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| Sunday, October 19 |
2:30 pm --
IRS Roundtable on Voluntary Compliance –
Jeffrey Fleck, Mary Beth Braitman, Roxanne Story Parks
The Internal Revenue Service, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, held the first “Governmental Plans Roundtable” on April 28, 2008. The roundtable, which gathered compliance officers and
general counsels from public retirement funds, was an initial step to raise awareness within the governmental plan sector regarding the need to comply with tax qualification requirements. This session will provide insights on the recent and future
IRS involvement with governmental plans compliance requirements and what governmental plans might expect regarding future IRS programs. |
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3:30 pm --
Personal Trading Policy & Implementing an Automated Platform – Sherry Johnstone, Deborah Kanner,
Nancy Ross
Personal trading is a potential area of risk whether considered from an ethical, legal or compliance perspective. Many organizations are challenged to establish appropriate policies which recognize the personal investment goals of employees as well
as the ethical standards and regulatory requirements of the organization. Nancy Ross from OMERS, Debra Kanner from CalSTRS and Sherry Johnstone from CalPERS will provide a public sector perspective on developing a personal trading policy, including
consideration of electronic tools and best practices. |
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4:30 pm -- Corporate Governance Divestment –
Aeisha Mastagni
This discussion will focus on Corporate Governance at CalPERS, with three basic sub-items: (1) Strategic Initiatives; (2) Engagement Activities; and (3) Divestment. |
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| Monday, October 20 |
8:45 am -- The Future of Public Sector Retirement Plans
– Girard Miller
A growing disparity between public and private retirement benefits, an increasingly mobile work force, the challenges facing federal entitlement programs, OPEB implementation, and the fall-out from the
sub-prime mortgage crisis are all issues that affect public-sector employers and retirement plans. At this session, retirement plan expert Girard Miller will discuss how these and other policy issues are likely to affect plan design and investment
strategies. Miller will also discuss economic trends and how the business cycle in coming years is likely to affect investment decisions |
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10:00 am --
Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Personal and Professional Success – Gar Trusley (Workbook provided)
Emotional intelligence has proved to be two times as important as general I.Q. and technical “know-how” in determining success at all organizational levels. During the 90-minute presentation,
participants will be able to identify their primary strengths and areas for personal development and better understand the connection between their emotional intelligence and on-the-job success. |
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10:00 am -- State of Alabama Compliance / SEC Case Study – Bill Stephens
Mr. Stephens will discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission's Section 21(a) Report regarding the Retirement Systems of Alabama and recommend that all institutional investors establish effective
securities law compliance programs. |
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12:45 pm -- The Art of Building Relationships –
Gar Trusley
In this 1-hour workshop, participants will discover and apply a proven technique for improving their social skills and enhancing both personal and professional relationships. Also, explore the
differences between personal and position power and how to develop your “sphere of influence.” |
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12:45 pm -- Performance
Calculations 101 – John Simpson
During this session, the speaker will cover some of the commonly used statistics for measuring investment return and investment risk. Return measures covered will be single period calculations of the
time-weighted returns (TWR) and money-weighted returns (MWR), as well as compound return calculations such as geometric linking and annualization. Risk measures covered will include standard deviation, tracking error, Sharpe ratio and Information
ratio. |
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12:45 pm -- Importance of Counterparty Risk Management and Diversification –
Peter Bassler and Anthony Toscano
Given today’s market conditions, securities lending programs for public funds has come under increased scrutiny. The management of counterparty risk within securities lending is critical to managing a successful and prudent program. We will first
discuss the basics of a securities lending program and then focus on counterparty risk as it pertains to both the lending of securities as well as the management of cash collateral. |
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2:00 pm -- Financial Economics –
Ed Macdonald
What is “financial economics?” Where is the pressure coming from? What is the impact on the public sector? This session will provide an in-depth look at these questions and more.
Also, Reducing Contribution
Volatility |
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2:00 pm -- Electronic Communication –
Bill Balderaz
Electronic communication can be an important element to any communication plan. Some of the advantages include, cost savings, an eco-friendly alternative to paper and satisfying a customer
preference. However, there are do's and don’ts to consider prior to embarking on this type of initiative. Hear from a communication expert the pitfalls to avoid and the best way to position your communication piece so the message is received and
read. |
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2:00 pm -- Custody Transition –
Alicia Markoff, Walt Knox,
Stanley McDivitt
What if an investment managers' entire team leaves the firm on Monday? The departure of an entire investment team is somewhat rare, but as an extraordinary event, it should be anticipated as part of
your Pre-Disaster Planning in your Investment Policies and legal agreements to protect your System. As the banking industry continues to consolidate and contract, custody conversions are
inevitable. There are many obstacles and potential pitfalls during a custodial transition.
This panel will explore the many aspects of a custody conversion, share actual experiences of their respective conversions with various custodians, and share thoughts involving Board authority,
investment policies, custodial issues, portfolio management transition issues and legal concerns. |
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2:00 pm -- Intermediate
Performance Calculations – Attribution – John Simpson
During this session, the speaker will discuss various methodologies used for explaining the source of investment returns, the branch of performance evaluation knows as attribution analysis. Topics
covered will include contribution analysis, micro attribution methodologies for assessing manager value added returns (including the Brinson-Fachler model for equities and the Fong model for fixed income, and the macro attribution methodology for
assessing plan sponsor decisions. Assumes an understanding of rate of return calculations and benchmarks. |
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3:15 pm -- Roll
Call of the States – Vince Prendergast
The Roll Call of the States is an opportunity for a representative from each System to briefly address the group regarding issues affecting their System, initiatives their System is embarking on, and
new and innovative things their System is doing. The Roll Call of the States is something P2F2 has incorporated into each of its conferences and it always receives high ratings from attendees on the conference evaluation form. It is an excellent
jumping off point for attendees to network with other System representatives on matters of mutual interest or concern. |
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3:15 pm --
Foreign Exchange Processing - John Atchue
The session will focus on the 'wing to wing' process flow of foreign exchange processing from origination to settlement and industry tools used to successfully monitor and settle f/x activity.
Industry trends will also be discussed. |
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4:10 pm -- Operational Due Diligence for Hedge Funds – Chris Addy
Investors increasingly recognize that building a successful hedge fund allocation requires careful consideration of operational risks in addition to the investment team's analysis of strategy and
performance. This session will consider why operational risk is unduly important for hedge fund investors and will identify key risk areas together with common red flags and warning signs. The session will also discuss how to conduct best practice
due diligence: how can investors get the information they need from both managers and fund service providers? |