Symposium Agenda

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Day 1: Growing Assets and Wealth in Poor Households
Day 2: Expanding Asset-Based Policies, Products, and Strategies
Day 3: The Future of Asset Development Policies, Products, and Services

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Growing Assets and Wealth in Poor Households

09:00 to 09:30 Welcome and Introduction
Key speakers:
Mohamad MALIKI OSMAN, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of National Development, Singapore: Welcome
Catherine WEIR, Citi Markets & Banking ASEAN & Citi Singapore: Welcome
Christina BARRINEAU, Financial Access Initiative, New York University: Welcome
Ray BOSHARA, New America Foundation: Global Assets Project and Aims of the Symposium

09:30 to 11:00 Opening Plenary and Facilitated Discussion: Savings, Assets, and Financial Inclusion: Promises and Challenges
Around the world several important trends are converging and sparking increased access to financial services for those living in poverty. Along with new access come new challenges and opportunities for poor households to build their assets and wealth. Among these trends are: (1) an increased recognition that the success of development programming must be measured by more than income growth, with greater emphasis on expanding capabilities of poor families, communities and countries; (2) a focus on developing robust financial services that can support poor households to grow their assets and wealth; (3) a renewed recognition that women are critical actors in alleviating poverty and in increasing the well being of their families; (4) a shift towards defined contribution instruments in public policy in both developed and developing countries; (5) increased maturity, efficiency, and sustainability of microfinance; (6) greater extension of commercial financial services down the income scale to reach new markets; (7) rapid change in technological advancements that create new options for financial transactions of all types; and (8) a more robust emphasis on financial education to promote financial capability.

Keynote Speaker:
Michael SHERRADEN, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis
Facilitator:
Tom EASTON, The Economist

11:45 to 13:15 Second Plenary: Financial Pillars of Asset Creation: Savings, Credit, Insurance and Remittances
Like all households, low-income households require a menu of tools to grow their wealth. Savings accumulates assets, credit leverages assets, insurance protects assets, and remittances move assets quickly. What is the current thinking on asset creation and what tools are currently being used? How do these tools best work together? Where are the big gaps for the poor? How can we adapt the expertise built in serving high net worth clients to benefit poor households? How can we adapt the principles of asset creation to the realities of the poor? How can expertise garnered in developing and developed countries be cross-fertilized for greater impact?
Key speakers:
Inez MURRAY, Women’s World Banking
Jorge RUBIO NAVA, Citi Microfinance Group
Stuart RUTHERFORD, SafeSave Bangladesh (See PowerPoint here)
Jennifer TESCHER, Center for Financial Services Innovation
Moderator:
Christina BARRINEAU, Financial Access Initiative, New York University

15:00 to 17:00 Concurrent Roundtables on the Financial Pillars of Asset Creation

Savings:
Commentators:
Jaime Aristotle ALIP, CARD MRI
JD VON PISCHKE, Frontier Finance International (See PowerPoint here)
Alok PRASAD, Microfinance Citi India
Kathleen STACK, Freedom from Hunger
Moderator:
Jayshree VYAS, SEWA Bank

Credit:
Commentators:
Anil KUMAR S.G., ICICI Bank (See PowerPoint here)
Israel MORENO-BARCELO, CEMEX
Rupert SCOFIELD, FINCA International
YANG Tuan, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (See PowerPoint here)
Moderator:
Alex COUNTS, Grameen Foundation

Insurance:
Commentators:
Mukul ASHER, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Vijay MAHAJAN, BASIX
Luis PORTILLA, Seguros Banamex
Moderator:
Christopher CRANE, Opportunity International

Remittances:
Commentators:
Chandula ABEYWICKREMA, Hatton National Bank of Sri Lanka
Roy JACOBOWITZ, ACCION International
Craig WILSON, Foundation for Development Cooperation
Moderator:
Mike SOTO, Center for the New Economy


19:00 to 22:30 Reception and Dinner/Keynote
Keynote speaker:
Robert CHRISTEN, Financial Services for the Poor, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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Thursday, June 28, 2007
Expanding Asset-Based Policies, Products, and Strategies

09:00 to 10:30 Opening Plenary: What We Know about Saving and Asset Holding
Growing interest and enthusiasm in the potential of financial services to empower the poor through savings and asset building has nurtured a blossoming of policies, products, and programs in both the developed and developing world. However, until now, the evidence on what works and what does not has not been brought together and presented in one place. What is the evidence of research and practice? What is working and what is not? How does it differ in a range of developed and developing country contexts? What key questions do we still need to answer? What opportunities lie ahead? Attention will be given especially to how saving occurs and effects of asset holding.
Key Speakers:
Dean KARLAN, Yale University
Elaine KEMPSON, University of Bristol (See PowerPoint: UK Trust Fund and Social Programs)
Gida NAKAZIBWE-SEKANDI, Capricorn Investment Holdings
Roslyn RUSSELL, RMIT University
Moderator:
Stuart RUTHERFORD, SafeSave Bangladesh

