Established in 2009, Portfolio Construction Forum Markets Summit is THE investment markets scene setter of the year. With interest rates near historical lows and asset prices around all-time highs, practitioners are grappling with the defensive side of multi-asset portfolios. Downside protection is essential in such an uncertain environment. Arguably, the best offence is a great defence! Markets Summit will help you better understand the key drivers of and outlook for the markets, and the opportunities and risks ahead on a three- to five-year view, to aid your search for return and to help them build better quality investor portfolios.

Established in 2009, Markets Summit is THE investment markets scene setter of the year, focusing on the key drivers and outlook for the markets. As usual, 2023 Faculty were each challenged to offer their best high conviction proposition in the context of the program theme - this year, "Every VUCA cloud has a silver lining!" Their high-conviction faculty propositions can be distilled into three key discussion threads, supporting the case that, for portfolios, every VUCA cloud has a silver lining! Watch the highlights video, read the key takeouts - and then delve into the high conviction presentations that most interest you.

As the clouds of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity continue to swirl, the silver lining is that we are on the road back to normal monetary policy settings, from abnormal, and a return to more rational asset prices. But we must be patient.

Investors need to leverage the experience of past decades while also humbly contemplating an uncertain outlook. Compared to any post-WWII period, this time really is different!

The pre-pandemic New Normal decade introduced investors to TINA - there is no alternative. With interest rates and bond yields having moved higher, it's time to say goodbye to TINA because bonds are back.

In these unsettled VUCA conditions, private debt can offer short duration with a focus on capital preservation, a silver lining for investors in the form of consistent, risk-adjusted returns and income.

Those constructing portfolios must understand the nuances of bond risk/return drivers and how bond market performance can be impacted by different macro scenarios. Opportunities abound.

The RBA is set to continue rate hikes that will bring on an earnings recession in 2023. Use Australian equity market weakness later in this year as the silver lining to position for an improved long-term outlook for Australian equities.

Global demand for greater computing power continues to escalate, presenting an exciting silver lining of possibilities and investment potential.

Inclusion of private equity as an alternative asset in portfolios is an out-of-date approach that does not consider secular trends in companies staying private and the unfolding democratisation of PE.

As economies continue to recover from the catastrophe of Covid-19 lockdowns, we must re-embrace the pursuit of progress, an idea that is central to science, freedom, and a thriving society.

Although the consequential volatility casts a VUCA cloud over global REIT performance, the silver lining is that this is transitory, in part reflecting a number of the sector's key attributes.

Sustainability is at the core of future societies. By channelling investments in companies with sustainable practices, heightened by environmental and social conscience, investors can seize opportunities in transitioning economies.

After a chaotic period, across most asset classes, silver linings are emerging. Global equity investors can capture these by identifying companies best placed to benefit from shifts in energy and technology.

Once the decision has been made to invest in global small caps, fundamentals return to the fore. Limited research coverage and inefficiencies in the market are the opportunity.

Investors will have to work harder to make money than just owning US beta. The silver lining is that there are large equity markets and sectors that are cheap with significant growth drivers.

After a lost decade, cyclical and structural headwinds are abating for emerging market equities, while profound secular changes are becoming tailwinds. But the path ahead will look very different to the past.

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.

Our diverse panel of experts debated which of the high conviction propositions they heard during Markets Summit 2023 they most strongly agreed with and why, including identifying "silver linings" (investment opportunities not yet fully priced into the market) and which they disagreed with most and why - and the portfolio construction implications of both.

There was plenty of food for thought and grist for the investment portfolio mill, coming out of the recent Markets Summit 2023 "Every VUCA cloud has a silver lining!".