Optional Workshops and Seminar: Separate registration required
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Endowment Management Seminar provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion of the factors and practices essential to prudent and effective endowment management. Leading investment professionals and investment committee members from top performing foundations share new research and insights as well as long-standing experience on best practices for investment committees, emerging financial trends, and specific challenges and opportunities currently facing investment committees.
12:00-12:45 pm
Luncheon
12:45-1:30 pm
Plenary Session
How Do We Respond to the Sustainable Spending Challenge: Is 5% Real Spending Sustainable?
Robert D. Arnott, Chairman, Research Affiliates, LLC
Robert Arnott launches the Endowment Management Seminar with a provocative discussion of one of the most vital questions investment committees must address: are long-standing return expectations and spending practices sustainable? Drawing on his long experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and highly respected financial analyst, Arnott suggests that investment committees need to pay greater attention to the concept of sustainable spending and the risks associated with reaching for outsized returns.
1:45-2:45 pm
Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent I: Assessing the Role of Alternatives
Harry Merriken, Senior Vice President, Gateway Investment Advisers
Concurrent II: Group Decision-Making: Implications for Investment Committees
Dr. Gary R. Mottola, Senior Research Analyst, Vanguard
Concurrent III: Clean Technology: Investment Opportunities and Its Role in the Portfolio
Michael J. Oyster, Managing Principal, Fund Evaluation Group
3:00-4:00 pm
Concurrent Sessions (Concurrents I, II and III repeat)
4:15-5:30 pm
Closing Plenary
The Investment Committee's Agenda: A Look Ahead at the Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities Investment Committees Will Be Addressing in 2010
Facilitator - Christopher S. Carabell, Managing Director, Retirement and Philanthropic Services, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
The Endowment Management Seminar wraps up with a discussion among investment committee chairs of the issues that are on the top of their agendas. The presenters will synthesize ideas addressed earlier in the conference, share insights on effective committee leadership, and encourage foundation board leaders and staff to think about how they will address current challenges and opportunities with their investment committees in the coming year.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
7:30-9:00 am
Breakfast for Workshop Participants
9:00 am-Noon
Optional Workshops
Workshop I -- Foundation Finance: An Overview of Essential Issues and Best Practices for Foundation Boards and Executives
Lisa M. Eslinger, Vice President for Finance and Operations, Iowa State University Foundation
Judith (Judy) H. Van Gorden, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer, Arizona State University Foundation
This workshop provides a comprehensive overview of the essentials of foundation finance, including: foundation funding sources, budgeting, cash management, and debt financing, as well as consideration of special topics related to entrepreneurial ventures, campaign funding, and coping with financial distress.
Workshop II-- Strategically Planning Your Way to a New Normal
Thomas J. Mitchell, Vice Chancellor, University Advancement, University of California, Irvine
Foundations are operating in an environment characterized by fewer resources, expanded missions, higher levels of accountability and transparency, and greater compliance requirements. Strategic planning can help prepare foundations to meet current and future challenges. Taking a cue from Walt Disney's model of success, this workshop outlines an innovative strategic planning process to prepare your foundation for a "new normal" through the "principles of dreaming, believing, daring and doing."
Workshop III -- Campaigns: The Board's Role in Planning, Execution, and Post-Campaign Transition
James L. Lanier, AGB Senior Fellow and Robert L. Turner, Jr., Vice President for Development and University Relations, Virginia State University, and Executive Director, Virginia State University Foundation
Campaigns can create new opportunities for student access, fund new programs, and enable institutions to succeed in an increasingly competitive educational market. Campaigns can also help to create a new culture of giving among institution constituents and enhance an institution's capacity for future growth. Without proper planning and follow through, however, the long-term potential of a campaign can go unrealized. This workshop focuses on the role of foundation board members in planning, execution, and post-campaign follow through.