Key Takeaways From ICI's 2026 Investment Management Conference
ICI General Counsel Paul Cellupica and Brian Daly, Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, during a fireside chat at ICI’s Investment Management Conference
The 2026 Investment Management Conference (IMC) drew more than 1,000 legal and compliance professionals to Palm Desert for three days of thoughtful discussions on policy, innovation, and industry evolution.
The big themes running through many of the 2026 IMC panels and speeches were serving investors, adapting to technology, and the importance of the relationship between the industry and its regulators. These themes reflect ICI policy priorities described in our Reimagining the 1940 Act white paper, which was unveiled at last year's IMC.
Transitioning to E-Delivery
As ICI General Counsel Paul Cellupica noted in his welcoming remarks, ICI is committed to moving investing fully into the 21st century so investors can make the most of new technology such as AI. This includes bringing investor communications into the 21st century by making e-delivery the default communication method. Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management Brian Daly and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce drove home the SEC’s broad support of e-delivery during their respective panels.
Peirce noted in her fireside chat with ICI President & CEO Eric Pan: "A wholehearted embrace of e-delivery would be a better way to steward investor money and respond to the preferences of, particularly, a post-COVID investor population...We all realize that just making either e-delivery the default with an option for paper or just making it the straight default is something that should happen.”
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and ICI President and CEO Eric Pan during a fireside chat at ICI’s Investment Management Conference
Reforming the Fund Proxy System
During Please Stop Calling Me: The Case for Fund Proxy Reform, a panel on the increasing costs and inefficiencies of the fund proxy system, ICI Associate General Counsel Amy McDonald shared how difficult it is for funds to obtain sufficient shareholder votes on important decisions that require a quorum. Drawing on data from a recent survey ICI conducted of more than 60 member firms, the panelists discussed how the problems with the fund proxy system are getting worse over time.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce acknowledged in her remarks the need to modernize the fund proxy system. She cited ICI’s survey findings that fund proxy campaigns since 2020 have cost between $675 million and $1.14 billion, telling the audience the SEC needs industry and investor input to solve the problem.
Driving ETF Innovations
The SEC has approved 48 ETF share class applications since November. As firms are preparing for implementation, the IMC panel Eying the Future: ETFs in 2026 and Beyond looked to the future, examining how ETF growth is influencing firm strategy, operational considerations, and investor adoption. Firms are weighing new opportunities alongside the complexities and operational challenges that come with a rapidly evolving ETF landscape.
ICI strongly advocated for this modernized regulatory framework for ETFs—and the SEC’s Division of Investment Management Director, Brian Daly, noted that the industry is overdue for such modernization. During a fireside chat with ICI General Counsel Paul Cellupica, he welcomed more ideas to modernize the investor experience, observing: “If there is something that could improve outcomes for retail investors that could rationalize, modernize, do any of these good things we came here to do, we want to know about it.”
ICI’s Tom Quaadman moderates the Capitol Insights: Navigating Today’s Advocacy Climate panel alongside Dimensional Fund Advisors’ Catherine Newell, T. Rowe Price’s Bob Grohowski, and Edward Jones Investments’ Andy Blocker
Looking Ahead
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Palm Desert. Session recordings will be available soon on the attendee hub for all IMC attendees.
Next on ICI's conference calendar is Leadership Summit, taking place in Washington, DC, from April 29 to May 1—a must-attend event for industry leaders and executives seeking to shape the future of asset management. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig will headline the event.
And don’t forget to save the date for the 2027 Investment Management Conference, taking place March 14 to 17, 2027, in San Diego!