AUS Media Contact +61 2 9276 4456
Phillip Gray phillip.gray@morningstar.com
Morningstar Australasia Announces Speakers, Agenda for Ninth Annual Investment Conference

SYDNEY, 9 April 2015 - Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), is holding its ninth annual Investment Conference for Australian financial advisers and brokers on Thursday 21 May 2015 at The Westin Hotel Sydney. The theme of this year's event, 'Too Strong for Too Long?', addresses whether investment markets have outpaced fundamentals and the implications for client portfolios.

"We've assembled a first-rate line-up of investment experts to address key issues in local and global sharemarket investing, fixed income, alternatives, direct equities investing, and asset allocation and portfolio positioning. Advisers and brokers will come away equipped with new insights and resources to better serve their clients and help them meet their investing goals," Morningstar Australasia Chief Executive Officer Heather Brilliant, CFA said.

This year's keynote speaker is Louis-Vincent Gave , Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Gavekal, which offers independent research, money management solutions, asset allocation advice, and data services to institutional investors, corporations and high-net worth individuals in more than 32 countries.

Gave founded Gavekal Research with Charles Gave and Anatole Kaletsky in London in 1999, following a career as a financial analyst with Paribas in Paris and Hong Kong and in the French Army. He now oversees the firm's money management business and contributes to research from Hong Kong. Gave is the author of five books, most recently Too Different for Comfort (2013).

Barry Lambert will discuss his thoughts on investing and other insights into the financial services industry in a conversation with Morningstar Managing Director Research Strategy, Asia-Pacific Anthony Serhan, CFA.

Lambert established Count Financial in 1980, having previously worked for 19 years for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the company he sold Count to at the end of 2011.

He is now Chairman of Countplus Limited (ASX: CUP), Director of many Countplus member firms, and Founder and Director of the Count Charitable Foundation. He is also Chairman of Class Super, a cloud-based IT software solutions business specialising in self-managed superannuation fund administration. Lambert was a founding director of the Australian Society of Investment and Financial Advisers (now the Financial Planning Association of Australia), and served previously as New South Wales President and National President.

Attendees will be able to select from two streams that address major issues in managed fund investing and direct investing. Panel discussions will feature the following portfolio managers and investment industry thought leaders:

Asset Allocation - Michael Karagianis, Head of Private Investment Consulting, MLC Investment Management; Simon Doyle, Head of Fixed Income and Multi-Asset, Schroder Investment Management Australia; and Andrew Lill, Chief Investment Officer, Ibbotson Associates Australia, a Morningstar company, will debate and discuss the big picture outlook for the major asset classes, asset allocation, and portfolio positioning in a session moderated by Morningstar Director of Manager Research Asia-Pacific Grant Kennaway.

Fund Investing Stream
  • Australian Equities - Paul Xiradis, Head of Equities and Chief Executive Officer, Ausbil Investment Management, and Paul Skamvougeras, Head of Equities and Portfolio Manager, Perpetual Investments, will discuss the outlook for investing in the Australian sharemarket in a session moderated by Morningstar Australasia Director of Manager Research Ratings Tom Whitelaw.

  • Global Equities - Eric Sappenfield, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, and Senior Analyst, Epoch Investment Partners, and Andrew Clifford, Chief Investment Officer, Platinum Asset Management, will discuss the outlook for world sharemarkets in a session moderated by Morningstar Australasia Senior Manager Research Analyst Kathryn Young.

  • Fixed Interest - Vimal Gor, Head of Income and Fixed Interest, BT Investment Management, and Brett Lewthwaite, Head of Fixed Income and Currency, Macquarie Investment Management, will discuss fixed income investing in a session moderated by Morningstar Australasia Senior Manager Research Analyst Tim Wong.

  • Alternatives - Craig Stanford, CFA, Head of Alternative Investments, Ibbotson Associates Australia, and Rob Graham-Smith, Investment Strategist, Perpetual Investments, will discuss key issues in alternatives investing in a session moderated by Morningstar Australasia Senior Manager Research Analyst Julian Robertson.

Direct Investing Stream

  • Direct Equities - Joel Bloomer, Morningstar Head of Equity Research Asia-Pacific; Mathew Hodge, Sector Lead Basic Materials, Energy and Utilities, Morningstar Australasia; and Peter Warnes, Head of Equity Research, Morningstar Australasia, will discuss key themes in direct equities investing.

  • Building Portfolios Using Direct Securities - Michael Coop, Head of Multi-Asset Investments, Ibbotson Associates Australia; Mathew Hodge, Sector Lead Basic Materials, Energy and Utilities, Morningstar Australasia; and Alexander Prineas, Senior Manager Research Analyst, Morningstar Australasia, will discuss ways to build effective portfolios using direct securities in a session moderated by Morningstar Australasia Director of Manager Research Tim Murphy, CFA.

Portfolio Construction - Morningstar Australasia's Murphy and Whitelaw and Chris Galloway, CFA, Managing Director of Ibbotson Associates Australia, a Morningstar company, will summarise the major themes and issues raised during the day's discussion. They will also identify the principal takeouts for portfolio construction and management in a session moderated by Morningstar's Kennaway.

Attendee Registration
More information including the full agenda, attendee registration, and event location is available at www.morningstarinvestmentconference.com.au. Conference updates are available through the Twitter hashtag: #MICAU.

Media Registration
Media representatives may receive complimentary registration. If you are a journalist and would like to register for the conference, contact Phillip Gray, Morningstar media relations, at +61 2 9276 4456 or phillip.gray@morningstar.com.

Continuing Professional Development Points
Attendees will be eligible to apply for Financial Planning Association-accredited Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. Attendees for the 2014 conference received 7.5 points.

About Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australasia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisers, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on approximately 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 14 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries and had approximately US$170.0 billion in assets under advisement and management at 31 December 2014. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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