• Savings glut: the end game
• Volatility: the case for a cyclical rally
• Will Europe burst asunder?

• Decomposing the drivers of credit products
• Fundamentals vs. technical: which are more powerful?
• Convertible market – a valid case study?

• It’s fashionable to say that hedge funds should not have beta but can I really get to alpha without going through beta?
• How many different betas calculations are there for any one investment?
• Which betas are important, is it only the MSCI and S&P?
• Is there good beta and bad beta?

• Adding strategies to traditional fund of fund portfolios
• Reinsurance, natural catastrophe and beyond
• Merchant energy, securitizations’ private lending

• Different kinds of ABL and the main players
• Benefits, risks and capacity constraints
• Assessing the % to allocate to ABL
• Comparing ABS (securities) with ABL

• Integrating risk into the investment process
• The pitfalls of historic returns
• Factor-modelling: What can happen vs. what did happen

• Agency risk: dangers of a misalignment of incentives among managers, fiduciaries and beneficiaries
• Model risk: how relying on a model can be more dangerous than flying blind
• Leverage risk: It's not simply a multiplier and not always obvious
• Liquidity risk: how mismatching assets and liabilities conceals and compounds risks
• Risk of ruin: when the "left tail" leaves one dangling off a cliff

• How to integrate default risk with other risks
• VaR & expected shortfall
• Measuring and managing tail contributions

• Assessing the current market environment
• Key drivers over the next twelve months
• What’s the right mix of alpha and beta given the quest for returns to the bottom line?

• Small manager risks & the rewards of investing with a big name
• Or is it the other way round?
• A review of the evidence

• Financial assets are booming driven by an ocean of liquidity
• Liquidity is no longer in traditional money but in new forms (derivatives)
• Prepare for a sharp contraction to match the boom in reverse

•  Taking stock of China Inc.
• China’s global ambitions
• How “Chindia” will alter the global economic landscape

• What does LDI mean?
• The role of "alternative" asset classes
• What lies between strategic and tactical asset allocation?

• Asset allocation advice over individual investor's lifetime
• Human capital and asset allocation
• Life insurance and asset allocation
• Annuities in retirement portfolio

• How prices, fundamentals and investors' behaviour interact: how this differs from classical financial theory
• Constructing a framework for incorporating investor behaviour into a typical investment process
• Tilting a portfolio to benefit from (or protect against) shifts in patterns of investor behaviour

• Value added: past results and future sustainability
• Implementation: overlays versus pooled funds
• Why do quantitative managers dominate in GTAA?
• What can GTAA players learn from global macro?
• The emergence of dynamic strategic asset allocation strategies

• Unprecedented demographic changes are underway
• The impact on the labour force, GDP and inflation will be stronger than most projections allow
• The effect on asset prices and asset allocations will be meaningful
• The signifcance of demographic change for investors, economists and policy-makers
• The importance of analysing compositional changes, and not just the aggregate level of changes

• Analysing the forces behind the bubble in bonds and property prices
• The impact of dovish global monetary policies
• The relevance of global FX reserve growth
• How much longer will conditions remain supportive?
• Future returns from bonds, property and equities

• The factors you should include - and those you should leave out!
• How should you adapt your model to address different time horizons?
• Why are most people's approaches far too complicated?

• Using fixed income futures in fund management
• Using equity index futures in fund management
• Single stock futures and volatility futures
• iTraxx® Credit Futures - the new class of exchange traded derivative
  

• Common myths and misunderstandings
• The hard part: converting behavioural finance in behavioural value and quality
• Tactical asset allocation tools
• Neuro-economics

• Directional allocation
• Overlay allocation 
• Alpha allocation
• Pure or mixed allocations?

• Is recent performance sustainable?
• Is gold just a tactical asset?
• Is gold relevant for UK pension funds?

• The current state of the art
• A hedge fund manager’s

• Today, inflation and deflation exist side-by-side
• The forces of deflation - will they persist?
• What might cause inflation to become a real issue?

