The Absolute Return Symposium

The Absolute Return Symposium (HedgeFund Intelligence)

The Absolute Return Symposium, the premier U.S. hedge fund conference, attracts the industry's elite from across the globe. At this year's ninth annual event, a host of top managers and investors will offer incisive commentary on the industry's accelerating growth and widening dispersion of returns. As the global hedge fund industry marches past the $2 trillion mark, don't miss the chance to learn from the true money makers.
Hear from some of the most successful managers and investors in the hedge fund industry. The event not only provides an outlook for the hedge fund industry and financial markets, but also drills down on specific opportunities, challenges and risks across a range of alternative strategies. As always, there will be plenty of networking opportunities during the conference, including a drinks reception at the end of the first day.

Symposium discussions will include:

• The changing needs of investors, particularly the large pensions and endowments who make an increasing proportion of new allocations worldwide. Do the long-term funding gaps for major U.S. institutional investors represent an opportunity for the industry, or is there a danger in overpromising and under delivering? 
• The outlook for and opportunities in equities, macro and commodities, debated and discussed by some of the biggest and most successful managers in their respective strategies.
• With so many new mortgage funds raising money, which have an edge and which are simply along for the ride? 
• The most promising trades, both long and short, presented and defended by a variety of managers during a rapidfire series of 'Best Ideas' speeches.

As with the past nine years, the 2012 Symposium will have no lack of subject matter to debate, including:

• The ever-changing reaction to sovereign debt problems in the Eurozone. Assets are cheap, and some value investors are ready to buy.
• Worried projections of years of sluggish economic growth and deflation alongside fears that world governments' reactions to this slowdown could produce destabilizing inflation. 
• Where are the next hot emerging markets, and which formerly trendy countries are no longer in