Crane Data is preparing to host its second annual Bond Fund Symposium, which will be held in less than 3 weeks, March 22-23, 2018 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. Our inaugural event in Boston attracted almost 150 bond fund managers, marketers, fixed-income issuers, investors and service providers, and we expect our first LA show to rival last year's gathering. We review the final agenda and details below, and we also give an update on our 2018 conference calendar, including our big show, Money Fund Symposium (June 25-27 in Pittsburgh). Please register ASAP if you plan on attending our LA Bond Fund Symposium, and we hope to see you in California later this month!
Crane Data, which has been publishing its `Bond Fund Intelligence newsletter for 3 years, recently expanded its fixed-income offerings with the launch Bond Fund Wisdom and 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 a Senior Portfolio Manager Perspectives panel, 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, Jeff Weaver of Wells Fargo Funds and Tony Wong of Invesco; and, EFT Trends & Bond Fund Investors featuring Will Goldthwait of State Street Global Advisors. The day concludes with Corporate Credit & Bond Index Issues, with George Bory of Wells Fargo Securities and James Rieger of S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Day Two's agenda includes: Money Fund Update & Conservative USBFs with Crane, Jason Granet from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, 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 Liam O'Connell of Federated Investors; Municipal & Taxable Bond Fund Issues with Kristian Lind and Michael Foster of Neuberger Berman, and Bond Fund Data, Statistics & Software with Crane and James Morris of Investortools.
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 handful of rooms are still available at the Intercontinental Los Angeles. We'd like to thank our 2018 sponsors -- Dechert LLP, Fitch Ratings, Wells Fargo Securities, Fidelity Investments, Investortools, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Wells Fargo A.M., S&P Global Ratings, Payden & Rygel, PIMCO, INTL FCStone, and Goldman Sachs -- for their support.
We've also published the preliminary agenda and have begun taking registrations for Crane's Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 25-27, 2018, at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Visit www.cranesmfsymposium.com/register to register and for more details, and let us know if you'd like to see the full brochure or information 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, and for our next Money Fund University, which is scheduled for Jan. 24-25 in Stamford, Conn.
We hope you'll join us in LA or Pittsburgh! We'd like to encourage attendees, speakers and sponsors to register and make hotel reservations for MF Symposium early. Note that the agenda is still in the process of being finalized. E-mail us at info@cranedata.com to request the full brochure, or click here to see the latest.
Note: For those in the Los Angeles area, you're welcome to drop by for our "free Friday" to attend the final day's sessions without a ticket. So feel free to visit the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown on Friday, March 23, and to "crash" any or all of the sessions, which include: Money Fund Update & Conservative USBFs, Regulatory Update: Form N-PORT, Liquidity, Government Bond Fund Discussion, Municipal & Taxable Bond Fund Issues and Bond Fund Data, Statistics & Software.
