Posted 5/5/09
CALL FOR PAPERS
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS, RISK/RETURN AND
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE FAILURES: PRACTICAL LESSONS
FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
A Conference for Institutional Investors,
Practitioners, Professionals and Academics
October 5-7, 2009
Saint Mary's College of California
Moraga, CA 94575
(San Francisco Bay Area)
CONVENERS:
The Elfenworks Center for the Study of Fiduciary
Capitalism, School of Economics and Business, Saint Mary's
College of California -
http://www.fidcap.org
The Principles for Responsible Investment -
http://www.unpri.org
Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance
Yale School of Management, Yale University -
http://millstein.som.yale.edu/
SPONSOR:
Hermes Equity Ownership Services, Ltd -
http://www.hermes.co.uk/eos.aspx
RESEARCH SUPPORT FROM:
Investors Responsibility Research Center Institute -
http://www.irrcinstitute.org
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the role of corporate governance failures,
gaps, oversights and missed opportunities leading up to and
in the current global financial crisis; and, to consider
and develop proposals to mitigate these failures in the
future. In particular, we are interested in the corporate
governance concepts, standards and activities should play
in relation to investment decisions and strategy.
FORMAT:
Between 40 and 60 leading theorists and practitioners in
the fields of corporate governance, finance/economics,
financial markets and responsible investment will be
invited. Short presentations and paper summaries, some with
a discussant, will structure discussions among all the
participants. As with two prior very successful conferences
the Elfenworks Center has organized using this format, an
emphasis will be on cross discussion among all
participants, rather than a formal question/answer format
with presenters/commentators. Chatham House Rule applies.
PAPERS:
One or two papers are sought in the seven areas listed
below. Papers should be both rigorous and have practical
relevance for large institutional universal owners, who are
the majority of invitees. Papers that are accepted will
have a minimum honorarium of $1,000.00 (US) and will be
circulated to participants in advance and subsequently be
posted on the SSRN/IIRCI website. One author for each paper
will be provided with lodging at the conference and with a
travel allowance of up to $750. The papers will be
distributed as widely as possible and, if possible,
published in a special issue of a leading academic journal
or in an edited book.
TOPIC SUMMARY:
(for a fuller description see http://www.fidcap.org)
1. Corporate Governance: How did corporate governance
failures (oversights, failure of risk analysis, etc)
contribute to the current global financial crisis?
2. Financial Institutions: What lessons can be learned by
comparing the governance structures of financial
institutions that were deeply affected by the crisis
(i.e. Citigroup and AIG) and others that were less
affected?
3. Systemic Risk: Can and should institutional investors
effectively identify and monitor for systemic risk?
4. The Search for "Alpha": What role did the search for
"alpha" play in the crisis and what role did
institutional investors play in the pursuit of "alpha"?
Was there/is there confusion about what alpha is?
5. Alternative Investments: What role did the expansion of
real estate, infra-structure and commodity investment by
large institutional owners play in the crisis?
6. The Role of Gate Keepers: What was the role of
accounting, financial reporting, rating agencies,
consultants and regulation in the global financial
crisis and what should be the role of universal owners
in relation to these gate-keeping functions?
7. Responsible Investment: Do the perspectives of the
movement for 'responsible investment' with its emphasis
on corporate governance have roles to play in mitigating
and minimizing the next crisis or in assisting the
recovery from this one?
PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:
Proposals should include:
1 - Working title
2 - Conference topic or topics addressed
3 - A 250 word summary
4 - How the paper fits into a wider literature (as
relevant)
5 - Relevance of the paper to both research and practice
6 – No more than one page biographical statement for the
author(s)
7 - As relevant, a website link for additional information
Deadline for Submission of proposal: May 25, 2009
Response by committee to authors: June 5, 2009
Final paper received for circulation: September 1, 2009.
Submit proposal to:
Email: MAILTO:fidcap@stmarys-ca.edu