RESEARCH and EDUCATION
Sage Conference: Perspectives on the Future (Austin, Texas)
September 16th-18th, 2009
- Peter Zeihan, Stratfor
"Through a Different Lens: Geopolitics and the Recovery"- Peter Zeihan is the Director of Global Analysis and leads the development of Stratfor's political and economic forecasts. Mr. Zeihan has been instrumental in Stratfor's coverage of a broad range of geographic and topical areas, at times directly overseeing the firm's efforts for Central Europe, the former Soviet Union and energy issues. Prior to joining Stratfor, Mr. Zeihan worked with the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia, and was formerly Susan Eisenhower's office coordinator while with the Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C. Zeihan holds a Masters in Political & Economic Development from the Patterson School of Diplomacy at the University of Otago.
- Peter Zeihan
- Stratfor
- www.stratfor.com
- Through a Different Lens: Geopolitics and the Recovery
- F. Ward McCarthy Jr., Ph. D, Stone & McCarthy Research
- "The Too Big to Fail Doctrine and Fed Independence"
- Dr. F. Ward McCarthy Jr. is co-founder of Stone & McCarthy Research Associates (SMRA). Ward supervises and directs SMRA fixed income research, and is also directly responsible for the SMRA analysis of the Federal Reserve, Treasury market, yield curve behavior, TIPS, the federal budget and Treasury debt financing, as well as political developments that affect the bond market.
- Prior to forming SMRA, Ward was Chief Financial Economist and Manager of Government Debt Research at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets in New York where he was responsible for the Merrill Lynch interest rate forecast, yield curve analysis and Fed-Watching. Dr. McCarthy was also a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond where he was bank studies chief and a monetary policy advisor.
- Ward periodically consults with Treasury and Fed officials on a variety of issues, including market developments and debt financing. Ward also publishes a quarterly commentary in the Tokyo's Nikkei Financial press.
- F. Ward McCarthy Jr., Ph. D
- Stone & McCarthy Research
- www.smra.com
- The Too Big to Fail Doctrine and Fed Independence
- Richard Hokenson, Ph.D., Hokenson & Company
- Global Demographic Trends: Implications for the Economic Investment and Public Policy Environment
- Richard F. Hokenson founded Hokenson & Company in May 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Hokenson was the Director of Demographic Research at Credit Suisse First Boston where he was responsible for analysis and forecasting of global demographic trends and their associated economic and investment implications. Before joining CSFB Mr. Hokenson was the Chief Economist at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he pioneered the application of demographics to economic and financial market forecasting. Mr. Hokenson has also served as the senior economist at Merrill Lynch Economics and at Data Resources Inc. Besides material published by Hokenson & Company, DLJ and CSFB, his written works include "Demographic Trends and the Impact on Municipal Finance", "The Demographics of Global Investing" and "Migrant Labor".
- Mr. Hokenson is a member of the International Union of Social Science Professionals, the Society of Labor Economists, the Population Association of America, the American Economic Association, and the Executive Committee of the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). He is a trustee of the PRB and chairs the Investment Committee.
- Richard Hokenson, Ph.D.
- Hokenson & Company
- www.hokenson.biz
- Implications for the Economic Investment and Public Policy Environment
- David C. Mulford, Ph.D., Former Ambassador to India
- India and America Come of Age: How the New US-India Strategic Partnership Can Help America in the Present World Financial Crisis
- Dr. Mulford was officially sworn in as the United States Ambassador to India on January 23, 2004. Before being becoming the U.S. Ambassador to India, David served as Chairman International of Credit Suisse First Boston from 1992 to 2003.
- From 1984 to1992, David was Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs. He served as the senior international economic policy official at the Treasury under Secretaries Regan, Baker and Brady. Among the highlights of David’s responsibilities and accomplishments included: U.S. Deputy for coordination of economic policies with other G-7 industrial nations; Head of the Administration’s Yen/Dollar negotiations with Japan.
- Before his Government service, David was a Managing Director and Head of International Finance at White, Weld & Co., Inc., with responsibility for coordinating efforts with Credit Suisse on international financial business (1966 - 1974). David was seconded to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), where he served as senior investment advisor (1974 - 1983). He also served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary and Under Secretary of the Treasury as a White House Fellow in the first year of the White House Fellowship Program.
- David C. Mulford, Ph.D.
- Former Ambassador to India
- India and America Come of Age
- Ken Gladish, Ph.D., Austin Community Foundation
- "The Landscape of Philanthropy in 2009: Reality & Reality Check"
- Ken Gladish is the President and CEO of the Austin Community Foundation serving the Texas state capitol and its region. Ken Gladish has been a leader in philanthropic and charitable organizations at the local, state and national levels for more than a quarter of a century.
- At the beginning of April 2008 he began a new leadership role as. From 2000 thru 2006 Ken was the 12th national President/CEO of the YMCA of the USA. From 1984 to 2000 in Indiana, Ken led the Indianapolis and Central Indiana Community Foundations, the William E. English Foundation, and the Indiana Humanities Council. Ken was among the early leaders, staff officers and directors of the Indiana Grantmakers Alliance.
