Conferences

Samuel (Skip) Halpern made a presentation on Fiduciary Audits - What to Expect at the conference held in Washington DC in October 2004.

Barbra Byington and Marc Morlock made a presentation titled, "2005 and Beyond: How Best to Position Your Plan for the Future", to a number of public fund executive investment staff representing various public fund retirement systems around the Mid-Atlantic region. The presentation, and interactive discussion with attendees, touched on the following key areas of interest:

Top Issues Facing Public Plans for the Future

• Status of Your Fund's Profile
• Tools to Position Your Plan for the Future
• Funds Which Have Taken Steps to Prepare for the Future

Samuel (Skip) Halpern made a presentation on Fiduciary Audits - What to Expect at the conference held in Lake George from June 19-20, 2004.

"Employee Benefits as Institutional Investors: Coping with the Rising Tide of Corporate Malfeasance Claims" 

Andrew Irving, on June 17, 2004, discussed the array of investment issues plan fiduciaries must confront, the role of an independent fiduciary when a corporate plan has suffered investment losses on employer stock held by the pan and practical advise for the prudent institutional investment of plan assets.

Ed Patchett presented a session on Alternative Investments at a meeting held in Tucson, AZ on April 19. In the session he reviewed the investment characteristics, structure and key risks of the three major types of alternative investments; private equity, hedge funds and managed futures / commodities. Among other things he pointed out that alternative investments are becoming more common investments for ERISA pension funds and can provide meaningful diversification to traditional asset classes.

Lamont (Monte) Tarbox presented an investment strategies course at the June AFL-CIO Center for working Capital seminar for trustees in Philadelphia, PA. Topics included were: How trustees should approach analyzing their current portfolio, Designing and monitoring an optimum portfolio, and Developing an investment policy statement.

IFS hosted its 2nd Bi-Annual client conference from March 31 to April 2, 2004 at The Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa, Hollywood Beach, FL. The Honorable William Thompson, Comptroller of the City of New York, was the keynote speaker.

Topics covered were:

Lamont (Monte) Tarbox participated on a panel at the Investment Management Network's Asset Allocation Summit in October in California. Monte was joined on the panel by Mike McCauley, Director of Investment Services at the State Board of Administration of Florida and Peter Freilinger from JPMorgan Securities. Monte and his co-panelists discussed how pension funds and other institutional investors have used the concept of "risk budgeting" to change the way they make asset allocation decisions and organize their investment programs.

Steve Harding led a panel discussion on Operational Reviews and Fiduciary Audits at this summit on January 16. The panelists included Ms. Elizabeth (Betty) Martin, Alaska State Comptroller and Mr. Eric Henry, Executive Director of the New Hampshire State Retirement System. The panel focused on the expectations and results of the Operational Reviews performed by IFS for the Alaska and New Hampshire State Pension Plans.

Andrew (Andy) Irving presented a session called "Protecting Your Plans in a Troubled Economy: Perspectives from an Independent Fiduciary" on January 4. The session summarized the challenges facing benefit plan fiduciaries: poor capital market performance, bad macro economic conditions, financial problems at the plan sponsor level, corruption and misconduct in the financial services industry.