The 59th annual ICI GMM is coming to a close. The exhibit hall closing and the final big conference party both took place last night, and the final sessions at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington will wrap up before lunch today.

Paul Schott Stevens ICI President & CEO

This morning over breakfast Investment Company Institute chief, Paul Schott Stevens, will deliver a regulatory update, just three days after the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the next SEC chairman. After Stevens' remarks, PGIM Investments president, Stuart Parker, will lead a panel discussion on "the future of investment advice," featuring former Betterment president and co-founder Eli Broverman, J.P. Morgan U.S. private bank CEO, Kelly Coffey, and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management managing director and investment solutions group chief Ben Huneke. And for the final session Eurasia Group president and founder, Ian Bremmer, will present, and then be interviewed by Goldman Sachs Mutual Funds president and CEO, Jim McNamara, (chair of the ICI GMM this year) on "managing risk in an unstable world."

Back on Wednesday afternoon, it was McNamara who kicked things off with welcome remarks pondering the future meshing of robo- and human advice, the impact of technology on asset managers, general shifts, and more. McNamara confirmed that, between the GMM and the parallel ICI conferences for compliance, fund directors, and operations and technology, the event would draw about 1,300 attendees from 23 countries and feature 80 speakers across 38 sessions. Then Ted Truscott, CEO of Columbia Threadneedle and chair of the ICI, took the stage and urged his fellow fundsters to help make "America's retirement system even stronger."

Fundsters and other conference attendees then networked at the opening ICI GMM reception, while the fundster chiefs of the ICI's board gathered offsite at the American Pharmacists Association's (APhA's) historic headquarters on the National Mall. (The ICI board dinner featured a well-received guest speaker, high-profile presidential historian Michael Beschloss.) Other networking events (mostly offsite) on Wednesday included: a Broadridge dessert reception at the Marriott's own Stone's Throw restaurant; a J.P. Morgan dinner at the Meridian House; a Strategic Insight after party at Bourbon; a U.S. Bancorp Fund Services dinner; and the ever-popular FUSE "Strategic Networking Forum & Symposium" at Bar Citiva.

Yesterday after breakfast, Shundrawn Thomas, executive vice president and head of funds and the managed accounts group at Northern Trust Asset Management, kicked off day two of the conference by leading a panel discussion, "Facing the Future," featuring Columbia Threadneedle strategic relationships chief Tom Jones, Capital Group strategy and innovation chief Heather Lord, and Brown Brothers Harriman senior vice president of investor services Sean Tuffy. Other sessions yesterday included: a panel of chief investment strategists, featuring Wells Fargo's Darrell Cronk, Gregg Fisher of Gerstein Fisher, Heather Miner of GSAM, and Lisa Shalett of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; an industry diversity panel featuring Gregory Davis of Vanguard, Fidelity Funds independent director Marie Knowles, and Sonnia Shields of J.P. Morgan; a luncheon speech by GE CEO Jeff Immelt; a "global asset management" session featuring Martin Gilbert of Aberdeen, David Semaya of Nikko Asset Management, and Truscott; and a presentation by polar-wildlife-chasing photographer Paul Nicklen.

Last night after a closing reception in the exhibit hall, the ICI GMM closing dinner party featured a jazz band and food from around the world. And Eaton Vance's NextShares arm held a rooftop terrace reception atop the Old Ebbitt Grill, overlooking the White House. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE