IMCA is presenting a pre-conference workshop at the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference in Anaheim, October 10–13. For details regarding IMCA-sponsored and non-IMCA-sponsored continuing education (CE) credits at this conference click here.

Program: IMCA pre-conference workshop at FPA Anaheim 2009, including the morning session: “Institutional Portfolio Construction and Investment Policy—A New Paradigm for Serving the Needs of Endowment and Foundation Clients” and the afternoon session: “Trends in Private Wealth Management—Advanced Preservation and Distribution Strategies.” (For more information about the full FPA annual conference, click here.)

Dates: Pre-conference workshop occurs Saturday, October 10 from 8 AM–12 PM and 1–3 PM. Full FPA annual conference runs October 10–13.

Location: Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA

Continuing Education (CE) Credits*: Six (6) hours of pre-approved IMCA-sponsored CE. Approximately 16 hours of non-IMCA-sponsored CE.

Registration: FPA is offering IMCA members the FPA member rate for the pre-conference workshop and for the full registration to FPA Anaheim 2009. To take advantage of the FPA member rates, you must download, complete, and submit this registration form directly to FPA.

Workshop Details:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009, 8 AM–12 PM
Institutional Portfolio Construction and Investment Policy—A New Paradigm for Serving the Needs of Endowment and Foundation Clients
Presented by Scott G. Thayer, CIMA^®, institutional consulting director, Graystone Consulting, and John Nersesian, CFP^®, CIMA^®, CPWA^SM, managing director, Wealth Management, Nuveen Investments

As a result of the recession, as many as 20 percent of small- to mid-size endowments and foundations are shopping for a new consultant. For planners who are looking to grow their practice, this workshop is designed to take the concepts and strategies taught in the CIMA^® certification program for constructing portfolios and writing investment policies for institutional funds and applying practical applications for clients that can pass today's fiduciary audits.

Topics covered will include raising the efficient frontier with advanced portfolio construction for institutional accounts using alternative investments; integrating advanced portfolio construction with alternatives into investment policy; maintaining strategic allocations to illiquid asset classes over time in portfolio construction, writing policy for alternatives, rebalance activity, collars, and more; writing institutional investment policy in light of today's fiduciary standards and the increased frequency of investment policy audits; performance measurement and attribution; and ethics and fiduciary considerations.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2009, 1–3 PM
Trends in Private Wealth Management—Advanced Preservation and Distribution Strategies
Presented by Jim Dobbs, CFP^®, president, Dobbs Wealth Management Group, and John Nersesian, CFP^®, CIMA^®, CPWA^SM, managing director, Wealth Management, Nuveen Investments.

The challenge of meeting the demands of more sophisticated high-net-worth (HNW) clients is growing. This session delves deep into the advanced strategies taught through IMCA’s Chartered Private Wealth Advisor^SM designation program—offered in conjunction with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Join Jim Dobbs and John Nersesian, two wealth management experts and volunteer faculty for the CPWA^SM program, as they discuss the evolving trends and issues that will help you stay on the cusp, including:

• How the industry has evolved and what advisors need to know in today’s market
• Tax Planning
• Retirement Distribution
• Executive Compensation
• Client communication, legacy issues, and business models for delivering private wealth management services to HNW clients

Speaker Biographies:

Jim Dobbs has served the financial services industry in many roles working with or for private clients, corporations, membership associations, regulatory organizations, and academic institutions as financial advisor, consultant, and educator. In 1998 Mr. Dobbs created Dobbs Wealth, a fee-only financial planning and investment advisory practice serving private clients which he continues to manage today. He serves IMCA as a certification consultant working primarily on the development and management of the CPWA designation program. Mr. Dobbs founded and managed CFP Board registered financial planning certificate programs at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and The University of Texas at Austin where he served as program director. Later he served CFP Board as director of education. Mr. Dobbs earned a Post-Baccalaureate Award in Taxation from UCLA Extension and is a graduate of the Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program offered through UCLA’s Anderson School of Business. Mr. Dobbs earned the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner in 1996 and received his B.B.A. in Financial Planning from Baylor's Hankamer School of Business in 1991.

John Nersesian is managing director of wealth management services at Nuveen Investments, where his group provides wealth management and practice development education and consulting support to advisors. Previously he was a first vice president of Merrill Lynch Private Client Group, where he also led training in comprehensive wealth management strategies and business development practices. Mr. Nersesian is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNN. He earned a BS in business and economics from Lehigh University.

Scott Thayer is institutional consulting director at Graystone Consulting, a business of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, where he manages a consulting business in Santa Rosa, CA, devoted to servicing foundations and endowments and high-net-worth clients. He is a frequent public speaker and lecturer on topics related to foundation and endowments to industry organizations on investment objectives, spending policy, and asset management for foundations and endowments. In May of 2005, Barron’s listed Mr. Thayer and his consulting team in the “Top 100 Financial Advisers” in the country. Mr. Thayer earned an MBA from Chico State University in California.

*CIMA^®/CIMC^® and CPWA^SM Continuing Education Credits
IMCA has pre-approved this pre-conference workshop for six hours of IMCA-sponsored CE credit. In addition, attendees can earn approximately 16 hours of non-IMCA-sponsored CE credit for attending the full FPA Anaheim 2009 annual conference. For more information regarding non-IMCA-sponsored CE credits, visit FPA’s Web site.