President's Letter
Dear WAMM community:
I couldn’t be more thrilled to serve as President of the Washington Association of Money Managers (WAMM) for the 2023-2024 program year. Last program year was marked by thought-provoking panels and engaging discussions, which couldn’t have been possible without the high level of engagement from the WAMM community. WAMM is back (in-person) and better than ever!
In addition to hosting our usual monthly meetings at the National Press Club, we took the show on the road and held several of the events at our corporate sponsors’ headquarters. A very special thank you go to Fundrise and ProShares for welcoming WAMM members at their offices. WAMM closed out the year off with a well-attended social gathering at the beautiful Turnberry Tower giving us a chance to catch up with old friends and add new contacts to our professional networks. To keep the momentum going, we are busy planning more social events to give the WAMM community an opportunity to get together and celebrate our victories, big and small.
I would be remiss not to mention the continued dedication of our officers and Board of Directors: Derek Horstmeyer, VP, Program Chair; Sylvia Bargas, VP, Membership; Jeff Youngen, Treasurer; Otilia Ciotau, Secretary; and Steven Davidson, Ralph Giraud, Laurie Hunsicker, Noreen Miyake-Char, Michael Olsen, Christine Song, Directors. Their commitment to WAMM’s success is unparallel and makes all the difference!
Our 2023-2024 season will begin on September 27th with a Commercial Real Estate panel featuring Floris van Dijkum of Compass Point Research, Ryan Riel of EagleBank, and Vaibhav Vish of FJ Capital. As a special treat, the meeting will take place on George Mason University’s Mason Square campus located at 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA. The event is free for individual, student, and institutional members. Additional details will be shared on this site and via email closer to the date.
Don’t wait to join WAMM or to renew your membership by clicking here. WAMM membership offers great value, including substantial discounts compared to the non-member price at program events. Membership is available to individuals, as well as institutions. Institutional membership is a great way to provide informative programming to your employees, clients, or students at the lower member rate. Institutional members also have the option to be listed as supporters on our website.
Financial markets remain volatile, and news are changing rapidly. To guide us through this challenging environment, we plan to continue WAMM’s great tradition of inviting outstanding speakers with well-deserved national and global reputations. Please see the Addendum to this letter for a sampling of additional programs we are currently working on. As always, we are happy to hear suggestions from our members on the topics and speakers they’d like to be featured at our meetings. Thank you again for your continued engagement and support of WAMM as we further develop into one of the premier public organizations in the DMV area geared toward the finance professionals. I look forward to your participation in our events for years to come!
Best regards,
Pauline Bell
President, Washington Association of Money Managers
Programs planned for 2023-24
• October 2023: E-Commerce and Retail Sector Roundup panel to prepare for the holiday shopping season and discuss the current trends and investing opportunities.
• October 2023: Social gathering to connect (or reconnect) with the WAMM community.
• November 2023: Macroeconomic Outlook panel to address growth expectations for 2024.
Stay tuned for additional program announcements for the 2023-24 program year!