New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Hedge fund research specialist Morningstar announced the speakers and agenda for its third annual ETF Invest Conference Oct. 3-5 at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago.

Liz Ann Sonders, senior vice president and chief investment strategist, Charles Schwab, will deliver the opening keynote address on Wednesday, Oct. 3; and Christopher Gardner, CEO of Gardner Rich LLC and author of the best-selling book The Pursuit of Happyness, will speak during a keynote luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 4.

General sessions at ETF Invest will feature some of the ETF industry’s top strategists and thought leaders:

• With the election just around the corner, Russ Koesterich , managing director and global chief investment strategist, BlackRock, will kick off the Oct. 4 sessions by discussing the relationship between government and the economy, and what sectors stand to gain or lose depending upon the outcome in November.
• Paul Hatch, vice chairman, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney; and Mark Wiedman , managing director, iShares; will survey the changing landscapes for the advisor practice, and how ETFs and ETF managed portfolios fit in to this new paradigm.
• On Oct. 5, Vineer Bhansali, managing director and portfolio manager, PIMCO; will discuss the future of active ETFs.
• Matt Hougan, managing director of ETF analytics, IndexUniverse; Paul Justice , director of passive fund research, Morningstar; and Tom Lydon , editor and publisher, ETF Trends; will close the conference with the popular “Meet the Pundits” roundtable. Moderated by Jeff Benjamin,senior editor, InvestmentNews, this wide-ranging panel discussion will review the state of the ETF industry and look at what’s next for ETF investors.

Breakout sessions covering a wealth of timely ETF topics include:
Oct. 4:

• Juliana Bambaci, senior associate for index research, MCSI; Craig Lazzara, product manager, Standard & Poor’s Indices; and Jeremy Schwartz , director of research, WisdomTree Asset Management; will discuss the best ways to implement both high-dividend and low-volatility strategies, which have grown in popularity in a low-growth climate.
• Kevin Carter, cofounder and CEO, Baochuan Capital Management; and Daniel Rohr , senior securities analyst, Morningstar; will talk about investing in China, including current opportunities and pitfalls to avoid in the market.
• Thomas Crandall, portfolio manager and director, Quantitative Advantage; Brian Huckstep , portfolio manager, Morningstar Investment Management; Michael Jones, chairman and CEO , Riverfront Investment Group; and Michael Vogelzang , president and chief investment officer, Boston Advisors; will shine a spotlight on global all-asset ETF strategies and offer insights on these “go-anywhere” investments.
• David Mazza, principal, State Street Global Advisors; and Rodney Sullivan, head of publications, CFA Institute; will focus on rising correlations across asset classes, and how investors can adjust to this new reality.
• Matthew Tucker, managing director, BlackRock; and Kenneth Volpert , principal and senior portfolio manager, Vanguard; will examine the best ways for investors to position their bond portfolios in an uncertain interest-rate environment.
• Sean Clark, chief investment officer, Clark Capital Management; Kevin Simpson , president and chief investment officer, Capital Wealth Planning; and Christian Wagner , founder and chief investment officer, Longview Capital Management; will explore the new crop of alternative ETFs that provide exposure to commodities, currencies, leverage, volatility, and other risk premia factors.
• Mark Carlson, senior vice president and fixed-income investment strategist, Northern Trust;Christopher Goolgasian , vice president, State Street Global Advisors; and Axel Merk , president and chief investment officer, Merk Investments; will discuss a variety of methods for investors to shield their portfolios from inflation.
• Sal Gilbertie , founder, president and chief investment officer, Teucrium; and Martin Kremenstein, chief operating officer and chief investment officer, PowerShares/DB Commodity Funds, will focus on the best ways to select an investment from the dizzying array of new commodity-focused ETF products that have recently hit the market.
• Gerald Buetow, founder, Innealta Capital; Mitchell Reiner, managing partner, Wela Strategies; and Robert Williams, principal and director of research, Sage Advisory Services; will debate fixed-income managed portfolio strategies.
• Philip Guziec, derivatives strategist, Morningstar; and Rob Stein , senior managing director and head of global asset management, Astor Asset Management; will discuss how ETF investors can incorporate options, margin, and short sales to help hedge their portfolios.
• Brett Manning , senior market analyst, Briefing.com; and Kevin Orr, senior vice president, F-Squared Investments; will explore how to use momentum indicators as a tactical strategy to increase returns and reduce portfolio volatility.
• James Breech, founder, Cougar Global Investments; Paul Ingersoll , co-CEO and senior portfolio manager, Good Harbor Financial; and Sharon Snow, CEO, Metropolitan Capital Strategies; will show how they blend technical and macroeconomic factors into their portfolio construction process.

Oct. 5:

• David Mann, director, iShares; and John Hyland , chief investment officer and portfolio manager, United States Commodity Funds; will provide a look into the regulatory and capital market considerations involved in ETF investing.
• Matt Duda, portfolio manager and research analyst, Western Asset; Rick Harper, director of fixed-income and currency, WisdomTree Asset Management; and Kevin Petrovcik , senior client portfolio manager, Invesco; will provide a glimpse beyond traditional bond markets to find the next frontier in fixed-income investing, such as bank loans, international high-yield, and emerging-markets bonds.
• Robert Brooks , national sales director, Invesco PowerShares; David D’Amico, president and chief market strategist, Braver Capital Management; and Kian Rafia, director of advisory and brokerage investment products, Cetera Financial Group; will survey the future of the ETF managed portfolios industry.