NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wall Street Journal has selected Ketchum Pleon as its agency partner to develop communications strategy and media relations for the Journal's Future of Finance Initiative, a unique international conference that addresses the most urgent priorities for global economic recovery.
The second Wall Street Journal Future of Finance Initiative will convene more than 100 leading CEOs, financial executives, top fund managers, officials from G-20 nations and prize-winning economists to debate and ultimately agree on the priorities for international financial regulation and coordination. The conference will be held 7-8 Dec., just outside London, in West Sussex, United Kingdom.
"Ketchum Pleon was tapped for this prestigious assignment because of its extensive knowledge of the European media market and its growing strength in financial communications," said Robert H. Christie, vice president of communications, Consumer Media Group, Dow Jones & Company. "Ketchum's expertise will aid our growth in a critically important business within Dow Jones."
Ketchum Pleon is one of the largest, most geographically diverse communications consultancies in the world and the established European market leader. Ketchum has more than 2,000 employees in owned operations and operates in 66 countries with 103 owned and affiliated offices worldwide.
The Journal's Future of Finance Initiative will bring together leading international financial experts and policy makers in the United Kingdom to ensure that many expert voices are heard at a time when governments around the world are making decisions that will redefine the global financial system.
"Ketchum Pleon is proud to partner with The Wall Street Journal on this groundbreaking initiative," said Avril Lee, partner and deputy chief executive officer of Ketchum Pleon London. "We look forward to putting our corporate and financial capabilities to work as we help communicate the outcomes of this important meeting to international audiences."
Selected participants in the Journal's upcoming Future of Finance Initiative in the United Kingdom include:
* Damon Buffini, chairman, Permira * Rt Hon David Cameron, MP, leader of the Conservative Party * Rt Hon Alistair Darling, MP, chancellor of the Exchequer * Sir Howard Davies, director, London School of Economics and Political Science * Robert Diamond Jr., president, Barclays PLC & chief executive officer, Investment Banking & Investment Management * Richard Gnodde, co-chief executive officer, Goldman Sachs International * Anshu Jain, head of global markets and member of the Management Board, Deutsche Bank * Alessandro Profumo, chief executive officer, UniCredit Group * Emmanuel Roman, co-chief executive officer, GLG Partners * Peter Sands, group chief executive, Standard Chartered Bank * Myron Scholes, chairman, Platinum Grove Asset Management; Nobel Laureate in Economics; Professor of Finance Emeritus, Stanford University * Eraj Shirvani, managing director, Credit Suisse and chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association * George Soros, chairman, Soros Fund Management, LLC * Michael Spencer, chief executive officer, ICAP plc * Roustam Tariko, chairman, Russian Standard * Paul Volcker, chairman, President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve
The participants will work both as a group and within four concurrent task force sessions, each facilitated by a top Wall Street Journal editor, to address key financial issues in depth. International Journal editors moderating discussions include: Gerard Baker, deputy editor-in-chief; Thorold Barker, editor, Heard on the Street column; Nikhil Deogun, deputy managing editor; Stephen Fidler, Brussels editor; Alan Murray, deputy managing editor and executive editor, online; Robert Thomson, managing editor and editor-in-chief, Dow Jones & Company; David Wessel, economics editor; and Patience Wheatcroft, editor-in-chief, Europe.
The results of the second Wall Street Journal Future of Finance Initiative will be published in a Journal Report on 14 Dec. For more information and an expanded list of participants, please go to https://futurefinance.wsj.com.
About The Wall Street Journal
Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company, is the world's leading business publication and holds 33 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism. The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of more than 2 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. The Wall Street Journal boasts the largest individually paid circulation out of the top 25 U.S. newspapers. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with a global audience of 3.8 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia and The Wall Street Journal Europe. The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com is the leading provider of business and financial news and analysis on the Web with more than one million subscribers and 26 million users per month. WSJ.com is the flagship site of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which also includes MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com and AllThingsD.com. In 2009, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the 10th consecutive year. The Wall Street Journal Radio Network services news and information to more than 375 radio stations in the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2641
About Ketchum Pleon
Ketchum Pleon is the leading communications consultancy in Europe. For more information, visit www.ketchumpleonmerge.com.
About Ketchum
A communications innovator, Ketchum ranks among the largest global communications consultancies and leads the industry in the U.K. and continental Europe as Ketchum Pleon. With five global practices - Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, and Technology - and specialty capabilities that include Access Communications (high- and consumer-tech PR), Concentric Communications (experiential marketing, events and meetings), MMG (clinical trial recruitment), Ketchum Global Research Network, Ketchum Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Stromberg Consulting (change management and workplace communications), Ketchum leverages its marketing and corporate communication expertise to build brands and reputations for clients. In 2009, Advertising Age named Ketchum to its annual "Ones to Watch" Agency A-List, noting the agency's long-standing client partnerships, digital and disruptive media expertise, and CSR and sustainability programming. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC), visit www.ketchum.com.