Crane Data, which publishes the Money Fund Intelligence newsletter and produces Money Fund Symposium, the largest annual gathering of money fund and money market professionals, invites you to join us for our second annual Bond Fund Symposium conference. Crane's Bond Fund Symposium will be held March 22-23, 2018 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. Our first event last year in Boston attracted 150 bond fund managers, marketers, fixed-income issuers, investors and service providers, and we expect our LA show to be even bigger. We review the preliminary agenda and details below, and we also give an update on our 2018 conference calendar, including next month's Money Fund University in Boston (1/18-19/18). (As a reminder, please make hotel reservations soon if you plan on attending MFU.)
Crane Data, which is celebrating the third anniversary of its Bond Fund Intelligence publication and BFI XLS bond fund information service and benchmarks, continues to expand its fixed income fund product offerings. We recently launched Bond Fund Wisdom, a product suite which includes our new Bond Fund Portfolio Holdings data. Our Bond Fund Symposium offers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent and informal networking venue. Registration for Bond Fund Symposium is $750; exhibit space is $2,000 (includes 2 tickets); and sponsorship opportunities are $3K, $4K, $5K and $6K. Our mission is to deliver the best possible conference content at an affordable price to bond fund professionals and investors.
The morning of BFS's Day One agenda includes: State of the Bond Fund Marketplace, with Peter Crane, of Crane Data and Sean Collins of the Investment Company Institute; Keynote Discussion: Ultra-Shorts vs. SMAs with Dave Martucci of J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Jerome Schneider of PIMCO; Bond Strategists: Outlook for Rates & Spreads, with Mark Cabana of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Michael Cloherty of RBC Capital Markets; and, Bond Fund Ratings & USBF Market Overview, with Greg Fayvilevich of Fitch Ratings and Peter Rizzo of Standard & Poor's Ratings.
Day One's afternoon agenda includes Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives, with James McNerny of J.P. Morgan A.M., Morten Olsen of Northern Trust Asset Mgmt, and Mary Beth Syal of Payden & Rygel. Also on the agenda: Major Issues in Fixed-Income Investing with Alex Roever from J.P. Morgan Securities as moderator, Jeff Weaver of Wells Fargo Funds and Tony Wong of Invesco; and, EFT Trends & Bond Fund Investors featuring James Meyers of Invesco PowerShares. The day concludes with Corporate Credit & Index Fund Issues, with George Bory of Wells Fargo Securities.
Day Two's agenda includes: Money Fund Update & Conservative USBFs with Crane and Michael Morin of Fidelity Investments; Regulatory Update: Form N-PORT, Liquidity with Stephen Cohen of Dechert LLP and John Hunt of Sullivan & Worcester LLP. The second day also features: Government Bond Fund Discussion with Sue Hill of Federated Investors; Municipal Bond Fund Issues with Kristian Lind of Neuberger Berman. (Note: The agenda is still in flux and some speakers have yet to confirm their participation.)
Portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of bond funds and fixed-income investing will benefit from our comprehensive program. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Intercontinental Los Angeles. We'd like to thank our 2017 sponsors -- Fitch Ratings, Federated Investors, Fidelity Investments, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Wells Fargo, Invesco, S&P Global Ratings, INTL FCStone, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, PIMCO, Payden & Rygel, Investortools, Barclays, State Street Global Advisors, and S&P Dow Jones Indices -- for their support, and we're still accepting sponsors for our 2018 show. E-mail Pete Crane for more details.
Crane Data is also making final preparations and still accepting registrations for our "basic training" Money Fund University. Our eighth annual MFU will be held at the Boston Hyatt Regency in Boston, Massachusetts, January 18-19, 2018. Crane's Money Fund University is designed for those new to the money market fund industry or those in need of a concentrated refresher on the basics. The event also focuses on hot topics like money market regulations, money fund alternatives, offshore markets, and other recent industry trends. For those attending, please make hotel reservations soon; our discounted room rates expire December 20th or until our room block is filled.
Note: We're introducing "free Fridays" for our Money Fund University (and other conferences) and would like to invite anyone in the Boston area to attend the final day sessions without a ticket. So feel free to visit the Boston Hyatt Regency on Friday, January 19, and to "crash" any or all of our sessions, which include Money Fund Regulations, European MMF Reforms, Ultra-Short Bond Funds & SMAs, and Money Fund Data & Wisdom Training.
Finally, mark your calendars for our "big show," Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 25-27, 2018, at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Watch for the preliminary agenda in coming weeks at www.moneyfundsymposium.com and let us know if you'd like more details on sponsoring this event. We have also set the dates and location for our next European Money Fund Symposium, which is scheduled for Sept. 20-21, 2018, in London, England. Watch for more details in early 2018.... We wish all of our readers a Happy Holiday season, and we hope to see you at one of our events in 2018!
