Economic Forum set to return
GREENWICH – The Greenwich Economic Forum investment conference is returning, for a second year, to the Delamar Hotel on Greenwich Harbor, the event’s organizers announced.
The Nov. 5-6 gathering follows the inaugural GEF, a two-day event last November that convened several hundred leaders in finance and public policy.
The 2019 edition will feature top industry leaders, including Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund and a conference speaker last year; Annie Lamont, co-founder of Greenwich-based venture capital firm Oak HC/FT; David Rubenstein, co-founder of private equity giant The Carlyle Group; Marc Lasry, co-founder of Manhattanbased investment firm Avenue Capital; and Financial Times editor-at-large Gillian Tett.
“We are looking forward to welcoming this extraordinary slate of global leaders,” Bruce McGuire, co-founder of GEF and president of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association, said in a statement.
The 2019 agenda will focus on issues including the opening of China’s financial markets, the growth of private equity and private credit, and the growth of investing centered on environmental, social and gover nance goals.
The conference also aims to cement the reputation of the state, particularly lower Fairfield County, as a financial center. By some measures, Connecticut ranks as the third-largest hedge fund hub in the country, after New York and California.
“We are excited to be collaborating with the Financial Times and believe this event will foster meaningful conversation and action regarding many of the major issues and events happening today in the U.S., China, Europe, and the rest of world,” Jim Aiello, co-founder of GEF and co-chairman of the Greenwich Business Institute, said in a statement.
At last year’s event, Dalio participated in a panel discussion and also gave a presentation on the “principles” that underpin Bridgewater. He also wrote about them in a best-selling book of the same name.
“When you’re in your particular situation, if you take the time and think about how you’re making decisions, almost like a diary, and you write down your recipe for making that particular type of decision, so that’s your principle, then over a period of time, you can clarify that with people you work with and critique it,” Dalio said, in part, in his presentation last year.