Editors: Reporters are welcome to attend without charge but space is limited. Please RSVP to Geri Lameman at Geraldine.Lameman@Colorado.EDU or (303) 735-5161.
An examination of rapidly growing "quant funds" and a speaker from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will highlight the 2006 Burridge Center for Securities Analysis and Valuation Conference on Nov. 2-3 in Denver.
The center, part of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business, will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel at 150 Clayton Lane.
"Quant funds have attracted much attention on Wall Street, and the Burridge Center conference examines their qualities and effectiveness through a panel discussion by some of the country's leading quant fund managers and academic researchers," said Michael Stutzer, director of the Burridge Center. Quant funds are mutual funds based on quantitative analysis.
Gordon H. Sellon, senior vice president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, will speak at the conference's opening dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2.
The Friday, Nov. 3, schedule begins at 8 a.m. and concludes with the luncheon speaker, Marc Reinganum, portfolio manager and director of quantitative research for the Oppenheimer Main Street Funds. Morning sessions will feature:
o "A Performance Analysis of Fund Managers' Trades" by Professor Clemens Sialm of the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, with discussion led by Michele Gambera, senior research consultant and chief economist for the research group of Morningstar's Ibbotson division.
o " 'Quant' Funds: A Panel Discussion," featuring Jason Trow, vice president of the portfolio management group for the Enhanced Investment Technologies subsidiary of Janus Capital; Neil Hennessy, chairman and CEO of Hennessy Advisors; and John Schniedwind, CIO, senior vice president and senior portfolio manager for quantitative equity at American Century Investments. The panel will be moderated by Professor Russ Wermers, a fund expert at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.
o "The Value of Stock Analysts' Recommendations" by Professor Jayanthi Sunder of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
o "The High Value of Economic Value-Added in the Valuation Process" by Ivan Feinseth, managing director and director of research at Matrix USA. A discussion of the value of securities analysis will be led by Professor Mark Bradshaw, a noted author in the accounting group of the Harvard Business School.
o "Applied Securities Analysis Presentations" by selected CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business students.
The cost of the conference for the general public is $45 and space is limited. Complete details of the Burridge Conference schedule are available at leeds.colorado.edu/burridge/conference.