Fiduciary Investors Symposium

This session will examine the role of central banks around the world, what their policies are, and what their policies should be. Drawing on the expertise of renowned economist and former central banker, Raghuram Rajan, it will explore central bank actions to get inflation under control and the likelihood of them causing a recession, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Investors face a radically different world than the past 40 years. MP3 policies produced massive injections of money and credit into economies, leading to high nominal growth, self-reinforcing inflation, and a tightening of monetary policy which is just beginning. In the face of the strongest inflationary surge in a long time, markets are discounting that one of the smallest tightening cycles on record will be enough to normalise inflation without causing a recession. This is unlikely. The underlying drivers of today’s dynamics means that investments that have proved diversifying over the last 40 years will not be as helpful today, and creates the need to rethink what will provide diversification. This session will explore how asset owners can think about the risks ahead and the challenge of finding assets and strategies that are complementary to a typical portfolio.

CIOs will share the experiences of the past two years, the risks and opportunities they have been exploring, how they are tackling macro economic risks such as inflation, climate and geopolitics, and how they are positioning for the portfolio of the future.

A fireside chat with the father of modern finance, and Chicago Booth School of Business legend, Eugene Fama.

Tragedy has enveloped Ukraine.  How this war might, or might not, end affects not just the people of Ukraine, but also the European Union and NATO, the Middle East and Africa, the entire Indo-Pacific.  China was already experiencing far-reaching negative effects from demography, the middle income trap, and heavy-handed Communist party governance before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  Xi Jinping’s decision to side with Vladimir Putin has been a gamechanger for many.  Instead of benefitting from a widening rift between the U.S. and Europe on China policy, Beijing has driven them into very close alignment and intensified the wider West’s attention on the economic and moral hazards of dependency on China.  This dynamic is reinforced by the trend to shape portfolios with ESG metrics.  How are investors navigating China?  What are the risks and opportunities?  How could the war in Ukraine and its global consequences further surprise us and potentially upend our calculations?

Macro themes impacting the economy including the climate transition, technology innovation and labour flows are all forcing a reshaping of globalisation. This session will examine whether the future of globalisation is tripolar with a more equal weighting to US, Europe and Asia and what that means for asset allocation.

Driven by complexity and uncertainty, the energy sector is in crisis. This session will hear from one of the leading energy sector analysts on the state of the market and what can be expected for the sector.

The war in Ukraine has highlighted the need to delicately balance energy security with the energy transition. This session will look at how the need to build renewables as quickly as possible can be balanced with energy security, energy resilience and reducing reliance on more volatile parts of the world.

In an environment with very low interest rates and growing inflation, geopolitical and climate risks, investors need to look beyond traditional portfolio construction approaches to prepare for this very uncertain and challenging world. How do long-term investors like GIC build portfolio resilience and increase the prospects of achieving asset returns to meet their performance objectives? Hear from the team that has been driving changes in GIC’s asset allocation considerations and framework.

This session will look at credit and distressed markets around the globe, specifically reviewing developments in the Eurozone and drawing implications for investment opportunities and risks. The session will also examine current fault lines, including sectors like oil and gas, as well as discussing when and how to think about investing for the next distressed cycle.

Asset owners with allocations to private credit discuss the asset class risks and opportunities.

The transparency, risk and return profile and benchmarking of private equity investments is one of the hottest issues for investors. One of the world’s leading academics on private equity, Steve Kaplan, will address the audience on private equity.

Investors will share their experiences of investing in private markets, specifically private equity, in the quest for returns. The session will examine the best vehicles, access and fee compositions.  

This exclusive interview with the new CIO of the biggest fund in the USA will discuss the portfolio priorities, outlook for allocations and the risks and opportunities being discussed.

What does it really mean to implement a net zero strategy? As more and more investors make pledges for net zero they are tasked with setting a strategy to achieve these goals. This session looks at the challenges of implementation including the investments and products needed to meet the challenge.

This session examines the future of capitalism including the role of crypto and bitcoin, its impact on the global financial system and the implication for investors.

This session will examine how investors are looking to technological innovation in investee companies and using AI and technological innovation in their own organisations.

What is the strategy – for both organisation and investments – as pension funds grow to be $1 trillion entities?