Separately Bookable!

Led by:

Dr Miroslav Mitev
Managing Director
Securities Research & Portfolio Management
Siemens AG Austria

Masterclass objective
Investment managers aiming to implement liability driven investment (LDI) strategies using techniques that differentiate between alpha and beta strategies can provide clients with more efficient risk and return frameworks. Separating investor assets into two portfolios, one focused on liability protection and one focused on asset growth can provide the manager with a wider range of investment options and less constraints than traditional institutional investment frameworks.

This type of LDI structure is similar to portable alpha strategies and allows the separation of liability driven alpha and beta strategies. The results are new and exciting investment structures and strategies for investors to use. This workshop will highlight the LDI framework and how it works and some of the investment options available.

Participants will gain

• An improved understanding of the investment opportunities provided by LDI
• A better understanding of liabilities and matching investment strategies
• An overview of the flexibility afforded to investment managers by separating alpha and beta in the context of liability driven investing 
• A more efficient investment portfolio

Masterclass agenda 

1) The client objective

• Identifying and understanding the risk and return framework of liabilities
• Determining those assets required in the beta portfolio (liability matching) and those for the alpha portfolio (growth assets)
• Identifying liability based objectives and benchmarks
• The interaction between the alpha and beta portfolios – managing the liability risk by rebalancing the portfolios 
• A key question- when to take liability risk off the table or go for more growth
• The limitations of traditional methodologies

2) The beta portfolio

• Constructing liability matching portfolios
• Passive or active management
• Gearing assets to free up additional alpha assets
• Case study

3) The alpha portfolio

• Must outgrow Liabilities to earn Alpha – not generic indices 
• Structuring pools of assets to meet objectives
• Multi asset class structures 
• Constrained versus unconstrained investing
• Must understand risk/reward behavior of liabilities
• Case studies

Who should attend?

• Financial professionals wishing to gain a solid, fundamental understanding of liability driven investment strategies
• Institutional and private investors who are re-thinking the liability matching proposition and wanting to know how to separate and structure alpha and beta based strategies in the context of liability driven investment
• Investment managers who wish to structure LDI strategies and who wish to provide investment tools for use by liability driven investors

Masterclass leader
Prior to joining Siemens in 2001 Dr Mitev was at CA IB, the Investment Bank of Bank Austria Group, where he was in charge of the Quantitative Research and Model building of the Securities Research division. After joining Siemens Dr Mitev successfully formed a qualified team of nearly 17 professionals, which develops quantitative forecasting models and systematic long-short investment strategies for institutional investors. Dr Mitev received a Master of Economics and Business Administration with main focus on Investment Banking and Capital Markets. Dr Mitev also received a PhD in Economics with main focus on Finance and Econometrics"

Registration for the masterclass will be at 8.30am; the masterclass will commence at 9am. Morning and afternoon refreshments as well as lunch, are scheduled in the day's proceedings.

 Separately Bookable!

Chaired and moderated by:

Charlotte Luer
President
LJH Financial Marketing Strategies, USA

Speaking to US/Euro managers who want to raise funds in Asia:

Dr Richard Horodek
Managing Director - Drake Management LLC, New York Head - Asian Client Management
 

Kirby Daley
Head of Sales & Capital Introductions
Fimat Alternative Investment Solutions - Asia, Hong Kong

Speaking to Asian managers who want to raise funds in US/Euro:

Suzanne Murphy
Managing Director, Member of the Investment Committee
Acorn Partners, USA

Masterclass objective
Are you trying to reach Asian capital and it's not working. Or, are you trying to reach US/Euro capital and it could work better? Attend this masterclass. We will teach you how. Not in abstract. In practice. How the markets work. Who has the money. What you are interested in. What to say to make them interested in you. How long you should expect to wait. How much you will get. Your teachers are pros who have done this for years, for a living. 

Masterclass agenda
Topics to be discussed include:

• What makes your fund different – defining your brand
• Building and sustaining your brand- marketing materials and putting together the perfect pitch
• Finding the right channels – going direct versus using consultants
• US/Europe versus Asia

• Assessing the rates of growth within the industry - a past and future trends analysis
• Exploring modern product innovations and trends
• The ongoing search for alpha and examining its implications for managers and investors
• So where do we go from here?
• Renaissance - an overview of the most consistently successful hedge fund in the world
  

• Economic and financial background
• Risk profile and characteristics
• Sources of investor demand
• Growth outlook
  

• How are recent trends in capital markets leading institutional investors to re-think their investment policy?
• Are institutional investors placing more emphasis on under-utilized asset classes and skill-based strategies?
• How is ALM changing the investment decision of institutional investors?
• How will the changes in investment policy lead institutional investors to think about broader organizational issues?
  

