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11th Annual Global Investment Conference
Theme : “Unlocking the Opportunity of Global Markets”
April 5-7, 2006 • Banff, Alberta

Dress for the conference is business casual.
Dinner on Thursday evening is business attire.
Speaker rehearsals are on April 5th from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Alberta Room.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

5:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Our opening reception this year will include Banffopoly and will take place in Mt. Stephen's Hall.

Preliminary Agenda

Thursday, April 6, 2006

7:00 am – 8:00 am

Breakfast in the Bow Valley Grill

8:00 am - 8:15 am

Opening Remarks

 

8:15 am - 9:00 am

Session 1: Emerging Risk Factors in Global Investing, Part One

Terrorism and the Stock Market
[Download this presentation] [Download the research paper]

Based on a research paper, this presentation examines the stock price impact of terrorist attacks. Using an official list of terrorism-related incidents compiled by the Counterterrorism Office of the U.S. Department of State, we identify 75 attacks between 1995 and 2002 in which publicly traded firms are targets. An analysis around the day of the attacks uncovers evidence of a statistically significant negative stock price reaction that corresponds to a loss to firm market capitalization. We find that losses, such as kidnappings of company executives, are associated with larger negative stock price reactions than physical losses, such as bombings of facilities or buildings. We discuss the implications of these findings for existing research on terrorism and for current policy debates like the renewal of the U.S. Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA).

Presenter: G. Andrew Karolyi, Charles R. Webb professor of finance, Department of Finance, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University

Designated Respondents: François Quinty and Stefan Cowell

9:00 am - 9:30 am

Break. Speaker photos will be taken at this time.

 

9:30 am - 10:45 am

Session 2: International Fixed Income

Unlocking the Opportunity of Global Markets
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At first, international fixed income seemed a likely bet for Canadian plan sponsors. Given that Canadian plan sponsors have little or no experience in this asset class, is it really a good fit?

Presenter : Kevin Cronin, head of investments, chief investment officer for Fixed Income, Putnam

Opportunities and Issues for Adding Global Bonds
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This presentation will address using global bonds in relation to pension liabilities and as opportunistic vs. dedicated allocations. We will also cover the choice of appropriate benchmark, recommended hedging strategies and our expectations for value added and the risks involved. We will also touch on some of the innovative products in the market such as Credit Default Swaps and Inflation-Linked Derivatives and how they can benefit Canadian Plans.

Presenter: Scott DiMaggio, director, Canada Fixed Income, Alliance Bernstein/Alliance Capital

Designated Respondents: Laurence Waring and Lindsey Fuller

10:45 am - 11:30 pm

Session 3: Governance and Compliance Challenges

Capital Market Governance: How do Security Laws Affect Market Performance?
[Download this presentation] [Download the research paper]

This talk explores the link between capital market governance (CMG) and several key measures of market performance. Using detailed data from individual stock exchanges, we examine the effect of security laws (captured by changes in each country's CMG index) on various measures of market performance.  We find that improvements in the CMG index are associated with decreases in the cost-of-equity capital (both implied and realized), increases in market liquidity (trading volume, market depth, and U.S. foreign investments), and increases in market pricing efficiency (reduced price synchronicity and IPO underpricing). The results are consistent across different dimensions of CMG and over alternative market performance measures.

Presenter: Charles Lee, Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Designated Respondents: Gayle McDade and Carlo Novati

11:30 pm - 11:45 pm

Group photo will be taken at this time.

11:45 pm - 12:45 pm

Lunch

12:45 pm - 2:00 pm

Session 4: Brave New World, Part One

Information Ratios, Batting Averages and Manager Selection
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The Information Ratio (IR) and the Batting Average are two commonly quoted measures of success. Both quantities, however, have their own short comings: The IR contains no information about higher moments such as skewness and kurtosis while the batting average contains only directional information. The point of this talk is to demonstrate how the IR and batting average interact with one another. We will also demonstrate how these two measures of success can be usefully combined to allow investors to construct a more comprehensive picture of the choices facing them.     

Presenter: Neil Constable, vice-president, State Street Associates, Cambridge

Do Local Analysts Know More? A Cross-Country Study of the Performance of Local Analysts and Foreign Analysts
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This presentation examines whether analysts living in a country make more precise earnings forecasts for firms in that country than analysts who are not living there. Using a sample of 32 countries, it was found there is an advantage to having a local analyst. The local advantage is high in countries where earnings are smoothed more, less information is disclosed by firms, and firm idiosyncratic information explains a smaller fraction of stock returns. The local advantage is also negatively related to market participation by foreign investors and by institutions and positively related to holdings by insiders.

