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Vertex Pharmaceuticals
50 Northern Ave., Boston

1:30-2:00	Registration - Networking
2:00-3:15	Transforming a Global Treasury Organization from "Transactional" to "Strategic"
3:15-4:30	Bitcoin: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)

Doing Business Overseas: Maximizing Opportunity, Saving Time & Minimizing Risk

Do you wire to international locations? Do you receive checks drawn off international banks? Whether you’re a small, medium, or large business, it’s essential to have support that will help your business run smoothly when operating around the globe. Kim McKenna, Director of International Banking at Rockland Trust, will walk you through solutions to a variety of problems that plague companies that conduct business internationally. Some topics to be covered include:

• Learn the benefits of sending wires online vs. over the phone or in a branch
• What is a SWIFT code?
• What can I do to avoid fraud?
• Why do wires sent in U.S. Dollars get converted to foreign currency?
• Are there benefits to wiring in foreign currency vs. U.S. Dollars?
• What is an IBAN and do I need to provide one?
• Can I save money by wiring to China in the local currency?

 

Place-Based Investing and the Role of the Impact Investor

Moderated by: Andrew Shafter, CTP, Community Capital Management

Panelists: 

Michelle Knight, Ropes Wealth Advisors
Ed Merritt, East Boston Savings Bank
Kelly Regan, NEPC, LLC
Cheryl Smith, Trilium Investments

Institutional investors are increasingly integrating place-based investments into their investment portfolios. How exactly are they going about making these types of investments while achieving both financial returns and impact goals? In this presentation, a panel will provide an engaging dialogue among four practitioners. Key topics of discussion will include: the history, evolution, and current environment of CRA, SRI, ESG, and Impact; experiences and challenges in implementing an impact investing strategy; evolving impact investing initiatives and metrics used to track impact; working with investors to help them learn more about this growing field; the availability of impact investing strategies across asset classes; and their advice for other organizations interested in learning to implement an impact investing strategy.

Members: No Charge
Guests: $35.

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	Approved for up to 3 CTP/CCM recertification credits by the Association for Financial Professionals at the rate of one credit for each 50 minutes of attendance.
	Approved for up to 1.5 FP&A recertification credits by the Association for Financial Professionals at the rate of one credit for each 50 minutes of attendance.

 

About the Speakers:

Kim McKenna

Kim McKenna currently works as Director of International Banking at Rockland Trust. McKenna has more than 15 years’ experience in foreign exchange, particularly working with small businesses up to multinational clients.

Prior to joining Rockland Trust, McKenna started her own company, Forex Consulting Services, where she worked with smaller regional MA banks that wanted to provide foreign exchange services to their clients. Previously, McKenna held senior foreign exchange positions at Cambridge Mercantile Group, Anglo Irish Bank, Sovereign Bank and Bank of Boston.

 

Andrew Shafter, CTP

Andrew Shafter is a Client Portfolio Manager at Community Capital Management responsible for marketing and presenting CCM’s two mutual funds to financial advisors and broker-dealers. He also serves as a liaison between internal divisions and the investment team. He is a seasoned investment professional and well versed in all asset classes. While working on the asset management side, Mr. Shafter has served his firms in many capacities. He has been a research analyst covering various sectors, a portfolio manager for merger arbitrage and been a listed PM on various mutual funds. Andrew earned a B.A. in Economics from Hobart College and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Andrew is an elected member of the Hingham School Committee. He serves on the Hingham Scholarship Investment Committee, and Northwestern University’s Leadership Council Boston. He has earned the CTP (Certified Treasury Professional) designation which is administered by the Association of Financial Professionals (AFP) and the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment Certificate which is administered USSIF.

Michelle A. Knight, Chief Investment Officer & Chief Economist, Ropes Wealth

Michelle Knight serves as Chief Investment Officer and Chief Economist for Ropes Wealth, where she is responsible for apprising clients of the firm of global economic and market activity and its implications for investment strategy. In this role, she leads the Investment Team in making asset allocation decisions and directs investment and manager selection on behalf of all clients. Ms. Knight is a key advisor to the Management Committee, the Chair of the Investment Policy Committee and a member of the Risk Management Committee.

Ms. Knight is a frequent contributor to Financial Advisors magazine and Private Asset Management magazine, and has been quoted in Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, the Boston Business Journal, Forbes, and The Boston Globe. As Chief Economist for Ropes & Gray LLP, Michelle provided economic and market insights to the trustees of the Private Client Group to aid in their management and oversight of trusts and trust-related assets totaling close to $5 billion. Michelle was Chief Economist and Managing Director of Fixed Income for Silver Bridge Advisors, which was acquired by Banyan Partners in 2013. Prior to joining Silver Bridge, Michelle was Head of the Fixed Income Department at Atlantic Trust, where she was responsible for managing $5 billion in fixed income assets. Before joining Atlantic Trust, she was an Analyst and Assistant Portfolio Manager at J.P. Morgan Investment Management in New York.

