Editors: The conference is open by invitation only but is open to reporters.
An investment conference on Sept. 10-11, sponsored by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Burridge Center, will study the impact of a company's size on investment strategy -- including the dramatic effect Y2K may have on smaller firms' stock performance.
Unlike their larger counterparts, small firms' stocks typically fluctuate dramatically during the first week of the year. Conference participants will explore potential ramifications fueled by Y2K uncertainties.
Steven Manaster, the recently appointed dean of CU-Boulder's College of Business and Administration, will open the conference. "This will be the first official Colorado event for Dr. Manaster, and given that he is a nationally distinguished investments scholar, this is especially appropriate," said Interim Dean Dipankar Chakravarti.
An equal number of senior investment professionals and university professors will attend the conference in Beaver Creek, Colo., making it the nation's first conference of this kind. The conference will feature highly acclaimed professionals including David Booth, Doug Breeden, Richard Roll and Gifford Fong.
"This even balance of industry professionals and professors offers a unique perspective on investing," explained CU-Boulder Finance Professor Sanjai Bhagat. "The discourse will help establish research agendas and lead to improved investment practices and better portfolio management."
Frank Reilly, the Bernard J. Hank Professor of Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame and president of the Financial Analysts Federation, will deliver the keynote address on the importance of considering a company's size when developing an investment strategy.
As Denver continues to emerge as a center for money management, such conferences will become critical to this region, according to Bhagat. "All of the nation聮s top financial centers have strong university programs associated with them," Bhagat noted.
"New York has NYU and Columbia and San Francisco has Stanford and Berkeley. We want the University of Colorado at Boulder to partner with this region聮s dynamic investment community as Denver gains national prominence in this realm," he said.
Fostering such alliances is a primary goal of the Richard M. Burridge Center for Securities Analysis and Valuation. The center聮s namesake, a 1951 graduate of the university聮s finance program, rose to vice chairman and director with Chicago's Alliance Capital Management Corp. In 1986 he founded The Burridge Group, a portfolio management investment company.
Information about the Burridge Center can be obtained at bus.colorado.edu/burridge.