The Investment Industry Association of Canada is holding its annual conference in Banff, Alberta from June 22 through to June 24.

The IIAC will host 145 delegates from among its 198 member firms. It is the 92nd annual conference, but only the third since the IIAC separated from the Investment Dealers Association in 2006.

The Annual General Meeting will be the first order of business on Sunday afternoon. The program for the two day conference is a dense in one in reply to delegate concerns at being out of the office for several days. The conference will wind up on Tuesday with the Terry Melling Memorial Golf Tournament.

The conference titled “Navigating the Road Ahead: Building paths for success” offers a variety of speakers that should appeal to both the IIAC’s retail and its institutional members. “We have tried to really focus on the business of our members” said IIAC president and CEO, Ian Russell in Toronto, “We think there is something in the program for everybody”.

Coming off successful lobbying efforts this past year as well as strong programming initiatives to keep its membership abreast of regulatory developments, addressing the regulatory burden for its members will remain the focus for the IIAC in the years to come. Russell, as president and CEO will review the IIAC’s accomplishment in the past year. Timothy Price, the IIAC chairman will address the tax and regulatory changes that Canada needs for the investment industry to thrive.

Several sessions count towards continuing education credits for compliance and professional development.

Among the highlights for retail market members Earl Bederman, president, Investor Economics, will discuss the emerging trends in the retail brokerage industry in Canada. Ellen Bessner, a partner at Gowlings LLP and author of Advisor at Risk: A roadmap to protecting your business will talk about identifying and addressing compliance risks for the retail advisor.

Sessions from Rebecca MacDonald, the executive chairwoman and the co-CEO of Energy Savings Income Fund, who will discuss the effect of deregulation energy markets on consumer behaviour and the financial markets, and Sheryl Kennedy, the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada who will discuss real estate, mortgage markets and monetary policy will be of more pointed interest to institutional members.

Jackie Chung, the president of Competitive Metrics Inc. will talk about evolving trading technology and consequences for Canada’s traditional markets and brokers. Glen Goucher, senior vp of the Montreal Exchange will talk about Canadian derivative markets.

Thomas Connell, head of Canadian operations at Standard & Poor’s, will talk on recent developments on the credit market.

No program would be complete without a talk on the regulatory environment — Edward J. Waitzer, a partner at Stikeman Elliot LLP and a former head of the Ontario Securities Commission, will talk about the processes and mechanisms that must be in working order before reforms to securities regulations can be effectively implemented.

For more details, visit the IIAC Web site.