ORTs finance officers gather in London

07.12.05

December 7, 2005 ORTs finance officers gather in London Eleven professionals responsible for managing the financial affairs of nine national ORT organisations have gathered in London for the fourth annual World ORT Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Conference. The professionals from Womens American ORT (WAO), American ORT, ORT India, ORT CIS, British ORT, ORT Uruguay, ORT France and ORT Switzerland joined World ORT CFO Steve West and his team at ORT House, London for the conference, which was sponsored for the fourth time by JPMorgan Private Bank. The feedback weve received from everyone who participated has been to the effect that the conference was a resounding success, Mr West said. My thanks go to JPMorgan for their continued support. The participants at this years World ORT Chief Financial Officers Conference. JPMorgan Private Bank Managing Director Michel Perera gave a presentation as did Miles Geldard, who manages a $30 billion fund for JPMorgan Asset Management. These were very rewarding presentations that gave us insights into whats happening in the markets and introduced us to new concepts in investing, Mr West said. The third guest speaker was GHBC Insurance Brokers Technical Manager Steve Cross, who discussed insurance issues arising from kidnapping incidents. There are 38,000 kidnaps committed around the world every year giving rise to ransom demands totalling $500 million, Mr West said. We have people travelling around the world on ORTs behalf all the time, so this is an issue that financial officers should be aware of. Other presentations included ORT Uruguay CFO Daniel Oliveri discussing his organisations management of customer relations, ORT India National Director Benjamin Isaacs overview of his organisations restructuring, and WAO Chief Administrative Officer Don Anziska discussing business conduct policy in a not-for-profit environment. The CFO Conference is a vitally important opportunity for the cross-fertilisation of ideas, the discussion of mutual problems and increasing awareness of the latest accounting, financial and other issues, Mr West said. By bringing these people together we enhance mutual understanding and appreciation.