Human capital is the foundation of long-term economic growth, yet in Western democracies, it is under severe and structural strain. Education systems are faltering, producing graduates lacking core competencies, while civic discourse increasingly rewards outrage over critical thinking. Meanwhile, the rapid advancement of AI poses a double threat, displacing low- and mid-skilled jobs while demanding higher-order cognitive abilities that our current systems fail to cultivate. This erosion of "Human Intelligence" threatens our ability to innovate, govern effectively, and sustain competitive markets. In Australia, productivity growth has stagnated, reflecting issues in skills development, institutional capacity, and economic dynamism at the same time that rising inequality, falling birth rates, and widespread reliance on government support signal the breakdown of the aspirational social contract. Meanwhile, shallow public understanding of China and a shrinking pipeline of China-literate experts leave Australia dangerously unprepared for a complex strategic environment. This complex array of issues is changing the outlook for economies and investment markets. It is time to make a move – we can each contribute to shaping a smarter, more resilient future, and, by better understanding these issues, practitioners can better manage risk and uncertainty, and design portfolios capable of improving the financial well-being of individuals.

Western order that has long underpinned global prosperity is cracking. Not dramatically. Quietly. And nothing feels missing, until everything is. From the origins of Western order in the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, five interconnected crises now threatening its foundations: fragmenting trade; collapsing alliances; fading Western hegemony; vanishing civic knowledge; and, an AI revolution that will amplify every weakness. Business leaders and citizens alike have become unwitting guardians of this inheritance. When its foundations crumble, the rules we take for granted simply stop working. Just as the Medici invested in civilisation and created returns measured in centuries, today's leaders must become Renaissance people in dark times. That means thinking across fields, building what lasts and looking beyond the next quarter and to the next century. Our choice is simple – optimise within decline, or rebuild the foundations that made our prosperity possible.

In an era defined by rapid economic shifts and evolving banking regulation, traditional areas of the private credit universe are becoming increasingly saturated and necessitate caution. The time to make a move is now – asset-based finance is emerging as a compelling frontier for investors seeking stability of income, downside protection through collateral, diversification, and attractive returns.

As yields remain at decade highs, Australian investment-grade credit is no longer just a defensive anchor, it’s become a strategic source of return. Offering 7–8% returns from high-quality, liquid securities, this segment now competes with high yield, private credit and offshore strategies, but with greater transparency, lower complexity and less downside risk. With parts of the private credit market under pressure from rising impairments and liquidity constraints, investment-grade credit provides a way to access equity-like returns without taking on additional risk or sacrificing liquidity. In today’s environment, there is no need to move up the risk curve. Diversified, liquid investment-grade strategies continue to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns compared to less liquid alternatives, while preserving capital and enhancing portfolio resilience.

Value has and continues to be a cornerstone of equity investment discipline and the uncovering of mispricing that is central to active management. Now, in a market captivated by growth narratives and the allure of quality, investors are risking imbalance and volatility in their core global equities allocations. Investors should challenge what value means in today’s evolving market and think pragmatically about how value co-exists alongside other accretive factors, thereby uncovering opportunities that challenge the traditional definition. If they get it right, a greater focus on valuations in core equity allocations will deliver a smoother investment journey in the decade to come. It's time to question where your next dollar should go, challenge current allocation strategies, and move towards value as an indispensable component of every portfolio.

Today’s global equity market is shaped by structural disruption, with winners and losers emerging across industry sectors. An absolute return, long-short approach to global equities investing offers a powerful edge over traditional strategies. The long-short research process builds conviction in long positions while unearthing shorting opportunities in structurally declining sectors, capturing absolute value from both the long and short side of the investment book. Taking this approach and combining it with the freedom to invest over a 5+ year horizon to align with the long-term investment plans of structural winners can unlock one of the great remaining alpha opportunities in the market. Traditional long only and low-net long-short funds are often constrained by exposure limits, strict mandates, and investment pressures from investing over the long term and shorting. It is crucial to have the freedom to invest in the best long-term opportunities whatever they are, turning time and disruption into a competitive advantage.

Private credit is a maturing asset class globally but expanding rapidly in Europe (outpacing growth in the US). Europe provides compelling geographic and sector diversification, and a strong bias towards resilient sectors with high visibility on cash flows. European spreads tend to price at a premium to their US counterparts, the market is less mature, more fragmented and provides higher interest cover and lower default rates. Don’t discount the untapped potential of European low to mid-market companies that can offer lower leverage and spread pick-up opportunities. Now is the time to add European private credit to portfolios.

