Morningstar conference regains its mojo
Key takeaways:
- Exhibit hall upgrades add to the energy at long-standing industry conference
- Access to private markets a strong theme with Apollo CEO keynote and several private market sessions
- Conference planners do a good job of balancing asset management/wealth management and Morningstar content
Just back from attending last week’s Morningstar Investment Conference US (MICUS), a conference I have attended so often I routinely block out the last week of June for the annual trip to Chicago.
This year’s conference had a good energy. In its second year on Navy Pier, Morningstar worked out some of the kinks from its inaugural attempt to shake up the conference by moving it from the massive McCormick Place to the iconic tourist spot on Lake Michigan. New high-tech headphones in the noisy exhibit hall helped attendees better participate in the numerous breakout sessions. Interspersed among the booths were upscale coffee stations, golf simulators, a “headshot” portrait booth and fresh snacks to keep advisors engaged and exhibitors happy.
Watch this video to get a feel for the event.
One thing to watch for: Unlike the FutureProof conference on a beach in Miami in March where advisors and presenters alike dressed in beachwear, Morningstar’s attendees had a more serious demeanor. Many dressed in business suits or at least business casual.
Lowe Group regularly attends on behalf of our clients. In my more than 35 years in the industry, I’ve missed a few at most. A good number of financial reporters also attend, though fewer and fewer can get their editors to approve the travel budgets.
As in years past, we co-hosted a media cocktail party with our friends at Newton Park PR in conjunction with the conference. This year our event was held on the night before the conference began, and we welcomed a handful of reporters to Chicago at The Berkshire Room. Attendees mingled with fellow scribes and had a chance to have their picture taken with a life-sized photo of Warren Buffett while sipping on the party’s signature drink "the Sage of Omaha."
If there was a single theme of the two-day conference, it was private market products. A mainstage presentation from the CEO of Apollo Mark Rowan and numerous breakout sessions on the proliferation of new liquid and semi-liquid private equity and private credit products populated the agenda.
The opening session with BlackRock CIO Rick Reider dominated many conversations on the first day, given his comments on both equity markets and fixed income investments. Rieder, whose optimistic outlook partly centered on the huge gains in productivity AI is likely to bring (“We’ll all be working only 15 hours a week”), was followed by a panel discussion about tomorrow’s AI industry featuring three Morningstar experts.
At the end of the first day, Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor gave his annual keynote followed by two “lasting legacy” presentations from asset management leaders Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji and Dana Emery, outgoing CEO of Dodge & Cox.
A shorter day two featured numerous “Meet the Manager” sessions, a mainstage session on Retirement for Women moderated by Morningstar’s Christine Benz and featuring NBC’s Jean Chatzky and advisor Carolyn McClanahan. Another mainstage session featured asset management icon Ron Baron.
The conference seemed balanced between Morningstar experts and leaders in the asset management and wealth management industry. Past conferences had skewed a little too heavily toward Morningstar pros, feeling too much like a commercial. It was great to see a rich slate of speakers.
The conference attracted more than marketing and sales professionals. Senior investment professionals attending this year included Baird Funds President and CIO Emeritus Mary Ellen Stanek, co-CIO Warren Pierson, and Municipal Bond Portfolio Managers Lyle Fitterer and Gabe Dieterich.
I talked with both Mary Ellen and Gabe about why they find value in attending the conference in this conversation. (Note: My part of the interview is a little difficult to hear, the sound quality improves when Mary Ellen and Gabe start to speak.) Both comment on how the conference affords the chance for good discussions with high quality advisor contacts new and old.
We were also pleased to see Allspring Global Portfolio Manager Noah Wise and Wasatch Global Portfolio Manager Dave Powers at the conference.
Prescheduled one-on-one meetings rounded out the agenda, creating more opportunities for deeper connections.
Morningstar is making a strong effort to make this conference relevant for both advisors and the asset management exhibitors who have long been a part of MICUS. While attendance is still way down from the heyday when it filled the cavernous spaces at McCormick Place, last week’s conference seemed to deliver for many of those who made the trip.
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