Nicsa, Author at Nicsa - Page 18 of 37

Uncertainty has been the name of the game in 2020 — and that trend that will likely continue as we head into 2021. But with uncertainty comes opportunities for competitive differentiation. To that end, panelists gathered to present a bird's-eye view of political and economic trends affecting the industry and during the final day of Nicsa’s virtual GMM 2020 event.

Dave Parks, Executive Director at EY, moderated the event, which also featured experts from AGF Investments and Citi. Parks kicked things off with the question on everyone’s mind: What will be the outcome of the 2020 United States presidential election?

“As of today, Vice President Biden is ahead in the polls, and I would project him to win,” said Candida 'Candi' Wolff, Executive Vice President, Global Government Affairs at Citi. “If Biden wins the White House, the House will not be in play. Democrats will maintain control of the House, and it’s quite possible that Democrats could pick up some seats.”

At this juncture, Wolff said that if Vice President Biden wins, it’s likely that the Senate will flip Democratic due to the down-ballot effect. “If Biden has a really good night, I think we are going to be in a position where there will be even more seats picked up by Senate Democrats,” she said.

Greg Valliere, Chief U.S. Policy Strategist at AGF Investments, said investors tend to prefer a divided government. “I think if we have a blue wave, it could be nerve-wracking for many investors,” he said.

Assuming a Biden win, Valliere said Biden’s priorities will focus on improving international relations, undoing some of Trump’s regulatory measures, and issuing a stimulus coronavirus relief package.

“I would think that Biden would listen to economists like Jerome Powell who feel we really do need more stimulus,” he said. “Finally, I’m not persuaded he would go immediately into tax hikes. He may wait. He may feel the economy is too fragile and not want to antagonize the markets.”

Wolff agreed, adding that a Biden administration may turn to budget reconciliation as a way to pass tax changes.

“The reason I bring it up is the process takes some time to work through,” she said. “This pushes the tax debate, practically speaking, out into the summer because you have to create a bill, a vehicle, and a process by which you consider the taxes, or you have to change Senate rules, which also takes time.”

FISCAL POLICY

Valliere said most are oblivious to the Federal deficit, which he said is predicted to exceed $30 trillion by the middle of the decade.

“But I don’t worry about it — at least not now,” he said. “Jerome Powell has made it very clear that interest rates will stay at about zero. The Fed funds rate will stay at zero, and because of that, we can handle debt-servicing costs for another two, three, four years. We can’t continue along this path forever. At some point, there will have to be some belt-tightening or higher taxes, or maybe we’ll finally look at entitlements.”

Wolff said politically, we will start to see more “deficit hawks” emerge, though their voices have been quieted in recent times due to coronavirus.

“It’s a way to block and tackle what will be viewed as big-spending programs that might be coming from Democrats,” she said. “I think you’ll see concerns about deficit being used politically, garnering discussion. It may not change the dynamics over the next few years. I’ll be interested in whether we see politicians in 2022 or 2024 take on concerns about where the deficits are and what we’re doing to do about it.”

Note: Although the observations contained in this work represent the best thoughts of the individuals comprising the Nicsa panel, they do not necessarily reflect the views of Nicsa or any of its member organizations. Matters addressed in this work may touch upon legal or regulatory matters, however nothing herein is intended to be or should be construed as legal advice. You should contact your own counsel in order to obtain legal advice regarding these or any other matters.

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Between a global pandemic impacting the physical and mental health of employees across the globe and a national reckoning with racial injustice, a focus on workplace culture has never been more important.

Nicsa members explored these transformative forces through the lens of inclusion and wellness during the first day of GMM 2020, held virtually on October 7.

INCLUSION

A panel of industry thought-leaders kicked off the concurrent sessions by discussing how to build inclusive and engaging work environments.

Sarah Maynard, Global Head, External Inclusion & Diversity Strategies and Programs at CFA Institute, moderated the event, which featured panelists from Raymond James, Franklin Templeton, CFA Institute, and State Street.

“The death of George Floyd highlighted a tragic roll call of lost lives and pervasive racism,” Maynard said. “Society’s demand for change is more visible, more vocal than it’s been in a long time, and the expectations of us all are high. In the investment industry, we can make a difference as both investors and in our businesses by bringing inclusion and diversity into our work.”

