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Jump to: 2009 Schedule of Speakers & Events | 2009 Entertainment Schedule
2009 List of Speakers:
 Dr. Mark Faber is well known for his "contrarian" investment approach and legendary investment ideas.
He studied in Geneva and Zurich and finished high school with the matura. He studied economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a Ph.D. in economics magna cum laude. Between 1970–1978, Dr Faber worked for White, Weld & Co. Ltd. in New York, Zurich and Hong Kong.
Since 1973, he has lived in Hong Kong. From 1978–February 1990, he was the managing director of Drexel Burnham Lambert (HK) Ltd. In June 1990, he set up his own business, Marc Faber Ltd., which acts as an investment adviser and fund manager. Dr. Faber publishes a widely read monthly investment newsletter, The Gloom Boom & Doom Report, which highlights unusual investment opportunities, and is the author of several books, including Tomorrow's Gold: Asia's Age of Discovery, which was first published in 2002 and highlights future investment opportunities around the world. Tomorrow's Gold was for several weeks on Amazon's best-seller list and is being translated into Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and German. Dr. Faber is also a regular contributor to several leading financial publications around the world.
A book on Dr Faber, Riding the Millennial Storm, by Nury Vittachi, was published in 1998.
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 Juan Enriquez, Juan Enriquez, best-selling author, businessman and academic, is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the economic and political impacts of life sciences. He is currently chairman and CEO of Biotechonomy LLC, a life sciences research and investment firm, and Managing Director of Excel Medical Ventures, a venture capital fund. He has partnered in the launch of multiple breakthrough startups which have provided significant gains to his investors.
He was the founding director of the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project and author of the global best-seller As the Future Catches You: How Genomics & Other Forces Are Changing Your Life, Work, Health & Wealth (selected by Amazon's editors as one of the best business books of the year). His latest book, The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing and Our Future, which explores why some countries are successful while others disappear, was published by Crown Business in November 2005 (and was reviewed as one of the most important books of the decade and anticipated the current financial crisis).
His recent opening keynote talk "Beyond the Crisis, Mindboggling Science, and the arrival of Homo Evolutis" at the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference in March of 2009 was one of the most viewed videos on You Tube in that month. His talk at Poptech in November of 2008 discussed the onset of the global financial crisis and the Ten Commandments for the President Elect to Save the US Economy.
He has recently written Op-Eds for the Wall Street Journal (on energy) and the Boston Globe (on Austerity). His most recent article "The Next Big Thing - You" appears in the May issue of Foreign Policy. He has published several key articles including, "Transforming Life, Transforming Business: The Life Science Revolution," co-authored with Ray Goldberg, which received a McKinsey Prize in 2000 (second place). He co-authored the first map of global nucleotide data flow, as well as Harvard Business School working papers on "Life Sciences in Arabic
Speaking Countries," "Global Life Science Data Flows and the IT Industry," "SARS, Smallpox and Business Unusual," and "Technology, Gene Research and National Competitiveness."
Harvard Business Review showcased his ideas as one of the breakthrough
concepts in its first HBR List. Fortune profiled him as Mr. Gene. Time asked him to co-organize the life sciences summit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA. Seed picked his ideas as one of 50 that "shaped our identity, our culture and the world as we know it."
Mr. Enriquez serves on a variety of boards including Cabot Corp.,the Chairman's International Council of the Americas Society, the Visiting Committee of Harvard's David Rockefeller Center, Tufts University's EPIIC and Harvard Business School's PAPSAC.
Juan was also part of a world discovery voyage led by Craig Venter, who sequenced the human genome. The multistage sailing voyage sampled
microbial genomes throughout the world's oceans. This expedition involved a number of institutions and top scholars, including the Institute for Genomic Research, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, The Explorers Club and Professor E.O. Wilson. It led to the discovery of an unprecedented number of new species.
He previously served as CEO of Mexico City's Urban Development Corp.,
coordinator general of economic policy and chief of staff for Mexico's secretary of state and as a member of the Peace Commission that negotiated the cease-fire in Chiapas' Zapatista rebellion. He earned a B.A. and an MBA, both with honors from Harvard.
