Moments before ageing rocker Elton John appeared on stage for a noisy rendition of 'Benny and the Jets', Gary Coull, chairman of CLSA, the hosts of the evening's bash and Asia's only remaining independent equity broker, addressed the audience. There were 2,000 of them — fund managers, company executives and other hangers-on lucky or devious enough to sneak an invitation to what is arguably Hong Kong's biggest annual shindig.
"When people heard we had Elton John, they asked, 'How can you afford him?'" said Coull. "Well, the answer is, we can't! So you'll each be charged two thousand dollars as you exit!"
Underlying seriousness
Coull admits later he was only half joking. The Sir Elton do was simply the peak of a week's entertainment surrounding a far more serious event. For a week every year, CLSA takes over the entire Grand Hyatt hotel in Hong Kong for its investor forum. This year's was the firm's eleventh and largest so far.
"A lot of the clients said that this was the best organized," says Coull. "We had 200 companies and 500 businessmen from 1,200 institutions and 30 countries."
By the end of a long week, CLSA had run 2,020 hours of presentations, meetings and workshops and entertained 4,500 people at evening parties. Anything that does not move is branded in CLSA yellow and blue: from banners, bags and folders down to the jellybeans and m&m's on the conference tables.
The event is hugely expensive. No-one at CLSA is prepared to disclose the amount poured into it but Edmund Bradley, head of research and an organizer of the conference, explains the rationale. "It's a very, very good investment," he says. "We get significant payback in terms of goodwill. It's very good for our business. The larger accounts see it as a role of brokers to provide access [to companies]. That helps with the votes."
Big institutional investors operate a formalized voting system to decide which brokers get the lion's share of orders, and, thereby, commissions — CLSA's principal revenue source.
That probably explains the effort and attention to detail. Unlike many other investment conferences, the CLSA Investor Forum is not just about presentations from Asian companies to international investors and a few one-on-one discussions. Keynote speeches this year covered such diverse topics as terrorism, North Korea and the dangers of fast food.
Nor was the activity restricted to conference facilities and party venues. For delegates who could shake off their hangovers, each day started at 6.30am with a run around Hong Kong's picturesque jogging routes. Tai chi classes, art gallery tours and even yoga instruction proved popular. An in-conference store offered lessons in Chinese tea etiquette and a range of teas for purchase. A tailor provided delegates with new threads.
"We had a spa a couple of years ago," says Angelique Marcil, group marketing director and another member of the conference team. "It was very relaxing, but so popular we had to stop it. We had queues of delegates outside."
The aim of the conference, says Marcil, is to provide as complete an experience as possible, especially those coming from abroad. "A lot of clients say the hardest part of travelling is the loss of routine," she says. "We try to help with that. Recognizing that people work very hard here we want to maximize their time and make sure they enjoy themselves."
Organizing an event with so many activities is quite an undertaking. "It's like running an airline," says Coull. "You have so many slots and gates and you've got to manage them."
Bradley says: "There are 48 different things happening every hour. Without strong software it'd be a nightmare. We need to move people around the hotel efficiently and on time. We need to look after the clients."
To achieve that, CLSA provides minders to some clients and speakers to ensure they do not stray too far or miss a meeting. "We call them shepherds," says Marcil. "They follow them around like a shadow all day."
So successful has CLSA's format been that it has started to replicate it across the region with smaller, country-focused seminars. In addition to the main Hong Kong event, there are now forums every year in China, India, southeast Asia and, most recently, Japan. The firm employs six staff just to manage conferencing. Even the onset of Sars in the region in 2003, while derailing CLSA's original plans, failed to stop the conference going ahead. "We had a meeting to make the inevitable decision to cancel the [original 2003] conference," says Coull. "That really pissed me off. But later we discovered a technology in the US that enabled us to hold a virtual conference."
The technology produced 3-D images of the speakers that could interact with audiences in real time. The virtual conference proved a hit. "In six weeks, we reinvited everyone," says Coull. "But instead of coming to Hong Kong, we opened viewing centres in Hong Kong, London, Singapore and New York."
Ban on Beach Boys
Despite all the serious work, the forum is perhaps best known for throwing the biggest party in Hong Kong, with a big-ticket musician to top the bill. Past stars have included Blondie, Tom Jones, Macy Gray and Shaggy.
The choice of musician is a subject of much deliberation. "It can be the hardest thing to decide on," says Bradley, "we bandy some ideas around. It's also a question of who is available, if schedules work."
So why did Elton get the nod? Not simply a matter of availability or fee, apparently. "Gary [Coull] always wants to get the Beach Boys," Marcil says. "It's the same every year: he always gets overruled and we book someone else. I guess we'll just keep doing that until the Beach Boys get too old to perform!"