Market strategist and PortfolioConstruction Forum regular, Jonathan Pain, outlines what lies ahead in 2011, including the investment theme he describes as the next BIG thing...

The 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Resources Kit is an invaluable set of continuing education material including the presentations, podcasts, videos, and research papers across the Masterclass, Critical Issues Forum, and Due Diligence Forum programs...

A regular keynote at PortfolioConstruction Conference, the Hon. Dr Pippa Malmgren was unable to join us this year - so in association with Ironbark Asset Management, we recently caught up with Pippa to get her views on building shock resistant portfolios...

The 10-hour Critical Issues Forum is one of two key components of the annual PortfolioConstruction Conference. It is a totally independent 10-hour plenary program featuring interactive sessions and selected international and local portfolio experts, designed by our specialist, experienced and independent team to cover two of our three pillars – Markets and Strategies. This Resources Kit - available only to Conference delegates - comprises videos, podcasts, papers and slides along with questions/comments raised by delegates during the program...

The 6-hour Due Diligence Forum is the second component of the annual PortfolioConstruction Conference, complementing the Critical Issues Forum. This Resources Kit - available to all PortfolioConstruction Forum members - contains the presentations, podcasts and research papers from the 2010 Due Diligence Forum program featuring 20 international and local investment experts presenting pre-approved research papers written specifically for Conference...

This Resources Kit - available only to Masterclass delegates - comprises presentations, podcasts, and papers from the 8-hour 2010 Asset Allocation Masterclass program the day before Conference, during which selected international and local portfolio experts discussed that, with Western economies burdened by debt at a level not seen before, asset allocation has to take into account an entirely new landscape that in fact is a reversion to the past...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, our two Inquisitors - Tim Farrelly and Chris Watling - summed up their key take outs from Conference, and actions to take as a result when building investor portfolios...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Tim Farrelly, Principal of farrelly's, argued that bubbles are often - but not always - detectable in advance and gave delegates an analytical framework to identify bubbles before they burst...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that, going forward, it is vital to consider the market environment and latest academic research, and develop a better approach to TAA and downside risk protection, including using second generation capital protected strategies to help create more robust portfolios...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 highlighted the importance of a specific allocation to global listed soft commodities due to its small representation in the MSCI World Index, and argued that the soft commodities sector provides portfolio diversification benefits, with a low correlation and more attractive risk/return profile compared to broad global equities...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 addressed the construction of a multi-manager alternative product completely at odds with conventional wisdom in that it has a very small number of managers, and the use of such a fund in a typical Australian diversified portfolio...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 analysed the commercial property market and investigated the various factors contributing to long-term, medium-term and short-term trends...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 reviewed the concept of Active Money and how it can be applied in the Australian equity market to provide practitioners with a greater level of insight into the risk in Australian equity products...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 explained why the Net Asset Value of international ETFs can differ from the daily closing price on exchange, and the reasons behind these pricing differences...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that Global Financial Crisis highlighted the flaw in modern portfolio theory which has dominated the industry’s approach to portfolio risk for decades, and made the case that portfolio risk is much broader than simply return volatility, and that the industry’s reliance on short-term volatility measures leads to incorrect assessments of portfolio risk...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that 130/30 strategies can viewed as an alternative to long-only funds, with short selling used as a possible way to generate alpha and improve portfolio efficiency...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 discussed why the current slowdown in growth in global industrial production can be expected to continue in the short-term, arguing that this should be viewed as a part of a normal cycle, with industrial production growth to re-accelerate into 2011, providing support to industrial commodity demand and that possible market corrections are buying opportunities...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Woody Brock, Founder of US-based Strategic Economic Decisions, argued that the US can rebound from its projected record US$20 trillion deficit, and what's required to achieve a soft landing...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, David Owyong, Head of Quantitative Research with MSCI Barra, explained the critical changes ahead for portfolio construction practices, particularly management of extreme events, SAA and risk management...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, our day one keynote speakers - Jonathan Pain, Chris Watling, Chris Selth and Manu Bhaskaran - argued their disparate views on the likely shocks ahead and the implications for building shock resistant portfolio...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Singapore-based Manu Bhaskaran, Partner with the global Centennial Group, argued that while there are significant economic risks to the rise and rise of China, they are of low probability of eventuating...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Jim O'Neill, Chief Economist with Goldman Sachs, argued that the world is being turned upside down, and the BRIC and N11 economies will become increasingly relevant when constructing portfolios...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Chris Selth, CIO with 5 Oceans Asset Management in Sydney, argued that the GFC was a wake-up call on the need to build shock resistant portfolios and explored how we can test old truths against new risks...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Chris Watling, CEO and founder of London-based Longview Economics aruged that there is nothing new about the post-GFC investing environment, and the increasing importance of a well diversified portfolio...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 explore which asset classes should be hedged, looking at the optimal hedge ratio for international equities. Is there in fact one answer, or does it change over time? Does it differ depending on the investment time frame? As the Australian dollar tends to be a pro-cyclical currency, does some hedging make sense?