Michelle earned a MBA, a MSF, and a BA from Boston College, where she graduated summa cum laude and held the distinction of Presidential Scholar. She was named one of Boston Business Journal’s “40 under 40” in 2009, in recognition of her accomplishments as a corporate and civic leader. She is a member of the Boston Economic Club, the Boston College Alumni Association and Council for Women, the Children’s Hospital League, and the Inner-City Scholarship Fund Professional’s Team. Michelle serves Chair of the Investment Committee of Dedham Country Day School, and leads their Community Outreach effort. She also teaches second-grade religious education at Holy Name Church in West Roxbury and was recently named to the Investment Committee for the Archdiocese of Boston.

Kelly Regan, Senior Consultant, NEPC, LLC

Kelly Regan is a Senior Consultant at NEPC, LLC in Boston, MA. Her consulting responsibilities include servicing clients comprising of corporate pension and defined contribution plans, endowments, and foundations. She works with clients to facilitate asset allocation studies, manager searches, investment policies, performance measurement and various technical projects. She is also a member of the Impact Investing Advisory Committee, Global Asset Allocation Research Advisory Group and Liability Driven Investing (LDI) Research Advisory Group.

Prior to joining NEPC in the spring of 2007, Kelly was employed by Investors Bank & Trust as a Junior Associate for the Merrimac Mutual Funds. Kelly researched and analyzed the institutional money market fund universe and supported the products at industry conferences. She also maintained relationships with clients and provided support regarding investment in the Funds.

Kelly received her M.S.F. from Brandeis University and a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University.

 

Cheryl Smith, Managing Partner, Trillium Asset Management

Cheryl Smith is Managing Partner, Economist, Strategist, and Head of Fixed Income Strategy at Trillium Asset Management, LLC (“Trillium”), an employee-owned investment management company solely devoted to sustainable and responsible investment. At Trillium, Ms. Smith leads Trillium’s fixed income investment process, serves as a co-manager of the Green Century Balanced Fund, and manages investment portfolios for institutions and for high-net-worth individuals. After beginning her career as Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Denver, Ms. Smith began her investment management career at Trillium Asset Management in 1987. In 1992 she joined United States Trust Company in Boston (now known as Walden Asset Management) as Vice President and portfolio manager, before rejoining Trillium Asset Management in the fall of 1997.

Ms. Smith was Chair of the Board of USSIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investing from 2008 through 2010. She serves on the Board of Oikocredit USA, a nonprofit organization providing loans, equity, and capacity building investments to local partners who in turn provide sustainable, responsible solutions to poverty. She also serves on the Board of Cornerstone Capital Inc. She is a former Board member of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge MA and of Resist! Ms. Smith is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder, and a member of the CFA Institute, Boston Security Analyst Society, and the American Economic Association. She holds a B.S.F.S. degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and earned M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Yale University. She has spoken on numerous occasions on community investments, on Green bonds, and on integrating environmental, social, and governance criteria into the management of investment portfolios.

 

Edward J Merritt, Executive Officer, East Boston Savings Bank

Edward J. Merritt is an Executive Vice President of East Boston Savings Bank. From 2010 to 2015 Merritt has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Meridian Bancorp, the parent company of East Boston Savings Bank. Merritt served as President of Mt. Washington Bank, a Division of East Boston Savings Bank from 2010 to 2015. From 1999 to 2010, Merritt served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mt. Washington Bank. Under Merritt’s leadership, Mt. Washington Bank grew into a full service financial institution with over $850 million in total assets and 120 employees. As an advocate for growth, Merritt has supported the expansion of the bank’s infrastructure to a thirty (30) branch operation and $3.5 Billion in assets. The bank plans to continue future growth throughout the neighborhoods of Boston and beyond.

During his tenure, Merritt has created a business philosophy in which to be a great corporate leader you need to be a great corporate citizen. He founded the Mt. Washington Charitable Foundation in 2002. Through the Foundation, the bank has donated over $3 million in charitable contributions dedicated to non-profit organizations that support educational, youth and cultural programs in the communities in which it serves.

Prior to his appointment at Mt. Washington Bank, Merritt served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Abington Savings Bank from 1986-1998. After establishing a record of success in the key financial areas of the bank, in 1992 Merritt assumed the additional responsibility of building the bank’s brand in the marketplace which he accomplished by strategically improving its marketing, public relations and retail banking operations.
A thirty year veteran of the banking industry, Merritt is a member of the UMass Boston Board of Visitors and he also serves on the University of Massachusetts Boston’s College of Management’s Advisory Committee. Merritt earned his bachelor’s degree from Salem State College and is a Certified Public Accountant.