Climate, Currency, and Central Banking: University of the Bahamas
Date: Thursday, February 15, 2024
University of The Bahamas, February 15-16, 2024 | Nassau, Bahamas
$800.00 – $1,000.00
GIC is heading to The Bahamas in 2024!
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Presentation Videos
- Welcoming Remarks and Morning Keynote
- Session I: Global Economic Outlook
- Session II: The Banking Ecosystem of the Caribbean
- Special Feature: The Fed and the Flu
- Afternoon Keynote – The International Role of the Dollar
- Session III: Currency Issues - Bahamian Dollar, Digital Currencies, and the Future of the U.S. Dollar
- Session IV: Proactive Risk Management in the Era of Climate Change
Event Detail
Climate, Currency, and Central Banking: University of the Bahamas
We are delighted to announce our upcoming program in Nassau, Bahamas. Our program will begin with a Speakers Dinner on February 14, our full day public conference with the University of the Bahamas on February 15, followed by a Roundtable Breakfast on February 16 and optional add-on tourism activities over the weekend.
Throughout our itinerary, we will cover important themes such as enhancements and impediments to economic growth, the banking ecosystem of the Caribbean including the U.S. governance impact on the region, payment systems, and de-risking. We will examine currency issues surrounding the Bahamian Dollar, US Dollar and Central Bank Digital Currencies such as the Sand Dollar. Finally, our program will explore the impacts of climate change, hurricanes, and sea level rise through the lens of risk management. Christopher Waller, Ph.D., Governor of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors is confirmed as Keynote speaker.
Attendees of this conference can receive 5.5 continuing education credits from the Certified Financial Planner Board for credit hours. Please email Sandra Levant at [email protected] for more details.
Agenda
Conference Agenda
8:00 a.m. | Registration and Coffee
8:45 a.m. | Welcoming Remarks
- Janyne Hodder, Acting President of the University of The Bahamas
- William Kennedy, CIO, RiskBridge Advisors and GIC Board Chair
9:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
- Honourable Vaughn Miller, M.P. Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources
- Senator The Honourable Michael Halkitis, Minister of Economic Affairs
9:20 a.m. | Morning Keynote – Sand Dollar
- John Rolle, Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas
- Q&A Moderated by: Zhivargo Laing, Executive Director of the Government and Public Policy Institute and Senior Policy Fellow at the University of The Bahamas
10:00 a.m. | Coffee Break
10:15 a.m. | Session 1: Global Economic Outlook
- Therese Turner Jones, Director, Projects Department, Caribbean Development Bank
- Leland Miller, CEO, China Beige Book
- Moderator: Don Rissmiller, Partner, Strategas Research Partners and GIC Board Member
11:00 a.m. | Session 2: The Banking Ecosystem of the Caribbean
- Wendy Warren, former Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board
- Zhivargo Laing, Executive Director of the Government and Public Policy Institute and Senior Policy Fellow at the University of The Bahamas
- Moderator: Don Rissmiller, Partner, Strategas Research Partners and GIC Board Member
11:45 a.m. | Special Feature: The Fed and the Flu
- David Kotok, Author, and CIO, Cumberland Advisors and GIC Board Member
12:00 p.m. | Lunch
1:15 p.m. | Afternoon Keynote – The International Role of the Dollar
- Christopher Waller, Governor, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- Q&A Moderated by: William Kennedy, CIO, RiskBridge Advisors and GIC Board Chair
2:00 p.m. | Break
2:15 p.m. | Session 3: Currency issues: Bahamian Dollar, Digital Currencies, and the Future of the U.S. Dollar
- Gabriella Fraser, Chair of Bahamas National Statistical Institute
- Danielle DiMartino Booth, Chief Strategist, QI Research
- Tarron Khemraj, William & Marie Selby Chair – Economics, New College of Florida
- Moderator: Zhivargo Laing, Executive Director of the Government and Public Policy Institute and Senior Policy Fellow at the University of he Bahamas
3:15 p.m. | Break
3:30 p.m. | Session 4: Proactive Risk Management in the Era of Climate Change
- His Excellency Anthony Ferguson, Ambassador to New Zealand
- Carlos E. Palacious, M.Sc., P.Eng, P.E., PMP, Managing Principal, BRON
- Moderator: William Kennedy, CIO, RiskBridge Advisors and GIC Board Chair
4:15 p.m. | Closing Remarks
Zhivargo Laing, Executive Director of the Government and Public Policy Institute and Senior Policy Fellow at the University of The Bahamas
Event Location
Speakers
Danielle DiMartino Booth
CEO & Chief Strategist for Quill Intelligence LLCDanielle DiMartino Booth is CEO & Chief Strategist for Quill Intelligence LLC,a research and analytics firm. DiMartino Booth set out to launch a #ResearchRevolution, redefining how markets intelligence is conceived and delivered with the goal of not only guiding portfolio managers, but promoting financial literacy. To build QI, she brought together a core team of investing veterans to analyze the trends and provide critical analysis on what is driving the markets – both in the United States and globally.
