I&T News is a weekly newsletter from Investment & Technology, emailed free to more than 5,000 professionals in the financial services industry.

The weekly email newsletter complements our industry coverage in the monthly Investment & Technology magazine. While the newsletter offers greater immediacy in its news reporting, it also attempts to provide information specifically for the institutional and platform markets. Like the magazine, we always strive for greater detail and more in-depth coverage of stories.

The professional financial advice industry continues to evolve, effecting changes in structure, reputation, regulation and client requirements. Professional Planner recognises that a key element in this evolution is a trend towards fee for service as a delivery model.

By embracing this global trend, the magazine provides a forum for debate and development of the fee for service model, including defining the parameters of such a 'fee' and how it can be incorporated into the client relationship. While we make no promise to be the 'Holy Grail' of fee-based advice, conflict removal, or defining appropriate remuneration structures, we firmly believe that increased levels of debate on the subject are inevitable and, therefore, increased levels of education about the issues is required.

For more than 10 years, the publishers of Investment & Technology have been producing an annual conference focusing on implementation efficiencies for institutional investors, funds managers, custodians and software vendors. The conference is produced in conjunction with the Australian Custodial Services Association and typically attracts between 300-400 delegates.

Specifically aimed at superannuation funds and asset consultants, the conference will analyse a range of the latest investment strategies, research and implementation.

Absolute Returns Funds 2008 will focus on the investment strategies which aim to provide uncorrelated benchmark-unaware returns for institutional investors and the issues around their implementation and administration.

Conexus Financial produces regular roundtables on topics of particular interest to both institutional investors and financial advisers.

At these roundtables, typically a group of 10-12 investors or advisers will be led in detailed discussion by a senior Conexus Financial executive and journalist as well as one or two participants from the sponsor organisation.

Top 1000 Funds is a web-based information service for the most sophisticated investors ? pension funds, sovereign funds, endowments and other institutional pools of money ? in 24 countries*. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information and encourage discussion on the latest theories and trends in investment strategies and their implementation.

The website, Top1000Funds.com, is accessible free of charge to registered users**, who consist of the chief investment officers, heads of investment departments, asset class heads, chief executives and some trustee directors of those funds, together with their advisers***. Participating fund investment professionals and asset consultants, influence, oversee or administer approximately $US 12 trillion in assets****.