Symposium I: Foundation and Endowment Asset Management
Symposium II: Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets
ECB sponsored sessions
Panel on the current state of Russian Finance
NYSE colloquium: featuring Steven A. Ross (MIT)

Foundations are growing in Eastern Europe and are prevalent in bordering countries like Austria. Endowments are becoming large; the Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund, for example, is bigger than any US pension fund. Cutting-edge strategies have emerged from philanthropic and educational institutions such as The Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Harvard Management Company, and the Yale University Investments Office. This sector also contains smaller, and more traditional, philanthropic investors that lag behind the practices of leading fund managers.

Foundations and endowments face major challenges in terms of asset management. Some of the features that merit research are the impacts of:

This Symposium is organized by Elroy Dimson (London Business School). In addition to a sequence of academic sessions, there will be one practitioner and academic round-table, which will consist of a practitioner presentation and/or launch of new case studies, and a panel discussion involving senior people from major foundations and endowments.

Papers will be eligible for expedited publication in the Review of Finance, subject to the journal’s regular review process.

Authors who want to submit a paper to this symposium topic are requested to go through the regular on-line submission process with SSRN, and assign their paper to the 'Symposium I' topic, to be chosen from the EFA 2005 classification list.

The New Economic School (NES) in Moscow will organize a Symposium on the topic of Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets. The Symposium will present new contributions to research on corporations in emerging markets, with a particular focus on the legal and regulatory context of corporate governance as it is currently evolving in emerging economies as well as in major economies in transition - particularly Russia and China.

Submissions are encouraged on the following topics:

This Symposium will also include one or more sessions focused on the Development of Financial Institutions and Markets in the Financial Sector in Russia and in Emerging Markets. This topic is notably addressed to current practitioners in Russia, and current academic researchers studying developments in Russia and other emerging markets.

Authors who wants to submit a paper to this symposium topic are requested to go through the regular on-line submission process with SSRN, and assign their paper to the 'Symposium II' topic, to be chosen from the EFA 2005 classification list.

The European Central Bank has kindly agreed to support the European Finance Association Meetings in 2005 through the sponsorship of one or more conference sessions on issues relating to:

Paper submissions with policy implications relating to these topics are strongly encouraged. Areas of particular interest include financial market integration and market development in Central and Eastern Europe, the development and microstructure of fixed income markets in Europe, and financial crises, contagion and systemic risk.

Authors who wants to submit a paper to these special topics are requested to go through the regular on-line submission process with SSRN, and assign their paper to the appropriate topics from the EFA 2005 classification list. The program committee will select papers for these special sessions from all papers accepted for presentation at the EFA 2005 Meetings which fit best to these topics.

This panel of leading practitioners and specialists in Russian financial markets is chaired by Igor Kostikoff, former head of the Russian Securities Commission and Professor at St. Petersburg University. The subject of the panel discussion with be recent developments in Russian finance, capital market innovations and regulatory challenges. The panelist represent a wide range of expertise and views and have been active in the development of Russia's modern financial architecture.

The Panel will be held on Friday, August 26 from 9:00-10:30.

Speakers:

A colloquium hosted by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will feature Stephen A. Ross (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) as the keynote speaker.