Capitalize for Kids is hosting its 7th Annual Best Ideas Investors Conference on October 21-22, 2020. While this year’s conference will be delivered in a virtual environment, we are excited by the speaker list we have developed. At its core, our organization is focused on a vision of supporting the development of the world’s most efficient kids’ mental health care sector right here in Canada. The efforts of our impact team have been supported by fundraising that is delivered by the investors conference. Now into our seventh year, we have raised more than $8 million in support of kids’ mental health. We owe much of our success to our Bay Street supporters, many of whom have backed the organization since its nascent start in 2013; CIBC, TD, RBC, BMO and Scotiabank have been keen supporters of our investors conference. In addition to their monetary support, in many instances they have worked with us to deliver best-in-class speakers that would draw additional sponsors and attendees. Through the course of these blogs, we will highlight all our sponsors and supporters since without their tireless efforts, the investors conference would not be possible. When you buy a ticket you will get access to both days of the conference, a charitable receipt worth ∼70% of the ticket price, a 21% discount on the 2021 conference ticket and satisfaction that you have supported kids’ mental health.
When this event started, it was a focus of Jeff and Kyle to bring together some of the most sought-after investment minds in North America to Toronto. At the time, it was a unique offering in Canada: a not-for-profit hosting an investment conference whose aim was bringing together those with capital with those seeking capital—a “cap intro” program was born. We charged a premium price, but this was not just a fundraiser, it was truly an opportunity for business to be conducted, where there was the added by-product that the proceeds went to a compelling charity platform. Today, we are expected to have almost 100 representatives from the family office marketplace, 50 to 75 from the institutional allocator marketplace, 75 to 100 individual investors and more than 100 executives from the institutional buy-side and sell-side market. Together, this financial community will raise over $1 million to support kids’ mental health.
This year we have the distinct pleasure of hosting five keynote speakers, all renowned in their own right. On October 21, we will have Nelson Peltz open the conference with a fireside chat with Mario Therrien of Caisse de dépôt. In 2005, Peltz, along with Peter May and Ed Garden, co-founded an activist investment firm named Trian Fund Management, LP.; according to its website, “Trian seeks to invest in high quality but undervalued and underperforming public companies and to work collaboratively with management teams and boards to help companies execute operational and strategic initiatives designed to drive long-term sustainable earnings growth for the benefit of all shareholders.” In the depths of COVID-19, we will be intrigued to hear this fireside conversation. As an investor that has traditionally focused on value opportunities, the public market has clearly created opportunities for Trian as it has bifurcated between the haves of technology and the have-nots of everything else. We are also looking for a little light to be shone on ESG factors, something that both Caisse de dépôt and Trian have focused attention on. With the extensive social unrest and coming election in America, there should be an excellent opportunity to discuss the influence of ESG practices on Trian’s investments.
October 21, 2020
8:35 AM – KEYNOTE: Nelson Peltz, Trian Fund Management; Fireside Chat with Mario Therrien, CDPQ
9:00 AM – Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, Tudor Investment Corporation
9:20 AM – Malcolm Levine, Dendur Capital
9:40 AM – Alex Roepers, Atlantic Investment Management
Following the Nelson Peltz presentation, we are excited to host a trio of seasoned investment professionals in the Best Ideas Session starting at 9 am. Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi from Tudor will get us started. She holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland (1995) where she graduated first in her class and a PhD in Finance (2000) from the London School of Economics and Political Science. While the COVID-19 impacts are unprecedented in many ways, as a student of the market, she sees the collision of technology and the pandemic as creating many opportunities. She has cited how adaptive companies sporting effective technologies can accelerate the consumer experience such that better experiences create new habits—who needs to go to the gym if you can achieve an effective virtual workout at home? For her past presentations, Ulrike has focused on technology that can deliver innovation and transformation. In 2018, she pitched MongoDB (MDB: NASDAQ), and in 2019, Ulrike picked Alteryx Inc. (AYX:NYSE) and Twilio Inc. (TWLO:NYSE). With the community impact of COVID-19 and technology company valuations that seem to have no earthly bounds, it will be interesting to hear Ulrike’s views on October 21, 2020.
Malcolm Levine of Dendur Capital is a newcomer to the Capitalize for Kids stage. Still in his thirties, and a Stanford University grad, Malcolm has cut his teeth with some of the high-profile hedge fund complexes, having spent almost five years at Apollo Global Management and then seven years at Corvex Management before striking out on his own in early 2018 with the founding of Dendur Capital, which ultimately launched in 2019. The largest pension fund in Canada (CPPIB) invests in Dendur, which employs an event-driven strategy that combines deep fundamental research with rigorous event analysis applied through a market lens. Dendur invests across the capital structure with an orientation towards equities and focuses on a concentrated portfolio of longs and shorts built around idiosyncratic situations with compelling risk/reward profiles. We are excited to have Malcolm on our virtual stage to take us through what is compelling to the organization during this pandemic. An interesting tidbit: 13F Filings for Dendur Capital and another of our presenters (Eminence Capital) show they own or have owned World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE).
Our final presenter before the break is Alex Roepers of Atlantic Investments. Alex has been gracious enough to support Capitalize for Kids every other year, starting with our very first conference in 2014. Atlantic is a fundamental, value-oriented equity investment firm founded by Alex in 1988. The firm’s investing methodology is differentiated by its well-defined universe of quality, publicly traded industrial/consumer companies; concentration of capital on high-conviction investments; substantial due diligence; “gentlemanly” engagement with managements and boards to enhance and accelerate shareholder value; strict adherence to its buy/sell cash-flow-focused valuation discipline; and maintenance of liquidity for trading around positions. One thing in this session that we won’t see agreement on—Alex and Ulrike won’t agree on buying high-tech investments as the Atlantic team does not invest in the sector.
After the break, we will highlight one of our partners where we have engaged in some impact work. Capitalize for Kids deploys the revenues from the conference to deliver consulting capabilities and fund expenditures that support operational changes at our beneficiaries. Like many of the investors that come to our stage to present, Capitalize for Kids believes that data-supported decision making is key to identifying foundational changes that can be delivered to achieve meaningful organizational change. Many of our presenters come from a background of activist engagement. We work with our beneficiary management teams to identify core business challenges, co-create with management the most compelling solutions and engage in the change management process with management. Again, we gather data and measure impact from our changes and course-correct where necessary. We then fund any changes that we have identified for a period of three years, to ensure that these solutions are effective. Huge thanks to all our sponsors, donors, table and ticket purchasers who support this critical work. We look forward to seeing you on October 21-22, 2020 – you can buy your ticket here.