Morningstar Advisor - Summer 2008 - 93

In the Loop The 2008 Morningstar Investment Conference As market uncertainty abounded, more than 1,500 financial-industry professionals attended Morningstar’s 2008 conference from June 25–27 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The conference opened with Mohamed El-Erian of PIMCO expounding on the future of the markets and the repercussions that it has on today’s climate in regard to the current mess in financials, saying that while it might be a bumpy ride, he is cautiously optimistic. June 26’s sessions took the previous evening’s momentum and ran with it: r In the Ultimate Stock-Picker’s panel, Bob David Lee, Michael Winer, and Kenneth Statz, acknowledged that the credit crunch presented difficulties, but they weren’t short on investing ideas, including Simon Property Group SPG and St. Joe Corp JOE. r Ian Lapey, Dennis Statman, and Jason Yee discussed globe-spanning investment opportunities in the closing general session titled, “What’s Geography Got to Do With It?” From left. Dick Plunkett, Deborah Fritsche, and Robert Geany at the Morningstar Advisor User Forum Torray said that the situation in big financials might not be as dire as some might believe. “My experience has been that big, important franchises are not going to disappear,” Torray said, referring to firms like American Express AXP, Bank of America BAC, Citicorp C, and American International Group AIG. “I believe that package of companies, the big ones, have the potential to double in five years.” Berkowitz discussed Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B and expressed interest in HMOs. Both, however, are staying out of financials. r Bond managers Dan Fuss of Loomis Sayles, Curtis Mewbourne of PIMCO, and Derek Young of Fidelity saw some light at the end of the tunnel, with Mewbourne and Fuss seeing some opportunity stemming from weakness in financials, tempered by concerns about inflation and non-investment-grade corporate bonds. r In June 26’s closing address, Jean-Marie Chris Boruff, president of Morningstar Advisor, left, introduces Kunal Kapoor, president and chief investment officer of Morningstar Investment Services, to User Forum attendees. The Fund Research Roundtable discusses the investing landscape. r At packed breakaway sessions, Bruce Eveillard reflected on his career, succession plans, and how difficult it is to keep the discipline necessary to be a good value investor. “The value investor has to accept the idea of suffering,” he said. “It’s good for the soul.” Highlights of June 27’s sessions: r Robert Hagstrom, Dennis Lynch, and Alex Berkowitz and Susan Byrne gave their ideas about the best bargains in today’s markets. Byrne expressed interest in oil and gas firm Apache APA, as well as General Electric GE and Nike NKE for their staying power in tough times. If you missed this year’s conference, check out some of Morningstar’s coverage of the conference by downloading the Friday edition of our conference daily publication at http://advisor.morningstar.com/ uploaded/pdf/daily.pdf. To order audio CDs of each session of the conference, go to http://advisor. morningstar.com/MIC2008CD . Motola discussed the path for growth investors in today’s conditions. r Three of our favorite real estate managers, MorningstarAdvisor.com 93

http://advisor.morningstar.com/uploaded/pdf/daily.pdf http://advisor.morningstar.com/uploaded/pdf/daily.pdf http://advisor.morningstar.com/MIC2008CD http://advisor.morningstar.com/MIC2008CD http://MorningstarAdvisor.com

Morningstar Advisor - Summer 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Morningstar Advisor - Summer 2008