The Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) is coming to New York City on Jan. 30 and 31, and the annual consultants conference at the Marriott Marquis on Times Square this year features a number of hand-picked experts who will speak about how to construct a portfolio in a non-normal world.

Scheduled speakers at the IMCA New York conference include investment strategists Milton Ezrati of Lord Abbett & Co. and Jonathan Golub of UBS, as well as LPL Financial's Burt White and Carmen Reinhart of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Also, Morningstar Chief Investment Officer Tom Idzorek will be on hand to discuss "A Non-Normal World: Rethinking Diversification, Risk, Asset Allocation and Modern Portfolio Theory."

In addition, a debate on the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes versus Friedrich Hayek is planned, to be delivered by Jared Bernstein, PhD, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Russell Roberts, PhD, of George Mason University.

"What's unique about the IMCA conference is that we will have exhibitors and sponsors, but there are no 'pay to play' presentations," said IMCA Executive Director Sean Walters in a phone interview with AdvisorOne recently. "We're one of the only conferences in the industry that uses peer-driven content."

And, Walters added, "every two or three years, our committees always ask for Marvin Zonis," the economist from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Zonis' topic this year is "Geo-Politics and Global Business in the New Decade."

IMCA, a nonprofit professional group, has provided wealth management credentials and educational opportunities to the investment community since 1985. This year's annual conference in New York will be the fifth. About 700 attendees are expected, many of them wirehouse advisors, Walters said, adding that the typical attendee averages 18 years in the industry with $230 million in assets under management.

IMCA's primary credentialing programs are the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) certification and the Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) designation.

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