Speaker biographies

Geoffrey H. Bobroff has held various positions in the investment management industry spanning three decades. Immediately prior to establishing his consulting practice, Bobroff Consulting, Inc., in October 1993, he served as senior vice president of Lipper Analytical Services, Inc., overseeing its Denver office. Before that, Mr. Bobroff held positions including executive vice president of Integrated Resources, Inc., where he was responsible for the money management, broker-dealer, and other operations of the firm. He was also executive vice president of J. & W. Seligman & Co., where he was responsible for operations and financial affairs. Mr. Bobroff began his career as a trial attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.

John C. Bogle is founder and former chief executive of the Vanguard Group, Inc. and president of the Bogle Financial Markets Research Center. The organization, which he created in 1974, is now one of the two largest mutual fund organizations in the world, with current assets totaling some $730 billion. In 2004, Time magazine named Mr. Bogle as one of the 100 “Most Influential People in the World,” and in 1999, Fortune magazine named him as one of the investment industry’s four “Giants of the 20th Century.” A prolific writer and speaker, Mr. Bogle’s most recent books are The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism (Yale University Press 2005), Character Counts: The Creation and Building of the Vanguard Group (McGraw-Hill, 2002), and John Bogle on Investing: The First 50 Years (McGraw-Hill Companies, 2000).

Robert E. Litan is the vice president for research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Litan was formerly vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution (1996–2003) and is currently co-director of the AEI-Brookings Joint Center on Regulatory Studies. An economist and attorney who has practiced law and taught banking law at the Yale Law School, Mr. Litan is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on financial institutions, international trade, and regulatory issues. He has consulted for numerous public and private organizations and has testified as an expert witness in a variety of legal and regulatory proceedings. He was formerly associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Department of Justice, and a regulatory specialist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

John D. Rea is a consultant specializing in the mutual fund business. From 1994 to 2004, he served as chief economist at the Investment Company Institute (ICI), where he oversaw the activities of its research department. Before joining ICI, he was assistant director and chief of the capital markets section at the Federal Reserve Board. Previously, he was professor of economics and chair of the Economics Department at Oklahoma State University and a financial economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Peter J. Wallison joined AEI in January 1999 as a resident fellow and as co-director of AEI’s program on financial market deregulation. He previously practiced banking, corporate, and financial law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. From June 1981 to January 1985, Mr. Wallison was general counsel of the United States Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan administration's proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry. He also served as general counsel to the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee and participated in the Treasury Department's efforts to deal with the debt held by less developed countries. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Between 1972 and 1976, Mr. Wallison served first as special assistant to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller when he was vice president of the United States.

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