12:00 noon -
5:00 p.m.

Registration
Gallery

8:00 a.m. -
3:00 p.m.

Registration
Gallery

Breakfast
Palms Foyer

9:00 –10:00 a.m.
Concurrent
 

Chief Information Officers' Roundtable
Palms North

Jamal Choumane, Director, Investment Administration Services
Citi

Michael V. Gentry, Chief Information Officer
International Financial Data Services (Canada) Limited

Neil Holsteen, Vice President of Information Technology Operations
Janus Capital Group

A panel of technology experts engage in a dynamic and insightful dialogue on the critical issues in the international IT world. The panelists will speak about the impact IT management can have on an organization, their role as thought partners with their business counterparts, and their involvement in the strategic planning processes of their companies.

Don't miss this exclusive industry roundtable with international IT visionaries to share trends, strategies and challenges.

9:00 –10:00 a.m.
Concurrent
 

Reporting Quality Data to the Board: Setting Expectations and Best Practices
Palms South
 

Doug Anderson, Senior Vice President, Operations
Delaware Investments

Jeff Meaney, Senior Vice President, Risk Oversight / CCO Office
Fidelity Investments

Patricia Norris, Trustee
The Evergreen Funds

Presenting service provider quality data to the fund board presents an array of challenges: What data should be included? How should it be presented and interpreted? What context is necessary for the information to be meaningful?

A panel of industry experts will address these questions from the perspective of the fund board, the chief compliance officer, and the transfer agent's senior management team. The discussion will include the director's perspective of the key drivers of service quality and the reasons they are important to the overall business. Panelists will also offer strategies for setting expectations with the fund board and best practices for presenting and interpreting quality data.

Break
Foyer

10:15 –11:15 a.m.
Concurrent
 

The Science of Product Development
Palms North
 

Douglas Beck, CFA, Managing Director, Head of Product Management
DWS Scudder

David Connelly, Director of Global Retail Product Development
MFS Investment Management

Drew Elder, Senior Vice President, Product Strategy & Development
Janus Capital Group

For too long, product development has been an ad hoc process at asset management firms. This session will feature a discussion with three industry leaders who are bringing "science" to the "art" of product development. This will be an interactive panel that will cover:

• Effective processes for developing new products
• Pitfalls to avoid when doing product development
• How to smoothly go from a product idea to a product rollout

10:15 –11:15 a.m.
Concurrent
 

The Role and Responsibilities of the Fund Officers in the Current Regulatory Environment
Palms South
 

Matt Bromberg, Senior Counsel, Asset Servicing
The Bank of New York Mellon

Charles A. Rizzo, Chief Financial Officer
John Hancock Funds

Todd L. Spillane, Chief Compliance Officer
AIM U.S./INVESCO U.S.

How has the intermediary oversight, vendor management, and regulatory compliance programs of mutual fund firms changed and integrated over the recent past years with the advent of Sarbanes Oxley, the changes in regulatory structure related to the CCO, regulatory developments, and the advent of new rules such as 22c-2? This panel examines these issues, and presents best practices that organizations may use to help ensure that oversight programs are comprehensive and integrated. They will address:

• What is the difference between oversight and management?
• How can an oversight program help with the management of relationships?
• How can firms develop risk based oversight and management programs?
• What implications arise with regard to fund governance and related board of trustees' fiduciary responsibilities?

Break
Foyer

11:30 a.m. –
12:30 p.m.
Concurrent
 

Alternative Investments: What They Are and Why Are They Gaining Popularity?
Palms North
 

Andrew Dougherty, Chief Operating Officer
BNP Paribas Financial Services

Claude Kremer, Chairman
ALFI (The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry)

Daniel Strachman, Managing Partner
A&C Advisors LLC

Can you define an Alternative Investment vehicle? Do you know the participants and scope of product offerings? This session will provide the framework for this evolving market segment. Our panel will define the types of Alternative Investment products, illustrate the growth and rates of return during the past 10 years, define the investment strategies and how these strategies attract investors, discuss recent market trends, and forecast future growth.

11:30 a.m. –
12:30 p.m.
Concurrent
 

It Can't Happen Here, Can It?
Palms South
 

Joan Dowd, Chief Compliance Officer
Boston Financial Data Services, Inc.

Charles S. Hawkins, Vice President and Senior Director, Regulatory Management Department, Transfer Agency Division
PFPC Inc.

