Delivering alpha as a concept is all about beating the market, so the same is true for Delivering Alpha as a conference: It's all about giving investors the information they need to maximize returns.
Over the years, the conference has served its audience well, providing dozens of stock picks that helped investors get returns over and above what they would receive from putting money in a basic index fund.
It's not an easy business topping, for instance, the or other major market benchmarks. In recent years, only about 1 in 4 large-cap stock pickers beat their benchmarks, and this year it's only about 15 percent, the worst ever, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
So when you find someone who's got a track record of actually delivering alpha, it's worth a listen.
Bill Miller is one of those people, though his star has faded in recent years. Building his reputation as a fund manager at Legg Mason, he beat the S&P 500 a stunning 15 years in a row from 1991 through 2005. But Miller had a rough time during the Great Recession, and this year he recently left Legg Mason to join LMM.
So when you combine an investing legend with a super-aggressive call on a stock that is taking a beating not only in share price but also public perception, you get a moment that well could end up being the most epic of the 2016 version of Delivering Alpha. (A list of the five best moments is here.)
Miller's boldest call came with his choice of Valeant. The pharmaceutical company has seen its shares plunge more than 73 percent in 2016 amid severe criticism for jacking up the prices dramatically on several of its drugs.
Despite the headwinds, Miller smells opportunity.
"We think with Valeant right now, it's a completely different company," Miller said at the conference. "It's just a slow-growth specialty pharma company that will generate a lot of free cash and you should be able to make, I think, 25 to 30 percent on Valeant over the next five years."
His office later confirmed that he meant each of those five years.
The call will be interesting to watch. Miller has hedge fund titan Bill Ackman on his side, with the head of Pershing Square Capital making a $3.3 billion bet on the company.
On the other side of the fence is fellow hedge fund giant Jim Chanos, who said during a CNBC interview on the sidelines of Delivering Alpha that he is short Valeant and not planning on covering his position anytime soon.
Miller made two other notable calls at the conference: long the S&P 500 and short the benchmark 10-year Treasury note.
