9th October 2009

Steve Bee keynote speaker at Ascentric's first conferences

Independent wrap platform Ascentric is running its own series of conferences for the first time that will give advisers the opportunity to hear from well known industry names including Steve Bee about key topics affecting their market.

The Ascentric Conferences will be held in three locations across the UK, Glaziers Hall in London (Monday 16th November), Mercure Holland House Hotel in Bristol (Tuesday 17th November) and De Vere Oundle Park Hotel in Leeds (Thursday 19th November). The events, which follow its successful Masterclass format, will take place in the afternoon and are open to both Ascentric users and non-users.

Each conference will be split into three sections:

• A debate around asset allocation with fund manager Vanguard supporting the passive approach, Swiss fund manager Pictet the active approach and Evercore Pan Asset offering their views from a discretionary fund management perspective;
• A focus on the technical aspects of the market with HSBC putting forward a case for getting back into the Bond market, Tony Wickenden from Techlink providing a technical overview of the market followed by analysis from Société Générale on the current and future shape of the economy;
• Keynote speaker Steve Bee, Head of Pension Strategy at Scottish Life, will close the conferences. Steve is regarded as one of the most influential names in UK financial services and he will be providing his own inimitable take on the latest set of draft regulations concerning workplace pension reform as well as the broader pensions market.

Commenting ahead of the Ascentric Conference, Steve said "Financial advisers who understand the nature of these important pension reforms and the practical implications they hold for all UK employers will themselves be key to the development of our new pension system in this country from 2012."

Richard Goodall, Sales Director at Ascentric, stated "The Ascentric Conference will give IFAs the opportunity to hear first hand from a number of well known experts about the issues that are shaping the market today. With the speaker line up we have, the conference is already attracting a great response from the IFA community and I would strongly urge those interested to reserve their places quickly."

Reservations can be made by phoning 01225 787562 or emailing marketing@ascentric.co.uk.

For further information, please contact:

Ascentric
Dominic Ventham, Head of Marketing
Tel: 01225 787208, Mobile 07590 227039
Email: dominic.ventham@ascentric.co.uk