In this opening session, David Neal will provide some prepared remarks, and participate and an open Q&A discussing what the Future Fund is doing to prepare for the next ten years and the issues facing institutional investors.

The puzzle that perplexes investors is how Japan, with government debt to GDP around 256 per cent, seems to have perfected the debt load balancing act. As the broader world moves further into its biggest monetary experiment in history, what can be learned and what is unique about Japan’s situation?

PAPERS
PGIM Fixed Income - Following in Japan's Footsteps
PGIM Fixed Income - Fourth Quarter Market Outlook

Anyone who has remained bearish on global markets since the financial crisis has missed out on the most aggressive bull market. But with equities, bonds and currencies seemingly being kept within central bank control, capitalism almost non-existent, and globalisation seemingly in contraction, how are investors positioning for the next 10 years?  

This session is a case study on the recent transformation of Mercer’s institutional wealth business and the delegated solutions offering.

The SDGs provide a global framework covering three broad areas; economic, social and environmental development – and 17 global specific goals, designed to encourage sustainable economies and markets. How can the SDGs assist investors improve their risk frameworks and articulate their investment strategy, as universal owners?

PAPERS
ASI Investing in a changing climate
Strategic Asset Allocation: ESG's New Frontier

Bond investing has become more difficult as negative yielding bonds continue to break records in Europe but US treasury bond yields, while low, are still positive. With this backdrop, and as investors look to build income generating portfolios, this session will look at how factor investing can be utilised as an alternative portfolio construction approach.

In a world highly driven by noise, increasing reliance on algorithmic trading and crowding, how is the market microstructure and trade execution effected? What impact does this have to the implementation of alternative beta strategies and their benchmarks?

PAPERS
How crowding in trade flow can adversely affect execution costs
Co-impact: Crowding effects in Institutional trading activity 

This session revisits the discussion on member outcomes with respect to regulator expectations and how fiduciaries address governance challenges internally and with investments. The session will look at the role of the trustees, governance trends, benchmarking and global shareholder litigation trends.

This session will be a fun and satirical look at three wild hypothetical ideas, with the audience having the chance to pose a fourth (if time permits). What will be the scenarios and who will be the characters? Obviously, you will need to be there to find out!

Developed economies are in the latter stages of their long-term debt cycles and business cycles, with slow growth, low inflation, near zero interest rates, and QE largely spent. As monetary policy approaches the end of its useful life, stimulus will increasingly depend on fiscal policy coordinated with accommodative monetary policy (MP3). Europe and Japan are at this point already, and the Fed and BoE are one downturn away.

It has been argued that strategic asset allocation can overlook correlations between asset classes. In response, some investors have moved from traditional siloed approaches to total portfolio management. This session will examine the two approaches and look at how they differ in terms of practicality of implementation, the relative importance of investment cash flows, and the ability to be nimble in taking advantage of market mispricing.

Comprising of more than 16 percent of the emerging market investment universe, China A-shares offer both diversification and liquidity benefits. However, the operational setup and complexities in the microstructure of the Chinese market, the A-shares pose a number of implementation challenges that assets owners need to consider.

PAPERS
Dimensions of Expected Returns in the China A-Share and H-Share Stock Markets
Presentation: Leaping the great wall: Operational Challenges with Investing in China A-Shares

Utility functions have long been a feature in academic research, but have not been widely used in practice. This session will discuss choosing and using utility functions, a recently published in FAJ article, and the plans for follow-up research.

PAPER
Utility Functions and Retirement Options

This session will look at the findings from this year’s global sovereign asset management study, and hear from two asset owners as they discuss their investment beliefs, opportunities, and challenges as they evolve their investment decision-making process, governance, and capital deployment.

PAPERS
Executive summary - Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study 2019
Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study 2019

This session will discuss how the role of asset managers is evolving to strategic partnerships with asset owners. What are asset owners looking for from their managers and how can asset managers share the value from IP to alpha?

In this session we hear from three former CIOs and CEOs about the challenges of the role and how their role evolved during their tenure. We will also get a comparison on how their experience on investment governance has transformed their approach committees today.

