Now in its third year, the Morningstar ETF Invest Conference is coming to Chicago Wednesday through Friday to bring thought leaders together for a wide range of events that focus on where the rapidly expanding exchange traded fund market is headed.
Liz Ann Sonders, senior vice president and chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, is slated to deliver the keynote address on Wednesday at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, and BlackRock global chief investment strategist Russ Koesterich will kick off the first round of general sessions on Thursday with a look at the economics of politics ahead of the presidential election.
"The 2012 ETF Invest Conference will help ETF investors to sort out the complexities, alternative theories, and investing strategies so they can better deploy these investments in a portfolio," said Scott Burns, Morningstar's director of fund research, North America, in a statement. "Based on rapid growth of this conference in its first two years, we've expanded this year's program in an effort to deliver one of the most comprehensive events in the ETF industry."
The conference will feature leaders in the ETF industry, investment experts and Morningstar's ETF analysts, gathering together in both general and break-out sessions to provide detailed discussion and debate for financial advisors, money managers and ETF investors.
For example, on Thursday Joanne Hill of ProShares will show in a general session how investors have deployed alternative ETFs to mitigate risk and boost returns, while later in the day Paul Hatch of Morgan Stanley and Mark Wiedman of iShares will offer their perspectives on the changing advisor landscape and the role that ETFs play in this metamorphosis. And PIMCO fans on Friday can hear Vineer Bhansali discuss "Why We Stopped Worrying and Embraced the Active ETF."
In addition, two pre-conference workshops will be held on Wednesday. The first, "The ABCs of ETFs," will be moderated by Morningstar ETF Analyst Michael Rawson, who will guide advisors through a history of how ETFs have evolved and provide a practical review of ETFs by asset class, including benefits and limitations.
