A capacity audience of students, faculty members, alumni, practitioners, and media learned from the expertise shared by keynote speaker James Gorman ’87, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, during the third annual Program for Financial Studies conference on November 1.
"Within the financial sector, we have witnessed global consolidation followed by the 2008 crisis," said Laurie Hodrick, the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Business, founding director of the Program for Financial Studies, and current chair of the program’s advisory board. "The debate is ongoing about which factors determine an institution’s ability to withstand such crisis. Today it is our tremendous privilege to share James Gorman’s insights on this important question, as he discusses the role and responsibilities of systemically important financial institutions in a global economy."
Gorman’s comments echoed the theme of this year’s conference, "Navigating the Changing Landscape of Finance." "Since the crisis, we have been on a journey that is going to last many, many years," Gorman said. "And if all of us chip away at—rather than looking for one big solution to—the problem of how to make the system safer and sounder while at the same time making the banking industry more relevant to what society needs, I think we will have achieved a lot."
After the keynote, attendees took part in two concurrent panels of alumni, faculty members, and industry experts. One panel on asset management featured Kent Daniel, professor of finance and economics; Jeffrey Kaplan, COO of Appaloosa Management LP; Wei Jiang, the Arthur F. Burns Professor of Free and Competitive Enterprise, chair of the Finance Subdivision, and curriculum director of the Program for Financial Studies; and Adam Parker, managing director and chief US equity strategist, Morgan Stanley. Paul Glasserman, the Jack R. Anderson Professor of Business and research director of the Program for Financial Studies, moderated the panel. A second panel focused on corporate finance and was moderated by Charles Calomiris, the Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions. Panelists were Donna Hitscherich ’90, senior lecturer in the discipline of business and director, Private Equity Program; James Katzman ’92, partner and managing director, Goldman Sachs; Christian Mariager ’88, CEO, Tiger Stores and senior partner emeritus, McKinsey & Company; and Morten Sorensen, the Daniel W. Stanton Associate Professor of Business.
The Program for Financial Studies is governed by a 23-member executive advisory board and a nine-member academic advisory board that ensure that the program supports research and the development of intellectual capital, enhances the curriculum and activities for students, and creates external outreach opportunities to promote an ongoing exchange of ideas on timely topics of interest. Videos of the keynote address and the panels and a photo slide show of the event are available on the program website.