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 Barry Ritholtz is the best-selling author of Bailout Nation, publisher and editor of The Big Picture blog and CEO and director of equity research at FusionIQ, a quantitative research firm that provides Web-based software services to individual investors and traders. Ritholtz makes frequent TV and radio appearances, including on Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Fox and PBS. He is regularly quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Forbes, TheStreet.com, and other media. You are going to love this guy!
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 William Bonner’s entrepreneurial savvy, unique and entertaining writings, philanthropic undertakings and preservationist activities have been recognized and awarded by some of America's most respected authorities. Bill has found success and garnered camaraderie in communities and industries around the world.
He’s also a glutton for punishment, having painstakingly restored not one, but two French chateaux and numerous historic buildings in Baltimore, and he works a cattle ranch in Argentina, where runs cattle through the “cepo” any chance he gets.
In 1979, Bill created what is now known as Agora Inc. Despite studying at Paris Sorbonne University, earning a Georgetown University law degree and more exceptional academic achievements, and tremendous dedication to his work, he considered himself otherwise unemployable.
The rest is history. What began as a small publishing company based in Baltimore has grown to become one of the largest and most successful consumer newsletter publishers in the world. Agora Inc. is a holding company of various international publishers of financial, health, travel and special interest books and newsletters, which seek to serve as a modern marketplace for news and breakthrough ideas.
Along with Addison Wiggin, Bill has written two New York Times best-selling books, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. Second editions of both books will be available in 2009.
Both works, which warned of the unsustainable economic trends, have been critically acclaimed and internationally distributed.
He co-authored his third New York Times best-selling book, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, which offers concrete advice on how to avoid the public spectacle of modern finance.
Bill has been a decade-long daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning, our flagship daily free e-letter that weaves information about the financial world, investing and everyday life into an educational and entertaining read.
Bill calls them like he sees them, and he was right. Unfortunately it took a global economic crisis of epic proportions for the rest of the world to catch on…
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 Addison Wiggin is the executive publisher of Agora Financial, a multimillion-dollar financial research, analysis and publishing company based in Baltimore, Md.
He’s the creator and editorial director of Agora Financial’s daily 5 Min. Forecast and contributes regularly to The Daily Reckoning.
He is the executive producer and co-writer of the highly acclaimed documentary film I.O.U.S.A., which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and the 2009 Critics Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature and was also shortlisted for a 2009 Academy Award. The film made its first public screening at this symposium in 2008. He is the co-author of the companion book of the same title and a three-time New York Times best-selling author. He is considered one of the top financial experts, who not only predicted the current financial crisis, but called it early and called it right.
The film is inspired by the international best-sellers Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt, which he co-authored with Bill Bonner.
To the delight of many, both books will be updated and released summer 2009: Financial Reckoning Day Fallout The 10th Anniversary Edition is a timely guide to protecting and growing your wealth in this turbulent financial climate. Casting a wide-angle lens through history and into today’s economic reality, the second edition of The New Empire of Debt, depicts the rise and fall of an epic financial bubble.
Addison also authored The Demise of the Dollar... and Why It's Even Better for Your Investments, which was revised and updated in 2008.
Despite spending a few of his more formative years traveling the world, attempting to find his inner essence while following the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead, Addison managed to gain a tremendous insight into free market capitalism… perhaps as an accidental consequence. Addison has been a student, writer and commentator on financial markets and governments for more than 15 years.
He earned an undergraduate degree in English and French from Western State College of Colorado and a master’s degree in philosophy from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md. He worked for the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., and spent several years living and traveling abroad. Addison has acquired a unique macroeconomic perspective, and his vast body of published work offers truly contrarian ideas on many issues concerning domestic and international economics and financial markets.
His work has brought critical acclaim from The New York Times Magazine, MONEY, The Economist, Worth, The New York Times, The Washington Post and others. Addison has been seen on CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV and many others.
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 Doug Casey is a highly respected author, publisher, and professional investor who graduated from Georgetown University in 1968 as a classmate of Bill Clinton. He didn't inhale either.
