The Asia Pacific Association for Fiduciary Studies (APAFS) held its fifth in a series of regional Institutional Funds Management Country Conferences, on Friday, Aug. 22 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Azucena I & II of the Fiesta Resort & Spa in Saipan.

Fiduciaries take the critical role of handling the vast majority of the world’s investable wealth.  The success or failure of investment fiduciaries will have a material impact on the financial health of any institutional fund and its beneficiaries.  Cognizant of the fiduciaries’ responsibilities, the APAFS aims to help define the details of a fiduciary’s prudent investment process through the series of conferences in the region.

The Saipan conference focused on the theme, “Defining a Global Fiduciary Standard of Excellence,” which instructs anyone involved in the investments process such as trustees, committee members, advisors, attorneys and others on how they can improve fiduciary services, including:

• The roles and responsibilities of an investment fiduciary.
• The substantiated Prudent Practices that define the Global Fiduciary Standards of Excellence.
• The benefits of having defined fiduciary Practices.
• The process for assessing conformance to a Standard of Excellence.

The conference boasted presentations from recognized experts on the latest trends and best practices affecting institutional funds today.

AIF instructor, Phillip Mendiola-Long who holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation led the seminar on a four-part presentation entitled, “The Prudent Process.”  The AIF designation is awarded through the successful completion of a course of study at the Center for Fiduciary Studies (CFS) at the University of Pittsburg, Katz School of Business.

Don Clark, vice president, ASC Trust Corp. presented the “Update on Defined Contribution Retirement Plans in the CNMI.”

Jason Miyashita, AIF, moderated the panel discussion on “Domestic Capital Outlook.”  Panelists included Jim Staub, senior VP, Atalanta Sosnoff Capital Management and Mark J. Heath, CFA senior VP, Metropolitan West Capital Management.

Plans for the 8th Annual Pacific Region Investment Conference to be held on October 9th & 10th in Manila Philippines were presented as well.

The conference is the fifth in a series of country conferences held throughout the year by APAFS.  The first event was held in Palau on April 22, Yap on June 4, Majuro on July 29 and Aug. 19 in Pohnpei each boasting over 50 participants who received a Certificate of Completion at the end of each program.

The objective of the organization is to provide educational programs for members in the jurisdictions of Palau, Guam, CNMI, FSM and Marshall Islands, expanding to other areas as opportunities arise. These country conferences are one of the primary goals of the association, to hold topic-specific conferences as requested by members in their jurisdiction.

For more information about APAFS, the country conferences and the 8th Annual Pacific Region Investment Conference, you may directly access their website at www.apafs.org.