The market has entered an unusual phase. Growth is still relatively strong. Earnings remain supportive. AI investment remains powerful. The hurdle rate for almost every investment is rising. This is not yet a conventional risk-off environment. It is a repricing of what capital is worth.
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AI remains one of the strongest investment cycles in the global economy. That strength is precisely why the macro consequences are becoming more important. AI is becoming a macro cycle because it is large enough to influence growth, inflation, labour, energy and the price of capital simultaneously.
The AI revolution may ultimately create abundance. The current investment regime is being defined by the scarcity encountered while building it. The next phase of the cycle will be determined by which assets own productive capacity and which assets can finance it.
This session first considered how delegates can use AI to apply multi-lens analysis to deciding the key takeouts from Strategies Summit 2026. Then, our practitioner panel each discussed which high conviction thesis they heard at Strategies Summit they would investigate further - and how.
The investment regime is becoming less about forecasting one central-bank decision and more about understanding who is competing for capital, what return they are offering and whether the resulting cost is sustainable. That changes portfolio construction.
The purpose of investing is not simply to accumulate wealth. The real "prize" is financial wellbeing. As Yogi Berra famously observed: "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." Eyes on the prize! Strategies Summit 2026 (Wed 19 Aug) will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking through robust debate of contemporary and emerging strategies to help you build better quality portfolios.
Portfolio construction must evolve to reflect a structurally different world. Traditional diversification assumptions and portfolio frameworks which may not fully capture the risks to which portfolios are actually exposed - or take advantage of emerging asset class opportunities that the structurally different world is exposing.
How can practitioners construct multi-asset, multi-manager investment (MAMMI) portfolios which are greater than the sum of their parts and improve the financial wellbeing of individuals?
Sports teams, clubs and leagues may command the spotlight but they represent only one part of a nearly US$3 trillion sports, media and entertainment investment universe. The opportunity – “the full prize” – encompasses approximately US$500 billion in teams and leagues and a further US$2.5 trillion across the broader ecosystem, from media rights, content and live events to venues, technology and the businesses that power the sector1 2. Together, these segments form a deep and diverse investable market that remains relatively underpenetrated and increasingly in need of flexible capital. This creates significant scope for alternative capital providers to deliver innovative financing solutions across the full value chain. Supported by durable long-term growth trends and a history of low correlation to traditional markets, the full sports, media and entertainment opportunity is too compelling for investors to ignore. (1. Forbes as of December 2024. 2. Goldman Sachs “Investing in sports: the next trillion dollar market?” transcript.)
Portfolio construction must evolve to reflect a structurally different world. Traditional diversification assumptions and portfolio frameworks which may not fully capture the risks to which portfolios are actually exposed - or take advantage of emerging asset class opportunities that the structurally different world is exposing.
How can practitioners construct multi-asset, multi-manager investment (MAMMI) portfolios which are greater than the sum of their parts and improve the financial wellbeing of individuals?
Traditional long-only active management is failing investors. Decades of evidence show that the average active manager underperforms the market after fees. The challenge is intensifying as data proliferates, compute becomes cheaper, and markets become increasingly concentrated. A new approach is required. Systematic investing harnesses vast datasets and quantitative models to identify and exploit market inefficiencies at scale. Its disciplined, rules-based process dramatically expands research bandwidth while reducing behavioural bias. Active extension goes further, investing more in the most attractive opportunities while generating returns from the least attractive through short positions. Empirical evidence shows that systematic active-extension strategies have historically outperformed traditional long-only active managers by significant margins, both in Australia and globally. That is the prize!
Established in 2002, Strategies Summit 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.
Markets returned to record highs during the past week, but the most important development was not in equities. It was in the bond market. For much of the post-financial-crisis period, central banks were the dominant influence on the cost of capital. Increasingly, the bond market is reclaiming that role.
Markets experienced one of the most violent reversals of the artificial-intelligence cycle during the past week, but the most important development was not the fall itself. It was what happened next.
The purpose of investing is not simply to accumulate wealth. The real "prize" is financial wellbeing. As Yogi Berra famously observed: "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." Eyes on the prize! Strategies Summit 2026 (Wed 19 Aug) will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking through robust debate of contemporary and emerging strategies to help you build better quality portfolios.
Markets have absorbed an extraordinary amount of bad news without suffering an equally extraordinary decline. That resilience has been supported by strong economic and corporate fundamentals. The problem is that resilience is now widely expected.
CIMA Society Asia Pacific is the community of practice for investment and wealth professionals in the Asia Pacific. We advance knowledge and collaboration among those involved in any aspect of constructing and/or giving advice on multi-asset, multi-manager investment portfolios. We welcome new Associate Members.
