On July 27, Kelli Schrade, director of manager research, was quoted in a Fund Fire article on new products and the additional investment manager search due diligence that is required, Freshly Launched Products Nab Majority of New Inflows. Kelli cautioned managers against overreliance on outside talent to launch new products: “Whenever there [are] ownership changes or personnel turnover, it causes a disruption. There are a lot of non-investment related distractions that give us pause. There are only so many hours in a day and there’s a lot to do when you start working at a new firm—meeting the new CEO, figuring out the technology, getting your payroll set up. All these administrative burdens take time and can distract from the investment process.” She continued by highlighting the more ideal new product talent scenario. “We prefer it when talent has moved up the corporate ladder within the firm.”

To read the article, visit the Fund Fire website (subscription required).

On June 12, Ben Mohr was featured in a Your Q&A video by FundFire, a Financial Times Service, entitled “What Strategies Are Fueling Institutional Searches?”

Ben spoke about the types of strategies that are still generating a lot of interest among institutional clients, namely, bank loans and emerging market debt. He discusses Marquette’s investment manager search statistics in the past year as well as the fundamentals for key fixed income asset classes that indicate that they remain good asset classes in which to invest.

To view the video, please visit the FundFire website.

On Tuesday, June 10th, Kelli Schrade will be speaking at the Opal Emerging Managers Summit at the Swissotel Chicago. She will be discussing the topic, “Emerging Managers from the Consultant’s Point of View”

Kweku Obed will also be speaking at the conference. He will be one of the panelists addressing the topic, “Investing in emerging managers. What does the research really show?”

The session will cover the following questions:

• Are emerging managers able to provide the same level of performance as larger fund managers?
• Why are consulting firms apprehensive about adding emerging managers to their data base?
• What role can trustees play to increase opportunities to include emerging managers in searches?

For more information, please visit the Opal Group website.

On April 23rd, Marquette will be speaking at the 2014 Pension Bridge Annual at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco.

Ben Mohr will participate in a panel discussion on emerging investment managers which will address the following topics:

• How are plans defining emerging managers?
• What are the benefits and opportunities offered by investing in next generation managers?
• Exploiting market inefficiencies by utilizing emerging managers
• What are the growth prospects?
• Strategies for implementing an emerging managers program – how is establishing this type of program different from others?
• Due diligence and key points of analysis for selecting emerging managers
• Comparing the attributes of prospective emerging managers
• Explain diversity and how you achieve it
• New firms fundraising – how important is it to be spun out from traditional or name-brand firms?
• Key differentiators that enable a successful fundraising?
• Research statistics and results on emerging managers
• Risk/return prospects of emerging manager programs vs. programs focused on established managers?
• What are the perceived risks of emerging managers? Are they inappropriate?
• How do you evaluate performance and measure success?
• What is happening with funds that have reached critical mass?
• What is an important lesson learned from your experiences?

For more information, please visit The Pension Bridge website.

On Friday, May 17th, Kelli Schrade will be speaking at the Opal Emerging Managers Summit at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago. She will be one of the panelists on the Consultants Roundtable moderated by the Chicago Policeman's Annuity and Benefit Fund, which will discuss the following topics:

• Importance of transparency
• Understanding the operational aspects of a fund
• Role of consultants in vetting an emerging manager

For more information, please visit the Opal Financial Group website.

On Tuesday, April 30th, Kelli Schrade will be moderating the investment consultant roundtable at the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE) 36th Annual Marketing & Sales Conference at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, AZ. Kelli leads investment manager search for Marquette.

For more information, please visit the AIMSE website.

On Monday, December 3rd, Kelli Schrade will be speaking at Connex International’s 7th Strategic Investment Sector Meeting on the topic of investment manager search. She will lead the following panel discussion.

Manager Due Diligence and Selection
Selecting and monitoring good money managers is one of the largest challenges facing institutional investors today. Plan sponsors are facing a unique opportunity to gain a greater level of transparency than ever before. This panel will discuss best practices and innovative approaches on the following:

• Sorting through the sea of managers to find best in class
• Employing custom benchmarks for better monitoring
• How to avoid common pitfalls

Panel Members:

• Kelli Schrade, Managing Partner, Marquette Associates (moderator)
• Natalie Jenkins Sorrell, Investment Officer, Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas
• Matt Peden, Director of Portfolio Management, GuideStone Capital Management
• Tom Tull, Director of Strategic Research, ERS of Texas

For more information, please visit the Connex website.