| Hello Reader, Due to the intense interest in our flagship event, the Strategic Investment Conference, I decided to send you an early announcement today. I’m glad that our readers seem to be as excited as I am about this year’s SIC, which will again be held online. Please make sure to read this email carefully and save the dates. It also has a signup link that allows you to reserve your seat right away. Like last year, the virtual five-day SIC 2021 will take place on alternating days, spaced out over two weeks between Wednesday, May 5, and Friday, May 14. Event days will be May 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14. I know I’m saying every year that our next SIC will be the best ever… but somehow it always ends up being true. I have been a virtual attendee for the last 3–4 years. I thought that—by a considerable margin—this was the best SIC. Great speakers with very interesting and thoughtful things to say about our current situation. […] Great job on the conference!
—Bill M. My team and I are already hard at work to organize the agenda and enroll a great number of first-class presenters for this year’s event. We’ve already enlisted over two dozen speakers, among them some heavy hitters on the world stage. Let me give you a tiny taste. For example, at this year’s SIC, you’ll see billionaire investor Ron Baron. He is the chairman, CEO, and portfolio manager of the legendary Baron Funds, seven of which were featured in Kiplinger’s “Top Funds in 11 Categories” in 2020. Ron is a regular on CNBC’s Squawk Box—no wonder, because he always has interesting things to say. In his most recent appearance on the show, he discussed Tesla’s massive $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase. You’ll also see a return of Doug Kass, president of Seabreeze Partners Management and, until 1996, senior portfolio manager at Omega Advisors, a $6 billion investment partnership. Doug will be interviewing two outstanding guests. One of them is Byron Wien, vice chairman of Private Wealth Solutions at Blackstone, an investment firm that seems to have a monopoly on superlatives: the world’s largest private equity firm, the world’s most powerful alternative asset manager, and the world’s biggest commercial landlord. The other guest Doug will interview is Gerald R. Jordan, Jr., chairman, founder, and portfolio manager at Hellman, Jordan Management Company. Jerry was Doug’s mentor and is, according to Doug, “the smartest trader in the world.” This should be a fascinating conversation. Instead of just one or two, this year we’ll have three presenters who have at one time or another served in the most powerful organizations in the world. Richard Fisher is the former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He was part of the SIC faculty in 2016, and I’ve been trying to get him back ever since. Richard is an outspoken observer of Fed policy and market behavior. In a recent CNN interview, he commented on the extreme speculation in GameStop by retail investors, “I think we’ve had a bubble for some time. This is just icing on the cake. When things get out of control like this, it is a sign that you should be very worried.” I’m sure we’ll hear more from him along those lines. You may not know this, but our audience favorite Dr. Lacy Hunt—now executive VP and chief economist at HIMCO—used to be a senior economist at the Dallas Fed. Today, he is known to scare SIC attendees witless with his very accurate and very frightening data on debt, deficits, and the downward spiral the US finds itself in. To round out the list, we added Bill White again, who formerly served as economic adviser and head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the “banks’ bank,” aka the Bank of International Settlements. Today, Bill is a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and sees no reason anymore to mince his words when it comes to the fiscal insanity that seems to be par for the course in Washington these days. As I said, this is just a tiny fragment of the spectacle that awaits you in May. We’ve already enrolled 20 more speakers. And we’re not done yet… not by a long shot. The way the agenda is shaping up right now, I think we will have more speakers than last year. We’ll also have more of the animated panel discussions and fireside chats that are so highly popular with our audience. It was outstanding. I have been reading John Mauldin for many years but have never been able to afford to attend SIC. Being virtual allowed me to make it. Now I have to start saving up because I will do my best to not miss one! I especially enjoyed it when speakers debated each other. That is where the learning was at its peak. […] Seriously, every speaker was outstanding.
—David W. I hope this year you’ll be one of these happy, excited attendees. My team and I will keep you updated along the way. However, I recommend you get your SIC 2021 Pass today to take advantage of the discounted pricing. Your thrilled to see another exquisite SIC come together analyst, John Mauldin
Co-founder, Mauldin Economics | 