Reflections from J.P. Morgan
Having heard all of the hype about this conference for the past year, I have to admit, that I’ve been looking forward to the start of JP Morgan, despite the horror stories of not being able to move through the halls and getting quarantined to tiny board rooms. It didn’t come as a surprise that we were assigned to “Elizabethan A/B” – not exactly center stage. But we did manage to capture a mid-morning presentation time on the first day. And considering the shout out in BioWorld on Monday about the competition for a “coveted presenting slot” and “the ever-increasing difficulty in getting an invite to the exclusive event” it was nice to be there at all. (Not that it didn’t take some behind the scenes work, but we’ll save that for another post, “How to get a last minute invite to JP Morgan”).
I’m pretty sure that the security force deployed for this event could take on Homeland Security. The worst episode was when a co-workers extra badge was confiscated from me. How dare I possibly be in possession of two name tags? Never mind that that badge cost $1500! Note to self: HIDE EXTRA BADGES. I wonder what one of those would sell for on the street? I’m no market maker, but I’m sure the resale value is pretty high, especially on the first day of the conference.
Petty administrative details aside, I was able to catch a few of the “hot” presentations. I scored a seat in the Amgen presentation where Kevin Sharer delivered a very optimistic forecast for the year ahead. Having a special interest in the company (as I worked in their Corporate FP&A group two summers ago during the restructuring and CMS debacle), I was impressed by the ability of their management team to navigate through uncertainty. I see that they were able to get $2B in bonds out today… confidence is back and the future looks good for the biotech darling.
After Amgen, came Roche, who continues to up the ante for Genentech. I was less impressed with their 40-slide presentations with overly “busy” visuals. I was also distracted by their emphasis of MIS (yes, management information systems) as a competitive advantage in global cash flow reporting. Really? I concur that cash is probably the most relevant benchmark between companies with operations in multiple geographic markets, but my confidence in their leadership plummeted with the didacticism about internal controls. Most investors are probably more concerned about how a Roche-Genentech integration looks schematically, but that’s just a hypothesis. None the less, Roche also gave a restructuring update, that they were less than humane about. While Wall Street may cheer expense control, the self-aggrandizing tenor with which mgmt discussed their premeditated downsizing showed little compassion. This played out in sharp contrast to Amgen, whose CEO noted how much their restructuring hurt. Sharer also noted their recent efforts to conduct surveys about employee sentiment. Maybe this lack of regard for employees is a European thing? Or maybe Amgen really does differentiate itself with its human capital.
The real gem of the opening day was the keynote lunch address by Jamie Dimon. When high-flying financiers talk healthcare, people show up to listen. Naturally his comments on the financial crisis were more insightful – a call for SEC reform and a prediction of unemployment going north of 10%. Many of the healthcare executives and investors in the room seemed uncomfortable (or unimpressed, or both) with his “suggestions” for healthcare. (1) Give flu shots in the clinics at WalMart to achieve economies of scale (2) More preventative care (3) Portable, universal healthcare
For more on Jamie, check out with Ron Winslow at the WSJ had to say here. http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/01/12/jamie-dimon-wall-street-titan-to-health-care-pundit/
Personal conference highlights included literally running into John Lechleiter at the Amylin presentation (COO of Lilly), a personal intro to Carl Feldbaum (former chair of BIO), and the cufflinks of a research analyst I had lunch with (clocks. Yes, clocks. Practical? Yes. Weird? Yes.). I also had an engaging dialogue with my cab driver this morning about cardiometabolic syndromes. He actually pegged me as a conference attendee from Chestnut St. (in the Marina!), several miles from the Westin, as soon as I got in the cab. Actually, his first question was, “Are you a banker?” and I laughed and said, “No, but I’m on my way to the Prescott to meet some there.”
Until next year, signing off!
