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Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance 2012

The $2.9 trillion municipal-debt market has undergone tremendous change with the lingering effects of the European sovereign-debt crisis and the U.S. recession on state and local government finances across the country. Municipal governments received $630 billion of federal money in 2010, according to the Census Bureau. States must close at least $40 billion of budget deficits in the fiscal year starting in July, according to the National Governors Association, even after $500 billion of gaps were addressed over the past four years. Topics at the Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance conference will include pension reform and challenges, regulation and oversight in the muni market, budget battles, and high-yield muni strategies.

Bloomberg Asset Management Summit

Demand to protect U.S. stocks from losses is exceeding levels seen in Europe by the most since 2008 on concern that sluggish global economic growth will undo the biggest first-quarter rally in American shares in 14 years. The sentiment is mixed among investors although many foresee a correction in the U.S. following double-digit returns in the first quarter of this year. And with the presidential elections around the corner, how should investors position themselves against this political backdrop? The Bloomberg Asset Management Summit will gather top money managers, hedge funds, bankers, and economists to help us identify the best investment strategies and provide their outlook on the state of the country in light of a highly contentious election year.

Bloomberg Defense Conference

The United States defense budget accounts for 43% of the world's military spending, an amount larger than the combined budgets of the next 10 military powers. With declining federal revenues and pressure to reduce the U.S. deficit, there are hard choices ahead as defense, White House and congressional leaders grapple with dramatically smaller budgets. The Pentagon is cutting $487 billion from its spending over the next 10 years and may face an additional $500 billion in cuts if Congress and the Obama administration don’t reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. deficit. The conference will aim to determine the US' current and future role in the military world, find ways to balance defense costs and budget cuts, and identify opportunities there might be for investors in the defense industry.

Bloomberg AARP Thought Series

At the forefront of the election year is the ongoing debate surrounding entitlement spending and the legislation being put forward by our current administration, and the challenges the next term faces. According to a Bloomberg Government study, health insurers are poised to gain $1 trillion in new revenue over the next eight years under the 2010 health- care law, assuming it is upheld by the Supreme Court. The amount is equal to about one-half percent of the nation’s estimated GDP from 2013 to 2020. Meanwhile the U.S. government has said that the budget outlook for social security is getting grim with its primary trust fund projected to be exhausted by 2035; the Medicare health-care program is said to run out of money in 2014. What is the forecast for when Medicare runs out of money? How can this be addressed? How can it be funded? Bloomberg LINK, in conjunction with AARP, is hosting a thought series which will focus on the outlook for social security reform, medicare reform,and general health care reform. The conference will address these issues in addition to the challenges facing these programs and the potential options. This half-day event will gather the nation's top leaders in the industry to engage in a thought-provoking dialogue about one of the most crucial and urgent issues we face.

Bloomberg Brazil Economic Summit

As Brazil’s economy cools, the country is gearing up for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics injecting billions into an infrastructure upgrade. Latin America's biggest economy has been struggling to cope with the currency rally, which has nearly halved the country's trade surplus from a record $47.8 billion in May 2007. To try and reverse that trend, worsened as rich nations see their currencies weaken with interest rates near zero, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has already slapped higher tariffs on imports, raised taxes on foreign investment inflows and taken steps to boost consumption. Rousseff has ordered tax cuts and other stimulus measures worth about 65 billion reais ($35 billion) to protect the country's struggling industry from what she said were "predatory" trade practices by rich nations. The Bloomberg Brazil Economic Summit will cover opportunities for investors in Brazil and look at how investors should position themselves in the current market and political environment.