As we make final preparations for our upcoming 7th annual Crane's Money Fund Symposium, which will take place in just over 2 weeks in Minneapolis, June 24-26, we are also prepping for our 3rd Annual European Money Fund Symposium, the largest money market event in Europe. The preliminary agenda is set for this year's show, scheduled for September 17-18 in Dublin, Ireland. Read on for details, but first, if you haven't already registered for Money Fund Symposium, you can still do so via www.moneyfundsymposium.com. (For those attending, safe travels and see you in Minneapolis!)
Looking ahead, the agenda is still being tweaked for Crane's European Money Fund Symposium in Dublin, but registrations are now being accepted. Last year's event in London attracted over 100 attendees, sponsors and speakers, and we expect our return to Dublin to be even bigger and better. "European Money Fund Symposium offers European, Asian and "offshore" money market portfolio managers, investors, issuers, dealers and service providers a concentrated and affordable educational experience, as well as an excellent and informal networking venue," says Peter Crane, President, Crane Data.
"Our mission is to deliver the best possible conference content at an affordable price to money market fund professionals." EMFS will be held at the The Conrad Hilton in Dublin. Book your hotel room before Friday July 17 and receive the discounted room rate of E199 for a single and E209 for a double. Registration for our 2015 Crane's European Money Fund Symposium is $1,000. Visit www.euromfs.com to register or contact us to request the PDF brochure, for Sponsorship pricing and info, and for more details.
The EMFS agenda features sessions led by many of the leading authorities on money funds in Europe and worldwide. The Day One Agenda for Crane's European Money Fund Symposium includes: "Welcome to European Money Fund Symposium" by Peter Crane of Crane Data; a "State of MMFs in Europe & IMMFA Update" with Reyer Kooy and Susan Hindle Barone of IMMFA; "Major Issues in European Money Funds" with Jonathan Curry of HSBC Global AM, Kathleen Hughes of Goldman Sachs , and Marc Pinto of Moody's; "Euro Money Funds and Negative Yields," with David Callahan of Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Jason Granet, of Goldman Sachs; and "Sterling Money Funds & UK Money Market," with Jennifer Gillespie of LGIM and Dennis Gepp of Federated.
Day One also includes: "Senior Portfolio Managers Roundtable" with Joe McConnell of JP Morgan AM, Debbie Cunningham of Federated, and Paul Mueller of Invesco; "Dealer Update & Supply Discussion" with Kieran Davis of Barclays, Jean-Luc Sinniger of Citi Global Markets, and David Hynes of Northcross Capital; "Distribution Panel: New Markets & Concerns" with Jim Fuell, of JP Morgan AM and James Finch of UBS Global AM; and "Regulatory Update: European MMF Reforms" with John Hunt of Nutter McLennen & Fish, Dan Morrissey of William Fry; and Kevin Murphy, of Arthur Cox.
The Day Two Agenda includes: "Money Market Funds in Ireland" with Pat Lardner of Irish Funds Industry Association and Fearghal Woods, of Northern Trust; "French Money Market Funds and VNAV" with Thierry Darmon of Amundi, Charlotte Quiniou of Fitch Ratings, Yann Marhic of CA-CIB and Vanessa Robert of Moody's; "EFAMA MM Working Group on Regulations" with Rudolf Siebel of BVI; and, "Strategist's Update: Rates, Reform, and Supply" with Vikram Rai of Citi.
The afternoon of Day Two features: "Major Issues in US and USD Money Funds" with Charlie Cardona of BNY Mellon CIS, Greg Fayvilevich of Fitch Ratings, and Peter Crane; "Money Market Funds in Asia & Emerging Markets with Andrew Paranthoiene of Standard & Poor's and David Castle of Standard Chartered Bank; "Fund Servicing Issues and Update; and "Monitoring European & Offshore Money Funds" with Peter Rizzo of Standard & Poor's, Alastair Sewell of Fitch Ratings, and Peter Crane.
In other news, Fitch a report on the "China Asset Management Industry." Mutual fund assets have grown sharply in the past year, thanks in large part to the growth in money market funds. It says, "China's asset-management industry is expanding rapidly with the total amount handled, in the form of mutual funds and mandates, having reached CNY6.7trn (USD1.1trn) as of end-2014, 61% higher than a year ago. Fitch Ratings sees growth continuing, given the large amount of domestic savings deposits, rapid accumulation of assets and relatively low asset-management penetration compared with developed markets. Money market funds (MMF) expanded more rapidly than other classes to CNY1.3trn, driven by retail investors buying online; that helped raise China on Investment Company Institute's (ICI) large global fund domicile rankings."
Fitch continues, "Unlike the typical mutual funds' asset mix in other developing countries, equity funds dominated the market until 2012 when strong growth in MMFs changed the mutual fund landscape. MMF assets accounted for roughly 50% of the total mutual funds as of end-March 2015 (CNY2.2trn). MMFs expanded in particular as the CNY1.3trn that flowed into these funds dwarfed the gains of all the other asset classes. The rapid expansion of MMFs had started in 2H13, and has become the largest asset class, mainly driven by retail demand for e-commerce MMFs. MMF AUM increased sixfold within 18 months to CNY2.2trn as of end 2014."
Finally, it adds, "The greatest concentration by asset manager is in QDII (Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor) funds and MMFs, with Yu'E Bao alone accounting for more than 30% of the latter's assets. Yu'e Bao is managed by Tian Hong Asset Management. The top 10 largest MMF asset managers are: Tian Hong Asset Management (CNY580B), ICBC Credit Suisse (CNY184B), China AMC (CNY140B), Bank of China Investment Management (CNY107B), China Southern Fund (CNY106B), E Fund Management Co (CNY102B), Harvest Investment (CNY96B), CGB Principal AM (CNY87B), China Merchants Fund (CNY70B), and China International Fund Management (CNY69B)."
