Written by Baldwin Berges, Partner, Silk Invest
“I am a regular attendee of the FundForum International but this year there was something refreshingly different about the event. This edition was more of an inspirational experience with new personalities that gave us lots of big ideas to think about.
The content of this year’s event went well beyond the typical agenda that you would expect to get at an investment management gathering. Here are some of the things that I think really stood out.
There was much focus the developing world and Africa took most of the spotlight. We got to listen to people who are actually transforming the way the world’s fastest growing continent is connecting with the world.
We had the opportunity to meet thought leaders such as Dambisa Moyo, Julius Akinyemi, Anat Bar-Gera, Anthony Stonefield, Mark Mobius and even Sir Bob Geldof who blew the audience away with a passionate call for investors to go south and discover the grand opportunities in Africa.
It was also very inspiring to be in the company of people from the Impact Investing and Micro Finance sectors such as Liesbet Peeters and Peter Ryan and hear explain to us how doing good also means making great investments. We had plenty of creativity at the FundForum. Daniel Enskat showed us how we can make our industry more appealing to Generation Y by rebranding our products through film productions. Nilofer Merchant got us thinking about how our businesses can thrive in the social era. We even had people like Nick Rees telling us about rowing across the Atlantic and Ben Saunders on skiing to the north pole. Greg B. Davies showed how he turns the emotions of behavioural finance into opera music, while Yoram Baumann, the world’s first ‘stand-up economist, gave us a good laugh and a few things to think about.
Amongst the Big Ideas line up at the Forum, our industry’s own thought leaders also gave us valuable insights and perspectives. So yes, I think this FundForum International was better than ever. All the right people were there, ranging from investors to fund managers and the service providers that make our industry tick.
Finally, I couldn’t help but notice that social media technology has now finally made its way into our industry. It was surprising to see how many people were tweeting about the event. Enjoy reliving the experience by seeing and reading what people had to say on http://storify.com/theBenche/fund-forum-round-up-2013-ffi13
I’m already looking forward to next year!”
The post Big Ideas Thinktank: What Made FundForum 2013 Stand Out For Me appeared first on FundForum - The World's Leading Asset Management Event Blog.