Blue Vault Bowman Alts Summit 2020
December 4, 2019 | Blue Vault staff writer
Purposed from the Beginning to Bring a Different Depth of Discussion to the Table
Fueled by a strong passion for adding real value, the Blue Vault team ventured out in 2015 to do something different. As the premier educational center for Alts investments, Blue Vault was founded in 2009 to enhance transparency about nontraded REITs, by focusing on actual performance. Managing Partner Stacy Chitty explained, “We weren’t concerned with the soft words found in many prospectuses and marketing literature including: expect to, hope to and anticipate doing. We were driven to examine and help improve investment performance for the benefit of the investor, and really, to help locate and flush out those investment management firms who weren’t aligned properly with the interest of investors, meaning they didn’t really care about the investor.”
As Blue Vault has expanded and industry changes have transformed the alts landscape, Chitty believed that same kind of transparency and emphasis on performance could be reflected even more with the creation of an annual conference, by bringing the best of the best together for three days of “robust dialogue”. Thus, the Blue Vault Alts Summit was born.
“While there are many great conferences in our space, we envisioned bringing a different level of performance discussion to the table,” he said, “and industry experts, both at the broker dealer level and asset manager level seemed to appreciate the focus on performance. My deal has always been, if it doesn’t help protect the investor, we should go do something else.”
Avantax Wealth’s (formerly 1st Global) Executive Vice President Mike Pagano said, “The annual BV Summit is an opportunity to share information about current and past offerings as well as fellowship with current sponsors that we work with and whom we are thinking about working. The format which brings together a number of sponsors in one meeting, allows due diligence professionals to best manage the most valuable commodity we have which is our time.”
“Well, Mike Pagano and Thayer Gallison were there in the beginning, as was Amanda Teeple. Their support was huge, and it helped us launch the Summit concept. They’ve helped improve it each year since also,” says Chitty.
Blue Vault is preparing to kick off its sixth annual Blue Vault Bowman Alts Summit March 10-12 in its hometown of Atlanta, where virtually everyone is just a direct flight away. The venue will be at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead.
“We’ve been down in Florida the past two years seeking warmer weather and sunshine, but you just can’t beat the convenience of Atlanta, so we’re coming back this year,” Chitty says.
Continuing to add new layers of value, Catherine Bowman and her firm, The Bowman Law Firm, first brought their expertise to the Summit last year. Bowman Law conducts legal and financial due diligence on a wide array of alternative investment products for the broker dealer and investment advisor community. This year the Bowman team is back and will facilitate a dynamic question-and-answer session after each asset manager presentation.
Says Chitty, “Catherine and her team are fabulous. They bring another dimension of analysis to the table, combining their due diligence services and expertise with Blue Vault’s performance tracking. They are tremendously respected by our clients, and I couldn’t be happier to be co-hosting and co-branding our Summit with them.”
“We’re excited to partner with Blue Vault for the second year in a row and provide the summit for professionals in the alternative investments industry,” said Bowman. “I have attended Blue Vault’s summits for years and enjoy the intimate feel of its events and the excellent learning and networking opportunities.”
New to this year’s Summit will be a much-needed addition, the AltsTech Forum on March 11 where an entire day of tech-related dialogue will take place, in an effort to advance tech solutions for the Alts space, which historically have lagged behind mainstream investing firms. Leading technology providers to the alts industry, like BNY Mellon’s Pershing, SS&C Technologies, Envision Financial, and Riskalyze will be on hand to present and demonstrate their services, and answer questions on integrating technology with alternatives processing. Blue Vault is very pleased to have the leading authority on alts technology advancement, operational professional Angie Fisher of CIM Group, lead a team of technology specialists to create the value-packed AltsTech Forum agenda. On her team helping shape the discussion is securities attorney Kirk Montgomery, KAM, and operations professionals Amber Wallner of Black Creek Group and Jeff LaFayette of Bluerock Real Estate.
“I can’t emphasize enough our excitement to add this forum to our annual event and help facilitate a serious discussion about creating solutions now, about how technology is and will be transforming the world of alts. Gone are the days of delay, errors, paper forms, and frustration,” added Chitty.
Blue Vault is excited to have other industry experts joining its effort in 2020 to bring additional avenues of focus to the Summit line-up. Sherri Cooke and her firm, AI Insight, will be attending and participating, as well as RIA industry professional and Managing Partner of Aliso Advisors, Darren Whissen, along with FSI’s Kathryn Anderson, among others.
Doug Buce, President of Boing Dynamics, will be back to emcee the event. “Doug has the unique ability to transform a 10-hour financial discussion into what seems like 5 hours, with the energy and creativity he brings to the table. I still haven’t figured out how Doug keeps his audience engaged as he does. It’s truly a gift,” adds Chitty.
“All in all, the 2020 Summit is shaping up to be the best Summit yet. Although maintaining a smaller, more exclusive feel, there will be more industry professionals on hand adding value than ever before. Education will be front and center. Decisions will be made about how to create better, learn differently, and maximize resources better, in an effort to perform for investors. It’s exciting.”
Stay tuned, as we will be continually communicating updates in the weeks ahead.
