It's impossible to cover all the key themes we'd like to in our two-day PortfolioConstruction Conference program. So this year, we've added three one-day pre-Conference Masterclasses (Tuesday 26 August 2008). They are designed and facilitated by three of our PortfolioConstruction Tools Partners, each of whom brings innovative and thought-leading approaches to different challenges in the portfolio construction process.

The business, economic and investment landscape of the 21st century will be defined by the Global Emerging Markets. With large populations, high savings rates, low debt, undervalued currencies and emerging affluent middle classes, these new markets will increasingly appear as core holdings in investment portfolios. But how much do we know about these countries? What are their key drivers? How do you access them? How do you diversify risk? Why will one emerging market outperform another?

You will leave this Masterclass with a new perspective on the role of emerging markets in investment portfolios which will immediately influence the way you construct investment portfolios...
 

Global Emerging Markets Masterclass - Moderator

David Thomas | Partner | BRIC+ Program
David is a founding partner of the BRIC+ Program. Through his business Think Global Consulting, he has more than 20 years living, working and networking in emerging markets. The BRIC+ Program provides independent educational activities designed specifically for researchers and investment committee members from dealer groups, platforms, super funds, and research houses, and financial planners with a role in investment portfolio design. It aims to enhance your understanding, knowledge and experience of global emerging markets, allowing you to read about, listen and debate, and ultimately experience each of the BRIC+ countries.
 

Global Emerging Markets Masterclass - Program

 From 9.00am

Check-in and coffee

10.00am





 

The emergence of Global Emerging Markets
Mihail Dobrinov | Portfolio Manager | Principal Global Investors
In this opening session, Mihail will set the scene for the day. He'll identify the key Global Emerging Markets to watch, now and in the future, explain whether the Global Emerging Markets can withstand a US recession and whether de-coupling is realistic, and outline the key issues impacting the future of the Global Emerging Markets.

Mihail Dobrinov is co-manager for Principal Global Investors' diversified emerging markets portfolios, and also manages Asia Pacific and emerging markets shariah strategies. He joined the firm in 1995 as an international and emerging market debt and currency specialist. Mihail has an MBA in finance from the University of Iowa and a law degree from Sofia University, Bulgaria. He is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and a member of the CFA Institute.

 11.15am

GEM investment themes to use in portfolios - Part 1
Asia: Francis Chung | Director | Halbis Capital Management, brought to you by Challenger
Infrastructure: Nick Langley | Investment Director | RARE Infrastructure
Russia: Andrew Davies | Head of Structured Products | DWS Investments
Our panel of three Emerging Markets specialists will each discuss a key GEM investment theme, including the short- and long-term drivers, opportunities and risks, and how it can be accessed for use in a portfolio.

Francis Chung is an Asia product specialist. Prior to joining Halbis in 2007, he was an Executive Director and product manager for Asia Pacific Multi Asset at Schroders, and worked for Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Group out of Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. Francis holds a Bachelor of Business, with a major in Finance and Economics.

Nick Langley has nine years' experience in infrastructure investment, including gas, electricity, telecoms networks, rail, airports, toll roads and social infrastructure. He spent four years with AMP Capital's infrastructure funds management team and most recently was CFO of DUET, an A$5.5 billion enterprise value, ASX-listed trust.

 12.30pm

Lunch

 1.00pm

GEM investment themes to use in portfolios - Part 2
Asia: Francis Chung | Director | Halbis Capital Management, brought to you by Challenger
Infrastructure: Nick Langley | Investment Director | RARE Infrastructure
Russia: Andrew Davies | Head of Structured Products | DWS Investments
Our three panelists from Part 1 of this two-part session return to debate the key investment themes identified, and to answer delegate's questions on what they've heard in the session and elsewhere.

 2.00pm

Global Emerging Markets - Sector Review
Nigel Douglas | Head of Investment Research | van Eyk
Nigel Wilkin-Smith | Head of Strategic Research Unit | van Eyk
Leading research house, van Eyk, is currently finalising its first comprehensive emerging market funds sector review. Nigel and Nigel will discuss:

• why and how much global emerging markets to include in your asset allocation;

• how to address country specific allocation;

• the scope of the van Eyk review for this sector, the quality of funds reviewed, and factors to consider before selecting any manager in the GEM sector.

Nigel Douglas directs van Eyk's fund manager research team and provides asset allocation advice to Blueprint Investment Committee, which implements investment decisions on the firm's multi manager funds.

Nigel Wilkin-Smith directs van Eyk's strategic research unit which was established in 2006 to research and develop van Eyk’s views on strategic investment issues.

 3.15pm

Practical observations and applications
Dr Tony Rumble | CEO | Alpha Structured Investments
Tony will outline his key takeouts from his recent BRIC+ Study Tour China, and the practical portfolio applications in considering BRIC for inclusion in a portfolio.

Dr Tony Rumble has worked extensively in the investment management industry, including roles at Macquarie Bank, County NatWest and as a partner at Pricewaterhouse Coopers where he ran the firms finance and treasury group. He has a PHD in the design and taxation of structured products from UNSW and has consulted widely to Government, ATO, Treasury and ASX.

3.30pm

Afternoon tea

 3.45pm




 

Where East meets West - where to next?
Jonathan Pain | Director & Chief Investment Strategist | HFA Investments
We face the perfect storm of credit contraction and high energy prices. How can investors confidently derive future returns from equity markets? Will the East come to the rescue of the West? Jonathan will close our Masterclass with his lively observations on what the future looks like for investors, advisers and fund managers, and the role of Global Emerging Markets in portfolios.

