The Catholic Finance Association hosted a panel discussion on the 2014 financial outlook. It aimed to raise pointed questions about the state of the economy in the coming year by drawing on key principles from Catholic Social Teaching. The pivotal questions explored were as follows:

• Can the market continue to climb until the Fed begins tapering?
• How might population trends affect the world economy?
• What are the positive and negative effects of Obamacare?
• What are the moral implications of the Fed’s market actions? 

Panelists:

Jason Trennert – Managing Partner and co-founder of Strategas Research Partners, a macro-institutional research and advisory brokerage firm. He has been ranked consistently by Institutional Investor magazine as one of the top strategists on Wall Street, and is a regular guest host on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and “Bloomberg Surveillance.”

Samuel J Saladino III – CEO of Trinity Fiduciary Partners, a Portfolio Manager for the Epiphany Funds, and the creator of the FFV Scorecard®, a screening tool used by institutional clients. He has appeared in several national media outlets, including Time Magazine, Barron’s, and the National Catholic Register.

Jose Barrionuevo – Managing Director of Global Capital Markets at StormHarbour, an independent global markets and financial advisory firm. While running Barclays Capital’s Emerging Markets Strategy, he led the team of investment banks that restructured Argentina’s $104bn in defaulted debt, which remains the largest sovereign debt restructuring in history.