April Lemay, Principal
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Michael McKeown, Supervisory Special Agent
Cyber Initiative and Resource Fusion Unit, FBI

What are firms doing to identify, deter and prevent fraud, privacy breaches and other activities that could put a firm on the front page of the Wall Street Journal? This panel of experts will examine the structure and controls related to prevention programs and provide case studies and practical advice on fraud detection and prevention.

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Barbecue
Terraza Patio

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Building Your NICSA Network: Make NICSA Work for You
Palms North
 

Barb Davis, Member Relations Manager
NICSA

Jan Clifford, Honorary Director
NICSA

Christine Newman, Vice President, Learning and Organizational Development
Boston Financial Data Services, Inc.

Meet a number of your fellow members and learn how to make your membership work for you. There are members that want to meet you and we'll show you how to be visible and effective. We offer tools and strategies to help you build both your business and your career. There will be time to learn who's who in our organization. You need not be a new member to attend.

This workshop is only available at the Annual Conference, so don't miss out. We are here to support you, so please come and help us get to know you.

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Reception
Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by

5:00 p.m. -
3:00 p.m.

Registration
Gallery

7:30 – 8:00 a.m.
 

Keynote Address
Lessons on Leadership
Grand Ballroom

Doris Kearns Goodwin, noted author and historian

With stories and insights from the successes and failures of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, Ms. Kearns Goodwin offers timeless lessons that apply to the world of business as well as politics. Her talk will focus on the individual qualities that make a leader great.

Break
Exhibit Hall
 

9:45 – 11:15 a.m.
Concurrent

How Green is Your Workplace?
Grand Ballroom
Presented by NICSA's Transfer Agent and Technology Committees

Joe Higgins , Vice President, Infrastructure Engineering
Fidelity Real Estate Company

Jeffrey T. Phillips, Marketing Director, Investment Management Services
Bowne & Co., Inc.

Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth has brought about a heightened sense of awareness around the issue of global warming. This session will explore various approaches those in our industry have taken to contribute to making their businesses “greener.” Join industry innovators for a discussion of what you can do to make your workplace environmentally friendly. Panelists will discuss

• Eco-friendly employee benefits
• What makes a building “green”?
• Recycling: does it make a difference?

9:45 – 11:15 a.m.
Concurrent
 

Ramesh Babu, Senior Vice President, Investment Management Division
Lehman Brothers

Misty Ford, Director, Americas Business Technology
Russell Investments

Michael Stull, Vice President
Nuveen Investments

The proliferation of distribution through third parties, increased sub-accounting and more transparency to sales information has added significant complexity to an organization's ability to acquire, translate and disseminate sales data. This session will explore how industry firms are translating raw transactional and asset data from back office platforms into meaningful information used by sales, marketing and financial executives.

You will hear how asset managers integrate and apply sales reporting, CRM and PDA technologies and devices to put the right information into the right hands at the right time. Additionally, this session will identify what needs to happen to make sales data more actionable to enable firms to identify the best clients, get more of them, and grow assets under management.

Gillian Christie, Director, Financial Services
Deloitte Consulting LLP

Don Gignac, Senior Managing Director, Alternative Investment Operations
International Fund Services

David W. Lang, Managing Director, Asset Management Division
Goldman Sachs & Co.

Michael Rosenberg, Director, Prime Finance
Citi

This panel will address the practical approaches in handling front to back office challenges associated with complex trading strategies and financial instruments in traditional and alternative investment products. They will include:

• Planning process around introduction of new products/instruments
• Review sales and marketing process to educate sales force and investors
• Portfolio management / trade order management – approach used to plan for the introduction of these strategies/investments
• Custody/prime broker processing, accounting and valuation – steps taken by the service providers from a training and technology side to handle the investments

12:00 noon –
1:00 p.m.

Lunch (non-golfers)
Lobby Lounge

NICSA Golf Tournament
Gold, Blue & Red Courses

Want to play on the Blue Monster or Gold or Red? Just let us know. New this year, request the course of your choice. NICSA will make every effort to accommodate requests on a first-come-first-served basis. Get your requests in early!

Space is limited, pre-registration and a fee is required. Only conference registrants may participate in the golf tournament.

