Unique Credit Ideas for Yield-Starved Investors
7 Years of zero interest rate policies (ZIRP) have caused much debate about the prospective risk-adjusted returns available in public fixed income securities. Have these policies helped or hurt investors? Join this prestigious panel as we continue the debate. The discussion will be centered around three credit-based asset classes that offer attractive income and the potential for low-correlation to traditional fixed income.
Moderator:
Michelle Watson
Chief Investment Officer, First Republic Investment Management
Northern California
Michelle Watson is Chief Investment Officer of First Republic Investment Management. In this role, which she assumed in 2009 after spending more than two years as Director of Research, Ms. Watson is responsible for setting the strategic vision of the firm’s investment process and platform. She maintains oversight of an open architecture investment process that includes internally developed investment solutions as well as an external, third-party manager platform. She also chairs the firm’s asset allocation and investment approval committees.
Ms. Watson has an expansive career spanning more than 25 years in the investment management industry. Prior to joining First Republic, Ms. Watson worked for U.S. Trust Company as a key contributor in the development and growth of its multi-strategy, open architecture program. Previously, she worked in investment consulting and manager research at CTC Consulting Inc. Her career began at Northwest Capital Group, a partnership at Salomon Smith Barney.
A graduate of the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Ms. Watson holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations. She also is an active board member of Friends of San Francisco Animal Care & Control.
Panelists:
Scott Graves
Managing Director and Head of Credit Strategies
Oaktree Capital
Mr. Graves serves as head of Credit Strategies for Oaktree and as the portfolio manager of Multi-Strategy Credit. He oversees the Multi-Strategy Credit, U.S. Senior Loan, European Senior Loan, U.S. Convertible Securities, non-U.S. Convertible Securities, High Income Convertible Securities, Mezzanine Finance, Strategic Credit, and Emerging Markets Total Return strategies. He is also active in corporate management matters for the firm. From 2010 to 2015, Mr. Graves was responsible for Oaktree's corporate and strategic development efforts, leading the firm's product step-outs into emerging markets credit, strategic credit, value equities, infrastructure, the enhanced income strategies, structured credit and senior secured lending. Since joining the firm in 2001 and through 2013, he served as an investment professional in the Distressed Opportunities, Value Opportunities and Strategic Credit strategies, where he was most recently a co-portfolio manager and contributed to the analysis, portfolio construction and management of the investment funds. Prior to joining Oaktree, Mr. Graves served as a Principal in William E. Simon & Sons' Private Equity Group and as an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Company in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. Prior thereto, Mr. Graves worked at Price Waterhouse LLP in the Audit Business Services division. Mr. Graves received a B.A. degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles and an M.B.A. in entrepreneurial finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he currently serves on the Wharton School Graduate Executive Board. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
Sam Hagan
Cliffwater
Sam is a Director at Cliffwater and is the portfolio manager for Cliffwater’s BDC (Business Development Company) investments. From 2007 to 2013, Sam was a member of Cliffwater’s private equity team with primary coverage of distressed debt and direct lending managers. Prior to joining Cliffwater in 2007, Sam was an Analyst at Countrywide Financial Corporation. He earned a BA in Economics from Occidental College.
Philip Bartow
Portfolio Manager
RiverNorth
Philip joined RiverNorth in 2015 and serves as Portfolio Manager. Philip comes to RiverNorth with 12 years of experience in Investment Management, Capital Markets, and Investment Banking capacities within structured finance, securitized products and real estate.
Prior to joining RiverNorth, Philip was a Principal at Spring Hill Capital where he focused on the analysis and trading of structured credit, commercial mortgage and asset-backed fixed income investments. Philip began his career in the Mortgage Department at Lehman Brothers Inc. in New York, where he focused on non-agency residential mortgages and esoteric asset-backed securities.
Philip graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Economics and earned his MBA from Columbia Business School with a concentration in Accounting and Finance.
Pricing:
CAIA Members: $25 (CAIA Members use code UNIQUE to register with this discount)
CFASF Members: $25
Non-members: $40
Date:
November 3rd
Time:
3:00pm until 5:00pm
Agenda:
3:00pm - 3:30pm: Registration/Networking
3:30pm - 5:00pm: Panel Discussion / Q&A
5:00pm - Networking in the Hilton Lobby Bar (cash bar)