Over 150 of world's investor education leaders gather to look at changing investor behavior across life stages

Joint IFIE/IOSCO Conference Co-sponsored by IIROC Commences in Toronto with Experts from North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

TORONTO, June 20, 2013 /CNW/ - To improve the financial literacy and capabilities of consumers and investors around the globe through all stages of life,  the International Forum for Investor Education (IFIE) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today opened their fifth joint investor education conference in Toronto, Canada.  Concluding Friday, the IFIE/IOSCO conference is hosted and co-sponsored by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

The full agenda, including panels, skills workshops and keynote speakers, may be viewed at http://bit.ly/18LsEsf.

With the theme of "Delivering Dynamic Financial Capability and Investor Education Programmes: Changing Behavior Across Life Stages," the event formally commenced at 11:30 a.m. with an address from IIROC President and CEO Susan Wolburgh Jenah, who also serves as the chair of IFIE.

Even before the IFIE-IOSCO conference officially opened, a Financial and Investor Education Programming Bootcamp was held this morning.  The "bootcamp" was designed to be a "quick start" introduction or "basics" refresher for financial capability and investor education professionals, particularly those new to the field.

Throughout the conference, keynote and other major speakers will include:

• David Wright, secretary general, IOSCO;
  
  
• Greg Medcraft, chairman, Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC); chair, International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO); and
  
  
• Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh, chairman, Securities Commission of Malaysia; chairman, Emerging Markets Committee,  International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Topics on the agenda include:

• a skills/professional development workshop on evaluating investor education and financial capability programmes to make a different and create return on investment;
• a research roundtable on the promise and pitfalls of education, regulation and behavioral economics;
• breakout sessions to explore in-depth key issues like making financial programs successful, using evaluation tools and market research techniques to help assess programmes and refine strategies; and
• panel discussions on investor education and financial capability for various life stages, including children and youth, working years and retirement.

IFIE Chair and IIROC CEO Susan Wolburgh Jenah said: "Financial literacy and investor education is a universal cause that transcends boundaries. This conference will showcase successful programs in aid of inspiring new and creative ideas that can be adapted and applied in other jurisdictions."

IOSCO Secretary General David Wright said:  "Developing financial literacy and education have never been so important. This is a global public good, par excellence, and there are fountains of local experience and knowledge that should be shared among practitioners. We must zero in on what works and be open to new thinking and approaches, such as drawing on what behavioural economics can teach us."

The IFIE/IOSCO conference offers attendees access to a global professional network of leading experts and key leaders and a chance to network both with those experts and with their investor education peers. Participants have a unique opportunity to share best practices and learn about new research, tips and tools for implementing effective financial education, financial capability and investor literacy/education initiatives within their countries and organizations.

IFIE/IOSCO 2013 Conference Programme Committee Chair Robert Stammers, director of Investor Education for the CFA Institute, said: "The committee was focused on presenting substantive issues and creating a high-level, engaging, and agenda setting conference that would serve the needs of investor education professionals globally."

The IFIE/IOSCO investor education conference is taking place in downtown Toronto at the Hilton Toronto hotel. The hotel also has views of the CN Tower, where conferees will enjoy dinner and spectacular views of the city on the evening of 20 June.

Confirmed conference speakers, panelists and other presenters include (in alphabetical order):

