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The DI Wire Q&A: ADISA CEO John Harrison Discusses Upcoming Annual Conference

The direct investment industry’s largest trade association, The Alternative Direct Investment Securities Association (ADISA), will host its annual conference in Las Vegas beginning September 26th. The DI Wire recently sat down with CEO John Harrison to get a sneak peek.

What are some of the hot topics at the moment in the alternative space and will these be covered at ADISA’s Annual Conference & Trade Show later this month?

Of course, the hottest thing out there is the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, and its pending implementation. We’ve got several sessions on this from A to Z: the rule overall, on how the best interests contract exemption (BICE) can work, and a couple of practical sessions on implementation, including one on how it’s going to affect the industry overall. We will also take a look at the latest on 1031 offerings and what might politically be up for grabs there.

ADISA recently announced that it would set a new attendance record at this year’s annual conference. To what do you attribute this popularity?

First, it’s the annual check in point for everyone who’s anyone in the non-traded alternative space. Secondly, there’s a lot of education going on. We’ve actually concentrated the number of breakout sessions to emphasize more plenary –or general—sessions with professional speakers. The exhibit simply buzzes with excitement and innovation. We’re fortunate to have such an event for the industry, and it continues to grow.

Who attends your events?

I’d say of the 1,000 or so who attend, about half are involved in the retail end: broker-dealers, registered investment advisors (RIAs), financial advisers, and the other half are either involved in the issuing of new investment product in our space or are service providers to the space. We’ve also begun to expand to the family office space, with several new members attending from that segment.

What are you most looking forward to at the conference? Are there any unique educational sessions you’d like to point out?

Besides getting to see almost all of our members, I’m looking forward to meeting Joe Torre. There are some sessions I really want to attend as well: there’s a debate among the third party due diligence firms that should be riveting. Bob Rice gives a great talk on investment strategies and economic updates. We have a couple of new product areas coming in – a twist of some sort on the interval fund. We have research from the academia on real estate and 401k’s which should be good. We have some strong sales and marketing strategy sessions in the mix for RIAs, and even a couple of sessions dedicated to sponsors and their unique issues.

How can our readers register?

Registration’s easy. Just visit www.ADISA.org and click on the “Annual Meeting” images. BDs, RIAs, advisors and family offices can all attend for free.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Yes, don’t forget: we also have a golf outing right before the conference to benefit the ADISA Foundation, which provides scholarships to students in our space.

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