Boxed lunch sponsored by

Bottled water sponsored by

Homes of the Stars Cruise on the Island Queen
Lobby

Participants meet at the Doral Resort lobby entrance at 12:30 p.m. Bus will leave at 12:45 p.m. and return to the hotel around 5:30 p.m.

Space is limited, pre-registration and a fee is required. Click here for more details.

Reception at the 19th Hole
Spa Grand Terrace
Sponsored by

Open to all – golfers, conference attendees, exhibitors and registered spouses/companions.

Breakfast
Exhibit Hall

NICSA Committee MVP Awards
Grand Ballroom

Kathleen O'Halloran, Director of Education
NICSA

Keynote Address
Serving Investors: The Evolution of Asset Management and Its Implicit Promise
Grand Ballroom

Charles E. Haldeman, Jr., CFA, President and Chief Executive Officer
Putnam Investments

Historically, the asset management industry has made an implicit promise to those who entrust their hard-earned savings: diversified risk and professional management at a reasonable cost. Today, that promise is largely being met, but there are new obstacles for investors, including a shift in responsibility to retirement plan savers, and a proliferation of niche products that make it harder to discern good investment value. Delivering on our industry's promise to investors involves advice, service, and willingness on the part of asset managers to build more resilient portfolios. Ed Haldeman, a 30-year industry veteran shares his views with the NICSA audience.

Break
Exhibit Hall

9:45 – 10:45 a.m.
Concurrent

Retirement Income Planning: Cracking the Code
Grand Ballroom
Presented by NICSA's Retirement Committee

Daniel J. Besse, Vice President, Retirement Product & Services Group
Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, Inc.

Shari Klahr, ChFC, Vice President of Strategic Distribution
PFPC Inc.

Ben Norquist, CPC, CISP, President and Chief Executive Officer
Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC

How can we reach the transitional group—those between 50 and 65—to educate, motivate, and create an understanding of the unique financial challenges they're facing? Our panel will discuss current issues affecting this group, including the state of retirement savings, demographics, trends and case studies. You'll gain insight into the needs of the individual prospective retiree, the approach to the market by the broker dealer and how the market is defining retirement success.

9:45 –10:45 a.m.
Concurrent

Noel Archard, CFA, Principal, Head of Product Development, iShares
Barclays Global Investors Services

Tom Carter, Managing Director, Business Development
ALPS Fund Services, Inc.

Jim Ross, President
SSgA Funds Management, Inc.

This panel of industry experts will discuss the growth and usage of these unique products. Key elements of the panel discussion will include:

• Update on the exponential growth in number of funds and assets and where that growth is occurring
• Overview of the various diversified and non-diversified structures
• Analysis of how ETFs are being utilized by institutions, registered investment advisors, and the retail investor
• Overview of recent developments incorporating ETFs into 401k programs
• Forecast on the near-term potential for the ETF market including new products and growth of the segment, trends toward Performance Indices, and the potential for actively managed products in 2008

9:45 –10:45 a.m.
Concurrent

Outsourcing vs. In-sourcing: Changing Trends in Today's Marketplace
Palms North

Glenn Brightman, Director, Fund Administration
TIAA-CREF

Jesse Cole, Managing Director, Head of Global Shareholder Services
Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Joseph M. Connors, Senior Vice President, Mutual Funds Distribution & Service
GE Investment Distributors, Inc. - Member NASD/SIPC

In today's increasingly competitive environment, fund companies are continuously examining their core competencies to determine which segment(s) of their business would be better served by outsourcing or in-sourcing. Join our panel of experts as they share their perspectives surrounding the decision process, from determining selection criteria, due diligence process, risk assessment, service provider oversight, success measures and Board involvement.

Break
Exhibit Hall

11:15 a.m. –
12:15 p.m.
Concurrent

Successful Distribution of Retirement Products
Grand Ballroom

Peter Kapinos, Senior Vice President, Retirement Plans Marketing
Putnam Retail Management

Thomas Rowley, Executive Director
Van Kampen Investments

Matt Smith, Managing Director, Retirement Services
Russell Investments

This panel of industry experts will discuss the evolution of the sales and marketing of retirement products and how firms continue to refine their distribution practices. This will be an interactive panel focusing on how they package and position their products in the retirement community. Discussion will include:

• How the panelists have successfully evolved the promotion and distribution of their retirement products
• What they foresee as future challenges in this space
• How to optimize the sales and marketing of retirement products, including how to identify the right partners

