On the Hunt is a monthly lecture series focused on the human factors in investment portfolio construction, including the ethical implications. It will help you better identify and understand how investing biases, beliefs and behaviours impact portfolio construction practices - and therefore, investment outcomes - to help you build better quality investor portfolios.

This lecture argues that client behaviour profiling should be a critical first step of the financial advice process. It examines why ethical client profiling - leveraging off psychology, behavioural finance, ethics, and the financial advice process - is necessary to successfully deliver consistent positive client outcomes. NOTE: This lecture is available for purchase - go to https://portfolioconstructionforum.edu.au/on-the-hunt/

When just about every asset price trends upwards, and episodic falls in market prices are quickly reversed, risk management is unrewarded. But the world has changed and portfolio risk management is now critical.

There is good reason to think that the economic orthodoxy of the past 50 years has one foot in the grave. The question is whether the mainstream economics profession has gotten the memo.

The fact that structural changes do exist and that historical data are often of limited relevance presents a major opportunity for investors seeking to outperform others.

August 1982 was a banner month. It saw the dawn of a new regime for investors – and for record labels – that was to run for 40 years. But in 2022, cash rates finally ended their 40-year decline. And the world turned for investors.

In the same way that Moneyball has swept every professional sport, data science is bringing greater transparency to portfolio managers' decision-making skill. To select managers capable of outperforming, behavioural analysis is crucial.

Opinions about private markets are often not rooted in facts, due in part to the fact that data on private markets has been scarce. But data is available and it debunks some of the common misconceptions about private markets.

The primary criticism directed at those who think about the future is that it's an act of futility. But thinking about how the future may unfold has proven to be a useful way to make decisions amidst radical uncertainty.

The young are better able to navigate VUCA owing to their natural growth and learning mindset. In an environment where investors can do anything, just not everything, we can all benefit from adopting a youth mindset.

Markets have undergone a regime shift - to prosper, we need to understand the factors that will be crucial to building multi-asset portfolios capable of delivering financial wellbeing in the years ahead.

The bulk of the research on sustainable investing has concentrated on returns. These two papers look beyond that to whether investors are so committed to sustainability that they will continue to invest irrespective of returns or fees.

Protecting capital in down markets is the foundation for superior returns – and quality investing, with a long-term investment horizon, protects shareholder wealth on the downside, while capturing steady capital growth.

Over the past 15 years, as behavioural sciences gained widespread recognition, economics has progressively acknowledged the significance of the biases that drive individuals and firms to behave irrationally.

The most recent evolution in index investing has been a drift into the active world. Until recently, active passive investing has not been subject to much analysis. The two papers considered here begin to make some inroads.

Confidence in a sea of confusion is key to success. Using three tools of persuasion, we can create a sense of certainty even when who knows what is just around the corner.

Decision attribution analysis provides a crucial lens on equity manager skill, benefiting asset owners and fund buyers as they select and monitor managers.

Investors today have more knowledge than any prior generation, however there remains a chasm between knowing and doing. Acknowledging we are all biased, because we are all human, is the first step to better decisions.

ESG investment is coming under increasing criticism, some valid - but the real problem is the ill-defined use of the acronym itself and we will all be better off if we stop using it.

CRE Debt provides dependable returns, backed by real property first mortgages. On a risk-adjusted return basis, every balanced portfolio should include an allocation to CRE debt.

The energy transition represents the greatest economic opportunity since the industrial revolution. Reliably capturing the potential and delivering tangible environmental impact requires three core beliefs.

Unlisted assets provide access to a bigger opportunity set that reflects active management in its truest form, giving opportunity for investment managers to further diversify multi asset portfolios with rich investments across diverse industries.

A partial allocation of retirement savings to a contemporary lifetime income stream can help increase the certainty of delivering what the income that retiree clients want. And such an allocation can help clients preserve assets.

To earn justified trust from clients and deliver consistently good outcomes for them year after year requires globally recognised fiduciary standards of care.

To better develop the skills required to analyse corporates, we can start with individuals as case studies and scale from there. If analysts can't do that, it's unlikely they can address more complex situations.

...though not unconditionally. The nascent field of Neurofinance suggests that investors attuned to their emotions can make better decisions during critical market events.

Retirement strategies must adapt in line with markets and demographics trends and the additional risks that are relevant for investors in decumulation.

We can help retirees build and retain their sense of control by keeping on building trust and educating them, modelling possible outcomes and showing a planned approach – including providing a Plan B.

A critical part of any retirement plan is a spending plan (which is not the same as a budget). Ultimately, a good spending plan helps keep clients' investments on track.

Finology Summit will help you grow your knowledge and understanding of the "human factors" – beliefs, behaviours and principles – that influence portfolio construction, to help you build better quality investor portfolios. The focus of this year's program is "Uncertainty". Designed and curated by our specialist, experienced and independent team, the program features an exceptional Faculty of experts from around the world, each offering a high conviction perspective on a facet of investment uncertainty and/or certainty.

ESG analysis advances and drives sustainable investing by helping investment practitioners develop a clearer view of a company's true market value, consistent with their fiduciary duty.

This lecture argues that a diversified portfolio of core fixed income securities is an essential component of an optimal multi-asset portfolio. What's your philosophy?

This lecture explores the concept of ethics, contemporary issues in financial services as they relate to ethics, and the relevancy and application of ethics in our everyday lives.

Value investing has proven successful over time but it requires discipline and a long-run horizon - and disagreement remains over whether the value premium will persist. What's your philosophy?