Practitioners are often reluctant to adopt new solutions because of high risk. "If it has never been done, how do you know it works?". But failure to try new approaches can mean missed opportunities.

Sharpe proposed that active investing must be a losing pursuit in aggregate. This paper takes a critical look at that proposition, and whether it is worthwhile considering using active fund managers.

Established in 2007, the annual Investment Management Research Symposium presents contemporary investment research. The two-day blended face-to-face and online learning program is designed and curated by our specialist, experienced and independent team, and features an exceptional Faculty of 20+ leading finance and investment thinkers from around the world. Each presents research related to this year's theme, "We are living in exceptional times".

Alpha still matters and an active approach can enhance portfolio returns, creating extra saving to be spent in retirement.

Somehow the optimal growth/defensive asset split from the 1980s is still considered "balanced" today - never mind that for the first time since the 1930s, the cost of capital is stubbornly static at a negative real return.

Portfolio managers and investment advisers still too often follow their own values, rather than their clients’, when making investment decisions. In the 2020s, values will move from the periphery to the focal point for successful investments.

Focusing on financially material ESG data and systematically including them into investment analysis facilitates 20/20 vision of a company’s risk-return profile.

If we want a vibrant capitalist future in the 21st century, we need to support ethical legal frameworks for capitalism and practice Conscious Capitalism.

Great eyesight depends on more than just clarity of vision - peripheral awareness, eye co-ordination, depth perception, focus and colour sensitivity all play a crucial role, without which our vision is impaired. Strategies Conference 2019 looks ahead at the issues that will dominate the 2020s and beyond to provide greater clarity in building quality portfolios.

Established in 2002, Strategies Conference has gained a reputation as THE portfolio construction strategies conference of the year. The two-day, blended face-to-face and online learning program is designed and curated by our specialist, experienced and independent team and features our Faculty of 50+ leading investment thinkers from around the world. Each offers his/her best high conviction ideas on contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies, in the context of the program theme, 20/20 vision.

What strategy should a rational investor, completely free of constraints, take to preserve wealth while making modest long-term gains? To do so will not be easy over the next two decades.

Two recent research papers explore the impact of investors' increasing appetite for environmentally responsible investments.

Portfolio construction is multi-faceted and should be iterative. Five key components provide a framework to design quality portfolios to meet clients' objectives.

Research finds that SRI funds perform as well as conventional funds, ESG equity investing has outperformed in the US, and controversial stocks do best in crises.

Retirement bucket strategies tie specific expenses to specific portfolios. But looking at categories of spending doesn't necessarily work. A better approach is to segment spending within each category.

The definition of the "alternative investment" asset class is one of the most debated and important. What is your philosophy?

A carbon tax - while immensely popular among economists - imposes the same cost on the rich and poor. A carbon dividend would be a smart step that wouldn’t invite a yellow vest reaction.

China is frequently presented as a source of crisis or instability for the global economy. However, the picture is one of imperfection, not peril.

For the first time in a decade, bonds can compete against equities on returns. High quality, investment grade corporate bonds can deliver mid-single digit returns for a third of the volatility of equities.

Yes, it’s possible that we enter a recession in the not too distant future. But the best curve to forecast recessions still has a positive slope.

The UBS "Fixed Income Considerations" Whitepaper (January 2019) has been assessed and accredited by Portfolio Construction Forum for Continuing Education (CE/CPD) hours.