Doug literally wrote the book on profiting from periods of economic turmoil: His book Crisis Investing spent multiple weeks as No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list and became the best-selling financial book of 1980, with 438,640 copies sold, surpassing big-caliber names like Free to Choose by Milton Friedman, The Real War by Richard Nixon and Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Then Doug broke the record with his next book, Strategic Investing, by receiving the largest advance ever paid for a financial book at the time. Interestingly enough, Doug’s book The International Man was the most sold book in the history of Rhodesia.
He has been a featured guest on hundreds of radio and TV shows, including those of David Letterman, Merv Griffin, Charlie Rose, Phil Donahue, Regis Philbin, Maury Povich, NBC News and CNN, and has been the topic of numerous features in periodicals such as Time, Forbes, People and The Washington Post. Doug, who divides his time between homes in Aspen, Colorado; Auckland, New Zealand; and Salta, Argentina, has written newsletters and alert services for sophisticated investors for over 28 years.
Doug has lived in 12 and visited over 175 countries.In addition to having served as a trustee on the Board of Governors of Washington College and Northwoods University, Doug has been a director and adviser to nine different financial corporations. Doug is widely respected as one of the preeminent authorities on “rational speculation,” especially in the high-potential natural resource sector.
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 Frank Holmes is chief executive officer and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors Inc. The company is a registered investment adviser that manages approximately $4.8 billion in 13 no-load mutual funds and for other advisory clients.
Mr. Holmes, a Toronto native, bought a controlling interest in U.S. Global Investors in 1989, after an accomplished career in Canada’s capital markets. His specialized knowledge gives him expertise in resource-based industries and money management. U.S. Global Investors’ funds have received numerous awards and honors during Mr. Holmes’ tenure.
The company’s Global Resources Fund is the 2005 and 2006 Lipper Fund Award winner in the natural resources category. U.S. Global’s World Precious Minerals and China Region Opportunity funds also won Lipper recognition in their respective categories in 2006.
The Global Resources Fund was also Morningstar’s top performer among all domestic stock funds in the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2006. Also, the World Precious Minerals Fund was Morningstar’s top performer among all international stock funds for the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 2006.
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 James Howard Kunstler, the well-known author of The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-made Landscape (1993). He followed Geography with Home From Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century in 1996. Kunstler’s years of writing novels and articles for a variety of publications, including Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly, developed in him a provocative, entertaining voice, a critical eye and the good sense to write from passion.
Now training his eye on the permanent global oil crisis, Kunstler’s book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century (2005), expands on his past critiques of suburbia by exploring the sweeping economic, political and social changes that will result from the end of access to cheap fossil fuels and the impact this will have on the way we live, work, farm and build. In spring 2008 the Atlantic Monthly Press published Kunstler's tenth novel, World Made By Hand, a story set in America's post-oil future.
Mr. Kunstler has lectured extensively about urban design, energy issues and new economies for the TED Conference, the American Institute of Architects, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the International Council of Shopping Centers, the National Association of Science and Technology and other professional organizations as well as at numerous colleges and universities, including Yale, MIT, Harvard, Cornell, University of Illinois, DePaul, Texas A & M, West Point, and Rutgers University among many others.
Kunstler aptly describes his lectures as “stand-up comedy with some dark moments.” His audience knows he is dependably acerbic, witty, well-read and exceedingly alert, drawing from a tremendous store of hard facts and idealism that ends on a good note: well-earned and reasoned hope. Jim Kunstler is a perennial symposium favorite, and we’re honored to have him return again this year.
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 Rick Rule began his career in the securities business in 1974 and has been principally involved in natural resource security investments ever since.
Distinguished financial newsletter writers — including several of the people speaking at the symposium — frequently recommend his research and brokerage capabilities.
Rick has been a prominent presence at this symposium, and his expertise in these markets is legendary. If you can catch up with him, introduce yourself. He could be the hardest-working man in Vancouver this week.
As the founder of Global Resource Investments Ltd., he specializes in mining, energy, water utilities, forest products and agriculture.
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 Paul van Eeden is the president of Cranberry Capital Inc., a private holding and investment company. Paul is well known for his work on the relationship between the gold price and currency markets.
