The Asia Pacific Association for Fiduciary Studies will once again sponsor the 6th Annual Pacific Region Investment Conference on Nov. 9 and 10 at the Shangri-la Hotel in Manila. The goal of the conference is to target potential audiences from the Philippines Singapore Hong Kong Japan Malaysia and Korea apart from its existing audience from Guam the Marshall Islands Saipan Palau and various other audiences throughout Micronesia. It will focus on investments and economic growth in the region.

The conference’s featured speakers will be David Cohen deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior; Corazon de la Paz president of the Philippine Social Security Association and the International Social Security Association; Norman Nabhan former president and current member of the board of directors at Investment Management Consultants Corp; Louis Boulanger former chief executive of Mercer Investment Consulting; and Ruby Menon general counsel of multi-employer retirement plans.

Gerard A. “Gerry” Cruz president and chief executive officer of Community First Federal Credit Union and Federal chairman of the Asia Pacific Association said he was delighted that the two associations had joined the Trust Officers Association of the Philippines in association with the upcoming conference. “The conference will now offer participants yet more opportunities for networking and an exchange of news and views on current investment issues ” he said.

Daniel A. Roland senior vice president and consulting group director of Salomon Smith Barney Inc. and executive director of the association said that the conference looked set to be the largest so far. Roland said “With a few months yet to go I am extremely grateful for the support we are gathering in Manila. Participants are obviously going to be from the highest level of the financial community in the Philippines and this is a unique opportunity to hear from a variety of experts in the financial sector.”

Featured topics will include the role of trust funds in U.S. government policy for assistance in developing insular economies; trends in the institutional investment consulting field and the prudent incorporation of alternatives into an asset allocation strategy; the latest developments in the drive towards the adoption of global performance standards; the challenges that all large funds and their boards face; and current funding and benefit issues facing public pension plans worldwide.

Aside from the featured speakers there will be additional speakers from the Asian Development Bank Philippine government institutions and other private and multi-national corporations.

APAFS is a non-profit educational and charitable organization. It was founded by and for representatives from public and private institutional funds from the Asia Pacific Region in 2000. The association aims to raise the level of understanding and standards of practice among fiduciaries so they may in turn provide the most prudent management of the funds entrusted to them.MBJ