Is gold a good means of diversification? Is it a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation? Or is the last decade an anomaly?

For decades, long-only equities has been “king”, the dominant component of most long-term investors’ portfolios. But, the King has been overthrown in recent years, and cash has assumed the throne as investors have flocked to its supposed safety. Cash is King - but is just it a pretender to the throne? Markets Summit 2012 debated how long cash will remain King, how other asset classes will fare against it over the coming three years – and how we can do better than cash when building quality investor portfolios…

The Hot Topic Debate at the 2012 Markets Summit focused on the case for and against including gold in portfolios. Is gold a good means of portfolio diversification and protection, as well as a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation? Or is it, as those in the opposing corner argue, that the last decade is an anomaly for gold and it has no place in portfolios...

The inaugural Peter L Bernstein Memorial Lecture at the 2012 Markets Summit focused on Zombie Economics. The GFC exposed the flaws in many of the assumptions behind market liberalism - in most cases, problems were evident well before the GFC, but those who pointed them out were dismissed or ignored. These dead ideas still walk among us...

This session helped delegates determine the key takeouts from the Markets Summit, and actions to take when building investor portfolios...

This Asset Class Forum session at the 2012 Markets Summit saw our presenters and Inquisitors debate the outlook for the Australian debt and equities market, REIT market, Asian equities market and global commodities market, and the portfolio construction implications...

The 2012-2014 outlook for the global commodities market versus cash, the risks and opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

The 2012-2014 outlook for the Asian equities market versus cash, the risks and opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

The outlook for the REITs vs cash, risks and opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

This Asset Class Forum session at the 2012 Markets Summit focused on the 2012-2014 outlook for the Australian equities market, including the most likely scenario, performance v cash, risks and opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

The 2012-2014 outlook for the Australian debt market, versus cash, the risks and opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

This Big Picture Forum session at the 2012 Markets Summit saw our presenters and Inquisitors debate the outlook for the global developed market (DM) and emerging market (EM) equities markets, and the portfolio construction implications...

The 2012-2014 outlook for the global emerging market equity markets, risks and opportunities, and the portfolio construction implications...

The 2012-2014 outlook for the global emerging market equity markets, risks, opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

This Big Picture Forum session at the 2012 Markets Summit saw our presenters and Inquisitors debate the outlook for the global economy and global debt markets, and the portfolio construction implications...

The outlook for the global debt markets relative to cash, risks and opportunities, and portfolio construction implications...

The 2012-2014 outlook for the global economy with particular emphasis on the US and Europe, key scenarios and portfolio construction implications...

The year 2011 saw modest earnings growth of 5% overwhelmed by price to earnings contraction of -15%. It would be hard to imagine that 2012 will be another similar year unless something major or unexpected occurs...

2011 was a disappointing year for equity markets in Asia ex-Japan, recording negative returns and underperforming the developed market peers - however the outlook for Asian equity markets in the short term (one year) and longer term (three years) is promising...