Crane Data is preparing for its "basic training" conference, Money Fund University, following the conclusion of our European Money Fund Symposium 2 weeks ago in London (and our Money Fund Symposium this past June in Pittsburgh). Our 9th annual MFU will be hosted at the Stamford Marriot Hotel in Stamford, Conn., January 17-18, 2019. Crane's Money Fund University is designed for those new to the money market fund industry or those in need of a concentrated refresher on the basics. The event also focuses on hot topics like money market fund regulations, money fund alternatives, offshore markets, and other recent industry trends. Our educational conference features a faculty of the money fund industry's top lawyers, strategists, and portfolio managers. (See the preliminary agenda here or e-mail us to request the latest brochure. Also, watch for coverage of our recent European Money Fund Symposium in the next MFI newsletter, which ships Friday.)
Money Fund University offers a 2-day crash course on money market mutual funds, educating attendees on the history of money funds, the Fed, interest rates, ratings, rankings, and money market instruments such as commercial paper, CDs and repo. We also cover portfolio construction and credit analysis. At our Stamford event in January, we will also take a look at newly implemented European money market fund regulations and we'll also include a mini "Bond Fund University" segment on ultra-short bond funds and money fund alternatives.
The morning of Day One of the 2019 MFU agenda includes: History & Current State of Money Market Mutual Funds with Peter Crane, President & Publisher of Crane Data; The Federal Reserve & Money Markets with Mark Cabana, MD of Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Interest Rate Basics & Money Fund Math with Phil Giles, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University; and, Ratings, Monitoring & Performance with Greg Fayvilevich, Director of Fitch Ratings and Michael Masih, Associate Director at Standard & Poor's Global Ratings Services.
Day One's afternoon agenda includes: Instruments of the Money Markets Intro with Teresa Ho, Vice President of J.P. Morgan Securities; Repurchase Agreements with Ho and Tyler Williams, Associate at J.P. Morgan Securities; Treasuries & Govt Agencies with Sue Hill, Senior Portfolio Manager at Federated Investors and Matt Lachance, Director of Money Market Trading with TD Securities; Tax-Exempt Securities & VRDNs with John Vetter, Municipal Structured Analyst at Fidelity Investments; Commercial Paper & ABCP with Rob Crowe, Director with Citi Global Markets; CDs, TDs & Bank Debt with Vanessa McMichael, Vice President at Wells Fargo Securities; and, Credit Analysis & Portfolio Management with Adam Ackermann, Executive Director at JP Morgan AM.
Day Two's agenda includes: Money Fund Regulations: 2a-7 Basics & History with Brenden Carroll, Partner at Dechert LLP, and Jamie Gershknow, Associate with Stradley Ronon; European MMF Reforms & Offshore Funds with John Hunt, Partner at Sullivan & Worcester LLP and Barry Harbison, Liquidity Product Specialist with HSBC Global AM; Ultra-Short Bond Funds & SMAs with James McNerny, MD & Portfolio Manager at JPMAM; and, Money Fund Data & Wisdom Demo/Training with Peter Crane. The conference ends with its annual MFU "Graduation" ceremony (where diplomas are given to attendees).
New portfolio managers, analysts, investors, issuers, service providers, and anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of "cash" investing should benefit from our comprehensive program. Even experienced professionals may enjoy a refresher course and the opportunity to interact with peers in an informal setting. Attendee registration for Crane's Money Fund University is just $500, exhibit space is $2,000, and sponsorship opportunities are $3K (Bronze), $4K (Silver), and $5K (Gold). A block of rooms has been reserved at the Stamford Marriot Hotel.
We'd like to thank our past and pending MFU sponsors -- Dreyfus/BNY Mellon CIS, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Fitch Ratings, TD Securities, S&P Global Ratings, Dechert LLP, Fidelity, Federated, First American Funds/US Bank, and J.M. Lummis -- for their support, and we look forward to seeing you in Stamford in January. E-mail Pete Crane (pete@cranedata.com) for the latest brochure or visit www.moneyfunduniversity.com to register or for more details.
Crane Data is also preparing the preliminary agendas for its next Bond Fund Symposium (March 25-26, 2019, at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel), and our "big show," Money Fund Symposium, which will be held June 24-26, 2019, at the Renaissance Boston. Finally, next year's European Money Fund Symposium will be held Sept. 23-24, 2019, in Dublin, Ireland at the Dublin Hilton. Watch for details on these shows in coming weeks and months.
In other news, money market mutual fund distributors and corporate cash managers are also making preparations for AFP 2018, the Association for Financial Professionals' huge annual gathering of corporate treasurers and cash managers, which takes place next month in Chicago, Nov. 4-6. AFP is the largest gathering of corporate treasurers in the country, attracting over 5,000 treasury management professionals, as well as a number of large banks and institutional money fund managers.
This year, sessions involving money funds and cash investing include: "Mind the (Yield) Gap: Corporate Cash Strategies for Rising Rate Environments," featuring Anthony Hancox of Garmin International, Jerry Klein and Richard Saperstein of Treasury Partners; "Keep Calm and Carry On: How Corporations are Preparing for European Money Market Fund Reform," with Timothy Kolenda from AbbVie Inc, Guillermo Gualino of Agilent Technologies, and Sara Flour and Reyer Kooy from DWS; and, "The Search for Yield, High Quality and Downside Protection for Corporate Cash Portfolios," with Brandon Hillstead from Autodesk, Linda Ruiz-Zaiko from Bridgebay Financial, and Peter Kaplan from Merganser Capital Management.
AFP also includes the "cash" segments: "Disruption: Distraction or Opportunity? A Look at Today's Liquidity Environment," featuring Matthew Skurbe of Blackstone and Dave Fishman of Goldman Sachs; "The Commercial Paper Market from the Buyer and Issuer Point of View," with Randy Webb of Applied Materials, Benjamin Campbell of Capital Advisors Group, Matthew Frye of Carnegie Mellon University, and Nicholas Ro of Toyota Financial Services; and "Repositioning for Rising Rates," featuring Ruiz-Zaiko, Jack Yue of KLA-Tencor Corporation, and Jim Palmer of U.S. Bancorp Asset Management. We hope to see you in Chicago in November!