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that typically, investors have arrived at their equities allocation (and domestic/international split) via mean-variance analysis of historical index returns and that this approach is fundamentally flawed Forward-looking investors should be asking “Where are the future tailwinds and is my portfolio positioned appropriately?”

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 examined how active fund managers can manage exposures to volatility and shocks, and how each can be exploited in the quest to add alpha and improve shock resistance...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 examined and exploded many of the myths and delusions that investors have clung to, and proposed new ideas on how to build truly shock-proof portfolios...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that simple strategies such as investing in government bonds or passively following market indices through the cycle are no longer sufficient to fulfill the dual purpose of protecting portfolios when growth assets are weak and generating sufficient income to meet client goals...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 investigated the role of domestic investors in Asia ex-Japan and how governments are implementing measures to save investor interest and attract them to equity markets, as well as exploring the various reforms and policies underway that could potentially change the economic and investment landscape in the region to the advantage of Australian and global investors...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that heightened volatility and potentially lower growth rates lie ahead. It discussed how to adjust portfolios, including what sources of alpha are likely to be most successful, what it means for the risk management of equity portfolios, and whether market capitalisation weighted benchmarks are less appropriate...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 focused on the volatility of investment income, and real growth, revealing that a high yield equity strategy can be the cornerstone of retirement income planning and that account-based pensions with this investment approach can resolve the longevity question by minimising the need to sell down assets...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 discussed how the fundamentals underpining a stable environment for property, combined with the strength of contractually-bound income from real estate leases, provide an attractive and relatively secure return profile during a period of uncertainty...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Jonathan Pain, Editor of the Pain Report, argued that the world is now divided between the submerging and emerging nations, and explained the implications for portfolio construction...

Filmed exclusively for PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010, these vignettes feature global investment thinkers - Niall Ferguson, Russ Koesterich, Bill Gross, Larry Kantor, Jim O'Neill, Bill Priest, Tim Farrelly, Hamish Douglass and Peter Gunning - giving their perspectives on the Conference theme "building shock resistant portfolios"...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Tim Farrelly of asset allocation research house farrellys, explaining processes and techniques for identifying if and when emerging markets should figure heavily in portfolios...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Mihail Dobrinov explaining the transformation of emerging markets as an asset class in terms of risk dynamics, as well as various techniques to identify and manage risks...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Andrew Lill of AMP Capital Investors explaining the ways in which fixed income investing can potentially navigate the current environment and the implications for portfolio construction...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Chris Watling of Longview Economics arguing that there were four key reasons why recent equity market falls are just a wave of risk aversion and nothing more sinister...

PortfolioConstruction Forum publisher, Graham Rich, caught up with the Hon. Dr Pippa Malmgren, for an update on her view of the markets...

Niall Ferguson, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Ascent of Money, explains his expectations for the US economy...

This Academy Seminar debated three carefully selected topics, in a Socratic learning environment: Currency (to hedge or not to hedge); Adventures in asset allocation; and, The US economy (now and possible future scenarios)...

Our final session of the PortfolioConstruction Markets Summit 2010 pulled together the day's discussion to ensure delegates determined their key takeouts and the portfolio construction implications...

Our global equity investment experts - Martin Conlon of Schroders, Simon Flood of Lion Global Investors, Hamish Douglass of Magellan Financial Group, Kurt Umbarger of T. Rowe Price, and Andrew Clifford of Platinum Asset Management - shared their views of the current status and 2010-2012 outlook for the global equity markets including the key risks and opportunities, and signposts to watch for...

Doug Hodge of PIMCO and Robert Swift of BT Investment Management gave their perspectives on what to expect of the global economy in 2010-2012 - where we're at now, what's left to unfold on the road(s) to recovery including the key signposts to look for, and how to position portfolios...

Our global debt investment experts - Kumar Palghat of Kapstream Capital and Dan Norman of ING Investment Management - gave their views of the current status and 2010-2012 outlook for the global debt markets including the key risks and opportunities, and signposts to watch for...

Are we there yet? Having passed through the GFC fire, and survived largely in tact, it was time to confirm the lessons learned and revisit the road(s) to recovery. A dozen independently selected investment experts engaged in a high quality discussion of investment markets and the risks and opportunities ahead in 2010-2012...

PortfolioConstruction Markets Summit 2010 kicked off with publisher, Graham Rich, asking whether we be satisfied with the past decade of success - during which we unwittingly travelled through an historical inflection point of modern history - and asked in terms of the post GFC economic recovery "are we there yet?"...

Does the dawn of a new decade signal a change in the global economy?