Anthony Ferguson, CFA
President & Founder, CFALAnthony Ferguson, Certified Financial Analyst, Chartered Market Technician (CMT), and investment advisor, is President of CFAL, one of the leading investment firms in The Bahamas with over $1.9 billion in Assets Under Management.
Gabriella Fraser
Chair of Bahamas Statistical InstituteMs. A. Gabriella Fraser is an economist by training and brings with her extensive experience in socio-economic analysis, policy, and planning. She has also built a career in institutional strengthening and organizational capacity development, including corporate communications.
Michael B. Halkitis
Minister of Economic Affairs and leader of Government Business, Parliament of the BahamasThe Honorable Michael B. Halkitis was born on February 1st, 1969, in Nassau, Bahamas. He attended St Augustine’s College, and Mr. Halkitis began his post-secondary education at the College of the Bahamas and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Halkitis qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst in 1995. Mr. Halkitis was first elected to The Parliament of The Bahamas in 2002 and again in 2012. He currently serves as Minister of Economic Affairs and leader of Government Business in The Senate.
Janyne Hodder
Acting President of University of The BahamasJanyne Hodder became Acting President of University of The Bahamas on 1st July 2023, returning to the institution where she began her career in higher education. Ms. Hodder was President of the former College of The Bahamas from 2006 to 2010.
William Kennedy
GIC Board Chair and CEO, RiskBridge Advisors, LLCWilliam Kennedy is the co-founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of RiskBridge Advisors, an independent, full-service investment office serving insurers, endowments and foundations, and individual investors. He is responsible for RiskBridge’s business and investment activities and has over 30 years of capital market research and investment experience.
Tarron Khemraj, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and International Economics & William and Marie Selby Chair, New College of FloridaDr. Khemraj specializes in two primary research areas: the political economy of development with special emphasis on the English-speaking Caribbean and the Guianas (Guyana and Suriname); and monetary macroeconomics with focus on the United States and other developing economies. His recent monetary macroeconomic research examines exchange rate management and systems, as well as unconventional monetary policies ranging from quantitative easing in the United States to unorthodox central bank instruments for macroeconomic stabilization in small open developing economies. His book – Money, Banking and the Foreign Exchange Market in Emerging Economies – worked out the analytics of a system of one-sided sterilization in which the central bank sells an official security to target the bid-ask spread in the foreign exchange market for the purpose of maintaining economic stability. The book also demonstrates empirically the existence of a non-zero lower bound interest rate in several developing and emerging economies. The latter has implication for independent monetary policy and exchange rate adjustments. In his political economy research, he has published papers showing that in a bi-communal society people may vote to reinforce an underdevelopment trap; and structural production transformation requires elite agreement over the contestation for economic privileges.
David Kotok
Chief Investment Officer of Cumberland AdvisorsDavid Kotok co-founded Cumberland Advisors in 1973 and has been its Chief Investment Officer since inception. David’s articles and financial market commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and other publications. He is a frequent contributor to Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Radio, Yahoo Finance TV, and other media.
Zhivargo S. Laing
Executive Director and Senior Policy Fellow of the Government and Public Policy Institute (GPPI), University of The BahamasZhivargo Laing is a Bahamian economic consultant, former cabinet member and former member of the Bahamas House of Assembly for the Marco City Constituency. Mr. Laing has served as Minister of State in Youth, Sports and Culture, Minister of State in Education and Youth, Minister of Economic Development and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.
Leland R. Miller
Chief Executive Officer, China Beige Book InternationalLeland is the co-founder and CEO of China Beige Book, the world’s leading data analytics and economic-forecasting firm focused on China, as well as operator of the largest proprietary data-collection network ever developed to track a closed economy.
Carlos E. Palacious
Managing Principal, BRON Ltd.Meet Carlos Palacious – engineer by training, environmentalist by nature, entrepreneur at heart and executive by profession. He was the first Bahamian Coastal Engineer and is a licensed Professional Engineer in The Bahamas, Canada, and the USA. He also holds a global certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and is a licensed real estate salesperson in The Bahamas.
Donald Rissmiller
Founding Partner and Chief Economist of StrategasMr. Rissmiller is a founding Partner of Strategas and has directed the Firm's macroeconomic research efforts since 2006. He oversees Strategas' thematic research as well as high-frequency econometric forecasting.
John Rolle
Governor of the Central Bank of The BahamasMr. Rolle was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, in January, 2016.
Therese Turner-Jones
Director, Projects Department, Caribbean Development BankBorn in The Bahamas, Therese Turner-Jones is the Director of the Projects Department at the Caribbean Development Bank, which oversees the Bank's operations in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago.
Christopher J. Waller, Ph.D.
Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve SystemChristopher J. Waller took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on December 18, 2020, to fill an unexpired term ending January 31, 2030.
Wendy Warren
Former Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services BoardWendy Warren is the Founder and Managing Director of Caystone. Prior to establishing Caystone Solutions, Ms. Warren spent 11 years as CEO and Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial Services Board, a financial sector body that works closely with government, regulators and private industry to ensure The Bahamas provides global clients with best in class financial services. Following her time with BFSB, in 2012 Ms. Warren established Caystone, an operational family office focused on full corporate and fund administration services.
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