Originally from South Africa, he has an international perspective on markets, gold in particular. In addition to his expertise in gold, van Eeden has an insider's understanding of mineral exploration, having been intimately involved in the financing and evaluation of resource companies since 1995.
Van Eeden is a frequent speaker at numerous international investment conferences and a regular guest on radio and television shows across the globe.
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 Chuck Butler is a longtime crowd favorite. As the President of EverBank World Markets he oversees the trading desk and operations for over 40,000 individual and corporate clients, both in the United States and abroad, who look to EverBank for FDIC-insured world currency deposit accounts and single-currency and index CDs.
Chuck is the author of Daily Pfennig, which is reposted at The Daily Reckoning.
His respected analysis is frequently quoted in or referenced by The Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report, MarketWatch, USA Today, CNNMoney, the Chicago Tribune and many other publications. Glad to have you back again, Chuck!
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 Patrick Cox has lived deep inside the world of transformative technologies for over 25 years. In the 1980s, he worked in computer software development and manufacturing. By the mid-1990s, he worked as a consultant for Netscape — the company that handled 90% of all Internet browsing traffic at the time
He’s provided research for several public policy think tanks. For several years, he contributed to a nationally syndicated radio show, Perspective on the Economy. It had over 160 stations and 1.5 million listeners. InfoWorld and USA Today have featured Patrick’s research many times. He’s written for The Wall Street Journal and Reason magazine
He’s also appeared on Crossfire and Nightline. Patrick was an adviser to Fred Thompson throughout his presidential campaign and continues to consult for his national radio show. He was a technical consultant for several Hollywood film producers.This expertise bought him to Agora Financial. He now heads Breakthrough Technology Alert, a premium service that identifies transformational technologies.
He regularly covers RNAi, various disease-curing biotechs, stem cell breakthroughs and other innovative technologies that could lead to exponential gains for early investors. Patrick has two beautiful, brilliant children.
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 Jack Crooks has over 20 years experience in the currency, equity and futures arenas. Jack has held key positions in brokerage, money management, trading and research.
Jack is founder and president of Black Swan Capital LLC. and Black Swan Capital Management. Prior to entering the investment arena, Jack worked in various corporate finance positions.
He has written extensively on the subject of global currencies and international economics, and his writing has appeared on a number of Web sites and financial publications. Jack is also a regular guest on talk radio shows across the country and has appeared on CNBC’s Power & Money and Bloomberg TV.
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 Dan Denning is remembered from last year’s symposium not only for his outstandingly pointed market forecasts, but also for appearing in a pink brassiere to kick off his 2008 presentation. He also demonstrated his unique style of greeting attendees during the registration process. We promised to bring you eye-opening presenters — and Dan delivered on many levels.
Dan is the managing editor of Port Phillip Publishing; author of best-selling The Bull Hunter; and spent five years as editor of Strategic Investment, one of the most respected "big picture" investment newsletters on the market. More than 35,000 high-dollar investors and fund managers in over 70 countries read his high-level macroeconomic analysis.
Denning is also a regular columnist for MoneyWeek, a London-based financial weekly. He received his undergraduate degree in literature from the American University in Washington, D.C., in 1995. He earned a master's degree in liberal arts from St. John's College.
Denning spent a year observing U.S. markets from Paris before relocating to the London offices of Fleet Street Publications. Dan currently resides in Australia.
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 Eric J. Fry, Agora Financial’s always-engaging investment director and editor of the Rude Awakening, has been a specialist in international equities since the early 1980s.
He writes daily from Agora Financial’s cushy West Coast offices in Laguna Beach, Calif. He was a professional portfolio manager for more than 10 years, specializing in international investment strategies and short selling.
Following his successes in professional money management, Eric joined the publishing operations of James Grant, editor of the prestigious Grant's Interest Rate Observer. Working alongside Grant, Eric produced Grant's International and Apogee Research — institutional research products dedicated to international investment opportunities.
Eric subsequently joined Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin as The Daily Reckoning's "man on Wall Street." After his three-year tour of duty at The Daily Reckoning, Eric launched the sometimes abrasive, mostly entertaining and always insightful Rude Awakening — "a hot cup of coffee in the face of Wall Street."