In this opening session, David Neal will provide some prepared remarks, and participate and an open Q&A discussing what the Future Fund is doing to prepare for the next ten years and the issues facing institutional investors.

The puzzle that perplexes investors is how Japan, with government debt to GDP around 256 per cent, seems to have perfected the debt load balancing act. As the broader world moves further into its biggest monetary experiment in history, what can be learned and what is unique about Japan’s situation?

PAPERS
PGIM Fixed Income - Following in Japan's Footsteps
PGIM Fixed Income - Fourth Quarter Market Outlook

Anyone who has remained bearish on global markets since the financial crisis has missed out on the most aggressive bull market. But with equities, bonds and currencies seemingly being kept within central bank control, capitalism almost non-existent, and globalisation seemingly in contraction, how are investors positioning for the next 10 years?  

This session is a case study on the recent transformation of Mercer’s institutional wealth business and the delegated solutions offering.

The SDGs provide a global framework covering three broad areas; economic, social and environmental development – and 17 global specific goals, designed to encourage sustainable economies and markets. How can the SDGs assist investors improve their risk frameworks and articulate their investment strategy, as universal owners?

PAPERS
ASI Investing in a changing climate
Strategic Asset Allocation: ESG's New Frontier

Bond investing has become more difficult as negative yielding bonds continue to break records in Europe but US treasury bond yields, while low, are still positive. With this backdrop, and as investors look to build income generating portfolios, this session will look at how factor investing can be utilised as an alternative portfolio construction approach.

In a world highly driven by noise, increasing reliance on algorithmic trading and crowding, how is the market microstructure and trade execution effected? What impact does this have to the implementation of alternative beta strategies and their benchmarks?

PAPERS
How crowding in trade flow can adversely affect execution costs
Co-impact: Crowding effects in Institutional trading activity 

This session revisits the discussion on member outcomes with respect to regulator expectations and how fiduciaries address governance challenges internally and with investments. The session will look at the role of the trustees, governance trends, benchmarking and global shareholder litigation trends.

This session will be a fun and satirical look at three wild hypothetical ideas, with the audience having the chance to pose a fourth (if time permits). What will be the scenarios and who will be the characters? Obviously, you will need to be there to find out!

Developed economies are in the latter stages of their long-term debt cycles and business cycles, with slow growth, low inflation, near zero interest rates, and QE largely spent. As monetary policy approaches the end of its useful life, stimulus will increasingly depend on fiscal policy coordinated with accommodative monetary policy (MP3). Europe and Japan are at this point already, and the Fed and BoE are one downturn away.

It has been argued that strategic asset allocation can overlook correlations between asset classes. In response, some investors have moved from traditional siloed approaches to total portfolio management. This session will examine the two approaches and look at how they differ in terms of practicality of implementation, the relative importance of investment cash flows, and the ability to be nimble in taking advantage of market mispricing.

Comprising of more than 16 percent of the emerging market investment universe, China A-shares offer both diversification and liquidity benefits. However, the operational setup and complexities in the microstructure of the Chinese market, the A-shares pose a number of implementation challenges that assets owners need to consider.

PAPERS
Dimensions of Expected Returns in the China A-Share and H-Share Stock Markets
Presentation: Leaping the great wall: Operational Challenges with Investing in China A-Shares

Utility functions have long been a feature in academic research, but have not been widely used in practice. This session will discuss choosing and using utility functions, a recently published in FAJ article, and the plans for follow-up research.

PAPER
Utility Functions and Retirement Options

This session will look at the findings from this year’s global sovereign asset management study, and hear from two asset owners as they discuss their investment beliefs, opportunities, and challenges as they evolve their investment decision-making process, governance, and capital deployment.

PAPERS
Executive summary - Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study 2019
Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study 2019

This session will discuss how the role of asset managers is evolving to strategic partnerships with asset owners. What are asset owners looking for from their managers and how can asset managers share the value from IP to alpha?

In this session we hear from three former CIOs and CEOs about the challenges of the role and how their role evolved during their tenure. We will also get a comparison on how their experience on investment governance has transformed their approach committees today.