The novel coronavirus has caused Morningstar, the investment research and services company in Chicago trusted by millions of investors and financial advisors, to postpone its annual conference this summer. The three-day event was scheduled to take place June 3 to June 5.
To ensure the health and safety of its staff, volunteers, and attendees, the company made the decision Thursday to cancel the event, formally called the Morningstar Investment Conference, a spokesperson told RIA Intel.
The plan is to reschedule the conference for this fall and notify attendees of a new date in the coming weeks.
Thousands of financial advisors attend the event held every year at McCormick Place, the “largest and most flexible use convention center in North America,” according to its website. The facility has over 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space and is currently being transformed into an alternative care center to treat the anticipated growing number of patients suffering from complications related to the novel coronavirus, Covid-19.
Most, if not all, events scheduled to take place there through mid-July appear to be cancelled, according to the convention center’s calendar.
Every year, Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor presents an update on the company’s focus areas, and its observations of the financial advice industry, to the professionals who attend. But the event always attracts other high-profile people in financial services.
Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, as well as William Browder, the founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, and largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he was denied entry to the country for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies, were slated to speak at the conference.
Others in wealth management scheduled to speak were Alan Moore, the CEO of AdvicePay and the co-founder of the XY Planning Network, a support network for advisors looking to serve next generation clients; and Cathy Curtis, the founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning, an independent RIA in the San Francisco Bay area.
“We’ve made the decision to postpone the annual Morningstar Investment Conference, originally scheduled for June 3–5, to Fall 2020 in order to ensure the health and safety of our delegates, volunteers, and staff during the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We will share a new date for the event in the coming weeks,” a statement on the company website says.
“We wish you and your family health and safety and look forward to sharing new dates for the Morningstar Investment Conference soon.”