His views and investment insights have appeared in numerous publications, including Time, Barron’s, The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, BusinessWeek, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Money. You may also know him from his appearances on business news stations such as CNN, CNBC and Fox News.
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 Byron King practiced law for many years in Pittsburgh, Pa., and focused his efforts on litigation, bankruptcy and other contentious matters involving people and money.
Fortunately for us, Byron is now among the ranks of the “recovering attorneys.” In a moment of weakness, Byron sent a note to Bill Bonner, publisher of The Daily Reckoning. Fate intervened.
Byron is now the editor of Outstanding Investments and his exclusive investment advisory, Energy & Scarcity Investor. He is also a contributing editor to Whiskey & Gunpowder.
Byron is our resident geologist, an honors graduate of Harvard University. After Harvard, Byron went to work as a geologist for a major international oil company. Byron has followed developments in the oil and gas industry for more than three decades.
Byron also served for many years in the United States Navy. While in the sea service, Byron logged over 1,000 hours of flight time in tactical jet aircraft and managed to successfully make 128 carrier landings. Among other assignments, Byron served on the staff of the chief of naval operations and as a field historian with the Navy in and around the "tough neighborhoods" of the Middle East.
Byron holds advanced degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Naval War College. Combining all of this background and extensive knowledge, Byron looks at current events, economics, politics and energy issues through the lens of history — and interprets it as he sees it.
Byron received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
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 Alan Knuckman hails from the home of commodity trading in Chicago, where he began as a clerk on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
Alan has worked with all aspects of the commodity markets for the past 18 years – and now he brings his inside knowledge of energies, grains and gold to you. Alan is currently the editor of Agora Financial’s Resource Trader Alert, a trading service devoted to raking in profits from hard commodities, and is a go-to expert for major news organizations.
Prior to joining Resource Trader Alert, Knuckman served as the president and developer of GlobalTec’s Commodity Explorer product line. In that capacity, he oversaw all aspects of the decision-support software, direct access trading platform, educational training and support.
He has been featured on daily Future Focus and Market Wrap programs on Wizetrade. Alan was also a frequent guest during CommoditiesTalk Live training broadcasts, where he answered live in-the-market questions for traders.
Before his stint at GlobalTec, Knuckman was a division partner for major commodities and stock brokerage firms. In 2003, he formed OneStopOption.com Group in Chicago, bringing together securities, stock option and futures brokerage. His prior developments included creating the PreferredTrade Live Division, where he complemented existing electronic option brokerage technology with the formation of his full-service, high-margin division to meet the needs of specialized traders.
Alan has appeared on Bloomberg TV, Fox Business Network, CNN, Sky Business News in Australia and is frequent guest on WGN radio. He had a featured interview in Stocks and Commodities magazine in March 2007.
His vast market experience has taught him that inevitably everything is related to hard assets. As he says, "it all comes back to commodities.”
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 Chris Mayer is not one to take risks with other people’s money; Chris Mayer wasn’t your typical corporate banker.
Chris began his career at the University of Maryland, where he studied finance up to the graduate level and received an MBA with highest honors. He then began a decade-long career in corporate banking and served as the vice president of corporate lending at Provident Bank, where he was entrusted with a corporate portfolio of funds and deposits that totaled over a quarter of a billion dollars. He never lost money on a single deal.
Chris is a history buff, a voracious reader who’s drawn to old books filled with ideas long forgotten by the mainstream. He also plays a mean game of poker.
Inspired by his interests and unique experience, he became a financial writer in his free time. His talent was soon discovered by the highly respected Ludwig von Mises Institute, for which Chris wrote on matters ranging from classical liberalism to the Austrian School of economics.
In early 2004, Chris began writing his own newsletter, Capital & Crisis. Focusing on finding stocks overlooked by the mainstream, Capital & Crisis gave its readers solid picks destined to pass the test of time. Prominent financial publisher Agora Financial soon discovered the newsletter and bought it, within months of its inception. Since then, he’s authored two new works.
