Some 700 members of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada are expected to congregate at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the IFIC leadership conference, “Influencing the Future.”

The conference starts Monday afternoon, October 1, with the annual members meeting, and continues through Wednesday.

The conference features an address from Quebec finance minister, Monique Jérôme-Forget. Only weeks after disagreeing with federal finance minister Jim Flaherty’s call for a single securities regulator, Jérôme-Forget will speak Wednesday on the “Passport Regime in the Securities Industry.”

Tuesday morning sessions also promise to “be very lively” says Pam Calleja director, member services at IFIC. Remarks by Joanne DeLaurentiis, IFIC president and CEO and IFIC chairman Robert Frances, president and CEO, PEAK Financial Group will be followed by a regulators’ panel moderated by Keith Damsell from Franklin Templeton Canada.

Panel members include: Bill Rice, Alberta Securities Commission; Doug Hyndman, British Columbia Securities Commission; and David Wilson, Ontario Securities Commission. The panel will address issues that impact the mutual fund industry, such as fund governance, registration reform, and the passport model.

An industry panel later in the day will discuss the need for retirement savings and its consequences on product development.

Also on Wednesday, Angela Marzolino, the vice chairman of Pollara will discuss the results of IFIC’s second annual survey of Canadian mutual fund investors, giving the IFIC membership a look into the mind of consumers. Several seminars Wednesday discuss branding and its place in the industry.

The conference program strikes a balance between professional and business development. In addition to seminars on different aspects of compliance, tax matters, and operation, there are session on building business and building productive relations.

Dr. Brian Little, a professor of psychology at Carleton University, in Ottawa, will talk about the ways personalities interact differently and how such an understanding benefits both professional and personal spheres.

Donald Cooper, of Cooper Sports Equipment, will talk about “leadership from the trenches” making a business thrive, despite a competitive market place.