Conference Day 1 - Thursday, December 13, 2007

08.30

Registration & coffee

09.00

Chairman’s opening remarks

Richard Spurgin, Associate Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Management,
Clark University

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC PICTURE

09.05

Opening address: examining commodities within the global macroeconomic picture

• Bull or bear? Where are we in the cycle?
• New opportunities, new strategies, new vehicles
• What does the future hold for the commodity markets and its investors?

John Prestbo, Markets Editor, The Wall Street Journal; Editor & Executive Director,
Dow Jones Indexes

09.25

Commodities and equities: A "market of one"?

•         The relationship between the returns on investable commodity and equity indices over the past fifteen years
• Has there been an increase in co-movement during periods of extreme returns?
• To what extent do the prices of individual commodity groups move together?

Michael Haigh, Director & Senior Commodity Strategist, Commodities Derivatives Trading,
Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking

ASSET ALLOCATION

09.55

Why & how to include commodities into your investment strategy

• The impact of market regulation & new market structures on your returns
• Tomorrow’s portfolio – will it have a heavier commodities weighting?
• What level of allocation should we include in our portfolios?
• What are the major challenges of including commodities in a pension fund?

Jerry Davis, Chairman,
New Orleans Employees' Retirement System

Raj Gupta, Research Director, CISDM,
Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts

Ron Liesching, Founding Member & Chief Research Officer,
Pareto Partners

Tyler Stevens, Managing Director, Commodities & Fixed Income,
Commonfund Asset Management Company

John Cavalieri, Vice President,
PIMCO

10.45

Morning refreshment break and networking

11.15

The Curse of Croesus – Inflation and the fall of Empire

• What the crisis should have taught investors about the true role of central banks
• “Containing expectations” or maintaining the illusion?
• Costs don’t push, nor wages pull – the role of money & credit
• The Ugly Sisters – why recessions and rising prices are not mutually exclusive
• Goodhart’s Axiom “Deflation is a policy Choice”
• SimCity – Virtual assets versus real ones

Sean Corrigan, Chief Investment Strategist,
Diapason Commodities Management

11.45

Luncheon for speakers & attendees

INVESTMENT VEHICLES & STRATEGIES

13.00

Evaluating new and emerging financial instruments for commodity exposure

• Strategic rationale for implementing commodities in the portfolio
• How does the product fit in the risk scheme profile?
• Playing it long or short – which one meets your investment objectives?
• How to strategically use ETFs in your investment strategies

Kevin Rich, CEO, DB Commodity Services,
Deutsche Bank

Jeff Klearman, Director of Commodity Structuring, DB Commodity Services,,
Deutsche Bank

13.30

Analyzing the performance of commodities indices

• How well do they represent their respective asset class?
• Reviewing passive index strategies and actively managed futures
• The impact of investor speculation on index returns

David Krein, Founder & President,
DTB Capital

Richard Spurgin, Associate Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Management,
Clark University

John Prestbo, Markets Editor, The Wall Street Journal; Editor & Executive Director,
Dow Jones Indexes

14.00

The big debate: what is best practice in commodity investing?

•     How should an investor gain exposure to commodities?
• Long only commodities vs. actively traded commodities vs. commodities equities
• Assessing the risk-reward profile of each: differences in liquidity, volatility and historical return
• Can commodity equities really outperform commodities in the long-term?

Jerry Davis, Chairman,
New Orleans Employees' Retirement System

Amine Bouchentouf, President,
Renaissance Investment Advisors

Brad Cole, President,
Cole Asset Management

14.30

Speed networking & afternoon break

This is the revolutionary, exciting, quick and non-pressurized way to meet fellow conference delegates and industry peers in one fifty minute session. These brief meetings are the starting point for conversation and networking throughout the conference. This is where long-lasting and profitable business relationships begin.

HEDGE FUNDS INCREASING ROLE IN THE COMMODITIES MARKET

15.30

Unraveling the commodity hedge fund

• Cutting edge analysis of commodity hedge funds: learning from the successful and the not so successful
• The differences in fund structuring: what the investor needs to look out for being investing
• Exploding the myths: what are the real and measurable benefits of investing in commodity hedge funds?
• Hedge fund commodity investment strategies affecting the dynamics of commodity trading

Tim Selby, Partner,
Alston + Bird

Nedia Miller, Founder & Risk Management Consultant,
Miller CTA

Fern Jones, Research Director,
Alpha Energy

Elliot Noma, Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer and Portfolio Manager,
Asset Alliance

16.15

Generating alpha from commodities - fund perspectives

• The implications on commodities funds and trading if the bubble bursts
• Analyzing recent markets trends: how might hedge fund managers and investors perceive these differently?
• Exploring the strategies used by commodity funds and why hedge funds offer the best bet for investors
• Concentrating on energy and metals
• Implementing alpha strategies in an index based investment

