Last night reporters and fundsters alike gathered in New York City for networking, market predictions, and of course a little gnoshing and sipping.

Joe Sullivan Legg Mason Chairman, Chief Executive Officer

Legg Mason [profile] chairman and CEO Joe Sullivan played host to the Investment Company Institute's (ICI's) annual media cocktail reception. Journalists (roughly two dozen) from both investing and trade press converged on the the multi-boutique's Times Square offices, on the 49th floor of the New York Times building. ICI general counsel David Blass and other fundsters swung by from the trade group's closed-end fund conference, which was during the day yesterday at the Convene Conference Center in the financial district. Marketing and communications fundsters, meanwhile, spent the day at the Legg Mason offices for an ICI communications committee meeting.

Sullivan kicked things off by moderating a year-end market outlook panel discussion. The panelists were: Mike Buchanan, deputy chief investment officer of Legg Mason's Wamco; David Eiswert, vice president and Global Stock Fund PM at T. Rowe Price [profile]; and Paul Quinsee, managing director and chief information officer for U.S. equity at J.P. Morgan Asset Management [profile].

The discussion topics covered the current investing hit list: the assumed-to-be-impending Fed rate hike and its effects, China's woes, the strong dollar and the weak euro, stagnant U.S. wage growth, technology, pain in the energy sector, and more. Afterwards reporters and fundsters went straight into cocktail hour. Popular hors d'oeuvres included mini-latke/hashbrown-esque potato things and tiny chicken parmesan sandwiches. 

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