Corporate returns on capital tend to progress along a life cycle - they accelerate, compound, fade, mature, and turn around. When you think about global equities, every company can be placed in one of these five categories. By selecting stocks and constructing portfolios within a corporate life cycle framework, the alpha driven by stock selection is increased significantly, while generic factor and style specific risk is reduced significantly, too. This leads to far greater risk-adjusted returns across all market environments - something allocators must strive for in their global equity core. It’s time to move global equities portfolio construction and stock selection with the corporate life cycle - for alpha, balance, and consistency.

The explosion of data and advances in AI have permanently changed active investing. In an era where most market-relevant information has been created in just the last two years, the alpha edge lies not in discarding skill, but in scaling it. The core ingredients of alpha are skill, breadth, and efficiency, yet to optimise it now requires a systematic approach. Systematic investing processes vast datasets, identifies predictive linkages, and executes with discipline, stripping away behavioural biases. The portfolio construction implication is clear – now is the time for active managers to embrace scale into their investment process by leveraging data and technology to stay ahead and to help generate repeatable alpha. Those who don’t will be left behind.

In a world of disrupted supply chains, recalibrated interest rates, and technological acceleration, asset class dynamics are being redefined as some sectors quietly set up for multi-period outperformance. This session explores key challenges and opportunities in multi-asset class portfolio construction that practitioners should be thinking about – three asset class issues that it’s time to make a move on – in order to deliver best-of-strategies solutions capable of improving the financial well-being of individuals.

Capital and companies are shifting away from public markets. The rise of the passive listed equity fund has created unparalleled indexation and correlation in the public domain. Conversely, private markets have demonstrated return outperformance (with less volatility) over a long period of time. The result is a generational shift in capital and businesses to the private markets. Within private markets, mid-market private equity is home to some of the country’s most dynamic, high-growth investment opportunities. Yet most of these remain out of reach for public market investors. In fact, the number of mid-market businesses across Australia and New Zealand is over nine times greater than the total number of companies listed on the ASX. Mid-market private equity managers pursue an opportunity set that is vast, with less competitive pressure, and greater relative value creation potential. Innovation in accessible private market investment structures means now is the time to think beyond public markets and make your move into mid-market PE.

Emerging markets account for over half the world’s population and a third of global GDP, yet they remain glaringly underrepresented in most investment portfolios. After a decade of US mega-cap tech dominance, investors have largely sidelined EMs, discouraged by weak performance and relentless negative headlines. But markets are cyclical, and today’s low valuations could be the springboard for a powerful rebound. EMs also bring a critical ingredient that portfolios are starving for - diversification. In today’s narrow, concentrated market landscape, that’s not just a nice-to-have, it’s an essential ingredient for resilient client portfolios. The world has changed, and ignoring emerging markets now could mean missing one of the most compelling opportunities to build portfolio resilience and unlock growth. Is it time to quadruple emerging markets exposures?

In today’s information-saturated markets, the challenge isn’t ignorance – it’s bias. Recency, overconfidence, anchoring, and confirmation bias shape more portfolio decisions than many realise. The edge no longer lies in discovering what’s happening, but in discerning what truly matters. Where traditional approaches falter, systematic investing rises to the challenge, using data science, probabilistic thinking, and structured processes that strip away narrative traps and deliver repeatable, robust outcomes. Performance over one year is luck; over many years, it’s process. Systematic strategies prioritise transparency, consistency, and adaptability, building portfolios that resist the allure of storytelling. For those seeking to move from episodic brilliance to persistent advantage, the verdict is clear – now is the time for systematic investing.

A portfolio is only as good as the sum of its parts. This session explores key challenges and opportunities in multi-asset, multi-manager portfolio construction that practitioners should be thinking about – three portfolio deign issues that it’s time to make a move on – in order to deliver best-of-strategies solutions capable of improving the financial well-being of individuals.

The enduring gap between investors’ intentions and their market actions is a critical challenge. While investors may voice clear objectives, ranging from long-term retirement savings to ethical mandates, their behaviour often lags. This is not a failure of financial knowledge, but a misalignment between personal values and portfolio goals. By first articulating and understanding their core values, investors can design objectives that are not just financially sound but also compelling psychologically and behaviourally. This values-first approach closes the gap between intent and action, leading to more effective portfolios.

