I was honored to be a guest panelist at Institutional Investor’s US Institute CFO/COO Roundtable in May in Chicago, my old hometown. Once again, Jim McCaughan and Amy Quint curated a fascinating group of topics and panelists on issues that are at the cutting edge of running the infrastructure of a growing and profitable asset manager. I was joined by panelists Matthew Apkarian, Associate Director – Product Development, Cerulli Associates, and Barbara Wenig, Executive Managing Director & Global Head of Operations and Services, Principal Asset Management, in a discussion entitled “Shifting Gears – Positioning Organizations for New Products & Clients.” Below are links to the slide decks from my panel.
Dominant themes for the two days of discussions were the rapid advances of technology as a driving force for the industry (both related to more efficient operations as well as innovation) and the rotation toward private market assets by allocators.
I made new friends, caught up with old friends and former clients, and even had a little time to walk around the loop as I called on several current and former clients at Northern Trust, Morningstar, and others.
In my estimation, the US Institute remains one of the more effective ways to stay in touch programmatically with peers and challenge yourself with new perspectives on best practices.
I look forward to joining the group again in the future.