October 14, 2005 | Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing
Wharton Finance Conference 2005 From Wall Street to Beijing

Wharton Finance Conference 2005


Panels

Regulatory Environment - Enabling Efficiency in Finance

From Sarbanes-Oxley to rule changes at the NYSE, regulatory reforms are having an unprecedented impact on the way firms raise capital, interact with shareholders, and provide information to the public. Moreover, shareholder lawsuits and the aggressiveness of state attorneys general have brought heightened focus to corporate governance and regulatory disclosures. Will these reforms hinder or enable efficiency in finance? Will the shift of resources from strategic planning to regulatory compliance affect the ability of U.S. firms to compete worldwide?

This panel will present a dialogue of the benefits and constraints of regulations and how the changes in the regulatory environment have impacted organizations from the board room to Wall Street.

Panel Directors: Lyla Bibi and Meaghan Rose

Panelists:

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The Changing Relationships Between Wall Street Firms and Financial Sponsors

Over the past five years, private equity transactions have come to represent a significant percentage of global M&A. As such, investment banks are keenly aware of the growing importance of financial sponsors as clients. This panel will address (1) the macro trend of sponsor activity becoming a larger percentage of overall global M&A, and (2) how individual investment banks coordinate their own internal PE investing so as to avoid direct conflicts with their sponsor clients.

Panel Director: Mark Pinho

Panelists:

  • Milton R. Berlinski, Vice Chairman, Strategy & Corporate Development Group and Co-Head Financial Sponsors Group, Goldman Sachs
  • Roger W. Hoit, Managing Director and Co-Head of North American Financial Sponsors Group, Morgan Stanley
  • Adrian M. Jones, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking
  • Steve Lipman, Senior Managing Director, Bear Stearns Financial Sponsors Group
  • Theodore B. Young, Managing Director, Bear Stearns Merchant Banking
  • Moderator: David Carey, Senior Writer, The Deal

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Financing Growth in Expanding Markets

In recent years, world markets have seen profound shifts in global economic power. China and India have emerged as dominant forces, and leading firms in these expanding markets now list their securities in New York and in other financial centers to raise capital. In particular, Chinese companies are becoming active players in global M&A volume, and evidence suggests that Wall Street firms are focusing an increasing amount of attention and resources on China and other expanding markets.

The panel will address this shift in economic power, as well as the related opportunities and risks that U.S. firms face in expanding their businesses into emerging markets in regions such as Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Several firms have developed strategic alliances or formed subsidiaries in these regions, and, in some cases, have been able to capitalize on the developments taking place. The panelists will share their experiences in emerging markets and will discuss the various macro-economic issues that continue to influence the decisions their firms are making in these regions.

Panel Directors: Joseph Kirikian and Jaeshin Myung

Panelists:

  • James R. Birle, Jr., Managing Director, Merrill Lynch
  • Martin Farina, Managing Director, JPMorgan
  • Carlos Mauleon, Managing Director and Head of Latin America Debt Capital Markets and Investment Banking Division, Barclays Capital
  • Roy Rodrigues, Managing Director, Bear Stearns
  • Jeffrey R. Shafer, Vice Chairman of Global Banking and Head of Economic and Political Strategies, Citigroup
  • Davis Terry, Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Telecommunications Group, UBS
  • Manish Thakur, Founder and Managing Partner, Hudson Fairfax Group
  • Moderator: Armeane M. Choksi, Managing Partner, Hudson Fairfax Group

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Innovations in Microfinance - Accessing New Sources of Capital

The lack of access to capital remains one of the biggest impediments to sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation in much of the developing world. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide small loans to entrepreneurs in these areas for income-generating activities. These small loans are often coupled with other financial services such as savings and insurance. The overwhelming demand for capital by the poor has led to exponential growth of many existing microfinance institutions and the generation of competitive returns for MFI investors. In order to meet the rapid pace of demand, MFIs must now explore new and innovative sources of commercial financing.

This panel brings together representatives of MFIs, multilateral development agencies, MFI growth accelerators, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other MFI service providers all of which are involved in generating and structuring new financing arrangements. Discussion will first center on the different roles and approaches these entities have used to tap into capital and/or debt markets, the types of financing they have sought, or provided, and the positive results they have generated. The panelists will then address some of the challenges they face and discuss possible institutional and regulatory changes that need to be instituted to render their work more effective and help achieve long-term sustainable financing.

Panel Director: Idehen Aruede

Panelists:

  • Rani Deshpande, Microfinance Analyst, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
  • Roger Frank, Managing Director, Developing World Markets
  • John Hatch, Founder, Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA)
  • Sam Moss - Microfinance Fund Advisor, Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund LLC
  • Moderator: Simone Lee, Developing World Markets

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Sales and Trading: The Industry of New Opportunities

With both treasury yields and US equities volatility near to historic lows, market professionals are looking for alternative means to generate additional returns. Financial innovation and untapped markets have provided much of the response to this need. Credit derivatives, which barely existed a decade ago, have grown to a $12 trillion market. After a relatively slow decade, commodities are back to life with prices hitting all time highs. Conceding to mounting pressure from industrialized nations, China’s revaluation of the renmimbi may generate a new dynamic in the foreign exchange markets.

This panel will explore the opportunities and risks involved in credit derivatives and foreign exchange. Particular attention will be focused on the new sources of yield and whether market, liquidity and systemic risks are likely to pose a significant threat in the near future.

Questions to be addressed to both panelists:

- Where is yield hiding these days?

- With credit risk spreads at or near historic lows, are you concerned that institutions may be attempting to sustain high returns by placing greater emphasis on riskier, less liquid, more highly leveraged investments? Could we experience another LTCM-style crisis?

- What sorts of events are likely to undermine the current placid state of world financial markets? What worries you the most given the current state of international financial markets?

Panel Directors: Sergey Kolesnikov and Augusto Pinto

Panelists:

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Hostile Takeovers: Poised for a Comeback?

In the wake of sweeping regulatory reforms, corporate boards are under pressure to adopt a variety of governance measures. Companies are revoking poison pills, de-staggering board elections, and taking steps to reduce perceived management entrenchment. With increasingly aggressive legal tactics of "shareholder activists" - and evidence suggesting a newfound tendency of boards to avoid confrontation - are hostile takeovers poised for a comeback?

Embraced in the 1980's by popular culture through books and Hollywood motion pictures, hostile takeovers have captured the imagination of even the most uninformed observers. However, those who have been involved with a hostile takeover are keenly aware of the financial, legal, and strategic considerations that make a takeover unlike any other business transaction. This panel will explore the factors that contribute to hostile investment activity, and, having been through dozens of hotly contested takeover battles themselves, the panelists will share their insights on the most important offensive and defensive takeover tactics.

Panel Directors: Alan Hsu and Jim Tetreault

Panelists:

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