Regina Curry, Chief Diversity Officer at Franklin Templeton, cited a 2018 Harvard Business Review study on advantage blindness.

“In that research, there is this idea that being advantaged or having ‘privilege’ can be very uncomfortable for senior leaders – the very folks that you’re bringing together in this space. And that can trigger some defense mechanisms.”

“In a practical sense, I think it’s important to have a clear understanding of the type of experiences that your underrepresented employees are having,” she said. “Quite frankly, I think you need to ask them, whether it’s through focus groups, conversations with senior leaders, or guided discussions with employee resource groups. In this moment, people have become more empowered to speak about their experiences than ever before. We need to listen, understand, and determine how to intervene.”

Renee Baker, Head of PCG Advisor Inclusion Networks at Raymond James, agreed, adding that inclusion is found at the intersection of diversity and belonging.

“It’s about inviting and valuing all voices to achieve business goals – and emphasizing the perspectives that all of our advisors are bringing to the table, whether related to race, gender, thought, experience, or identity,” she said. “Our vision is to be as unique as the people we serve. It is also imperative, especially in this environment, to create a sense of trust when it comes to inclusion. “

Paul Francisco, Chief Diversity Officer at State Street, offered a unique and fitting analogy.

“I think of all of the components of a salad —tomatoes, shallots, sardines, cheese,” he said. “All of those standalone elements are good in their own right, and all of those elements bring a different perspective, or flavor, to that salad. But it’s the dressing that brings it all together. So for me, inclusion is that dressing, if you will, that culture norm that brings it all together into a cohesive and fulfilling outcome.”

WELLNESS

Later, panelists from FIS, Fidelity, and Results-Based Coaching Associates convened to explore the impact of the past six months on employee wellness. Catherine Goonetileke, Partner, EY, moderated the session, which focused on building and leveraging employee assistance programs (EAPs), among other strategies.

Michelle Bruno, VP, Global Benefits & Wellness, said FIS has administered several employee surveys throughout the crisis to gauge where its employees worldwide stand in terms of well-being.

“What we heard initially was that COVID was taking a toll on individuals’ mental health through isolation, uncertainty, economic distress, and social despair,” she said.

“In some countries, laptops are not prevalent; we boxed up desktops, put them on a truck, took them to people’s homes, set them up,” she said. “We have challenges in some of those countries where many members of a family live in one house and have little space to work. Work-life balance is also a challenge; since employees are sitting at home with their computer, they have trouble turning it off. We are anxious to see what the results of our latest survey will show, based upon the new tools and resources we’ve provided employees.”

Cindy Wolpert, Executive Coach and Founder, Results-Based Coaching Associates, said she’s working with leaders to address stress management needs amid both a pandemic and the California wildfires.

“A lot of leaders in the San Francisco Bay area have to be ready to flee from fires at a moment’s notice,” she said. “They’re balancing the safety of their family and loved ones with trying to meet their deadlines. People are challenged with being able to focus, retaining what’s told to them, and recalling what they’re telling others. And the absorption rate of information is low. That’s adding extra stress to the system.”

Beth Adler, Strategic Benefits Initiatives at Fidelity, said benefits are only worthwhile if employees are aware of them, adding that a maintaining steady drumbeat of communication is most effective — especially in times of stress and anxiety.

“Associates only have so much mindshare — there are a lot of competing priorities throughout the day,” she said. “Having a consistent pace of messaging allows us to reach people at the time that they need help, so they can take action right away and get that needed support.”

Fidelity’s goal is to respond in the moment and in a detailed manner. Adler said associates tend to reach out for support at the time when they need it, and disregard messaging when they don’t.

“Following the death of George Floyd, an emotionally taxing time, our CEO sent communications ensuring affected associates knew that there were resources available to help, including our new EAP,” she said. “We also repromoted our caregiving benefits when summer camps started closing and the school year started up again. These communications resonated with employees; we saw a spike in registrations each time.”

A forward-thinking virtual panel kicked off Nicsa’s 2020 General Membership Meeting October 7 by addressing the question on nearly every professional’s mind: What will it take for the asset management industry to reopen offices safely?

Justin Hall, Partner at PwC, who moderated the session, said that over the past six months, he’s seen the conversation evolve from keeping businesses operational as they go remote to safely reopening offices.