Many alternative asset classes have inflation-linked income streams (or capital values), thus providing schemes with a degree of inflation protection. But is now the right time for funds to diversify their beta, or are these alternative asset classes just too dear? Expert panellists will be quizzed by representatives from pension schemes and consultants.

• Private equity: is now the time to step aside?
• Commodities: super-cycle or speculation?
• Real estate: too hot for comfort?
• Infrastructure: too much, too young?
• Index-linked gilts: will yields always be this low?

• Differences and similarities
• Asset allocation – where now?
• Issues and risks

• The current benign credit environment with unusually low default rates and credit spreads
• Record levels of recoveries on defaults
• The huge amount of global liquidity
• The role of hedge and private equity funds
• Credit quality of issuers and a return to fundamentals?

• Market cap-weighted indexes tend to overweight over-priced stocks and underweight under-priced stocks
• An index which is weighted using fundamental factors eliminates this drag, resulting in better long-term returns

• Are constraints diluting your alpha?
• Are they reducing risk?
• What alternatives are there?

• The exponential growth in product variety and offerings
• Operational efficiencies - the sharpest tool in the box?
• Comparison with alternative means of beta exposures
• Choosing and managing your ETF exposures

•     Why the ability to go short really makes a difference
• Risk management and operational issues
• The importance of a disciplined approach

• to serve pension funds’ interests?
• to meet their investment objectives?
• to succeed in raising funds?

•     Can interest rates remain so low?
• What are the key factors determining the optimal level of risk reduction?
• Assessing the issues in a model framework

• Our experience of implementing LDI
• Our thoughts on effective equity investment
• Our approach to alternative investments
• Our beliefs on corporate governance and manager selection

• Investing to deliver high, stable, real returns
• The evolution of ABP’s investment framework
• A positive commitment to innovation

• Drivers for change in the new market
• What does increased competition mean?
• What are the solutions on offer?

• Alternative governance models
• Manager selection in LDI
• Introducing manager selection into the risk control framework

• Applications and prerequisites
• Low vs. high frequency algorithms
• Static vs. dynamic algorithms
• Impact on markets and future risks/developments

• The advantages of a quantitative approach
• Model design
• Portfolio construction
• Practical considerations

• A simple quantitative approach to tactical asset allocation
• Examines five world asset classes since 1972
• Equity-like returns with bond-like volatility

• Understanding what drives the currency, government bond and equity markets – analysing the relative amount of credit being created
• Why interest rates don’t matter in asset allocation
• Bank of Japan case study

• Evidence that it may be possible
• Forecasting model metrics and issues
• Typical problems
• FX forecasting model examples - trend, carry, option trading model combination

The origin of LDI solutions

A brief history of asset allocation – the drive for beta

Demography, duration and deficits – the need to reduce risk

The impact of changing regulation and accounting standards – the catalyst for change

Understanding and quantifying your liabilities

How the value of liabilities varies with changes in interest rates, inflation, mortality and other variables

Asset-liability modelling - structuring assets to match liabilities

Who should use an LDI solution?

What are the features of a scheme in need of an LDI solution?

When is LDI is not the best approach?

Lengthening the duration of a pension fund

Comparing the nature and term of assets to the nature and term of liabilities

Developing a solution to improve matching

Implementation issues

Using inflation and interest rate hedging products to manage risk

Understanding risks, yield curve analysis, developing a solution

The role of swaps

Implementation, pricing issues, monitoring

LDI solutions using pooled funds

Developing a customised LDI solution

Implementing the solution

Adding alpha to LDI - implementing a portable alpha strategy

Why LDI leads naturally to absolute return strategies

When a portable alpha LDI solution should be used

Comparison of possible structures

How can the structure be managed?

Sources of return and risk

LDI – taking the next step

Sources of education and advice

The relationship between trustees and the company

Communication with scheme members