• Who are the users?
•  Who are the issuers?
• What ETFs are being used and by whom?
• Why are ETFs being used?

• Evaluating ETFs as an alternative to derivatives
• How similar are ETFs to futures and what are the advantages?
• Are ETFs an alternative to using programme trades or traditional active and passive management?

• Why would an investor make an allocation to FTSE or GWA?
• Critically comparing the virtues of different indexes

• Gaining exposure to developed markets, sector indexes and style indexes
• A critical comparison:   fixed income, commodities, emerging markets

• Are ETFs conducive for both tactical and strategic asset allocation?
• Assessing the major challenges surrounding ETFs for investors
• When should pension funds and investors use ETFs and when should alternatives be considered?
• What needs to be done in order to make ETFs more conducive?

• Risk, return and costs of active management
• Passive is not replacing active management
• What we can learn from the efficiency chart
• Why ETFs can help to combine active with passive management

The revolutionary, exciting, quick and non-pressurised way to meet fellow conference delegates and industry peers. These brief meetings are the starting point for conversation and networking throughout the conference. This is where long lasting and fruitful relationships begin.

• Is liquidity dependent on the level of AUM?
• How are spreads fixed?
• Currency factors?
• How market makers provide liquidity and how they are hedging themselves

• Secondary trading versus primary creation redemption liquidity
• Critically comparing trading on different exchanges
• Addressing the challenge of trading in European hours when the market for the shares in the underlying ETF is closed

• How is the liquidity of ETFs measured - dispelling the myth of average trading volumes?
•  Are ETFs always liquid or can they dry up?
• How are ETF shares created and redeemed and what does this mean for liquidity?
• Examining the impact of spreads on liquidity: is this something to worry about?
• Assessing the impact of a growth in ETF popularity on liquidity

•  A critical assessment of trading costs
• A critical assessment of annual costs
• A critical assessment of differences in dividend treatments

• Examining the impact of local registrations and listings
• Evaluating the impact on UCITS and non-UCITS funds
• Assessing the impact of buying ETFs in different currencies

• Building a core portfolio with broad-based country and industry sector ETFs
• Demonstrating the need to diversify asset allocation globally
• Assessing the value of rebalancing allocation anytime during market hours

• How to customise client portfolios to meet investment objectives using sector ETFs
• Assessing trading strategies with sector ETFs
• The active/passive mix: how to achieve the right mix
• Using international ETFs to meet the required objectives

• How can ETFs allow institutional investors to benefit quickly from movement in the market?
• Assessing the role that ETFs can play during portfolio reorganisation
• How can long-term holders of ETFs benefit from lending shares in ETFs to the market place?

• How do the various indices for emerging markets differ? And what are best in class examples?
• How to make the right index investment in emerging markets? And what are the relevant criteria for the selection of appropriate indices?
• What are the blank spots in indexing emerging markets? And what indices might fill these gaps?

• Examining the benefits of the core-satellite approach
• Assessing how to use ETFs in a core satellite model
• How to enhance the efficiency of the “core” through sector or style ETFs
• Portable beta and the use of ETFs

• Examining the constraints for the distribution of ETFs
• Assessing the benefits and costs of cross listing and can the challenges be overcome?
• Highlighting constraints for institutional investors and evaluating their impact

• UCITS III and the impact on ETFs
• Index issues
• Other related issues

• EU guidelines allow a 20% allocation to UCITS ETFs: what does this mean for the investor?
• Can you use non-UCITS ETFs and if so when should they be used?
• Examining the tax implications of UCITS III
• How UCITS III has allowed for the structuring of ETFs

• What are ETCs?
• Assessing the business case for ETCs
• How ETCs’ performance has compared with other investment vehicles
• Are ETCs the best way to get commodity exposure: what alternatives exist?
• Who should invest in ETCs and why?
• Assessing the future of ETCs

• Close-end-funds (CEF) and open-end-funds (OEF): how do they differ? 
  > share numbers, expenses, cash flow, volatility, leverage and liquidity
• Examining the fact that CEFs are not tied to net asset value (NAV): what opportunity does this present?
• How can CEFs enable sophisticated investors to garner above average long-term results?

Such innovations in ETFs are changing the way the market works in particular the way active performance is measured over the next few years could be transformed. This workshop will be investigating how and why? Can a formula really add a return above the market when year in year out active managers have failed to do so?

Such an increased level of knowledge will enable investors to make informed investment decisions which will maximise their returns.

Whether you are an advocate of fundamental ETFs, like Jonathan Steinberg (Wisdomtree CEO), or a herectic, such as John Bogel (Vanguard Founder), this is an essential workshop for any investor that wishes to dramatically increase their understanding of how fundamental index ETFs work and to develop practical solutions to overcome the problems which include counter-productive market timing and heavy trading commissions and fees.

• What are ‘fundamental indexes’ and why have they been created?
• Are fundamental index ETFs simply active ETFs?
• How are fundamental index ETFs managed?
• What can go wrong with fundamental index ETFs?