“Then, with the realization that reopening was probably not happening at a large scale in a lot of cases, the conversation evolved to: 1) ‘How do I keep my workforce productive and avoiding burnout while they’re at home?’ and 2) ‘How do I reimagine the workforce of the future for the long term, having learned those lessons of going remote and operating in that mode for a number of months?’”

Victoria McGowan, Deputy Head of Global Fund Administration at BNY Mellon, said that as a firm with a global footprint, BNY Mellon must balance local dynamics with international guidance.

“We have to attack this from each jurisdiction, first considering guidelines issued by local governments,” she said. “Then, we look at it from a role perspective. We know we are missing that in-office collaboration, but if we start to bring people back to the office who aren’t working, we’re still not going to achieve anything in terms of collaboration.”

Stacey Winning, Deputy Head of Global Human Resources at Dimensional Fund Advisors, said her firm is taking a data-driven approach with a heavy focus on employee well-being, both mental and physical.

“We’ve been surveying different regions of our population to get a sense of whether they want to come back and what would make them feel most safe,” she said. “For some that might be wearing masks. For others, it might be coming into the office later to avoid mass transit congestion. We are using real insights from our employee base, combined with local levels of government and jurisdictions around the world, to help guide our approach.”

EMERGING BENEFITS

Despite being forced to rapidly adapt to a new normal, the panelists said they have been able to find silver linings in the crisis.

Winning pointed to eases in logistics: “It’s significantly easier to schedule things, you don’t need conference rooms, and you’re not contending with travel schedules — which positively impacts the speed of decision-making.”

McGowan said that individuals who worked remotely before the pandemic now enjoy an enhanced sense of community. “When we think about our global teams, we’ve found that groups in locations outside of the main offices feel more heard, connected, and part of the team,” she said. “That’s been a real positive.”

Winning echoed those sentiments, adding that the move to a digital workforce has brought people together, however unexpectedly.

“I think the blurring of work and home has created a new avenue for building repertoire in a significant way as it relates to understanding who your colleagues are as people — not just as colleagues,” she said. “It’s been profound. It helps with inclusion and helps with the overall sense of belonging you have at a company.”

GRAPPLING WITH DOWNSIDES

Stephen Jones, Global Head of Corporate Services at Dimensional Fund Advisors, outlined some of the challenges.

“We’ve had to focus intentionally on connectedness, more than ever before in the 40 years of our firm,” he said. “Other risks and challenges have been centered on changing guidance. It seems like we wake up every morning with new guidance from a country we do business in or have employees in. We are constantly channeling that information, making sure that it is current and accurate so that we can make the best decisions for our company.”

McGowan said that while productivity has significantly increased during the last six months, so has the risk for burnout.

“Folks are logging on earlier; they don’t have commutes, so they’re getting on at 7 a.m. and maybe staying on until 7 p.m.,” she said. “In some cases, where employees can create a more flexible schedule, that’s a positive. But at the same time, we don’t want people working 11 hours a day for years at a time. That’s not sustainable.”

Hall said PwC now employs an initiative known as “Stop the Grind” designed to take the pressure off of employees through shorter meetings, time away from video chat, and other measures.

“In some ways, the lower friction we’ve alluded to with not traveling as much has increased the volume of meetings, which can be stacked back to back. Burnout is definitely a risk,” he said.

Winning said that while remote work may remain the norm for some employees, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

“We all know that whatever we’re returning to is going to look pretty different than what we left,” she said. “We went from mostly everyone in the office to mostly everyone at home, but I don’t know that either of those scenarios are sustainable. The future is going to focus on what’s in the middle through a lot of trial and error.”

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As we inch closer to 2021, seasoned product leaders from American Century, John Hancock, and Nationwide shared their future product priorities during the second day of GMM 2020 (held virtually on October 8).

Dan Beckman, Head of U.S. Product, Columbia Threadneedle, moderated the panel, which focused on the current landscape for alternative investments, interval funds, active and non-transparent ETFs, and share classes.

“This was an unprecedented year, distinguished by a global pandemic, a newly remote workforce, capital market volatility, social unrest, a focus on diversity and inclusion, and a divisive presidential election,” he said. “That said, this panel will be looking into the future.

Beckman cited a quote commonly attributed to Warren Buffett: “Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

“I think that’s fitting for product development because you’re working on things today that often don’t pay off for years,” he said.

