Established in 2007, the annual Investment Management Research Symposium presents contemporary investment research. The two-day blended face-to-face and online learning program is designed and curated by our specialist, experienced and independent team, and features an exceptional Faculty of 20+ leading finance and investment thinkers from around the world. Each presents research related to this year's theme, "We are living in exceptional times".

Hindsight has taught us the importance of active core bond funds as an insurance policy and now is the time to consider expanding your investable universe as the secular need for income intensifies.

The rise of intangible assets has created a new level of economic potential for successful businesses. For both growth and value investors, the nature of fundamental analysis must evolve to match an intangible world.

A broader approach to retirement income, looking beyond yield and incorporating expected return and risk, means some income-generating assets should be excluded from retirement portfolios.

Since the GFC, we have seen a re-emergence of the low growth world which persisted before the 1950s. Investment returns in the 2020s and beyond will be concentrated in a few winners with real earnings growth.

Infrastructure's ability to provide consistent returns through market cycles, generate attractive long-term revenue streams, and provide diversification makes it a must-have inclusion in portfolios in the 2020s.

One of the best performing equity sub-asset classes over 20 years is seemingly being ignored. Investors should seriously consider an allocation to Global SMID equities in their portfolios.

Many investors are reconsidering a strong traditional overweight exposure to Australian equities. But structural forces driving domestic growth continue to support an overweight allocation to Australian equities into the 2020s.

Alpha still matters and an active approach can enhance portfolio returns, creating extra saving to be spent in retirement.

We can never know for certain how the macro backdrop will change or which investment style will dominate. But focusing on uncovering fundamental earnings leadership tunes out market noise, and enhances returns.

The conversation with retirees needs to move away from projections based on averages and volatility risk measures, towards a probability-based assessment of running out of money.

In times of lower growth and falling interest rates, volatility strategies can be used to produce a steady stream of income to complement other sources of returns.

Value investing experienced one of its worst underperformances in the decade since the GFC. As we enter the 2020s, valuations heavily favour value stocks and the data shows that value has a greater than 85% chance of outperforming growth from here.

This hypothetical Investment Committee considers three relevant, forward-looking economic and market scenarios which have a reasonable probability of occurring during the next two to three years.

To achieve a satisfactory return from equities, you must identify high quality forecastable businesses, apply a strict valuation discipline and have the conviction to be different from the herd.

The diverse characteristics of credit markets provides investors the ability to construct robust portfolios, offering investment opportunities suitable for all potential market environments.

Trailing a rising market can feel like missing out - but pure pursuit of highest returns can have unintended consequences. Protecting capital on the downside has a material impact on total returns.

Moving into the 2020s, global equity portfolios should be concentrated and highly selective, positioned to address both fundamental changes in the global backdrop and vulnerabilities in the successful styles of recent years.

Somehow the optimal growth/defensive asset split from the 1980s is still considered "balanced" today - never mind that for the first time since the 1930s, the cost of capital is stubbornly static at a negative real return.

Portfolio managers and investment advisers still too often follow their own values, rather than their clients’, when making investment decisions. In the 2020s, values will move from the periphery to the focal point for successful investments.

Although influenced by logical factors, changes in investment markets are often irrational and illogical. A whole-brain approach to seeking alpha is necessary to win in the investment game.

Prior to the GFC, you could build a retirement portfolio on the back of a 7% yield, virtually risk free. Today, without that free kick, a 7% yield is a much harder job, especially from a risk-budgeting perspective.

Limiting overlapping economic exposures more effectively creates concentrated yet diversified portfolios capable of meeting investors’ long-term objectives into the 2020s, while better managing risk.

Focusing on financially material ESG data and systematically including them into investment analysis facilitates 20/20 vision of a company’s risk-return profile.

Whether they realise it or not, investors use factors every time they make an asset allocation decision. Combining multiple factors can help investors increase the chances for investment success.

If we want a vibrant capitalist future in the 21st century, we need to support ethical legal frameworks for capitalism and practice Conscious Capitalism.

The decade since the GFC has been a challenging period for value style equity investing. Not surprisingly, investors are questioning the value of value investing.

