DDO fundamentally changes how financial products are distributed to retail consumers, requiring issuers and distributors to have a consumer-centric approach to the design and distribution of products.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are vitally important to building a better world for all humanity. Using an SDG framework reduces portfolio risk while making a positive SDG impact.

Positive ESG selection creates a broader universe of sustainable companies and greater opportunity set than negative or exclusionary policies, delivering more sustainable risk-adjusted returns.

A high equity income strategy tailored for retirees is a core solution for providing better retirement outcomes, maximising income while leaving capital intact.

As investors themselves, investment advisers can suffer from the very biases they attempt to combat within their clients, risking the delivery of optimal client outcomes and deepening relationships.

Quantitative easing has inflated the price and risk of asset classes. Private debt prices in this risk and offers investors the capital protection they deserve.

Investors are concerned about investing in assets with exposure to carbon emissions. However, regulated electric utilities will be a significant beneficiary in a greener world.

In the 1990s and 2000s, investors were largely able to ignore the macro picture. But macro forces have reawakened and matter more than ever for portfolios to succeed in meeting client goals in the years ahead.

Style matters when constructing portfolios, but there are other characteristics in a manager that are as - if not more - important in generating consistent returns over the long term.

Private debt essential to modern investment portfolios. If the end objective is an attractive risk-adjusted return, then private debt is the means to get there.

Portfolio construction practitioners have access to a broader array of investment research, strategies and tools than ever before - yet obstacles to meeting clients' long-term financial goals are equally numerous.

Companies that are solving the world's greatest challenges - environmental or humanitarian – often have near term imperfections that see them starved of capital. A pragmatic approach embraces imperfections and focusses on the potential for positive societal impact.

Infrastructure plays a key role in the move towards decarbonisation and net-zero emissions. Government policy support and the unprecedented amount of capital required to achieve these targets should change how you think about investing in infrastructure.

Investors should view long biased, long short equity as a core solution, dedicating a meaningful slice to portfolios, rather than being constrained by traditional equity/debt buckets.

There are now a plethora of funds that aim to account for ESG issues based on different philosophies and processes. Passive screening and divestment approaches are inefficient ways of bringing about real change.

Established in 2002, Strategies Conference 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.

The stability of stablecoins is an illusion. They are unlikely to replace Federal Reserve money, unlikely to revolutionise finance, and unlikely to realise the dreams of their libertarian enthusiasts.

Global financial markets have been reacting to the Covid-19 pandemic since early 2020, providing a unique opportunity for researchers to examine the impact of a global pandemic on uncertainty, investor reactions, and stock prices.

High allocations to alternatives are often justified on the basis of return and diversification advantages. Two recent papers show that with private equity and hedge fund, it's the managers who are the real winners.

Many research papers address the investment performance of sustainable investing - few have investigated whether this form of investing actually achieves the intended good. Two papers address that gap.

Target date funds first became popular as a MySuper option. Leaving aside whether target date funds are a good idea in the first place, what these two papers highlight is a lack of thought in their design.

Value investing proved to be successful strategy for nearly a century, before experiencing one of its worst performance periods in the last few years. These two papers examine whether implementation or low interest rates are the culprit.

Our diverse panel debated which of the high-conviction propositions they heard at Markets Summit 2021 resonated most strongly, which they disagreed with most - and the portfolio construction implications.

Established in 2009, Portfolio Construction Forum Markets Summit is THE investment markets scene setter of the year. The geopolitical, macroeconomic and corporate outlook remains unclear, yet stock markets continue to climb this wall of worry. It is time to pause, reflect and go back to the drawing board! Markets Summit will help you better understand the key drivers of and outlook for the markets (geopolitical, economic and asset class), and the opportunities and risks ahead, on a three- to five-year view, to aid your search for return and to help you build better quality investor portfolios.

I believe time allows signals to surface amidst the ubiquitous noise. In the spirit of Annie's "just thinking about tomorrow..." in which she pleads for us to "hang on 'til tomorrow, come what may," I present my 2021 predictions for the coming five years.