- Currently, Ken is Senior Teaching Fellow for Philanthropy in affiliation with the Johnson Center Grantmaking School and Senior Scholar at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy. Ken serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the RGK Center for Philanthropy & Community Service, at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. He also is editor of the Insight’s section of the Non Profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ).
- Ken Gladish, Ph.D.
- Austin Community Foundation
- www.austincommunityfoundation.org
- The Landscape of Philanthropy in 2009: Reality & Reality Check
- Ralph E. Lawson, Baptist Health South Florida
- "United States Healthcare Economics: An Unsustainable Model"
- Mr. Ralph Lawson is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Baptist Health South Florida, the largest private employer in Miami-Dade County. He provides overall financial and technical leadership for Baptist Health South Florida and all of its affiliates. He is also the Chief Acquisition Officer and negotiates all merger and acquisition opportunities. During his tenure, Baptist Health has grown from a single hospital to a six-hospital system and has issued over $1.4 billion of tax-exempt and taxable debt.
- Mr. Lawson began his career as a junior accountant in the Denver office of Haskins & Sells. He was admitted to the Firm as a partner nine years later. During his seventeen year tenure with Deloitte, Mr. Lawson obtained extensive experience in banking and financial services, health care and real estate.
- Mr. Lawson is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Catholic Health Services. He serves as a member of the Florida Institute of CPAs Healthcare Committee and is a former Chairman. Mr. Lawson is also a member of the American Institute of CPAs.
- Ralph E. Lawson
- Baptist Health South Florida
- www.baptisthealth.net
- United States Healthcare Economics: An Unsustainable Model
- Mr. Ted Siedle, Benchmark Financial Services
- You Are On Your Own: Investing in an Era of Irrelevant Regulation
- Edward Ahmed Hamilton Siedle is President of Benchmark Financial Services, Inc., a boutique consulting firm located in Ocean Ridge, Florida that has investigates money management abuses primarily on behalf of pensions.
- He began his career as an attorney adviser in finance with the SEC's Division of Investment Management, which regulates mutual funds and money managers. He later served as Legal Counsel and Director of Compliance to one of the largest international mutual fund families.
- Mr. Siedle has been referred to in the media as, “the nation's most vocal critic of abuses in the money management industry." In 2002, he published “The Siedle Directory of Securities Dealers, " which provided institutional investors with the criminal and disciplinary histories of the nation's brokerages. In 2003, he published “Examining Active Investment Advisory Fees,” a survey of the "actual" fees paid by 100 pensions. Recently, Mr. Siedle appeared in a Bloomberg News special on "Hidden 401k Fees" which received Bloomberg's first Emmy Award.
- Mr. Ted Siedle
- Benchmark Financial Services
- www.benchmarkalert.com
- You Are On Your Own: Investing in an Era of Irrelevant Regulation
- Alexander Pekker, Ph.D & Meghan P. Elwell, Sage Advisory Services
- Optimization & Time Horizon: Striking a Better Balance
- Alex serves as Vice President/Quantitative Analysis and Research at Sage Advisory Services. Alex possesses strong fixed income quantitative analytical skills, as well as a solid background in actuarial mathematical analysis.
- Alex was previously employed with Wilshire Associates, Inc. in Santa Monica, California, within the Fixed Income Analytics Division. While at Wilshire Associates, Alex worked on developing portfolio investment strategies, value at risk analysis, asset allocation optimization strategies, performance monitoring, and investment management policy formation. Prior to his professional experience with Wilshire Alex also worked for Mercer Consulting in their Retirement Practice Group.
- Alex received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Texas, an AM degree in Mathematics from Harvard University, a MS degree in Computer Science and BS with honors in Mathematics from Stanford University.
- Meghan serves as the Vice President of Research at Sage Advisory Services. Prior to joining Sage, Megan practiced law with Bracewell & Giuliani LLP in Houston.
- Meghan received her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) with honors from The University of Texas School of Law. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University.
- Meghan has acquired over 5 years of professional experience in structured finance, economic analysis and quantitative modeling.
- Alexander Pekker, Ph.D & Meghan P. Elwell
- Sage Advisory Services
- www.sageadvisory.com
- Optimization & Time Horizon: Striking a Better Balance
- Robert Williams, Sage Advisory Services
- Making Sense of Market Trends & Sentiment Through ETFs
- Rob is a principal of the firm and a member of the investment committee. He serves as the Director of Research. He received his B.A. in Financial Management from the University of Colorado. Rob is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder and member of the CFA Institute. Before joining Sage, Rob was a Fixed Income Strategist for UBS in New York. He was also a former Senior Wealth Management Strategist for Mutual of New York and a Research Analyst for Merrill Lynch. Rob brings over 10 years of experience in credit analysis and corporate finance to the firm.
- Robert Williams
- Sage Advisory Services
- www.sageadvisory.com
- Making Sense of Market Trends & Sentiment Through ETFs