Conference program rattles cages again The program for the fourth annual Australian conference of the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality, at the University of Technology Sydney, was as provocative as previously this year. The conference attracts a mix of academics, super fund executives and fund managers, with the topics ranging from technical research into market behaviour and pricing to broad discussions on the value added by the various groups of players in the market. As previously, several speakers questioned the value-add from fund managers. This year, Andrew Smithers, principal of UK asset allocation advisory firm Smithers & Co, presented on ‘Rent Gouging from Market Making and Other Oligopolies’. Professor Stephen Brown, of the New York University Stern School of Business, presented on ‘The Efficient Market Hypothesis: The Demise of the Demon of Chance?’. Brown also presented later on ‘Trust and Delegation’ in a session alongside David Goldbaum of UTS, who spoke about ‘Inefficiency in New Capital Investment’. The conference was scheduled to take place on October 28-29, as this issue of Investment Magazine was at the press.