The College of Business Administration looks to expand the understanding of future markets as it hosts the 15th Annual Asia-Pacific Futures Research Symposium today and tomorrow in Singapore.

President Carol Cartwright and administration members from the College of Business Administration are in Singapore for the two-day forum that will discuss the “Review of Future Markets.”

The symposium will feature 10 presenters who will present cutting-edge research and look into the trends of future markets, said Mark Holder, finance director and assistant professor.

Kent State earned honorary hosting rights for the symposium when the Chicago Board of Trade Educational Research Foundation presented a $1.2 million gift to the school in the Fall 2002. It is an event that brings Kent State global prestige, Holder said.

President Carol Cartwright said the symposium is an important part of the academic program and process.

“It has the high potential of enabling us to recruit students and place them in these fields,” Cartwright said, “It’s also and excellent way to showcase leadership in this area and showcase faculty scholarly work.”

Presenters include representatives from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore Exchange, Federal Reserve, Penn State, London School of Business, University of Sydney and other institutions.

It is a great opportunity to bring together some of the very best financial practitioners and academics in the world, said George Stevens, dean of the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management.

“It’s an honor in itself, normally only big name schools get to host the event,” Holder said, “We are playing in the big leagues now and we are raising our reputation by being affiliated with these schools.”

Papers presented will be critiqued by market users and researchers and considered for issues of the CBOT Research Symposium Proceedings as well as the Review of Future Markets Journal, which is published by the Kent State Finance Department.

This is the third year Kent State has hosted the symposium. Plans for next year’s symposium are already underway as the school looks to Tokyo as a possible location.

For more information about the topics at this year’s symposium, visit http://business.kent.edu/erf/current.asp.

Ryan Loew contributed to this story.

Contact College of Business Administration reporter Carrie Scully at [email protected].