Picking back up from the inaugural Portfolio Construction Forum da Vinci Lecture the prior day, renowned journalist and editor Michael Stutchbury sits down with Oliver Hartwich to discuss the five interconnected crises threatening the foundations of the Western order discuss the practical implications for Australia and NZ, which depend on global trade, laws, stable currencies and open technology. When big powers shake up these systems, it is usually the smaller countries that feel it first. The world we created from the Peace of Westphalia to Bretton Woods owes much to thinkers like Grotius, Locke and Smith. Now that structure is coming apart. The old rules are fading away and nothing seems to be stepping in to fix things by itself. What happens next depends on us. This is not merely a philosophical choice. It is an investment one.
Legacy

This diverse panel of asset class experts discusses and clarifies the implications of four global economic and markets outlook scenarios for the medium-term (three-year) outlook for key asset classes, during which the Strategies Summit delegates vote to give their view on the likelihood of each scenario, from most to least likely. The asset allocation implications are then revealed in the Peer Exchange Group session later in the morning.

First, we stress test the asset allocation implications of the economic scenarios debated earlier in the morning. Our diverse panel of portfolio construction practitioners then discusses the asset allocation outcomes, which of the high conviction propositions they heard during Strategies Summit 2025 they agreed and disagreed with most – and, which ones it is time to make a move on, to design resilient portfolios in practice.

Investment is more than technical; it is fiduciary and communal, requiring alignment with values and stewardship of economic and social foundations. Oliver draws together the threads of Strategies Summit 2025, sharing his key takeouts and the implications for investment fiduciaries becoming civilisational stewards.

For much of the past four decades, the key to investing success was to stay long (and get longer!) risk assets. Even in the changed environment of 2020-2024, going with the flow was a good strategy most of the time. But is that still the case? Strategies Summit 2025 (Wed-Thu 20-21 Aug) will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking by debating contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies to help you build better quality portfolios.

For much of the past four decades, the key to investing success was to stay long (and get longer!) risk assets. Even in the changed environment of 2020-2024, going with the flow was a good strategy most of the time. But is that still the case? Strategies Summit 2025 (Wed-Thu 20-21 Aug) will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking by debating contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies to help you build better quality portfolios.

Established in 2002, Strategies Summit is THE portfolio construction strategies conference of the year. Presented each August, the program features 50+ carefully selected leading investment thinkers who will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking by debating contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies, for you to consider applying in practice to build better quality portfolios.

This paper provides a great summary of the role played by asset consultants and the existing literature on asset consulting (including why they're fired).

Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) is the peak, international technical portfolio construction certification program designed for investment management analysts - that is, those involved in any aspect of constructing multi-asset, multi-manager portfolios.

The Investment Management Analyst Certificate (IMAC) advances investment management analyst knowledge, skill and expertise in a definitive set of competencies necessary for building and/or advising on quality multi-manager portfolios. It is both a structured post-graduate certificate course in its own right, and the Australian-based Registered Education Program for the global Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) program.

Retirement is just one phase in life. This paper provides some interesting insights into mandatory superannuation and its implications for pre- and post-retirement consumption.

While there is a grain of truth in many of the arguments supporting the claim that private credit is set to blow up, most are vastly overblown or, where correct, can easily be managed.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the characteristics of hedge fund investments.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the characteristics of digital asset investments.

Private market assets can complement traditional equity and fixed income allocations, helping investors participate in the upside of favourable equity markets while mitigating drawdowns in difficult ones.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the on the definitions and characteristics and the use of public and private real asset investments in multi-asset portfolios.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the characteristics of private debt investments.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the characteristics of private equity investtments.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the characteristics of private real asset investments.

Private equity is promoted as providing returns several per cent higher than investing in public equity markets. These two papers reveal the true returns that private equity delivers to investors, identifying the real winners (the managers).

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the characteristics and analysis of Public Debt Investments.

This lecture instructs IMAC candidates on the principles of equity securities and analysis.

This Research Spotlight focuses on the Talaria Global Equity strategy, a value-biased global equities exposure executed through the use of exchange traded options.

If there is one thing those in the finance industry should understand, it is how markets function. The starting point is the Efficient Market Hypothesis - however EMH is amazingly poorly understood.

Our Markets Summit program kicks off with a video retrospective of the key events of the prior year...

The consensus on Wall Street is that the equity market will keep on rising in 2025. But independent economist, Andrew Hunt, thinks differently. He argues that the US corporate sector is highly leveraged and struggling to generate profits, with private credit posing a systemic risk.