• Abdullah Al-Kahtani, manager, Media & Investor Awareness Department, Capital Market Authority, Saudi Arabia;
• Patrick K. Armstrong, Investment and Reporting (Investor Education Programming), European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), Europe;
• Patricia Bowles, director, Communications and Investor Education, British Columbia Securities Commission, Canada;
• Alparslan Budak, assistant secretary general, Association of Capital Market Intermediary Institution of Turkey (TSPAKB);
• Jeremy Burke, director, RAND Behavioural Finance (BeFi) Forum; associate Economist, professor, Pardee Rand Graduate School;
• Randy Cass, CFA, anchor of Market Sense on Business News Network (BNN), Canada; 
• Dr. Catherine Chandler-Crichlow, executive director, Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education, Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA), Canada;
• James Cunningham, Funny Money Financial Literacy Programme for Youth, Canada;
• Tom Hamza, president, Investor Education Fund (IEF), Canada;
• Billy J. Hensley, director of Education, National Endowment for Financial Education in U.S.; Adjunct Professor of Education, University of Louisville;
• Michael Herndon, consumer outreach officer, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC);
• Barry LaValley, president, The Retirement Life Style Center (Canada);
• Ana Leoni, head of Education, Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association (ANBIMA);
• Rudy Luukko, editor in chief, Morningstar Canada;
• Lewis Mandell, Ph.D, financial economist, professor emeritus and former business dean, SUNY Buffalo (United States);
• Nick Maynard, director of innovation, Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund (United States);
• Ursula Menke, former commissioner, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), Canada;
• Sujatha Sekhar Naik, CEO, Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Centre (SIDREC), Malaysia;
• Richard L. Peterson, managing director, MarketPsych LLC;
• Toshihiko Sasaki, executive director, Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA);
• Lori Schock, director of investor education, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC);
• Amarjeet Singh, director of international affairs, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
• Dr. Kusumaningtuti S. Soetiono, member, Board of Commissioners, Indonesian Financial Service Authority;
• Sunita Sah, assistant professor, Georgetown University; fellow, Harvard University; 
• Robert Stammers, director of Investor Education, CFA Institute; chair, IFIE/IOSCO 2013 Conference Programme Committee;
• Gary Tidwell, senior advisor, Education, Training and Regulatory Capacity Building, IOSCO; Professor, IE Law School;
• Jose Alexandre Cavalcanti Vasco, head, Education and Investor Assistance Department, CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil)
• Gerri Walsh, president, FINRA Investor Education Foundation, senior vice president, FINRA Office of Investor Education;
• Andrew Wan, CFO & senior director, Corporate Affairs, Securities and Futures Commission, Hong Kong;
• Dr. Ed Weinstein, president, The Brondesbury Group (Canada); and
• Sung-Uk Yang, director, International Affairs Department, Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA).

In addition to IIROC's co-sponsorship, the IFIE/IOSCO conference is also sponsored by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (United States), Securities Investor Protection Corporation (United States), CFA Institute (United States), CSI Global Education Inc. (Canada), Mutual Fund Dealers Association (Canada) and Investor Education Fund (Canada).

IFIE and IOSCO held their first joint conference in Madrid in 2007 followed by Washington, D.C., in 2009, and Cairo, Egypt in 2010.  Most recently, IFIE and IOSCO held their fourth major conference in May 2012 in Seoul, South Korea.

ABOUT THE GROUPS

The International Forum for Investor Education (IFIE)—(http://www.ifie.org) is a global membership organization committed to strengthening resources and standards for financial capability and investor education within and across jurisdictions through: global conferences; webinars; surveys; a resource clearinghouse; and development and distribution of best practices, implementation strategies and leadership supports to help providers .  IFIE also has global regional Chapter networks of members in Asia (AFIE), MENA (IFIE-MENA) and the Americas (IFIE Americas) who work together to develop and implement approaches to regional challenges in financial education, financial capability and investor education.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), founded in 1983, is the international policy forum for securities regulators and is recognized as the international standard-setter for the financial securities sector (http://www.iosco.org).   The organization's membership regulates more than 95 percent of the world's securities markets in over 110 jurisdictions. IOSCO members have resolved:

• to cooperate in developing, implementing and promoting adherence to internationally recognised and consistent standards of regulation, oversight and enforcement in order to protect investors, maintain fair, efficient and transparent markets, and seek to address systemic risks;
• to enhance investor protection and promote investor confidence in the integrity of securities markets, through strengthened information exchange and cooperation in enforcement against misconduct and in supervision of markets and market intermediaries; and
• to exchange information at both global and regional levels on their respective experiences in order to assist the development of markets, strengthen market infrastructure and implement appropriate regulation.

NOTE: Interviews will individuals speakers and presenters will be available immediately before and during the conference on a per-request basis.  Please contact Ailis Wolf at [phone] or [email protected] with your request and include then name of the individual(s) you would like to interview.

SOURCE: Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) - General News

CONTACTS:  Ailis Wolf, for IFIE, [phone] or [email protected]; Gary Tidwell, for IOSCO, [phone] or [email protected]; Carlta Vitzthum, for IOSCO, [email protected]; and Lucy Becker, for IIROC, [phone]  or [email protected].