Investors want it all from alternatives - keep up with equities in bull markets, and give insurance when markets fall. But true diversification adds independent sources of return to portfolios.

The 2010s challenged value investors as, paradoxically, cheap stocks became cheaper and expensive stocks grew more expensive. For those holding their nerve, the inconsistency sets up a good 2020s.

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning represent an important expansion of the quantitative investors' analytical toolkit, providing substantial new flexibility.

A deliberate blend of emerging market debt and high yield opens up another universe of liquid, high income opportunities which can offer relative stability in returns and deliver the potential of higher income.

An antidote for a low-rate environment is investing in companies enjoying the benefits of mega-trends, global shifts that are likely to boost demand for the products of a firm over the long term.

To succeed within the ever-shifting context in which investment decisions are made, investors should adopt a multi-lens approach. Context matters, and siloed thinking can be detrimental.

Great eyesight depends on more than just clarity of vision - peripheral awareness, eye co-ordination, depth perception, focus and colour sensitivity all play a crucial role, without which our vision is impaired. Strategies Conference 2019 looks ahead at the issues that will dominate the 2020s and beyond to provide greater clarity in building quality portfolios.

Established in 2002, Strategies Conference has gained a reputation as THE portfolio construction strategies conference of the year. The two-day, blended face-to-face and online learning program is designed and curated by our specialist, experienced and independent team and features our Faculty of 50+ leading investment thinkers from around the world. Each offers his/her best high conviction ideas on contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies, in the context of the program theme, 20/20 vision.

As life expectancies improved, the "Financial Independence, Retire Early" movement was born. But a very long time in "retirement" requires more flexible spending rules.

In late May 2019, Australian 10-year bonds were at 1.64% per annum. A month on and they’d dipped under 1.3% per annum. This is quite a move.

What strategy should a rational investor, completely free of constraints, take to preserve wealth while making modest long-term gains? To do so will not be easy over the next two decades.

Portfolio construction is multi-faceted and should be iterative. Five key components provide a framework to design quality portfolios to meet clients' objectives.

Retirement bucket strategies tie specific expenses to specific portfolios. But looking at categories of spending doesn't necessarily work. A better approach is to segment spending within each category.

The definition of the "alternative investment" asset class is one of the most debated and important. What is your philosophy?

Established in 2008, the Investment Management Research Workshop showcases contemporary academic research that is relevant to investment management. It gives you a rare opportunity to join with the full spectrum of investment management analysts - academics, professional investors, consultants, practitioners and advocates - to consider contemporary investment research.

The Investment Management Research Workshop 2019 showcased contemporary academic research that is relevant to investment management.

Climate change has moved faster than most thought possible. There will be exciting investment opportunities in companies focused on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Retirement village contracts have their pros and cons. The contracts are really a type of complex insurance or financial product. Comparison shopping is very difficult but possible.

A recent paper looks at the impact of passive investing on market stability; a second describes shades of alpha for active and index investing. A third reviews luck and portfolio rebalancing outcomes.

Rather than worrying about whether portfolios are actively or passively managed, investors should focus on strategic asset allocation. The tired active-passive investment debate has run its course.

These are my key takeouts from Markets Summit 2019's Faculty of investment thinkers from around the world offering their high conviction ideas on the drivers of and outlook for the markets.

My key takeout was that perhaps markets entered an inflection point through 2018 and, accordingly (if they haven't already), investors need to think about how they position portfolios.

The idea that imputation refunds are an unfair, expensive rort is gaining acceptance in the community. The Labor proposal is not fair, nor much of a revenue earner. It's not even nuts. It is just wrong.

Few clients have the 20-year horizon required for today’s strategically-oriented models to become consistent with suggested outcomes, such as CPI+4%. This builds in a structural mismatch.

Australian investors have a different perspective on foreign currency to investors elsewhere in the world, and this should be reflected in how local portfolios are built.

The UBS "Fixed Income Considerations" Whitepaper (January 2019) has been assessed and accredited by Portfolio Construction Forum for Continuing Education (CE/CPD) hours.