Panelist: David Fuller

David Fuller is one of the world’s most experienced and highly regarded independent market commentators, frequently quoted by the international press. He is a director of Stockcube Research Ltd, where he is Global Strategist, and producer of Fullermoney, his unique and highly regarded online investment service. His Comment of the Day is read by thousands of institutional and internationally oriented investors around the world. A dual US/UK national, David started his financial career with stockbrokers Harris, Upham and Co. Head-hunted to London, he became Director of Research at Chart Analysis Ltd and later bought out the company. It is now part of Stockcube Research Ltd (SKC LN), which floated on London’s AIM market in May 2000.

Keynote Speaker: Edward Chancellor

Edward Chancellor is a financial historian and the author of 'Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation' (Farrar Straus & Giroux, NY, and Macmillan, London, 1999). This book, a New York Times 'Notable Book of the Year,' was subsequently translated into nine languages, and named one of six indispensable investment classics by Money magazine. Chancellor is also the editor of 'Capital Account: A money manager's reports from a turbulent decade' (Thomson Texere, 2004). Chancellor studied history at both Oxford and Cambridge and has written for a variety of publications, including The Economist, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. He is currently writing a history of credit.

Speaker: Julio Bestani

Julio Bestani has been the CFO of Adecoagro since its formation back in 2002. The company, which has George Soros as one of the main financial sponsors, specializes in the production of food and renewable energy in South America. An MBA from the University of North Caroline - Kenan Flager Business School in the USA, he has been responsible for developing and managing Adecoagro's finance, administration, legal and planning teams in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and the US. In that capacity he has successfully negotiated and executed acquisition deals worth more than US$350m in value. The company has become one of the largest agricultural operators in South America, with an interest in over 270,000 hectares of farmland, as well as investment plans of over US$1 billion in ethanol projects in Brazil. Julio left Adecoagro in July 2007 to lead an agribusiness fund focused on farmland investments.

 Speaker: Ken Kinsey-Quick

Ken Kinsey-Quick is head of the fund of funds and multi-manager team at the successful hedge fund management boutique Thames River Capital, backed by John Beckwith. He has been running fund of hedge fund operations for more than ten years. His Thames River Hedge Plus fund has the highest returns of any London-listed fund of hedge funds, with an annualised return of 10% per annum since launch, low volatility (standard deviation of returns 4.3%), a maximum drawdown of 3.7% and not one losing 12-month period in that time. Ken joined Thames River Capital in January 2003, having previously been Chief Investment Officer at Coronation International in London, and a co-manager of the well known Haussmann Holdings Fund. He was educated at the University of Cape Town and holds charters for both the CFA and CAIA.

Panelist: John Chatfeild-Roberts

John Chatfeild-Roberts has been analysing and investing in funds professionally for fifteen years. He and his team manage the £2bn Jupiter Merlin range of funds of funds, for which they have won numerous awards including most recently Best Multi-Manager Group 2007 at the Professional Adviser Awards.
After graduating from Durham University in Economics, his early career was spent serving in the Army, both in the UK and abroad. Before moving to Jupiter, he ran similar operations for Lazard Asset Management and Henderson Administration in the 1990s.

 

Panelist: Sebastian Lyon

Troy Asset Management is an independent fund management company which specialises in generating absolute returns for investors. It was established in 2000 by the late Lord Weinstock and named after his 1979 Epsom Derby winner. The company was founded on the premise that many investors are disillusioned with the focus of the investment management industry on relative, rather than absolute, returns. Sebastian Lyon has been Chief Executive of Troy since the company's formation, having previously been joint manager of Stanhope Investment Management, the management company for the GEC Pension Fund.

 

Panelist: Dr Bill Mott

Dr Bill Mott is one of the best known equity income fund managers in the UK market, having spent 30 years at Credit Suisse. Until 2003, when he moved to a strategic advisory position, Bill was the day to day fund manager of the company's two equity income funds, Income and Monthly Income, which were among the best long-term performers in their sector. He has also managed smaller companies, growth and ethical funds with impressive track records. Bill has won several major industry awards during his career, including Specialist Manager of the Year from "Investment Week" and team awards from the Sunday Times. He has a first class honours degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Quantum Physics. Bill is 55 years old and a keen West Ham United fan.

Chairman: Jonathan Davis

Jonathan Davis is a columnist on The Financial Times, a regular contributor to The Spectator and the author of three books on investment, as well as the founder of Independent Investor LLP. From 1995-2007 he wrote a regular column on investment for The Independent. A graduate of Cambridge University and MIT, where he studied the methods of Warren Buffett for a thesis, his areas of expertise include asset allocation, fund selection and style analysis. His early career was spent as a senior business journalist on The Times, The Economist and The Sunday Telegraph. He has been chairman of the Savile Club in London since 2002 and was recently appointed Head of Business Development at a London investment company.