(August 11) -The theme for IFIC’s 14th annual conference, scheduled for September 27 and 28, is “Leading the Way”.
The conference chairman this year is William Humes from DD Humes Financial Services Inc. He’ll open the conference, followed by an address from IFIC CEO Tom Hockin and an industry panel. The luncheon speaker will be market researcher Angus Reid.
This year all registrants will receive a free Palm Pilot IIIxe, except for exhibitors, contract speakers and media. The first 500 registrants will also receive a Roots leather carrying case. The freebies will be available at pre-registration on the 26th, but the actual conference will begin on the 27th.
The conference will also feature Mark Fabro, a professional “Ethical Internet Hacker,” on “The Perils of the Net”. Keynote speaker, Dr. Crispo will talk at lunch on day two, and after lunch Dr. Robert Goodman, senior economic advisor and managing director for Putnam Investments, will present “The Economy and the Markets — Renaissance or Relapse”.
Four different educational tracks will be offered: Compliance/Regulation, Operations & Technology, Sales & Marketing and Leading Edge Trends. Compliance will look at the MFDA, the situation in Quebec, IFIC’s fair valuing initiatives, and fund governance. It features Steve Erlichman of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP who just released his report for regulators on the state of fund governance.
Technology will look at systems decisions, the Internet, e-commerce strategy, back office efficiency, and links between the front and back office. Sales and marketing will cover branding, the future advisor, practice efficiency and virtual communities. The trends examined will include globalization, financial planning, technology, online reporting, and ethics.
-IE Staff