top thought and opinion leaders:
- Dan Farley, managing
director of SPDR ETFs - State Street Global Advisors will provide
an economic outlook across a variety of asset classes and
geographies on Sept. 16.
- Scott Burns,
Morningstar's director of ETF research; will moderate a discussion
about the current ETF landscape and the challenges on the immediate
horizon with Noel Archard,
managing director, iShares; Ben
Fulton, managing director of global ETFs, Invesco
PowerShares; Rick Genoni,
head of ETF product management, Vanguard; and Joanne Hill, head of investment strategy,
ProFunds Group; on Sept. 16.
- Lee Kranefuss, former
iShares chief executive officer who is often credited as helping to
popularize ETFs as a mainstream investment option, will take part
in a one-on-one conversation with Morningstar's Don Phillips on Sept.
16 about the ongoing evolution of ETFs and how ETFs have
changed the way advisors make investment recommendations.
- Tom Lydon, author and
editor, ETF Trends; Matt
Hougan, managing director of ETF analytics,
IndexUniverse; and Morningstar's Burns will join moderator
Chuck Jaffe, MarketWatch
columnist; for a free-wheeling "Meet the Pundits" session on
Sept. 17 covering a broad range of
ETF investing topics, including the current regulatory outlook and
best practices for ETF investors.
Breakout sessions, which will address a variety of specific
issues facing the ETF industry, include:
- Sandip Bhagat, principal
and head of the quantitative equity group, Vanguard; and
Erik Ristuben, chief
investment officer, Russell Investments; who will discuss modern
portfolio theory and the future of asset allocation in the wake of
recent market volatility with moderator Tom Idzorek, chief investment officer and
director of research, Ibbotson Associates; on Sept. 16.
- Derek Van Eck, chief
investment officer and director, Van Eck Funds; who will detail the
outlook for emerging markets ETFs on Sept.
16, as it remains one of the hottest ETF sectors in terms of
both returns and asset flows.
- Axel Merk, president and
chief investment officer, Merk Investments; who will discuss the
role of currency trading in a long-term ETF portfolio and his
insight on the largest currency markets on Sept. 16.
- Adam Patti, founder and
chief executive officer, IndexIQ; George O'Connor, director,
iShares; Peng Chen, president
of Ibbotson Associates; and moderator Nadia Papagiannis, alternative investments
strategist, Morningstar; who will examine alternative ETFs, such as
new hedge fund strategies in investor-friendly regulated ETF
structures, on Sept. 16
- Mark Scheffler, founder
and senior portfolio manager, Appleton Group; Rob Stein, managing partner, Astor Asset
Management; Larry Cao, senior
consultant, Ibbotson Associates; and moderator Paul Justice, Morningstar's director of
North American ETF research; who will debate opportunities and
challenges in macroeconomic-driven sector-rotation strategies on
Sept 16.
- Eric Cott, director of
financial advisor education, Options Industry Council (OIC); who
will join Phil Guziec,
derivatives strategist, Morningstar; to explore strategies advisors
can use when buying ETF options for their clients' portfolios on
Sept. 16
- Mitch Rubin, chief
investment officer and managing partner; RiverPark Capital;
Mike Trigg, portfolio manager
and business analyst, WCM Investments; David Rolfe, chief investment officer,
Wedgewood Partners; and moderator Esko
Mickels, fund analyst, Morningstar Canada; who will convene on
Sept. 16 to discuss their work in the
next frontier of ETF investing: active ETFs.
- Mark Balasa, principal
and co-president, Balasa Diverno & Foltz, LLC; Ed Baldridge, president, Baldridge Asset
Management; and Tom Driscoll,
partner, Deloitte Tax LLP; who will talk about the tax implications
and tax efficiency of various ETF product structures with moderator
Timothy Strauts, ETF analyst,
Morningstar; on Sept. 17.
- Siddharth Jain, vice
president of equity research, KBW; who will survey the banking,
investment banking and insurance industries and provide his outlook
for the financial sector and subsectors on Sept. 17.
- Michael Iachini, director
of investment manager research, Charles
Schwab; Rick Ferri,
founder and chief executive officer, Portfolio Solutions; and
Hal Ratner, senior
consultant, Morningstar Associates; who will discuss best practices
in constructing ETF portfolios during their Sept. 17 session with moderator Christine Benz, director of personal finance
and senior columnist, Morningstar.com.
- Christopher Yeagley,
managing director and U.S. head of equity structured products, UBS;
and Fran Kinniry, principal
Vanguard Investment Strategy Group; who will review the
yield-producing ETF structures currently on the market with
moderator Bradley Kay,
director of European ETF research, Morningstar; on Sept. 17.
Registration Information
The Morningstar ETF Invest Conference costs $495 per person and includes two breakfasts,
luncheons, and cocktail receptions. A pre-conference
workshop, "The Basics of ETF Investing," will be held from
1 - 4 p.m. Wed., Sept. 15 at
Morningstar global headquarters, 22 W. Washington St., Chicago. During the workshop, members of
Morningstar's ETF research team will guide advisors through an
introduction to ETFs and the strategies Morningstar has developed
to help investors make the most of these powerful new investment
tools. Registration for the workshop is a separate $99 fee, and participants are eligible for three
hours of continuing education credits. To register for the
conference or workshop, call toll free at 866-839-9729.
More information about the 2010 Morningstar ETF Invest
Conference, including the full agenda, hotel accommodations, and
complete registration information, is available at
http://www.morningstaradvisor.com/2010ETFInvest.
Press Registration Information
Full-time members of the news media may receive complimentary
registration to the Morningstar ETF Invest Conference. If you are a
journalist and want to attend the conference, please e-mail
Shawn Malayter at
shawn.malayter@morningstar.com.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent
investment research in North
America, Europe,
Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of
Internet, software, and print-based products and services for
individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar
provides data on approximately 360,000 investment offerings,
including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with
real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities,
indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in
addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has
operations in 21 countries.
©2010 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-P
Media Contact:
Shawn Malayter, 312-696-6050,
shawn.malayter@morningstar.com
SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.