VEHICLE EXPANSION

Glen Casey, Global Head of Products, said American Century has long been focused on product and vehicle expansion in areas such as CITs, ETFs, and SMAs.

“The data is incredibly important when we think about product developers who have grown up with mutual funds as their primary focus,” Casey said. “Looking at Morningstar’s flows, for example, long-term mutual funds in the last in 12 months have had $300 billion net outflows, while ETFs have been positive $450 billion. And that’s not a one-time phenomenon; this has been playing out for many years.”

Margaret Farquharson, Senior Director, Head of Exchange-Traded Funds, Nationwide, pointed to a remarkable opportunity on the CIT side — an area that Nationwide is actively building out and looking to bringing to market in 2021.

“Looking at CIT flows relative to mutual funds, that is absolutely a growing space where we feel we can add a tremendous benefit to our members on the retirement plan side by bringing strategies to market in a more cost-effective vehicle.”

She also touched on a new innovation this year: Active Non-Transparent ETFs (ANTs).

“The ANTs definitely came marching in in 2020,” she said. “Looking at the first round of products, I think they’ve done tremendously well, particularly given the fact that those strategies were launched in a year dominated by the pandemic.”

“I do think there’s some education that needs to happen with those particular strategies related to long-term adoption through various distribution channels. We need to ensure we are really educating investors not only on the mechanics of those structures but rewhat the value-add is relative to what’s currently available in the marketplace.”

Answering a question from the audience, York Lo, Head of Institutional and Retirement Product Development at John Hancock, spoke about ESG product development.

“At this point, pretty much every firm has signed an United Nations' Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and has integrated ESG into the investment process — which is a great thing,” he said. “But I think it’s important to differentiate who is just checking a box to get business. I applaud the fact that PRI has kicked out some signatories for non-compliance. They’ve also done a great job of grading those who have signed an UN PRI, which is an important signal to the end investor in terms of who is really serious about ESG.”

Farquharson agreed.

“Factors around corporate diversity and inclusion, internal governance, etc. have emerged as some of the most fundamental drivers of company performance,” she said. “That has underpinned our decision to look very closely at the ESG space. As with ANTs, some education needs to take place, and as it does, you will see customization as a result.”

Investment management companies have had clearly-defined front, middle, and back offices for ages — but over the years, corporate culture has begun to change. Nicsa members explored how firms are breaking down the walls from an operational perspective during the second day of GMM 2020, held virtually on October 8.

“Asset managers, services providers: these groups aren’t going away any time soon,” said Gary Casagrande, VP of Global Market Strategy at Confluence, who moderated the session. “What is changing is how investment firms need to manage their data across their enterprises. That means that the way these groups interact with each other needs to change.”

Casagrande said the boundaries between the front, middle, and back office have resulted in several organizational realities. For instance, he said firms, systems, and processes have been designed over the years to meet one specific group’s needs, rather than the company’s overall operational requirements.

“Now, as operating models evolve, several factors have combined to make the old, territorial approach to enterprise data management less viable every day,” Casagrande said. “New strategies are more attractive and achievable.”

Janelle Prevost, Head of Strategy and Digital Asset Servicing, shared the perspective of BNY Mellon’s clients.

“Fundamentally, clients are looking to their providers to enable better investment decision-making, better services for their end investors, and more flexible and efficient back office capabilities,” Prevost said. “In almost all cases, achieving these goals means better data and better orchestration of solutions across the investment process. Data is the connective tissue, end to end, of that process. And being able to access this data in real time is blurring the lines between front, middle, and back offices.”

CHANGE AMID THE BACKDROP OF A PANDEMIC

Jay Nusblatt, Managing Director, Global Investment Companies at DFIN, said that embracing and supporting the distributed workplace is crucial in the context of COVID-19.

“We’re now seeing that the risk groups and compliance teams are weighing in on these processes, taking a different decision path — away from pure cost and toward risk aversion, resiliency, and supporting the distributed work model,” Nusblatt said. “COVID-19 necessitates the distributed work model, and the legacy platforms and bespoke processes that funds and investment managers were dependent on are limiting our effectiveness.”

Whitfield Athey, Chief Executive Officer at Delta Data, agreed that using technology to enable a remote workforce is essential. He said that the coronavirus has made it painfully obvious which processes are in dire need of digital transformation.