• Assessing the nature of non-synchronous asset prices arising from trading illiquidity
• Implementing suitable theoretical corrections for the problem
• Practical applications to trading financial markets – such as basis arbitrage, hedge ratios, and volatility spreads
• Potential computer based arbitrage trading strategies arising from pricing nonsynchronicity
  

• Does the ability to manage money = successful business ? Understanding the Asian hedge fund business
• Identifying the changing composition of the Asian investor pool and examine what they are looking for
• How are Asian boutiques competing with Wall Street giants? Do boutiques still make sense?
• Assessing what does it take to have a proper infrastructure in place
• Raising capital in Asia – What does it take to win local mandates?
• How is BASEL2 affecting the Japanese hedge fund industry?
  

• Are hedge fund fees justified by their returns? Or is it an excuse for hedge funds to charge 2 & 20?
• Is it justified for investors to pay hedge fund fees to managers with long bias?
• Are lower fees associated with lower quality fund products?
• Hypothetical case study: Which of the following fee structures would investors prefer and why?
  A) 2 and 20
  B) 0 and 25 or
  C) 0 and 50 above a 10% hurdle 
  

• Hedge Fund Fallacies
      - Asset class fallacy
      -  Arbitrage fallacy
      - Absolute returns fallacy
• Hedge Fund Facts
      - Skill & (operational) flexibility
      - Complexity
      - Illiquidity
      - Opacity
  

• The merits of managed accounts: transparency, liquidity, risk monitoring
• Measure and adjustment of beta within a portfolio of hedge funds
  

Central bank's perspective on:

• Concerns about hedge fund opacity and possible liquidity risk
• Identifying the changes in hedge fund investment behavior and the impact on financial markets
• Examining the systemic risk implications of the rapid growth of the hedge fund industry and on ways that policymakers might respond to those risks

Regulator's perspective on:

• What are the risks hedge funds pose and whether they should be regulated? And if so, how they should be regulated?
• How do regulators address the issue of systemic risk?
• Case study: Analysing Amaranth and the areas of weakness in the system

Popular with senior executives across the world, you can now meet the key players in your industry in a time-efficient, structured meeting environment. This is a great opportunity to meet the senior executives in the market and to exchange business cards with real industry drivers.

Sponsored by

• How does syndicated investing work? What is driving the syndicated investing space?
• How is syndicated investing transforming the hedge fund industry? Is it just a hot trend?
• Assessing the appetite for syndicated investing in Asia
  

• Lessons on motivation from the First Hong Kong Female Astronaut and Pilot 

• How does the mainstream media view “hedge funds”? Is this view a good/bad thing for investors?
• Is reporting on hedge funds fair or somewhat biased?
• Why is there so little reporting of the perks, benefits or successes of hedge fund investing versus heavy coverage of blowups and scandals?
  

Points supporting the motion:

• Hedge fund returns are mostly beta- traditional or alternative
• Beta can be bought much cheaper than 2:20
• These strategies can be implemented in the market smoothly in any large amount
  

• Due diligence traps
• The reality of risk management
• The 'art' of the audit obstacle course
• What does it take to really manage a portfolio of hedge fund managers
  

• Research has shown that on average hedge funds do not outperform their benchmarks after accounting for data biases
• One can argue given the large group of hedge funds in existence that the few seemingly good hedge funds are just lucky
• In addition, quite a few of these "good" hedge funds have been hit by the fallout from the subprime crisis
• What does the latest academic research say about the presence of genuine investmet skills amongst hedge fund managers?    

• Classical finance theory says that hedge fund alpha is driven by luck and does not persist
• Existing studies seem to conclude that it is hard, if not impossible, to find superior fund management skills in hedge funds
• What do leading experts have to say about hedge fund alpha? How much alpha is really out there? Will crowded strategies reduce the supply of alpha?
  

• What is 130:30?
• The big idea behind 130/30
• Where do they fit: Traditional or alternative space?
• Potential impact on hedge funds: transparency and fees
• What does the future hold for these strategies?
  

• Identifying the key trends in driving the adoption of managed accounts- Are they the new fund of funds?
• How do Managed Accounts address emerging hedge fund manager needs vs. fund of funds?
• How can hedge fund Managed Accounts mitigate operational risk compared to single or fund of funds manager?
• Who benefits from transparency and liquidity?
  

• Identifying the key opportunities and challenges facing your strategy over the next 12 months
• Spotting new investment strategies and styles in a crowded marketplace
• How can successful strategies in other parts of the world be adapted in Asia? What about shorting in Asia?
  

• Setting up: What are the key factors that should be considered?
• Current program: How do we manage the hedge fund portfolio and why?
• Review : 7 years review from the stand point of asset management
  

Popular with senior executives across the world, you can now meet the key players in your industry in a time-efficient, structured meeting environment. This is a great opportunity to meet the senior executives in the market and to exchange business cards with real industry drivers.

Sponsored by

• Looking at the challenges, opportunities and growth trends in Asian resource and energy efficiency
• Focusing and analyzing the fast-pace environmental policies in Asia, with a special focus on India, China and Japan – What lies ahead?
• Analysing the potential growth of the carbon markets over the next few years
  

• A brief synopsis on the latest research, Funds Life Cycle Theory
• With no track record, why should investors take early stakes with emerging managers? 
• Examining the risks, returns and challenges in investing in early stage managers vs. established managers
• When is it a good time to enter/exit a hedge fund / strategy?
  

