"Be Bold" was the theme of Charles Schwab ‘Impact’ 2010 financial conference. And, would you live your life any other way? As a manager with the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and later, traveling on behalf of my own company, Cornell Capital Management, I have attended hundreds of financial trade conferences. There are two that clearly stand out from all the rest. The first, for managed money, is hosted by Charles Schwab Institutional (NYSE:SCHW) and was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center from October 26-29. The second, primarily for hedge funds, is the GAIM conference and will be held in Boca Raton January 18th-20, 2011.

The Schwab show is unusual because everybody who is anybody in the world of managed money is there. All the biggest money managers, over 275 mutual funds and 50 of the top tier providers of 3rd party information (think Morningstar) are there. In addition, they have excellent speakers. This year was no exception. Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave the keynote speech "On the Brink: An Insider's Account of the US Financial Crisis in 2008." Also speaking were former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, Harvard professor/author Daniel Gilbert (Stumbling on Happiness) and political strategist Greg Valliere. CNBC journalist Tyler Mathesin was the moderator of the discussion on the future of social media featuring Chris Hughes, Biz Stone and noted futurist Gerd Leonhard. Maria Bartiromo, host of CNBC’s Closing Bell, was live from the floor of the conference during the afternoon session.

Schwab is known for attracting excellent speakers to its educational sessions. Many of the sessions were standing room only. The sessions were broken down into practice management, investments/trusts and retirement plans, and technology and trading. Some of the most popular sessions were Marketing Strategies to Attract Family Wealth Management Clients, A non-US Perspective on Global Equities focusing on Emerging Markets, Spread Sectors; Compelling Opportunities in Fixed Income, Accessing Alternative Strategies: Practical Considerations in Implementing Risk Management and Asset Allocation Concepts, The End of Bonds: Fixed Income investing in a Zero Interest World, Tips on How to Trade ETF's and Build Efficient Portfolios, Understanding Managed Futures, Redefining decoupling - What's ahead for Asia in the Next Decade, and my personal favorite, The Challenge Behind Successfully Executing Your Strategies.

In addition to the educational sessions, Schwab had over 275 mutual funds in attendance. Many had their CEO and/or head traders available to answer questions about their products. This gave Schwab attendees the opportunity to drill down into the numbers behind the products that they were thinking about investing in, either for themselves or for their clients. All the largest mutual funds were in attendance...Blackrock, Ariel, SPDR, Janus, Calamos, Invesco, DWS, Rydex, etc. What I found fascinating were the smaller funds that had unusual, alternative or niche strategies and because of their space, could compete head-on with the big boys. Some of these included:

• Gold Funds: As you would guess, gold was particularly popular this year. Does that mean a top is near? Dynamic Gold and Precious Metals Fund is up 27.19% as of 3rd quarter 2010, 48.67% YTD and 72.84% over the last 12 months. DundeeWealth’s Amy Duling had a compelling argument for investing in gold, including the growth of the federal debt (over 12 trillion and growing) and the fact that gold is still "cheap" relative to its historical inflation adjusted price. Van Eck has a Gold Miners ETF that is designed to mirror the NYSE Arco Gold Miners Index. The ETF has done well this year, and the share price was up 37.72% (for the last 12 months) as of 6/30/2010.
• Product Specific Funds (Teucrium Corn Fund), IronFund’s Iron Fund, Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund)
• Investor Specific Funds (Gabelli Green, ESG): All the funds could be purchased directly from Schwab.

Schwab also had many of the managers on their Alternative Investment Source platform in attendance.

Also in attendance were companies that provide targeted services to money managers and their clients. Michael Stier and his crew at Adhesion Advisor Solutions had a most unusual platform that combine reporting, investing, outsourcing, and managing client funds. While Adhesion provides the tracking of client information (like Advent or Portfolio Center) they also invest funds via UMA accounts for investment advisors (like Callan Associates) and are in the process of rolling out tools to help advisors track the metrics of their investment business. They expect to have the new features available during the first or second quarter 2011.

Attendees to the Schwab conference were from all over the US. Many had successful marketing programs that they had put together either by themselves or with a partner. The average investment advisor at the program managed about one hundred million dollars, and most managed significantly more.

One of the most dynamic teams we encountered was Jason Gordo and Jeffrey Burrow, co-owners of Valley Wealth Inc. in Modesto, CA. While half their business is in traditional managed accounts, the other half is in 401K funds, a field that many investment managers ignore. What struck me as unusual about this team was their marketing creativity and savvy. While many of the Schwab sessions focused on how advisors could reach out to new centers of influence (CIO) and market to accountants and lawyers, both Jason and Jeff seemed to have grown beyond this rather basic strategy. Their marketing was geared to working with the local businesses of their community through a variety of ingenious presentations that drew local business into their sphere of influence. Both owners are originally from the Central Valley area, and both are still active in their community.

In addition to the blue chip roster of speakers, educational sessions and access to mutual fund CEOs, Schwab knows how to keep their faithful comfortable. Three days is a long time to be sitting in a conference, and Schwab worked with their vendors to provide creature comforts seldom seen at most other conference. There was always some type of food between the breaks of the educational sessions. They had a bookstore, social media lounge to expand your proficiency in Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin and a cyber lounge to check up on your e-mail. In addition, there were free shoe shines and chair massages to keep the body buff.

If you are interested in managed money, this is defiantly the conference to attend. In 2011 the Schwab ‘Impact’ Conference will be held in San Francisco, CA. where the headquarters of Charles Schwab is located. After attending over a dozen of the Schwab ‘Impact’ conferences over the years, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Dave Hartzell, in foreground with the black "Got Alpha?" T-shirt and yellow press pass, watches as Maria Bartiromo broadcasts CNBC Closing Bell 'Live' from the floor of the Schwab 'Impact' 2010 financial conference.