October, 2013
Print
08.15-09.00 Registration: Topics are subject to change
Chairman’s Opening Remarks: John Harrison – Senior Adviser, AllenbridgeEpic
THE STATE OF PLAY
Audience voting session
Trends in asset allocation: a decade of choices under the microscope
We kick off the conference this year with some quantitative measurement of officer, consultant and investment manager sentiment towards the key topics to be covered in the agenda.
Panel session
Liability risk, valuations & LGPS investments
- How smooth should we be when calculating liabilities?
- Does smoothing liabilities without smoothing investments present an accurate picture?
- Coping with academies – can investment strategy be tailored to individual employers?
- Now we CARE – how is the 2014 scheme shaping asset allocation?
Julian Brown – Director, JLT Employee Benefits
Mike Jensen – Chief Investment Officer Lancashire County Council
Alan Saunders – Independent Advisor, Dorset County Council Pension Fund
Market Analysis
Long-term capital markets assumptions: where are we now and where are we heading?
- Interest rates, inflation & growth
- Prospects for 2014 fixed income returns
- Prospects for global equity markets
- Opportunities across alternative asset classes
Patrik Schöwitz – Vice-President Global Multi Asset Group, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Portfolio Manager Presentation
2013 flight from fixed income and bond strategies for the post QE economy
- Turning off the QE tap – risks and opportunities for fixed income investors
- Will inflation replace declining real yield as the main liability threat?
- How can LGPS investors play the post-QE, post-crisis bond market?
Vincent Chailley – Chief Investment Officer, H2O Asset Management (a Natixis Global Asset Management affiliate)
Roundtable Discussion (1)
What are the key risks facing LGPS funds and what investment solutions could help mitigate those risks
- Post 2014-scheme liability risk
- Post QE inflation risk
- Global market and economic risks: EU bank risk/slowdown in China
- Existential risk – proposed consolidation of funds
Moderators:
Jo Ray – Lincolnshire County Council
Fiona Miller – Cumbria County Council
Alex Moylan – Surrey County Council
Mat Dawson – Warwickshire County Council
Tolu Osekita – LGSS
Matthew Trebilcock – Cornwall Council
John Raisin – Independent Adviser LB Haringey & LB Waltham Forest Pension Funds
Karen Shackleton – Managing Director AllenbridgeEpic Investment Advisers
Portfolio Manager Presentation
Emerging markets: volatility and investment strategy
- What happened to emerging markets in 2013?
- How do long-term investors play such volatile markets?
- Asset classes and geographical updates: from general to specific opportunities
- Why are emerging market investments relevant to LGPS funds today?
Speaker from Lazard Asset Management to be confirmed
Panel: Activism in focus
Shareholder activism: winners, losers and ethics
- What does shareholder activism really involve for the investor, manager and company?
- What areas of a business should activists concern themselves with?
- What is the ‘right’ length of time for an activist manager to hold an interest in a company?
- What do LGPS funds need to know in respect of their investment principles?
Mike Bishop – Chairman of the Advisory Boards, RWC Focus Funds
Clark Fenton – Chief Investment Officer, Permal Investment Management Services
Jignesh Sheth – Senior Investment Consultant, JLT Employee Benefits
Portfolio Manager Presentation
Real assets: agriculture, demographics and inflation hedging
- What does the global demographic narrative tell us about agriculture?
Consumption trends, food prices and inflation risk – will technology provide an answer?
Where are the stress points – asset bubbles and social unrest?
What role should agriculture play in LGPS portfolios?
Martin Davies – Head of Farmland Investment, Insight Investment
Portfolio Manager Presentation
Africa: the next frontier?
- The narrative to date: fastest growing economies in the world?
- Boom sectors and countries going forward
- Is Africa a speculator’s market?
- Why is it relevant to LGPS funds and what are the big risks?
John Mackie – Head of Pan Africa Franchise STANLIB Asset Management (strategic partner of Threadneedle Investments)
Panel: Recovery, Regeneration & the LGPS
Where do S151 Officers see opportunities for LGPS fund managers?
Section151 officers and local authority heads of strategic finance are as well placed as anyone to see opportunities emerge in social housing, infrastructure and urban development. How are they working with LGPS funds to generate growth for their communities and can they provide sound investments that meet the risk and return benchmarks of interest to LGPS managers?
Mike O’Donnell – Director of Finance, London Borough of Camden
Nick Vickers – Head of Financial Services, Kent County Council
Paul Woods – Director of Resources, Newcastle City Council
Speaker to be confirmed from Aviva Investors
Roundtable discussion 2
How do LGPS investors become more nimble while retaining their governance structures?
- Are LGPS funds missing opportunities for returns by virtue of their governance set-ups?
- Are frameworks emerging to enable quicker, better investment decisions?
- Can officers, managers & consultants collectively do more to bring members up to speed?
- Is being slower to market a necessary trade-off for custodians of public assets?
See moderators above
Panel: Futurology & Investment
Panel session
Shape shifters of the world – how could they takeover?
Africa, graphene, DNA sequencing, shale, demography…five areas that have little direct bearing on most LGPS portfolios today but may have seismic implications for the source of future returns. Our panel of CIOs and fund managers look at the big, global themes that were once the concern of futurologists and speculators but are now threatening to morph businesses and institutional investments forever. How, where and when will investment opportunities emerge and are LGPS funds well placed to embrace a brave new world of risk and return?
Speakers to be confirmed
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