Food for thought and CE from Portfolio Construction Forum

When making decisions, we all look at past outcomes as one input. This paper questions the appropriateness of the common methods of measuring investment manager performance and suggests we should focus on measures that are of more relevance to actual investor outcomes.

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.

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.

Over the past three decades, geopolitical fragmentation, technological disruption, fiscal expansion, energy security concerns and changing market structures – and now, the infusion of AI into every aspect of society – have altered the very foundations on which portfolios have been built. In short, the macro environment that shaped portfolio construction no longer exists.

By understanding the investment behaviours of stock market "maestros", practitioners can identify highly skilled fund managers and improve their own portfolio construction decisions, better equipping them to deliver the ultimate "prize" for clients - financial wellbeing.

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?

Supported by durable long-term growth trends and a history of low correlation to traditional markets, the full SME opportunity is too compelling for investors to ignore.

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?

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?

This session first considered how practitioners can apply multi-lens analysis via AI to decide their key takeouts and next steps from Strategies Summit 2026. Then, our Practitioner Panel discussed which high conviction thesis they heard at Strategies Summit they would investigate further, why, and how.

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.

This Research Spotlight focuses on the Royal London Global Equity Select strategy, a benchmark-unaware global equities strategy utilising a business life cycle investment approach to identify materially undervalued companies.

Food for thought and CE from Portfolio Construction Forum

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.

For much of the AI boom, markets rewarded scale. The debate is shifting from investment to productivity, from infrastructure to monetisation and from technological capability to economic return.