Jason DeSena Trennert, the keynote presenter at Thursday’s Economic Forecast Breakfast, understands the significance of the event’s theme, “Turbulent Times Ahead?”
But Trennert, chairman and CEO of Strategas Securities LLC, is an optimist. He keeps the faith with the economy, having been seasoned by launching his business at 2006, just in time to get up and running for the Great Recession.
Trennert has seen stories suggesting another recession is overdue after years of an expanding economy.
“I remain pretty optimistic about the economy and the (stock) market,” Trennert said in a phone interview. That said, “You are going to see meaningful change, especially with regard to monetary policy.” Trade, also, “is still kind of a gray area.”
Trennert’s Top 5 Books
Jason DeSena Trennert has written three financial books and has appeared on stock tip TV programs such as CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Trennert also reads a lot. Here are his five favorite books:
1. “A Fan’s Notes” by Frederick Exley
2. “Bonfire of the Vanities” by Tom Wolfe
3 . “Il Gattopardo (The Leopard)” by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
4. “The Seven Storey Mountain” by Thomas Merton
5. “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway
While he makes client and research trips to either Portland or Seattle at least once a year, this will be Trennert’s first Vancouver visit. He agreed to participate in the event at the invitation of Camas resident David Nierenberg, founder and president of Nierenberg Investment Management Co., and also one of the speakers Thursday.
“My general approach to economics is that you learn a lot more by going out and talking to people than you do sitting behind a screen,” said Trennert, whose clients typically are institutional investors. Strategas (pronounced struh-tee-gus) has 55 employees in offices in New York, Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Launching a business at the dawn of a memorable recession offered a lesson in humility, Trennert said.
“I joke around that if we were so great at forecasting we probably wouldn’t have started the company in 2006,” he said.
But it may have worked out for the best. During the recession, macroeconomics and expertise in monetary policy gained more favor with institutional investors than may have preceded the recession’s 2008 start.
“It was probably the best time to start,” Trennert said.
In addition to Trennert and Nierenberg, the panel will include moderator Cara Samples, chief financial officer of Fulcrum Wealth Management Group; Rukaiyah Adams, chief investment officer at Meyer Memorial Trust; Scott Keeney, CEO and co-founder of nLIGHT; and Scott Bailey, regional economist for the Washington Employment Security Department.
Doors for the forecast open at 6:30 a.m. Thursday and talks are set to start at 7 a.m. at the Hilton Vancouver Washington, 301 W. Sixth St.
Tickets are $55 and include a sit-down breakfast. Advance registration is required and available online at Columbian.com/EconomicForecast. Tickets are not available at the door. Individual seats and tables of 10 are available. The first 50 students to register are free, sponsored by engineering firm BergerABAM Co.
The Economic Forecast Breakfast is presented by Riverview Community Bank and The Columbian. For more information, call 360-735-4511.