 

11:00 to 12:30 Second Plenary: Connecting Poor Households with Financial Services and Products
At the household level, financial products and services are augmented with a variety of auxiliary services to improve the ability of the poor to connect with and use financial tools. These include financial literacy training, business development skills, health services, and new technologies. What factors are most critical in enabling the poor to connect with financial products and services? How can products be designed to lead to both profitability for institutions and wealth creation for clients? What is the role of public policy?
Key speakers:
Carolyn BLACKLOCK, ANZ Banking Group
Bob FRIEDMAN, CFED
Kathleen STACK, Freedom from Hunger
Neísa VÁSQUEZ, ProMujer Bolivia
Moderator:
Vijay MAHAJAN, BASIX

12:30 to 14:30 Lunch and Discussion: Asset Building and Women
Conversation with:
Mary Ellen ISKENDERIAN, Women’s World Banking
Facilitator:
Christina BARRINEAU, Financial Access Initiative, New York University

14:30 to 16:00 Afternoon Plenary: Inclusive Asset Building Policies, the Case of Singapore
Singapore's path-breaking asset building policies have made it a world leader in fostering inclusive asset based development. Understanding the Singaporean experience can inform policymakers and practitioners introducing policies and projects in other parts of the world. What are Singapore's asset building policies? What are their histories? What are their notable successes, as well as measurable impact on the average Singaporean, on communities, and on the society as a whole? In particular, how have the policies affected the poor and vulnerable? What have been the major challenges Singapore has faced in implementing the policies, and what are the challenges going forward? What lessons can others learn from Singapore's example?

Speakers:
LIEW Heng San, Central Provident Fund Board
LIU Thai-Ker, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Vernon LOKE, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis
S. VASOO, Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore (See PowerPoint here)
Moderator:
NGIAM Tee Liang, Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore

19:00 to 20:00 Keynote: Asset Building and Development
University Cultural Center, National University of Singapore
Keynote speaker:
Tharman SHANMUGARATNAM, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, Singapore

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Friday, June 29, 2007
The Future of Asset Development Policies, Products, and Services

08:30 to 10:30 Opening Plenary: Child Asset-Building Accounts: a Path Forward for the Next Generation
Inter-generational poverty represents one of the greatest failings of existing welfare policies, and combating this is a global priority. With quality financial services, poor households have been able to move from desperation to greater security and sustainable livelihoods. The children of these same households stand the chance to go much further. Several key questions arise: How can investments in children be funded? How can the poorest children save? What assets are most important assets for a child’s development? When and how should financial education proceed, especially for children of families that have never had access to financial services? Are Child Development Accounts (CDAs) a potential option for such children? Intertwined with all these questions, how can financial institutions profitably serve the long term financial needs of children?

Key speakers:
Panel 1: CDAs at the Project Level
Thierry VAN BASTELAER, Save the Children
Jeroo BILLIMORIA, Aflatoun-Child Savings International
Jennefer SEBSTAD, Global Financial Education Program
Fred SSEWAMALA, Columbia University (See PowerPoint here)
Panel 2: CDAs at the National Level
Ray BOSHARA, New America Foundation
Yunju NAM, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis (See PowerPoint here)
Jim BENNETT, Institute for Public Policy Research
Moderator: Ray BOSHARA, New America Foundation

 

11:00 to 12:30 Second Plenary: Environments for Building Assets in the Future
Those with few assets have relatively few opportunities, work with small amounts of discretionary capital, have limited safety nets, and may face personal discrimination and high costs of living. Further, their immediate environments and their governments often provide little support. How can risks be minimized and inclusion maximized? Of central interest are social and financial policies and regulations that shape opportunities for building wealth.
Key speakers:
René AZOKLI, PADME
Chang-Keun HAN, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St Louis (See PowerPoint here)
Melvin OLIVER, University of California – Santa Barbara
Moderator: Walter Russell MEAD, Council on Foreign Relations

13:00 to 14:30 Lunch and Closing Plenary: Symposium Summary and Agenda for Asset Building
This key session will begin with a summary of the key points and messages from the symposium, followed by interchange and discussion with participants to discuss, elaborate, or amend the summary points. The final plenary will then turn to next steps: How do we advance this work? What directions and strategies should we pursue? How will we measure success? What commitments are symposium participants willing to make?
Discussion leader:
Kate MCKEE, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)

14:30 to 14:45 Symposium Wrap-up and Adjournment
Leslie MEEK, Citi Foundation

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