• Examining Asia’s economy, market developments and fundamentals -How will they shape the Asian hedge fund industry? Will Asian markets continue to outperform in 2008?
• Assessing the performance of current strategies and predicting how these strategies will fare in 2008- Which strategies will outperform?
• Are we seeing good managers in this space?
• Besides L/S, do managers have relevant experience in other hedge fund strategies?
• Are the larger global managers denominating the space in Asia given their size of AUM?
  

• Outlining the convergence between investment banking products and investment management in Asia
• Identifying the organisational and cultural issues when moving from traditional to absolute return world
• Identifying ways to gain access to distribution channels in the hedge fund arena
• Do long-only managers outperform long/ short managers?
• Is it true that in growth-oriented markets, long-only funds tend to outperform?
  

• What is the outlook for Asia’s emerging markets and where do the opportunities lie?
• How do regulatory changes, politics and economics impact investment opportunities in Asia’s emerging markets?
• What will drive the hedge fund industry in these markets?
• Assessing investors appetite for hedge funds and meeting their return expectations
  

• Beta play with an expensive wrapper?
• Results delivered versus investors' expectations
• The (non)existence of winning formulas
• Emerging managers and strategies
   

• How can FOFs grow their business and meet the sophisticated needs of investors ?
• How can FOFs deploy assets to new and more exotic strategies ?
• Did Amaranth reinforce the idea that FOFs are superior to multi-strat managers?
  

• What key trends have emerged in the Asian hedge fund space?
• What has the growth in the Asian hedge fund space meant to investors?
• Why has there been Asian hedge fund M&As?
  

Popular with senior executives across the world, you can now meet the key players in your industry in a time-efficient, structured meeting environment. This is a great opportunity to meet the senior executives in the market and to exchange business cards with real industry drivers.

Sponsored by

• Do hedge fund managers have the mindset and capability to significantly invest in long gestation private equity deals?
• What is driving the current trend of increased hedge fund shareholder activism?
• How will the new capital raised over the last 12-18 months by traditional private equity and buyout funds drive away the competition from "alpha seeking" hedge funds by neutralizing the "alphas" in the investment space?
• What are the potential roadblocks for convergence - investor mandates, liquidity, valuation, regulatory, competition etc
• Would increased "visibility" for hedge funds through shareholder activism and playing in the M&A space lead to renewed/increased clamor for more regulation by the lawmakers, the regulators, business lobbies etc?
  

• What are the key factors that are driving hedge fund managers to real estate markets in Asia? Is it really a natural progression?
• Analysing institutional investors attitude towards the convergence trend and how this will impact future capital flows into these funds
• Meeting investors’ liquidity requirements and expected returns
• Managing short-term volatility in pure real estate fund vs. real estate focused hedge funds
   

    Complimentary for registered delegates    

Led by:

Duncan Smith, Partner

Hosted by:

The use of offshore funds as capital raising vehicles and for investment purposes is growing rapidly in Asia. The investment fund market is booming as surplus capital created by the substantial economic success of Asia in the past decade looks for viable returns. For managers, in order to successfully launch offshore, careful consideration is needed in choosing an appropriate domicile for the fund. Offshore funds hold many advantages as regulation is less restrictive and for BVI and Cayman funds in particular the corporate, segregated portfolio and partnership vehicles used are more flexible allowing for a greater scope in structuring the fund. Understanding the legal and regulatory environment is the key to launching a successful product that will attract investors. In the right circumstances offshore funds offer the greatest flexibility for investors and for the manager.

Who should attend?
This workshop is aimed at the full range of fund managers, lawyers and financial institutions– from individual investment advisors launching their first offshore fund to institutions starting alternative investment departments.

This half-day workshop will address:
(a) Key considerations for setting up a fund offshore
(b) An analysis of the offshore domicile – debunking the myth
(c) Choosing an appropriate structure
(d) Anti-money laundering regulation and how this affects the fund, the manager and investors into the fund
(e) Contemporary issues: side letters, enforceability of penalty clauses

About Ogier
Ogier is a leading provider of offshore legal and fiduciary services. The global organisation will have offices in nine financial centres around the world namely British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jersey, London, Montevideo and New Zealand and employ over 600 staff.

About the masterclass leader
Duncan Smith's background is in structured finance and he has broad experience in corporate law relating to offshore vehicles.  Since 1997 he has been providing banks with comfort on cross-border insolvency (netting, collateral & security interest) advice and has been liaison for ISDA with regard to British Virgin Islands law matters since 1997, providing the British Virgin Islands netting opinion. He was a member of the committee devoted to drafting a new Insolvency Act for the territory in 1999 & 2000 and is a member of the advisory committee charged with implementation.

To register, please email Chris at chris.white@terrapinn.com
Complimentary for registered delegates