Tuesday, November 1, 2016, 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM @Gore Recital Hall, University of Delaware :
Financial/investing institutions form the bedrock of the U.S.economic system. Without them, the economy can’t grow and our capitalistic system would grind to a halt. However,few believe that our financial/investing institutions work as well as they could. Critics argue that misalignments promote the interests of the financial sector itself above those of society, the real economy and the individual citizen investors whose pensions and savings are entrusted to these institutions. They argue that errant expertise and incentives;gaps in accountability, transparency and governance; poor regulation and a misreading of economics combine to impose a huge stealth tax on individual savings and national economic promise. Further, they say that these structural and governance misalignments create systemic pressure for short termism in the boardroom and within investing institutions.
Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik, and David Pitt-Watson, the three authors of What They Do With Your Money: How the Financial System Fails Us and How to Fix It, will be joined by John Bogle, legendary founder of Vanguard, and Jennifer Taub, professor of law,Vermont Law School, for a robust, provocative discussion of how to fix our financial/investing institutions so that they serve individual citizen investors and the real economy. It is the only time all three authors will be together in the U.S. to present.
Among the issues that will be discussed are: How have short-term oriented capital markets, the scores of financial intermediaries, and executive compensation structures both in financial/investing institutions and in our corporations combined to reduce long-term corporate investment in America? What are the consequences of governance gaps in investing institutions? What about the governance structures of pension plans and their plan sponsors? Should there be a shift in the governance paradigm to give individual citizen investors more transparency and more of a voice?The discussion will also showcase potential solutions that range from the narrow and technical, such as potential revisions to the tax law, to the big and ambitious, such as fresh models of governance and transparency for financial/investing institutions and for pension/savings plans.Please join us for a fascinating discussion peering behind the curtain of finance to understand why the capital market works the way it does. And how it can potentially change for the better.
PARTICIPANTS
- John C. Bogle, Founder, Vanguard
- Stephen M. Davis, Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance
- Jon Lukomnik, Executive Director, IRRC Institute; and Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital LLC.
- David Pitt-Watson, former head of the Hermes shareholder activist funds in Europe, and Executive Fellow of Finance, London Business School
- Jennifer Taub, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School
Moderator: Charles M. Elson, director, John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware; Edgar S. Woolard Chair in Corporate Governance; and professor of finance.
DE CLE/CPE credits: DE CLE credits will be provided. CPE credits will be provided by our event partner, Sallie Mae. There is no charge for the program, which includes a complimentary lunch. A book signing will take place after the program and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
To Register go to: https://wccg-financialsystem2016.eventbrite.com
News Journal; Pre-Event Article
Program Materials (7)
2. “Solving the problem of short-termism,” Jon Lukomnik, Ethical Boardroom, September 5, 2016
Institutional Investor Post-Event Article
Investopedia Post-Event Article
ThinkAdvisor Post-Event Article
CII Alert (Post-Event) – “Does the Financial System Work? University of Delaware Panel Offers its Two Cents” (membership required)