About 1,300 law-minded fundsters are converging in Southern California this weekend for an annual confab.

David Blass ICI General Counsel

The Investment Company Institute (ICI) will kick off its 2017 Mutual Fund and Investment Management Conference (MFIM) on Sunday evening with an opening reception at the JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert. American Century general counsel Charles Etherington and ICI general counsel David Blass will kick off the conference sessions on Monday morning. Sessions will conclude on Wednesday morning.

Speakers scheduled to take the main stage at this year's ICI MFIM include: Stephanie Avakian, acting director of the SEC's division of enforcement; Barry Barbash, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Kathleen Barr, independent trustee for the William Blair Funds [profile]; Joseph Barry, senior vice president of industry affairs at State Street; Joseph Carrier, chief risk officer at Legg Mason [profile]; Buddy Donahue, former chief of staff at the SEC; Peter Driscoll, acting director of the SEC's office of compliance inspections and examinations; Lorraine Echavarria, partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; Thomas Fuccillo, managing director and chief regulatory counsel, head of funds and retail legal at Allianz Global Investors US [profile]; David Grim, director of the SEC's division of investment management; Philip Kirstein, senior officer and independent compliance officer at AB [profile]; Christopher Michailoff, director at Deutsche Bank; Nancy Morris, managing director and chief compliance officer at Wellington [profile]; Troy Paredes, founder of Paredes Strategies; Nancy Rapoport, special council to the president of UNLV, business law and ethics professor; Tamara Salmon, associate general counsel of securities regulation at the ICI; Robert Scales, principal at Robert Scales; Heidi Stam, former managing director and general counsel for Vanguard; and Dawn Vroegop, chairperson of MetLife Funds.

Monday afternoon at the conference, ICI will host its annual "Women in Leadership" event, featuring Lori Nishiura Mackenzie, executive director of Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research.

The conference will feature sponsored breakfasts and receptions by a host of mutual fund industry accountants, lawyers, and other vendors, including: Arendt, BBD, Deloitte, Donnelly, Drinker Biddle, EY, Gunn, Steers & Company, Irish Funds, KPMG, Morgan Lewis, PwC, and UMB.

The MFIM conference dates back originally to 1965, under CCH (Commerce Clearing House). The ICI first took over the conference in 1996. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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