New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Dalio headlines as Greenwich Economic Forum goes digital
Amid the coronavirus crisis, the Greenwich Economic Forum will go ahead next month in an online format — with a lineup featuring some of the most influential leaders in financial services and other industries.
Headline speakers at the conference will include Ray Dalio, a Greenwich resident and founder of Westport-based Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund; former PepsiCo CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi, who is also a Greenwich resident and an Amazon board member; and David Rubenstein, co-founder and coexecutive chairman of private equity giant The Carlyle Group.
The agenda will focus on such issues as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the presidential election, China’s place in the world, wealth inequality and access to capital for underserved communities.
“What attendees will get out of this is the ability to hear the perspectives of some the world’s top thought leaders on each of these topics,” said Bruce McGuire, GEF co-founder and president of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association. “Armed with these perspectives, attendees should be able to better understand this point in world history and make more informed business and investing decisions.”
Other speakers will include Mohamed El-Erian, president of the University of Cambridge’s
Queens College and a top adviser to Allianz and Greenwich-based Gramercy Funds Management; Gillian Tett, the Financial Times’ editor-atlarge and chairman of the editorial board; and former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana.
GEF organizers are aiming to reach a digital attendance of 4,000 in the event from Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, “but it could be much higher than that,” McGuire said.
Last year’s conference at the harborfront Delamar hotel convened about 400 professionals across industries.
Among the speakers at that conference, Dalio and fellow hedge fund mogul Paul Tudor Jones, founder of Stamford-based Tudor Investment Corp., discussed the risks of economic inequality and called for greater private-sector involvement and more political collaboration to tackle the disparities.
Other speakers last year included Gov. Ned Lamont; David Rubenstein; Steve Case, chairman and CEO of investment firm Revolution and co-founder of AOL; Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, founder of investment firm RockCreek; Byron Allen, chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios; and Marc Lasry, co-founder of Manhattan-based investment firm Avenue Capital Group.
Depending on public health conditions, the 2021 GEF could be held again in person in Greenwich.
“But the pandemic has opened our eyes to the power of technology to scale the GEF,” McGuire said.
“Even when we go back to in-person events, we expect that a global virtual event will be a staple of GEF going forward.”
For more information on the Greenwich Economic Forum, including registration information, visit greenwich economic forum.com.