PITTSBURGH, April 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A steering committee of investment and community leaders is working to stage a public company equity conference in Pittsburgh, providing a forum for Pennsylvania public companies to present to and interact with professional money managers and analysts.
The INVESTPennsylvania Equity Conference, scheduled to take place December 6 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, will allow CEOs and CFOs from Pennsylvania public companies of many sizes and industries to reach the investment community.
The audience for these formal presentations and one-on-one meetings includes members of the CFA Society of Pittsburgh, plus analysts who follow participating Pennsylvania companies, institutional investors, pension funds and other money managers in the region and beyond.
"We saw the success of other state-focused equity conferences and have long felt that Pennsylvania would benefit from such an event bringing together these groups," said Todd Douds, a member of the CFA Society of Pittsburgh and an institutional investment consultant.
To push the concept forward, the CFA Society contacted an organization which has staged equity conferences in Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana and Kentucky, bringing together companies such as Macys, FedEx, Yum Brands, Eli Lilly and other public companies representing various industry sectors and market capitalizations. Terry McWilliams, president of Mozaic Investor Relations, Inc. and chairman of INVEST conferences in those states, will assume a similar role with the INVESTPennsylvania Equity Conference.
"In all of our conferences, we see that local and regional investment professionals are eager to meet senior management face to face and hear their equity stories," said McWilliams. "In addition, executives are anxious to reach potential new investors with information about their value proposition."
In addition to McWilliams and Douds, these investment and community members are serving on the INVESTPA steering committee:
- Malcolm Polley, President, CFA Society of Pittsburgh; Executive Vice President & Managing Director, S&T Wealth Management, and President and Chief Investment Officer, Stewart Capital Advisors LLC
- Bill Flanagan, Executive Vice President – Corporate Relations, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
- Patrick Kane, President, Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute, and Director, Investor Relations, EQT Corporation
- Dorothea Cernera, NASDAQ OMX
- John Roppo, CFA, CFA Society of Pittsburgh; Chief Financial Officer, Select International
- Stuart B. Strasner, CFA Society of Pittsburgh; Senior Investment Advisor, Vice President, PNC Wealth Management
- Mark Baer, Partner, and Elisabeth Hessler, Marketing Executive, Crowe Horwath LLP
- Manoharlal Sukhwani, PhD, CFA; Director, CFA Society of Pittsburgh; Assistant Professor, Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration, University of Pittsburgh
Flanagan, who was the staff lead for The Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership in 2009, welcomes this conference and what it means to Pittsburgh.
"The G-20 summit raised the level of global interest in our region for its story of economic transformation," said Flanagan. "Pittsburgh remains a major U.S. corporate center, with above average growth in jobs related to 'management of companies.' INVESTPennsylvania has the potential to highlight these companies and the diverse opportunity they represent for a wide range of investment choices for fund managers and institutional investors locally and from the East Coast."
As the conference progresses, the steering committee will expand to include representatives of the presenting public companies and supporting sponsors. Crowe Horwath, a professional consulting firm that provides audit, tax, risk, advisory and performance services to public companies across the country, is a lead sponsor of the INVESTPennsylvania conference and other equity events in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky along with NASDAQ OMX and Mozaic Investor Relations.
The day-long equity event in Pittsburgh allows CEOs and CFOs from Pennsylvania public companies to present their results and outlook in formal sessions and meet one on one with analysts and institutional investors. The conference also features keynote speakers who provide analysis on economic and investment topics.
The INVESTPennsylvania logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12324
Media and corporate participation contact: Terry McWilliams, chairman, INVESTPA, 412.567.3818 or 502.727.5696 or terrym@mozaicir.com. Investment community contact: Todd Douds, CFA Society of Pittsburgh, 412.491.2967 or tdouds@gmail.com.