“For the past decade, we’ve been hearing the phrase ‘digital-first,’” he said. “COVID-19 separated those who actually got it done and those who have some work to do. This has accelerated the realization that regardless of the scale you can attain through a digital straight-through processing environment, the coordination of dislocated employees is as crucial a capability as the scalability that type of automated execution provides.”

Athey said the time for action is now.

“What used to be a cost-based decision has now turned into a risk-based decision: Can we afford to manually execute this process in the current environment? Quite frankly, these opportunities for change don’t come around frequently in this industry,” he said. “We are encouraging a move to a digital environment that is enabled through better sharing of quality data.”

Prevost also touched on how the pandemic has catalyzed organizational change.

“COVID-19 has been very much an accelerator for clients who have been weighing an outsourcing decision,” she said. “Naturally, it is driving clients who have been slow or reluctant to invest in digital or in automating manual processes to jump on the bandwagon.”

In this new environment, Prevost said the distinction between front, middle, and back offices is less important than the one between physical and virtual offices.

“Firms are seeing that a strong virtual office is critical, both internally and externally,” she said. “It’s about having the right providers, the right connectivity, and the right data in the right hands.

Nicsa members received a detailed look into product lifecycle challenges from the distributor’s point of view during the second day of GMM 2020, held virtually on October 8.

Linda York, Senior Vice President of Cogent Syndicated, moderated the event, which featured diverse perspectives from Bank of America, LPL Financial, and Morgan Stanley.

Robert Pettman, EVP, Advisory Platforms and Products at LPL Financial, said many asset managers have been waiting for the opportunity to turn away from legacy distribution models toward something more modern — and the pandemic has pushed the industry toward virtual environments.

“Now, we’re all living in a hybrid space,” Pettman said. “The question is, what happens when we come out of it? To go back to the status quo would be a miss. The challenge is, there’s no formula. Even on the distribution side, we’re trying to work that out. We want asset managers to succeed. We want their distribution models to be efficient; we want our advisors to be efficient. So we’re thinking through how to make these models most successful.”

Ben Huneke, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, echoed Pettman’s view that the events of 2020 have broadened technological opportunities.

“I think technology gives us an extraordinary ability to really hone in on our activities in the branches, and to be much more efficient and have a greater understanding of how effective our resources are at driving results,” Huneke said. “To me, it’s a huge opportunity for asset managers to be more knowledgeable, efficient, and scientific about their distribution efforts.”

From the retirement and institutional side, Erin Farrell Donnelly, Managing Director at Bank of America, pointed to distribution challenges for asset managers in terms of the role that packaged product plays in garnering defined contribution (DC) plan flows.

“For asset managers, competing in a packaged-solution world, whether it be target date or managed accounts, has its own set of challenges,” she said. “Looking at their own areas of specialty and expertise in terms of aligning to particular sleeves of investment opportunity — and then determining how to best align their distribution teams— is one of the biggest challenges.”

Huneke said building a scalable practice is challenging when the average financial advisor at Morgan Stanley manages assets for 160 families with vastly different needs.

“Instead of going in to sell a product that fits into a portfolio, asset managers can help our advisors build scalability and understand how to manage a business more effectively,” he said. “That’s where our biggest teams are struggling. It’s less about picking individual funds or products. It’s about managing a complicated process and building scale in the investment process so they can deliver on goals for their clients in a credible fashion.”

In terms of effective communication with advisors, Pettman said there’s no one way to achieve success, as different formats appeal to different people.

“Virtual workshops have been working well — one thing we’ve realized is that meeting content is often better virtually than it is in person because of the scalability,” he said. “You can bring in all sorts of subject manner expertise in an efficient way virtually versus what you can do with a one-on-one wholesaler interaction.”

Donnelly added that many asset managers have been getting better at profiling the advisors they cover and the clients they build their books around.

“It’s a shift to understanding who the targets are — the advisors and their teams — being an expert in their own firm and resources, and using those as opportunities to move the needle,” she said. “We’ll continue to see a shift toward more customized models on behalf of the sales teams. This new environment we’re in creates new ways of thinking in terms of how to tap into expertise.”

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Boston, MA – October 28, 2020 – Nicsa is pleased to announce the release of its 2020 Pulse Survey Report: a pulse check on the perception of diversity, equity and inclusion in the asset management industry.

