Palin keynote speaker in Hong Kong financial forum tomorrow

Palin is going to address the 16th CLSA Investor's Forum in Hong Kong tomorrow. This is a high-profile financial forum with a tradition of featuring very high-profile speakers.

Commenting on the former governor's presence at the Hong Kong summit Simone Wheeler, head of communications for CLSA, said she was convinced Mrs Palin would make interesting speaker.

"What we look to do is invite our keynote speakers who we feel are opinion makers, who are newsworthy and who we feel our clients - a very broad international client base - would be interested in hearing from," she said.

"We certainly believe that Sarah Palin will be - she has been in the news - we believe that she will continue to be a newsmaker in the future and therefore someone we feel that is definitely of interest to fund managers.

"She is a controversial figure, so she attracts polarising opinions. And we have received feedback from people that question our decision. But I would have to frame that by saying most of that feedback has come from people in the US who are not our clients."

Previous speakers at the forum include former US president Bill Clinton and vice president Al Gore.