Peter Georgiopoulos at the podium
Capital Link’s 7th Annual Global Commodities and Shipping Forum took place in New York’s Metropolitan Club today. It was organized in partnership with UBS and lead-sponsored by Clyde & Co and Tsakos Energy Navigation.
CFTC Commissioner J. Christopber Giancarlo was the morning’s keynote speaker. He discussed the current regulatory environment in the commodity markets and gave his perspective on various recent developments in this area.
Peter Georgiopoulos, CEO of Gener8 Maritime, was the keynote speaker during lunch. He is an eloquent and inspirational speaker with vast experience in the shipping market who captivated a 300-strong audience at the Metropolitan Club’s JP Morgan room. He ended his speech with Winston Churchill’s quote, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts, ” an apt reference to the cyclical nature of the shipping market. Asked if he would get into shipping if he were 29 years old today (which was his age when he started Mariime Equity Management, his first shipping company, in 1991), he humorously said that he would rather become a singer like Justin Timberlake, alluding to the difficulty of succeeding in the current shipping market environment.
The forum comprised a series of panel discussions that covered the various hot topics in commodities and shipping. Dry bulk commodities and shipping, global politics, regulatory developments, commodity derivatives, LNGs, investor opportunities in shipping, tankers and the fuel oil markets were all exhaustively covered by these panels.
The event concluded with a cocktail reception that gave forum attendants the opportunity to exchange views in a relaxed setting.
Capital Link’s next event is the 8th Shipping, Marine Services and Offshore Forum in London’s One Moorgate Place on October 7th. Another full house will probably take place there as well!