As part of its mission to accelerate D&I in the asset management industry, Nicsa’s Diversity Project North America partnered with CareerAgility to conduct a Pulse Survey of its members and those in the broader industry. Survey questions centered on beliefs around D&I and corporate progress.

The report seeks to identify the gaps and provide baselines from which the industry can measure its progress. This is the first year Nicsa has conducted the survey. The takeaways are intended to serve as a baseline to measure progress against as the industry moves forward on the path toward inclusivity and equity.

Justine Phoenix, Head of Diversity Project North America stated, “The research acts to illuminate the issues and presents an opportunity for the industry to collectively raise the bar and work together to build the tools that allow people the opportunity to develop in an inclusive environment.”

“At Nicsa, we are confident that our member firms are committed to change, and we are proud to be among the industry leaders calling for greater diversity, equity and inclusion. Our collaborative efforts will help position the global asset management industry for the workforce of the future, diversified and transparent, with equitable opportunity for all,” said Jim Fitzpatrick, President & CEO of Nicsa.

This is the first year Nicsa has conducted the survey. The research paper is available via the organization’s website at nicsa.org.

About Diversity Project North America

The Diversity Project’s goal is to accelerate progress towards a diverse and inclusive culture in the asset management industry to deliver the best possible results for clients, reflect the society we serve, and ensure long-term business sustainability. Click here for more information on Nicsa’s Diversity Project North America initiative.

About Nicsa

Nicsa is a not-for-profit trade association striving to connect all facets of the global asset management industry in order to develop, share, implement, and advance leading practices. For over fifty years, Nicsa has promoted an open and collaborative environment, where members’ and partners’ deep expertise and unique perspectives have come together to help strategically implement and support the industry’s most vital issues. Click here for more information about membership.

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Boston, MA – October 13, 2020 – Nicsa announced at its 2020 General Membership Meeting the election of Scott Brady, Head of US Product Development & Strategy at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, as Chairman of its Board of Directors.

As Chairman, Mr. Brady will preside over the governing body of the Association as well as Nicsa’s executive committee. The board is responsible for oversight of policy and activities of the trade association, whose members include asset managers, broker dealers, custodian banks, transfer agents, and other professional service firms including audit, tax, law, technology, marketing, and compliance.

Commenting on the appointment, Nicsa President & CEO Jim Fitzpatrick said, “Scott’s comprehensive knowledge base and strategic outlook on the asset management industry will serve Nicsa well. We are very pleased to have an individual of Scott’s caliber lead our mission to connect all facets of the global asset management community to tackle top issues facing the industry.”

Nicsa also announced the election of six new members to its Board of Directors:

Janet Bienkowski | MFS

Kevin Mahn | Hennion & Walsh

Michael Melles | FIS

Jennifer McGovern | Blackrock

Melanie Pickett | Northern Trust

Gem Pushpaharan | Allianz

View full list of Nicsa board members here.

“I am delighted to work with the members of the Nicsa leadership team to address vital issues facing the global asset management industry. A cross section of wide-ranging industry perspectives, experience, and expertise will certainly be invaluable in our efforts to implement and advance industry best practices,” said Mr. Brady.

The full list of elected officers on the Nicsa Executive Committee include:

Scott Brady (Chairman) | Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Stacy Bernstein (Vice Chairman) | American Century Investments

Janet Bienkowski | MFS

Larry Fahey | Eaton Vance

Lisa Halbach | Bank of America/Merrill Lynch

Josh Lovell | State Street

Dave Whitaker | Foreside

About Nicsa

Nicsa aims to help firms operating in all segments of the global asset management industry meet the changing needs of their clients by aligning and educating industry participants through formal education programs, interactive forums, networking opportunities, and initiatives such as the Diversity Project North America. The Diversity Project’s goal is to accelerate progress towards a diverse and inclusive culture in the asset management industry to deliver the best possible results for clients, reflect the society we serve, and ensure long-term business sustainability. Click here for more information on Nicsa’s Diversity Project North America initiative.

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Asset management executives from over 50 firms will gather at Nicsa’s virtual General Membership Meeting to discuss some of the most timely and pertinent topics affecting the global asset management industry. As always, the much anticipated “Face the Membership” session is expected to provide valuable insight into industry trends from the perspective of industry thought leaders and innovators.

