AMD Executive Committee Meeting on 10/18
The Executive Committee of the Asset Managers Division will meet on October 18, 2006 at the New York offices of The Bond Market Association. The Division has identified four primary discussion items that will be addressed at the meeting, these include: best execution, derivatives processing initiatives / Group of 14 Dealers, proposed AMD Roundtable meetings and SIFMA transition and launch. Membership in the AMD is open to COOs and other senior executives at asset management firms. If your firm is interested in participating in the initiatives of the AMD, please contact Joseph Sack at 646.637.9265.
Corporate Actions Initiative in the Press
The Securities Industry News reported this week on the AMF's 17 recommended best practices for processing corporate actions. These recommendations advise custodian banks how to compile and distribute data to asset managers. As Joseph Sack, EVP of The Bond Market Association stated, "The purpose of these recommendations is to make the process operate more efficiently and reduce the operational and financial risks associated with corporate actions."
In an interview with Securities Industry News, AMF Vice Chair Lisa Ilaria of New York Life Investment Management explained, "By standardizing how and when information is disbursed, the timeliness and accuracy of the information will be improved. This will provide portfolio managers with data with which appropriate decisions can be made."
Click here to read the Corporate Actions Best Practices. Comments are due to the AMF by November 30, 2006.
Thinking Positively on "Fails"
Over 100 industry members attended the AMF Workshop on Fails Management and Resolution on Thursday, October 12, 2006 in New York City. At the workshop, the membership was encouraged to work with staff of the AMF and other industry groups on creating solutions for mitigating fails. The workshop was filled with cross-market dialogue on how fails happen, how they can be prevented and how they can be managed and resolved.
Larry Barnett, Wilden Lane Holding Company; Jeffrey Potter, The Northern Trust Company; Albert Roessler, Citigroup Global Markets Inc.; Michael Wyne, Fischer Francis Trees & Watts; Michael Zebrowski, J.P. Morgan Chase discuss securities lending.
In a joint buy side / sell side panel, Paul Parseghian, Prudential Investment Management; William Blatchford, Mellon Global Securities Services; Jim Hraska, Lehman Brothers Inc.; Jason Minkler, J.P. Morgan Asset Management; Andrew Waskow, Goldman, Sachs & Co. discuss industry best practices on preventing chronic fails and resolving fails.
AMF Quarterly Meeting Highlights
AMF Steering Committee member, Janet Wynn of DTCC led the AMF Quarterly Business Meeting on Friday, October 13, 2006. Topics discussed included: corporate actions, STP, bank loans, swaps and collateral management. Also, there was an update on the SIA/TBMA merger and asset managers were encouraged to attend the upcoming Fixed Income Operations Conference.
AMF Steering Committee member, Michael Connors of GM Asset Management dialogues with a panel at the Quarterly Meeting.
Panelists Darren Measures, J.P. Morgan Chase; Ila Eckhoff, BlackRock; Michael Koenig, Morgan Stanley Investment Management; Ken Legall, Goldman Sachs Asset Management discuss how to manage collateral.