Top Investors Head to Chicago

A lively debate about financial companies stole the stage and several fund managers expressed skepticism about their prospects.

That was at Morningstar's annual investment conference held last year in June, just a couple of months before Lehman Brothers went belly up, Fannie and Freddie went into conservatorship, and the government swooped in to save  American International Group (AIG) and several other financial institutions.

It's back again, and the topics are sure to be just as timely and relevant. Each year we invite some of our favorite investors, academics, and industry pundits to Chicago to discuss the current investing landscape. This year's Morningstar Investment Conference kicks off May 27 and lasts through May 29. The lineup of keynote speakers and panelists is one of the very best that we've had, and our team of analysts is coming armed with questions. Russ Kinnel recently outlined several of the key questions that are top of mind.

Christopher Davis of Davis/Selected American (SLADX) is kicking things off this year. Davis and his team have long made their name investing in the epicenter of this storm: financial-services companies. We will be interested to hear what his close study of companies at the heart of this mess has uncovered and what he sees ahead.

While Davis is sure to provide us with a glimpse into his stock-specific research,  PIMCO Total Return's  Bill Gross will show us the view from 10,000 feet. As this downturn unfolded, Gross was spot-on with his views about housing, interest rates, the dollar, and the general economy.

Don Phillips will sit down and have one-on-one discussions with Vanguard founder John Bogle and  FPA Capital's  Bob Rodriguez. Bogle has spent decades sounding alarm bells about greed in the financial system and is one of few to spend his career fighting against it. Rodriguez was a vocal bear leading into this mess, and many of the concerns that he's voiced at this conference in past years ended up later surfacing as real problems.

Asset allocation and Modern Portfolio Theory form the cornerstone of most investors' portfolios, and investors have depended heavily on these methods. Yet, the past 18 months put time-tested and widely followed theories through the wringer. We've devoted two panels to the topic of asset-allocation theory this year.

Bond funds were another surprise. They're not the sleepy investments they've long been thought to be. The past year has showcased bigger differences in bond portfolios that have led to much larger performance differences between funds. We'll explore this issue and look for opportunities in municipal and taxable bonds in two separate panels.

Our other main stage and breakout panels boast a long roster of solid investors including Marty Whitman, Tom Marsico, Bruce Berkowitz, David Winters, Diana Strandberg, Wally Weitz, Jeremy Grantham, John Rogers, and Chuck Royce--just to name just a few.

In years past, this conference has surfaced timely and prescient insights about opportunities in the market as well as risks lurking out there. I'm confident that this year will be no different. Be sure to check back often. We will be posting videos with the speakers, and our analysts will be blogging frequently straight from the conference.