It’s that time of year again – the Sohn Investment Conference is approaching on May 8 at Lincoln Center in New York City. The conference will feature an outstanding lineup of speakers, and we’re particularly excited to see that Bill Ackman will be returning to the stage this year.
For 22 years, the Conference has gathered the global financial community for a day of exciting market insights presented by the world’s top investors, all to benefit the Sohn Conference Foundation’s fight against pediatric cancer. Thanks to the generosity of attendees, the Foundation has raised more than $75 million to fund innovative research and treatment for pediatric cancer and other childhood diseases. The Foundation honors the legacy of Ira Sohn, a budding Wall Street professional who lost his battle with cancer at age 29.
Sohn is known around the world for its high caliber of speakers. Investors have made legendary calls at this event, such as David Einhorn’s 2008 bet against Lehman Brothers, just months before the bank collapsed. More than 3,000 people will convene at Lincoln Center to hear from some of the most brilliant investing minds, including:
- Bill Ackman: After a brief break from Sohn last year, he’s back this year to share his best new bet. He has a special connection to Sohn through the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, which awards grants to innovative scientists supporting Sohn’s mission. His past Sohn picks include Procter & Gamble and Family Dollar.
- Tal Ben-Shahar: He taught Harvard’s most popular and third most popular courses, respectively: “Positive Psychology” and “The Psychology of Leadership.” He’s also known for his TED Talks on happiness, and Sohn attendees will receive copies of his book Being Happy: You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Lead a Richer, Happier Life.
- David Einhorn: A Sohn regular, we expect him to present another short bet this year. Past Sohn picks include shorting fracking companies in his infamous “mother fracker” presentation and his prescient call to short Lehman Brothers just months before they collapsed.
- Debra Fine: Her fund predominantly manages U.S. equity assets for university endowments and foundations with long investment time horizons, so we expect to see a thoughtful long pick from her.
- Brad Gerstner: Dubbed the “online travel king,” by Bloomberg, his activist campaign was responsible for a major restructuring of the United Airlines board and management team in 2016.
- Jeffrey Gundlach: The “new bond king” is back for another Sohn presentation. Last year, he predicted a Trump’s electoral victory last year and anticipated that his presidency would be fueled by debt.
- Keith Meister: He last spoke at Sohn in 2015, pitching the idea that Yum! Brands should spin off its China business, which it eventually did in November 2016. His fund is one of the most well-known activist hedge funds.
- Chamath Palihapitiya: The Facebook executive turned investor recently sold his Facebook stock and poured it all into Amazon, his pick at last year’s Sohn Conference. We’re looking forward to hearing what the Golden State Warriors owner is looking to invest in next.
- Josh Resnick: His fund focuses on global technology, media, and telecommunications investments. While his fund tends to stay under the radar of the general public, we feel it’s worth paying attention to as it tends to generate very strong returns.
- Clifton S. Robbins: As a well-known activist investor who only invests in a company unless its management is receptive to his ideas, we’re looking to him to share his pick of the next company that has the potential unlock real value for investors.
- Larry Robbins: Last year, he advised Sohn attendees to “hang on tight.” We’ll find out this year if his advice will be equally conservative.
- Davide Serra: He’s a frequent advisor to central banks on monetary policy, an expert on financial reform, and has spoken with the media about his thoughts on the Fed and interest rates.
- Kevin Warsh: He was the Fed’s primary liaison to Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis and is now a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
You even have the chance to join these notable investors as a speaker at the Sohn Conference by entering the Sohn Investment Idea Contest, sponsored by GLG. Anyone with an investment idea for a marketable security (long or short) with a market capitalization above $1 billion can enter the contest. Entrants will have their idea judged by Bill Ackman, David Einhorn, Joel Greenblatt, Seth Klarman and Larry Robbins, and the winner will present their idea on the Sohn stage. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity isn’t open for long – the deadline to enter is coming up on April 26.
We’ll be at the Sohn Investment Conference covering all the market-moving investment picks. Hope to see you there!