Douglas Hepworth, Director of Research,
Gresham Investment Management

George Martin, Managing Director,
Alternative Investments Analytics

George Zivic, Managing Partner & CIO,
Almanac Capital Management

16.45

Chairman’s closing remarks & end of day one

Conference Day 2 - Friday, December 14, 2007

08.30

Registration & coffee

09.00

Chairman’s opening remarks

Richard Spurgin, Associate Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Management,
Clark University

OIL & ENERGY – THE WORLD’S KEY COMMODITIES

09.15

Practical measures for investing in commodities

• Understanding the term structure of commodities
• Identifying key drivers of returns in commodities, specifically commodity indices
• Assessing the investment potential in investing in commodity forward curves
• Exploring the use of structured products to enhance returns

Kathy Kriskey, Executive Director, Commodity Investor Origination,
UBS Energy

09.45

Is alternative energy the new alternative investment?

• What will be the real impact of climate change and global warming on the world’s energy markets?
• Peak oil: just how close are we to an energy crisis?
• Investing in alternative and renewable energies (equity and commodity)
• Alternative energy technologies vs. alternative energy commodities

Ed Tweedy, Sr. Managing Director / Principal,
Energy Arbitrage Management

James Hansel, Managing Director,
Eight Winds Capital Management

Hilary Kramer, Founder,
GreenTech Research

10.30

Morning refreshment break and networking

SOFT COMMODITIES

11.15

Case study: Biofuels - The demand for new energy forms

• Asia’s impact on the US market
• The competition for farmland: alternative energy vs. food
• Understanding the production economics of biodiesel and ethanol
• Can ethanol & biodiesel meet global energy needs?

Roland Jansen, Chief Investment Officer,
Mother Earth Investments

11.45

Why it makes sense to include agricultural commodities in your portfolio

• Fundamentals of the agricultural commodity market
• Weighing ags against other asset classes
• Choosing the right strategy and the right instruments for your investment needs
• Agricultural commodities as energy: How is biofuel affecting the market?

Ashmead Pringle, President & Senior Portfolio Manager,
GreenHaven

Judith Ganes-Chase, President,
J Ganes Consulting, LLC

Jim Jenkins, Managing Director,
ED&F Man Commodity Services

Stephan Wrobel, Partner & CEO,
Diapason Commodities Management

Eric Nelson, Commodities Product Specialist,
Schroders Investment Management

12.30

Luncheon for speakers & attendees

TURNING GREEN INTO PROFIT

14.00

Is 'green' the hot new commodity?

• The green trading market
• An overview of green commodities, including water, carbon
• Opportunities and limitations

Peter Fusaro, Chairman,
Global Change Associates Inc.

14.30

Water as a hot investment

• The impact of increasing urbanization, desertification and erosion on water prices
• Will concerns over future fresh water supply result in H2O being the ‘hot’ commodity of the future?
• What instruments are available to investors looking for exposure to alternative commodities?
• Is water the new oil?

Otto Spork, President & CEO,
Sextant Capital

Som Sief, Chief Executive Officer & Director,
Claymore Investments

Rod Parsley, Partner & Portfolio Manager,
Perella Weinberg Partners

15.00

Afternoon refreshment break

MAKING MONEY FROM METALS

15.45

The impact of precious metals and other sectors

• Determining the correlation between gold, oil and other commodities
• Gold and financial markets
• Other influences: credit spread and pricing of risk
• Look into the future: discussing various possible scenarios
• The impact of new trading instruments on the precious metals market

Ken Weissman, Private Trader,
Family Office

Jeffrey Christian, Managing Director,
CPM Group

Joe Foster, Gold Strategist,
Van Eck Global, USA

16.15

Case study: Uranium – the new commodity bull?

• Explaining recent investor attention
• Breaking the price barrier – the rise to the top
• Futures contracts

Rob Marsh, CIO,
Solios Asset Management

16.45

Chairman’s closing remarks & end of conference

Pre-conference workshop - Wednesday, December 12, 2007

08.30

Registration

Carbon: the new commodity

With the emergence of a new carbon trading economy, key questions remain unanswered on successfully implementing carbon into your portfolio.  This course will answer the questions of how to invest wisely in carbon as a commodity.

Topics to be covered include:

·                         Background on different types of carbon credits, mandatory vs. voluntary

·                         Achieving a diversified portfolio through carbon assets & derivatives

·                         Potential risks in carbon trading

·                         Understanding the major price drivers within the carbon market

·                         Carbon as a new asset class - where is the liquidity?