FAS 157 Interpretation and Implementation: Operations Issues & Challenges
Palms South
Presented by NICSA's Fund Administration and Custody Committee

George Gorman, Partner, FSO/Asset Management - Boston
Ernst & Young LLP

Mark Heckert, Senior Manager, Evaluated Services
Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data

Paul Ricci, Vice President and Senior Director of Financial Reporting Controls, Procedures and Regulations
State Street Corporation

Gerry Vaillancourt, Vice President, Mutual Fund Accounting and Mutual Fund Treasurer
Thrivent Financial

In September of 2006 the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued FAS 157, which requires investment companies to describe and categorize the fair value pricing methods for each applicable holding on a scale of one to three. One is the most directly observable price and three is the least transparent. This new requirement is effective with fiscal years commencing in November 2007. The panel will discuss:

• Their interpretation of the accounting standard and whom they feel is responsible for categorizing or identifying impacted securities
• Challenges associated with implementing the accounting standard
• How the auditors and regulators are testing new procedures
• Efficiencies firms have implemented or learned through the process

11:15 a.m. –
12:15 p.m.
Concurrent

Frank J. Carr, Managing Partner
Centennial Advisory Group LLC

Glen Dailey, Managing Director
Jefferies & Company

Robert Hegarty
Managing Director and Practices Leader, Securities & Investments and Insurance
TowerGroup

As alternative investment assets grow and these types of investments become more popular, attendant risk and challenges confront all market participants. A panel of industry experts will discuss the operational, technology, regulatory and human capital challenges that hedge funds and other popular alternative investment products encounter in their product lifecycle, and the impact those challenges may have on investment managers, service providers, and investors.

12:15 – 1:15 p.m.

Buffet Lunch
Exhibit Hall

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

International Protocol
Palms North

Ghassan G. Hakim
Senior Vice President, Franklin Templeton Investor Services, LLC and
CEO, Riva Financial Systems

Bob Kneip, Chief Executive Officer
KNEIP Communication S.A.

Anthony Previte, Vice President
Prudential International Investments, LLC

In today's global business environment, being proficient in your area of expertise isn't enough. To operate successfully you need to understand multiple cultural differences. This panel is designed to increase your international awareness, to improve your ability to function in an international environment and to help you avoid embarrassing and potentially costly behaviors. Please join us for an upbeat, interactive discussion and share the real life experiences of our global panelists.

Wine Tasting: From Base Wine to Bubbles
Lobby Lounge
Sponsored by

Experience the three grape varietals of champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir. Taste the varietals individually as still wines and then experience the varietals and how they make up champagne & sparkling wine.

Pre-registration and a fee is required to reserve your space.

Reception
Exhibit Hall
Sponsored by

NICSA Rainforest Theme Party
Spa Pool
Sponsored by

Join us in celebrating our Annual Conference! Dance to the music of and enjoy great food and drink with friends and colleagues.

8:00 –8:45 a.m.

Breakfast
Exhibit Hall

8:45 –9:00 a.m.

Presentation of the PricewaterhouseCoopers and Robert L. Gould Awards
Grand Ballroom

Keynote Address
A 25-Year Perspective: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Grand Ballroom

John J. Brennan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Vanguard Group, Inc.

The mutual fund industry has experienced significant change since Vanguard Chairman and CEO Jack Brennan joined the firm 25 years ago. Mr. Brennan will discuss what he expected when he took the job, and how the landscape has shifted over the past quarter century. In addition, he'll share his thoughts on what the future may hold for the industry.

Break

10:15 – 11:30 a.m.

Tyler Mathisen, Managing Editor, CNBC Business News
CNBC

Maureen Leary-Jago, President
MFS Service Center, Inc.

Shelly Painter, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Consulting
Franklin Templeton Investments

Martha G. Papariello, Principal, Financial Advisor Services
The Vanguard Group, Inc.

Marianne K. Smythe, Senior Counsel, Investment Management
WilmerHale

Nancy B. Wolcott, Chief Operating Officer
PFPC Worldwide Inc.

NICSA's time-honored tradition, Face the Membership, welcomes Tyler Mathisen, CNBC as our moderator of our premier panel. Industry experts from the Legal, Operational, Sales and Marketing and Distribution areas of our business share their experiences and insights about the current events of the day, and their views of what's in store for the future.

11:30 a.m.

Conference Closes