2017 Closed-End Fund Conference
November 9
New York, NY

Program

8:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m. 

Registration

8:00–9:00 a.m. 

Networking Breakfast

9:10–9:15 a.m. 

Welcome

9:15–10:00 a.m. 

Keynote Speaker

Morgan Housel is a partner at Collaborative Fund, a venture-capital firm. Previously, he was a columnist at the Wall Street Journal and the Motley Fool. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and was selected by the Columbia Journalism Review for the Best Business Writing anthology.

10:00–10:20 a.m. 

Networking Break

10:20–11:20 a.m. 

IPO Launched: Now What? Examining the Secondary Market Trading of Closed-End Fund Shares

Sponsors work closely with designated market makers, stock exchanges, and other market participants to support the secondary market trading of closed-end fund shares. This panel will detail the basics of this ecosystem, discuss recent changes in the area, and explore ways that each of these market participants can improve and facilitate liquidity in the closed-end fund market.

Allison Harlow Fumai, Moderator
Partner
Dechert LLP

Mark DeFelice
Managing Director
Stifel Nicholaus & Co.

Kenneth Fincher
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager
First Trust Advisors

Patrick King
Designated Market Maker
Citadel Securities

Scott Szever
Director, Exchange Traded Products
New York Stock Exchange

11:25 a.m.–12:25 p.m. 

Closed-End Fund Challenges and Opportunities for 2018 and Beyond,
Part I: Product Creation

What is the outlook for “traditional” closed-end funds and what should closed-end fund sponsors be thinking about in 2018? This panel will review trends in recent offerings and ideas for product development, and provide its view on what the closed-end fund industry must do to compete and prosper in the coming years.

David Lamb, Moderator
Managing Director
Nuveen

Christian Clayton
Vice President
PIMCO

Jonathan Diorio
Managing Director
BlackRock

Sangeeta Marfatia
Executive Director
UBS Securities LLC

12:30–1:35 p.m. 

Luncheon with Speaker

Larry Kudlow is a senior contributor at CNBC. He is the host of WABC Radio’s The Larry Kudlow Show, and is syndicated nationally by Cumulus Media. Kudlow also is a nationally syndicated columnist, a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and a columnist and economics editor for National Review Online.

1:40–2:40 p.m. 

Closed-End Fund Challenges and Opportunities for 2018 and Beyond,
Part II: Market Issues

What issues are closed-end fund sponsors currently dealing with post-launch and how
are they dealing with them? This panel will review industry developments and recent trends related to post-market trading and market support, and offer its views on opportunities that the closed-end fund industry should be taking advantage of.

Rochelle “Shelly” Antoniewicz, Moderator
Senior Economist
Investment Company Institute

James Burke
Vice President, Research
AST

Mariana F. Bush
Head of CEF/ETP Research
Wells Fargo Advisors

Rennie McConnochie
Business Development Manager and Head of Global Banks
Aberdeen Asset Management

David Sullivan
Partner
Ropes & Gray, LLP

2:40–3:00 p.m. 

Networking Break

3:00–4:00 p.m. 

Compliance Dates Are Coming! Compliance Dates Are Coming! Are you Ready?

The pace of new regulations finally has subsided. Closed-end fund sponsors are now left with the challenge of implementing several significant rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Labor. This panel will discuss how funds are dealing with these new legal and compliance developments and what new ones are on the horizon.

Jennifer R. Gonzalez, Moderator
Partner
K&L Gates LLP

David Goldman
Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel
Gabelli Funds, LLC

David J. Marcinkus
Branch Chief, Division of Investment Management
US Securities and Exchange Commission

Kevin J. McCarthy
Senior Managing Director
Nuveen, LLC

Thomas Pappas
Vice President, Advertising Regulation
FINRA