Mayer's Special Situations is a monthly report in which Chris unearths unique and unconventional opportunities in stocks and options. Each issue contains recommendations and theories on special situations, such as stocks selling below net tangible asset value, spinoffs, turnarounds, restructurings and much more.
Chris published his first book, Invest Like a Dealmaker: Secrets From a Former Banking Insider, which has become a best-seller.
Chris now serves triple duty as Agora Financial’s managing editor while continuing to write Capital & Crisis and Mayer’s Special Situations. Over the years, he has been featured in well-regarded print publications and appeared on CNN, Fox Business News and others. He regularly offers refreshing and promising investment ideas, with a unique flair for historic perspective.
Chris enjoys the peace and quiet of working out of a home office. Tucked away in the leafy, Washington, D.C., suburbs, he lives with his wife Carol and his two children, Calvin and Charlotte
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 Rob Parenteau edits the prestigious Richebächer Letter, started by the late Dr. Kurt Richebächer. Each issue is an in-depth examination of the world’s currency and credit markets — particularly, the growing debts and deficits in the United States.
Before taking over The Richebächer Letter, Rob spent 24 years as the chief U.S. economist and investment strategist for RCM Capital Management, an asset management company.
Rob holds a CFA and was appointed a research associate at The Levy Economics Institute in 2006. His papers have been presented by the Political Economy Research Institute, the Seventh and Eighth Annual Post Keynesian International Workshop and Summer School and the Eastern Economic Association.
Today, Rob is committed to continuing Dr. Richebächer’s groundbreaking analysis. Like Dr. Richebächer, he fearlessly wades into Washington’s never-ending stream of data and statistics — revealing dangers that most analysts have overlooked. He’s the best person to turn to if you want to know what’s really happening in the U.S. economy.
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 John Pugsley: Widely respected for his commitment to freedom, privacy and other libertarian ideals, John Pugsley is one of the Sovereign Society’s co-founders and currently serves as its chairman.
John’s long and successful career in finance and publishing began in 1975 with his personal monthly commentary on economic and political events, Common Sense Viewpoint, which boasted 30,000 subscribers at its peak.
Following his first book, Common Sense Economics, which sold 150,000 copies, his second book, The Alpha Strategy, remained on the New York Times best-seller for nine weeks in 1981. In 1988, he began a 10-year run publishing John Pugsley's Journal, an investment and economic newsletter that covered a broad range of political, economic and investment topics.
Today, in his capacity as Sovereign Society chairman, John is continuously discovering outstanding companies around the world that are unknown, suppressed and most often totally avoided by brokers and advisers.
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 Karim Rahemtulla is one of the country’s foremost specialists in options trading and the investment director of Mt. Vernon Research, as well as the founder and editor of The Income Trader: A Covered Call Strategy, LEAPS Options Trader and The Smart Profits Report.
Karim is also an editor of Mt. Vernon Research’s Xcelerated Profits Report, a monthly newsletter devoted to making money using the safest stock and option strategies to reap great returns.
An internationally renowned options trader who’s been dubbed a "market maven" by CNBC, Karim also sits on the advisory panel for the Oxford Club and is a frequent contributor to The Oxford Club Communique.
Karim was educated in England, Canada and the U.S. and is fluent in several languages. In keeping with his long-standing experience investing in emerging markets, Karim also regularly travels the globe looking for investment opportunities for his readers.
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 Wallis W. "Chip" Wood is our long-standing master of ceremonies at the symposium.
Chip is the founder and CEO of Soundview Publications, publisher of Second Opinion, Women’s Health Letter, Real Health, and other consumer newsletters. Chip also writes a free weekly commentary, Straight Talk, which can be found at www.straighttalkletter.com.
Chip was the host of an award-winning radio talk show in Atlanta for many years. He also founded two book publishing companies, whose titles include Crisis Investing by Doug Casey, None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen and Larry Abraham and The War on Gold by Anthony Sutton.
Chip has served as master of ceremonies for many conferences. He writes and lectures widely on conservative and libertarian issues. .
