As VP of Conferences for Summit Business, which promotes the Hard Assets Conferences through its International Investment Conferences subsidiary, Jonathan Moore has a big interest in how things are going. So we took the opportunity at the recent San Francisco Hard Assets Investment Conference to get his views.
“We're really pleased with it this year,” he says. “Despite the uncertainty that's going on in the market right now, our attendance continues to surge. San Francisco is always the strongest program in our portfolio. We continue to see, each year, more professional investors, more focused investors. So we're very happy with it. There's never a show where you couldn’t have more attendees but I think we're very pleased with where we are right now.”
Regular Speakers
The speakers this year have included many who have made the event a success in the past — Jim Dines, Rick Rule, Ian McAvity, Mickey Fulp and Tom O'Brien among them. Jonathan rates them as experts in their field, with a strong and loyal following that helps to drive up the attendance at the conference. He also believes they play a big part in making their subject move more into the mainstream: “The idea of hard asset investments has finally got out in the public forum and, as a result of that, I think that's what partly drives the attendance component that we have along with the elevated level of interest that we start to see year after year.”
There were 224 companies at the event this year and many of the people representing them have been in the business for a long time. They've either stayed with the same company or have experience with several companies, which Jonathan believes gives a greater opportunity for investors who attend the show: “You get a very neat opportunity here to not only hear from those experts that get up on the dais but also to talk to the executives that are running the companies. That's where the magic of the show really starts to happen.”
A big attraction of the show, he thinks, is bringing together investors, existing and potential, with the unique investment opportunities that are available. Whether the opportunity is gold, silver, rare earths or whatever, investors have the chance to walk away from the show with something that's well worth the visit.
New Features
There are regular favorites at the show, such as the Bulls and Bears session, plus new features that include the Up and Comers Panel. “One of the things we want to try to do is to find and put on the map the next Jim Dines,” explains Jonathan. “So we've got a group of upstarts that are going to come and share their thoughts and ideas. We're really excited about that. It's something we've been trying to put together for a while now, trying to identify who that group is and give them the forum and opportunity to discuss some things.”
Another new feature is the Rare Earth Summit, which is a one-day program specifically dedicated to rare earths for the sophisticate investor. Jonathan says: “It's got a very deep line-up as far as expertise with regards to rare earths and covers the whole spectrum. It runs from eight o'clock in the morning to five o'clock at night. It's a new event for us with regards to the content here at the Hard Assets summit and it should be a good show.”
Future Events
After San Francisco, the next Hard Assets is the New York show on 14-15 May 2012 at the Marriott Marquis. “It's been there for years and years,” comments Jonathan. “It's a great program and last year we had a great audience. There's a lot of high level investors at that show. That's one of the things we've been really proud of with regards to how we've advanced that program and gained a lot more quality investors.”
Later that year, on 21-22 September, there's a new venue with the Chicago Hard Assets Conference being launched at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Jonathan says: “We'll be taking the expertise we have in hard asset investment and bringing it to Chicago and the Mid West.
“We're really excited to have it as addition to the portfolio and it's something we've had on the shortlist to go and do for a while. Now we've pulled a lot of the participants here with respect to our exhibitors and sponsors and they've all been very supportive of the concept. It should be a great opportunity for us and it's the next logical advancement of the product line.”
However, that's looking ahead. For now, he's just happy with the way the latest show has gone: “It's another great San Francisco program and it's always wonderful to come to this city. The hard assets investment crowd here is quite passionate and they come out for the event. I think they have some very strong expectations with regards to what they'll get here. That's in regard to the content and they types of companies that we have and I think we've delivered again for them so we're really proud of that.”