In just over a month, we will host our second annual Crane's Money Fund University at The Hyatt Regency Boston, Jan. 19-20, 2012. Money Fund University was designed to offer attendees an affordable and comprehensive two day, "basic training" course on money market mutual funds, educating attendees on the history of money funds, interest rates, Rule 2a-7, ratings, rankings, money market instruments such as commercial paper and repo, and portfolio construction and credit analysis. With our Boston, we will expand the focus on regulations, adding a second session on recent Money Market Fund Reforms. Please note that this Friday (12/16) is the last day that our discounted hotel rate is available.
Day One of the 2012 MFU agenda includes: Welcome to Money Fund University, History & Current State of Money Market Mutual Funds with Peter Crane, President & Publisher, Crane Data and Sean Collins, Sr. Economist, Investment Company Institute; Interest Rate Basics & Money Fund Math with Brian Smedley, U.S. Rates, Bank of America Merrill Lynch; The Federal Reserve & Money Markets with Joseph Abate, Director F-I Strategy, Barclays Capital and Michael Cloherty, Head of Rates Strategy, RBC Capital Markets; Money Fund Regulations: 2a-7 Basics & History with John Hunt, Partner, McLaughlin & Hunt LLP and Joan Swirsky, Of Counsel, Stradley Ronan; Regulations II: Interpretations & Recent Changes with Stephen Keen, Partner, Reed Smith and Joan Swirsky; and, Operations: Fund Admin & The Board's Role with Brian Curran, Vice President, BNY Mellon and Susan Wyderko, Exec. Director, Mutual Fund Directors Forum.
Day Two's agenda includes: Instruments of the Money Markets Intro with Alex Roever, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Securities; Instruments: Repurchase Agreements with Ellie Boldenow, Executive Director, J.P. Morgan Securities; Instruments: Treasuries & Govt Agencies with Sue Hill, Senior Portfolio Manager, Federated Investors and Sal Ursida, Partner, G.X. Clarke & Co.; Instruments: Commercial Paper & ABCP with Rob Crowe and Jean-Luc Sinniger of Citi Global Markets; Instruments: CDs, TDs & Bank Debt with Garret Sloan, F-I Strategist, Wells Fargo Securities and Dave Lummis, President, J.M. Lummis & Co.; Instruments of the Money Markets: Tax-Exempt Securities, VRDNs, TOBs & Muni Bonds with James Randazzo, Senior PM, Wells Capital Management and Ben Schuler, Structured Muni Analyst, Fidelity Investments; Portfolio Management Strategies & Basics with Jeff St. Peters, Portfolio Manager, SSgA and Michael Markowitz, MD & Head STFI, Guggenheim Partners; Credit Analysis & Approved Lists with Bob Piepenburg, Director/Credit Analyst, BofA Global Capital and Jacob Weinstein, Sr. Portfolio Analyst, Fidelity; and, Ratings, Monitoring & Risk with Joel Friedman, Senior Director, Standard & Poor's Viktoria Baklanova, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings and Crane Data's Peter Crane.
New portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of "cash" investing should benefit from our comprehensive program. Even experienced professionals should enjoy a refresher course and the opportunity to interact with peers in an informal setting. Attendee registration for Crane's Money Fund University is $500. Exhibit space is $2,000 and sponsorship opportunities are $3K, $4.5K, and $5K. A small block of rooms have been reserved at the Hyatt Regency Boston. The conference negotiated rate of $189 plus tax (14.45% currently) is available through December, 16th.
We'd like to thank our current sponsors -- Fitch Ratings, G.X. Clarke & Co., Fidelity Investments, Invesco, Investortools, and Standard & Poor's -- for their support, and we look forward to seeing you in Boston next month. E-mail Pete for the latest brochure or visit http://www.moneyfunduniversity.com to register or for more details.
Crane Data has also published the preliminary agenda and is accepting registrations for its largest Money Fund Symposium conference, which will be held June 20-22, 2012, at the Westin in Pittsburgh, Pa.. (See http://www.moneyfundsymposium.com for details.) Finally, we also plan on joining forces with German conference producer IQPC to support the launch of European Money Fund Summit, an event focusing on money fund regulations, trends and standards in Europe tentatively scheduled for Nov. 14-16, 2012, in Frankfurt, Germany. Watch for more details in coming months.