Presenter: Kee-Hong Bae, Bank of Montreal associate professor of Finance, Queen's School of Business

Designated Respondents: Bruce Grantier and Pierre Drolet

2:00 pm - 2:15 pm

Break

 

2:15 pm - 3:45 pm

Session 5: Alternative Investment Strategies

Emerging Markets Private Equity
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The emerging markets represent 49% of global economic activity. At the same time, private equity investors remain skeptical about the risk/return trade offs from emerging markets-focused strategies. This discussion will explore the prospects and risk/return profile for the recent generation of emerging markets private equity funds. The speaker will assess the global vs. regional approach and evaluate to what extent a well-positioned private equity portfolio should include emerging markets exposure.

Presenter: James McGuigan, partner, Global Private Equity Group, Capital International, Inc.

Commodities: A Diversifying Asset Class
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In an environment of low return and rate expectations, commodities investing is becoming increasingly appealing to Plan Sponsors as a means of increasing portfolio diversification, improving return expectations, and hedging against unanticipated inflation. This presentation will examine why commodities improve portfolio efficiency, how commodities futures generate their returns, and implementing options.

Presenter: Mary Anne Wiley, principal, Barclays Global Investors

Catalyst for Change - Pensions in the Brave New World
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The removal of the Foreign Property Rule has given the typical Canadian plan sponsor reason to step back and reflect. In the safe confines of the old regime, non-traditional investment strategies (typically deemed ‘foreign content’) seldom warranted serious consideration. In today’s brave new world, however, a host of new issues and implications are staring pension funds squarely in the face. This presentation will help provide plan sponsors with the context and insight to address the key issues facing their funds in this changing environment.

Presenter: Andrew Waters, risk advisor, RBC Dexia Investor Services

Designated Respondents: Zeda Redden and Joan Wright

3:45 pm - 4:00 pm

Closing Remarks

 

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Cocktails in the Conservatory

 

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Dinner in the Cascade Ballroom

 

Friday, April 7th, 2006

7:00 am - 8:00 am

Breakfast

8:00 am - 8:15 am

Opening Remarks

8:15 am - 9:00 am

Session 6: Emerging Risk Factors in Global Investing, Part Two

Environmental Impact on Global Markets
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This presentation explores research that firms employing strict global environmental standards abroad have higher market value than those using host country standards. This refutes the idea that adoption of global environmental standards by multinational enterprises constitutes a liability and suggests that proactive environmental strategies are positively related to market valuations. 

Presenter: Glen Dowell, professor, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame

Designated Respondents: Paul Owens and Blake Walker

9:00 am - 9:45 am

Session 7: Impact of the Removal of the FPR on the Canadian Markets

Back to the Future? International Equities in the 21st Century
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Canada is incredible: well endowed with natural resources (which we believe are inherent in a structural bull market), population growth and capitalistic inclinations (both are greater than Europe's), and a large economic neighbour -- who is more of a consumer than a competitor! So, why allocate to international equity markets, and by how much? Should your international focus be on Developed markets or Developing markets? Geography or Sector? Value or Growth? Currency hedged or unhedged?

Presenter: Chris Lees, investment manager, EAFE and global portfolios, Baring Asset Management

Designated Respondents: Bob Kamp and Paul Pugh

9:45 am - 10:15 am

Break

 

10:15 am - 11:45 pm

Session 8: Brave New World, Part Two

International Investing: How to Succeed Unconventionally
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A perspective on international investing in an unconstrained world is presented in this session. The conventional definition of risk as relative to a benchmark is attacked, showing how it leads to short-termism, agency problems and poor returns for the end client. A case is made for unconventional international investing: independence and patience are the keys to profiting from international equities in an increasingly frenetic, herd-like world.

Presenter: Nick Thomas, Baillie Gifford International LLC

Emerging Markets: Risks and Potential Rewards
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International investing should be motivated by searching for growth as much as searching for diversification. Growth is found in many emerging markets of the world. But emerging markets bring with them a whole new set of risks. What are these risks, and how large are they? What are some of the investment options available to mitigate these risks?

Presenter: Shaun Hegarty, head of EAFE Equity Team, CIBC Asset Management

Emerging Markets and Corporate Governance
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Corporate governance has become a significantly more important issue across most global markets in the last ten years. Minority investor protection is probably least developed and effective in the developing World where powerful control groups, unfocused government entities and aggressive foreign investors can prey on minority investors. This presentation will address the issue of corporate governance in Emerging Markets, give specific examples of abuses and improvements and suggest an evaluation framework aimed at better protecting minority investor.

Presenter: Ben Wulfsohn, product manager, emerging markets strategies and closed-end funds, Lazard Asset Management

Designated Respondents: Gerry Wahl and Jim Hinks

11:45 pm - 1:30 pm

Interactive Session

1:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Closing Remarks