22 results found

A complex array of issues is changing the outlook for economies and investment markets. It is time to make a move to better understand these issues so we can better manage risk and uncertainty, and design portfolios capable of improving the financial well-being of individuals.

From the origins of Western order in the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, five interconnected crises now threatening its foundations. Our choice is simple – optimise within decline, or rebuild the foundations that made our prosperity possible.

Oliver Hartwich | 0.75 CE

In an era defined by rapid economic shifts and evolving banking regulation, the time to make a move is now – asset-based finance is emerging as a compelling frontier for investors.

Jason Mandinach | 0.50 CE

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.

Roy Keenan | 0.50 CE

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.

Vihari Ross | 0.50 CE

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.

Lev Margolin | 0.50 CE

Private credit is a maturing asset class globally but expanding rapidly in Europe, with spreads tending to price at a premium to their US counterparts, providing higher interest cover and lower default rates.

Stéphane Blanchoz | 0.50 CE

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.

Thomas Gander | 0.50 CE

The explosion of data and advances in AI have permanently changed active investing. The alpha edge lies not in discarding skill, but in scaling it.

Nick Burt | 0.50 CE

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.

Justin England | 0.50 CE

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. Today's low valuations could be the springboard for a powerful rebound.

Saurav Das | 0.50 CE

In today's markets, the challenge isn't ignorance – it's bias. The edge lies in discovering what's happening, but in discerning what truly matters. Now is the time for systematic investing.

Benjamin Leung | 0.50 CE

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, Michael Stutchbury and Oliver Hartwich discuss the five crises threatening the foundations of the Western order and the practical implications for Australia and NZ.

Economic realities and policy shifts are diverging from market pricing, US equity valuations are at record highs but the outlook for the world's largest economy is challenged, and the independence of the central bank is at risk. It's time to make a move to rebalance portfolios.

Ronald Temple | 0.25 CE

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.

In an era of increasing fee compression, complex global markets, and individual investors’ growing preference for customisation and personalisation, the traditional model of outsourcing investment management to an OCIO is reaching its practical limits. While it offers scale, it often operates as a transactional, one-size-fits-all solution that keeps the investment adviser at arm's length. The OCIO relationship with the investment adviser needs to evolve from this transactional, 'outsourced' model to a deeply integrated partnership that moves beyond an investment-only service to being a strategic asset that unlocks greater "Solutions Alpha" – the tangible value derived from improved investment outcomes, greater business efficiency, and increased investment advice agility – to directly enhance both investment advice practice value and the financial well-being of individuals.

Jamie Lewin | 0.50 CE

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.