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Ajit Dayal Mr. Dayal has 22 years of experience in investment management and equity research. In addition to founding Quantum Advisors in 1990 (India’s first equity research house), Mr. Dayal has worked with leading US and UK financial advisory and asset management firms either as a key member of the executive management team or, through the Advisor, as a joint venture partner or affiliate.
Quantum Advisors is a well-respected Indian investment management firm that has the capability and capacity to manage India-dedicated portfolios for long-term investors across 5 major asset classes: equity, private equity fixed income, real estate and alternatives.
Mr. Dayal was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Hansberger Global Investors, Inc. ("HGI"), which provided investment advisory services to its own family of mutual funds, as a sub-advisor, and as a manager of separate accounts. Mr. Dayal was recruited to the firm in 1997 by the firm's founder and chief executive officer, Mr. Thomas Hansberger (who had previously been a co-founder, along with Sir John Templeton and Mr. John Galbraith, of Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger Ltd., a global fund management firm that became part of Franklin Templeton Investments).
During Mr. Dayal's tenure as Deputy Chief Investment Officer assets under management grew from $2 billion to $5 billion. Mr. Dayal served as the lead manager for the $2 billion Vanguard International Value Fund from July 2000 to April 2004, leading a four person team. During his time at HGI Mr. Dayal also continued to manage Quantum Advisors, which was responsible for a $70 million allocation to listed Indian equities. When he joined HGI, Mr. Dayal moved to Fort Lauderdale to be at HGI’s global headquarters. Upon leaving HGI in April of 2004 he relocated back to Bombay, India, where Quantum Advisor is located.
Prior to its relationship with HGI, from 1995 to 1997, Quantum Advisors was acting as a sub-advisor to various Funds and managed the allocation for listed Indian equities for the Prolific India Opportunity Fund, London, England, venture capital fund, the Walden Nikko India Ventures Fund, investing in unlisted Indian companies.
From 1992 to 1995, QAS and Mr. Dayal were the local partners and affiliates with Jardine Fleming Limited, HK, where Mr. Dayal was instrumental in building a 150 person organization that provided all of Jardine Fleming's research, broking, investment banking and investment management services in India. In 1994 Mr. Dayal also helped to establish the NYSE listed Jardine Fleming India Fund and had local investing responsibility for approximately $300 million of the assets under management in this fund and over US$ 1 billion of India assets in total. Mr. Dayal was voted best analyst for India by AsiaMoney in 1993 and 1994 and was also voted best analyst for India by Institutional Investor and nominated to All-Star Asian Team, 1994.
Prior to founding Quantum Advisors in 1990, Mr. Dayal was the Chief Executive Officer of UTI Investment Advisory Services Limited, the Delaware-based investment advisor of The India Growth Fund, a closed-ended fund listed on the NYSE. Mr. Dayal has also worked as a “jobber” on the floor of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in Asia, and as a Director of the Ashok Birla Group of companies, focusing on establishing new businesses through joint-ventures with multinational companies such as S. G. Warburg of UK, Shearson Lehman of USA, Yamaha Motor Company of Japan, and 3M of USA.
Mr. Dayal earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bombay University in 1981 and his Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983.
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2009 Entertainment:
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2009 Opening Reception Featuring:
The Mixed Business Trio & Special Guest
Tuesday July 21st | 7:30pm | Pacific Ballroom
The charismatic Mixed Business Trio plays an eclectic mix of rock, country, folk, indie, blues, americana, island rock & jazz,. Tight vocal harmonies with acoustic and electric guitars, upright and electric bass, steel drums and percussion push the limits of what you thought a trio could sound like. Learn More about the band >>
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2009 Agora Financial Reserve V.I.P. Members-Only Concert:
The California Guitar Trio (Encore performance)
Thursday July 23rd | 7:30pm | Pacific Ballroom
With a whirlwind of instrumental styles fusing classical, rock, blues, jazz, world music, progressive, as well as the quintessential California musical genre surf music, the California Guitar Trio's stunning virtuosity and sly sense of humor have earned them an enthusiastic following and wide notoriety, with significant crossover in the progressive, acoustic and classical music scenes.
Learn More about the band >>
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