Tyler Mathisen, CNBC’s co-anchor of the popular “Power Lunch,” returns to the Nicsa stage this year to moderate the highly anticipated session, featuring two of the industry’s most powerful thought leaders: Jennifer Johnson and Mellody Hobson. Both are on Barron’s 2020 list of The 100 Most Influential Women in Finance.

Jenny Johnson is president and chief executive officer of Franklin Resources, Inc. As president and CEO, Ms. Johnson is responsible for the operation of all aspects of the business, and she will set long-range strategic objectives and drive corporate priorities.

In 2014, Ms. Johnson was one of ten executives named to Money Management Executive's inaugural list of Top Women in Asset Management and was chosen by her peers as one of Ignites.com's Most Influential Women in Fund Management. Ms. Johnson received the 2012 Robert L. Gould Award presented by global investment management association Nicsa, recognizing outstanding achievement in helping the mutual fund industry better serve investors through customer service, thought leadership and technology. In 2010 and 2011, she was recognized by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area business.

Mellody Hobson is Co-CEO & President, Ariel Investments, LLC. As Co-CEO, Mellody is responsible for management, strategic planning and growth for all areas of Ariel Investments outside of research and portfolio management. Outside of Ariel, Mellody is a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy. She has conducted extensive research on minority investing patterns and pens a column for Black Enterprise magazine. Her leadership has also been invaluable to corporate boardrooms across the nation, including Starbucks Corporation; JPMorgan Chase; Quibi; DreamWorks Animation; and Estée Lauder Companies. Mellody’s community outreach includes her role as Chairman of After School Matters, a Chicago non-profit that provides area teens with high-quality after school and summer programs.

In 2019, Ms. Hobson was awarded Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson Award, presented annually to a Princeton graduate whose career embodies a commitment to national service. She has also received honorary doctorate degrees from Howard University, Johns Hopkins University, St. Mary’s College, and the University of Southern California. In 2015, Time Magazine named her one of the “100 Most Influential People” in the world.

Join us as Mathisen uses his vast experience in financial journalism to lead two of the industry’s most powerful executives through a discussion around the latest industry trends and challenges. The session will cover timely and essential business themes, including the pandemic, the election, social unrest, the global economy, and the path forward for the asset management industry.

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Boston, MA – September 28, 2020 — Nicsa’s keystone industry event, its General Membership Meeting, is going virtual this year and features some of the industry’s most influential innovators. The GMM will take place from October 7-9.

The General Membership Meeting will bring together industry professionals via a virtual platform to hear dynamic and diverse perspectives on the most pressing issues facing the global asset management industry. The event is designed for asset managers, broker dealers, banks, and professional service and consulting firms strategically positioning their firms in an uncertain environment.

Notable speakers include Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Jennifer Johnson of Franklin Resources; Mellody Hobson of Ariel Investments, LLC; Soledad O'Brien, award-winning journalist and entrepreneur; and Tyler Mathisen of CNBC.

In all, thirty-seven speakers from 34 different companies will cover top-of-mind issues such as: returning to the workplace, inclusion and wellness, forward-looking business modeling, product trends and lifecycles, differentiation and competitive advantages, the economic and political landscape, and more. Nicsa’s line-up of impressive speakers, along with an agenda featuring candid and authentic conversations is strategically planned to help the global asset management industry reimagine the path forward.

“Nicsa is taking a new approach this year and is opening participation to all employees of corporate registrants. While we are disappointed that we will not be seeing our members in person this year, the virtual format lends itself to deeper engagement within member firms, and has offered us an opportunity to host some of the industry’s most influential speakers,” said Jim Fitzpatrick, President and CEO of Nicsa.

Tyler Mathisen, CNBC’s co-anchor of the popular “Power Lunch,” returns to the Nicsa stage to moderate the much anticipated annual Face the Membership session, featuring two of the industry’s most powerful thought leaders: Jennifer Johnson and Mellody Hobson. Both are on Barron’s 2020 list of The 100 Most Influential Women in Finance.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, a financial industry leader and catalyst for innovation, will headline as a closing speaker in a Fireside Chat with Jim Fitzpatrick, President & CEO of Nicsa.

Nicsa will consider complimentary media registration to editors and reporters with valid press credentials. Submit inquiries here.

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