Now in its sixth year,The Quebec City Conference is attended by leaders of the cross-border investment communities and institutional investors from the US, UK, Europe, Asia, Israel, South America and Canada. It is by invitation-only (service providers are not invited). In 2008, the Conference, a not-for-profit initiative widely regarded as the “Davos” of its industry, attracted over 350 participants from 22 countries.
It comprises three forums. On the first day, two private forums - held simultaneously - are designed for two major groups of stakeholders of the financing ecosystem of private technology companies: a “Public Policy Forum” where senior government officials exchange views on relevant public policies, and an “Institutional Investors Forum” where institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds discuss a wide range of issues and challenges relating to investments.
On the second day, guests from the two forums, together with members of the international investment community active in technology, attend the “The Quebec City Conference” whose purpose is for the three major groups of stakeholders of the financing ecosystem of private technology companies, i.e. private investors in technology, institutional investors and government officials, to network with each other, exchange views facing this ecosystem, and hear from high profile speakers.
Dr. Josh Lerner, Professor at Harvard Business School and a world leading authority on venture capital and private equity, will present the conclusions of his new book “Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed—and What to Do About It” and conduct a business case on the model of those at Harvard Business School. Panels and presentations on strategic issues related to public policies in private equity / venture capital will be conducted during the rest of the day.
At the end of the day, a combined session will be organized with key members of Institutional Investors Forum to discuss the conclusions of the two meetings.
Past speakers included Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and CEO of Blackstone; Michael Spence, the 2001 Nobel Prize Laureate in economic sciences; VC and private equity pioneer Alan Patricof; David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group; Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of Silver Lake Partners; Josh Lerner, Professor at Harvard Business School; and The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada.
The 2009 Conference will be held at historic Fairmont Le Château Frontenac Hotel in Quebec City on Monday, October 19 and Tuesday, October 20.
The Conference makes available chartered jets for the exclusive round-trip use to and from Quebec City of its guests coming from or transiting Boston and New York.
The Conference is operated by a non-profit corporation and supported by the Governments of Canada and Quebec, and by institutional investors such as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, OMERS and Business Development Bank of Canada. The founders of the Conference are Stephen Hurwitz, from the Boston law firm of Choate Hall & Stewart, and Christian Racicot, from the Montreal and Quebec City law firm of BCF.
Additional information is on the Conference’s website at http://www.quebeccityconference.com/