Jonathan Pain has over 20 years of international investment experience, including Chief Investment Officer of Rothschild Australia Asset Management, Head of Investments at Gulf International Bank in Bahrain, and chair of the International Asset Allocation Committee at Paribas Asset Management in London.

5.00pm

Networking drinks
Join with the Delegates from all three pre-Conference Masterclasses for a relaxed drink at the end of a long day's work!

Back to top >           Register now >


 

The last 12 months have been some of the most challenging investment times in more than a generation. The value of a sound asset allocation process has been long assumed to be a no-brainer, or ignored all together. But suddenly asset allocation has everyone’s attention again. So for the first time this year, we’ve opened the annual farrelly’s Investment Strategy Conference to non-subscribers. As always, it will focus on the long-term outlook for the major markets, to build forward-looking asset allocation models for clients.

You will leave this Masterclass with a thorough understanding of the key assumptions that should drive your investment strategy...
 

Asset Allocation Masterclass - Moderator

Tim Farrelly | Principal | farrelly's
Tim established farrelly's in 2004, as the Australian financial services industry's first dedicated asset allocation research house, to help advisers make superior asset allocation decisions for investors. Prior to founding farrelly's in 2004, Tim was an Executive Director of Macquarie Bank Ltd, and Director of Macquarie Investment Management Ltd. At various times during his 14 years there he sat on the Asset Allocation and Risk Committees, and was responsible for distribution of the Bank's products through independent financial planners and stockbrokers. While at Macquarie, Tim was responsible for the Long-Term Forecasting program in 2000 which foreshadowed the bearmarket in US equities. Tim has a MBA (Distinction) from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Engineering (Met) from the University of Melbourne. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Portfolio Construction Journal. 
 

Asset Allocation Masterclass - Program

 From 9.00am

Check-in and coffee

 9.30am

Why asset allocation... and why a new approach?
Graham Rich | Publisher | PortfolioConstruction Forum
Tim Farrelly | Principal | farrelly's
Portfolio construction is a core competency for any financial planner or investment adviser – and asset allocation is a key driver of quality portfolio construction and quality results for investors. Asset allocation should be compatible with how investors really think, and what they want. Portfolios should be constructed to meet the investor's needs; return forecasts are forward-looking; risk is the chance of not meeting the investor’s needs; there are many equally valid asset allocations to achieve the investor’s needs; and transaction costs and taxes matter.

 9.45am

Forecasting long-term investment returns
Tim Farrelly | Principal | farrelly's
In this session, we review a reliable approach to forecasting long-term returns from financial markets, and review the current farrelly's forecasts for returns from 2008 to 2018 for six core asset classes - Australian equities, International equities, Listed Property, Fixed Interest, Hedge Funds, and Cash.

 10.45am













 

Is the glass half empty or half full?
Robert Bianci | Principal | H3 Global Advisors
Simon O'Grady | Head Global Macro Solutions | Suncorp/Tyndall Investment Management
Our specialists will present their views and engage in a discussion of the key macro economic issues. Is the commodities boom speculative or fundamentally sound? What price will oil be in 2010? In 2018? What's the outlook for food and metals prices? When and where will supply catch demand? What impact will that have the price of resource companies? What does it mean for China and India, and what do China and India mean for commodities? What impact will the global credit crisis have on company earnings? How long will it take before things return to normal, or will we see a long-term Japanese style recession in Europe and US? Can the Emerging Markets really decouple from developed markets?  Where does Australia sit in all of this?

Simon O'Grady has worked in the investment industry for over 20 years. Joining the Suncorp group in 2000, he has held several senior management roles with stints heading the functional areas of Asset Allocation, Investment Strategy and Fixed Income/Credit before focusing on the development of absolute return strategies and global risk premia extraction. He is a CFA charter holder and a FINSIA fellow.

Robert Bianci has worked as a fixed income and currency portfolio manager for one of Australia's largest Treasury operations and also ran a successful CTA operation for several years before returning to university to complete a Masters Degree in Econometrics. His key areas of skill are in statistics, risk management, programming and fixed income trading. He holds a Commerce Degree, a Masters Degree in Business, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investment with SIA.

 12.30pm

Lunch

 1.00pm




 

The role of credit risk in a portfolio
Michael Korber | Head of Credit | Perpetual Investments
Michael will discuss the role of credit risk in a portfolio including the current opportunity set, the relative merits of domestic listed versus a global portfolio, listed versus unlisted debt, and how to get the best exposure, and what could go wrong. 

Michael Korber brings over 20 years of credit investing experience to Perpetual. As the first Head of Credit at Macquarie Funds Management, Michael spent six years developing its credit investment processes and building the business from inception to over $7 billion in funds under management. Prior to this he spent seven years as Divisional Director in Corporate Banking and four years as 2IC to the Head of Macquarie Bank Credit. Earlier, Michael has spent five years as a Credit Analyst with Westpac Corporate Banking. Michael has a Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University.

 1.40pm

Managing credit risk in your client's portfolios
Tim Farrelly | Principal | farrelly's
If you invest even a small proportion of your portfolios in non-Investment Grade fixed income securities, you will from time to time experience a default – it’s an issue of when (and how much), rather than if. This session provides a layman's guide to credit risk assessment and a simple method to better manage credit risk in your client's portfolios.

2.10pm
 

Implementation workshop
Tim Farrelly | Principal | farrelly's
We'll review two case studies and walk through the steps of building a robust asset allocation model for each. We'll first assess the client's risk profile, encorporating investment goals, tolerance for worst-case scenarios, tolerance for short-term downside risk, longevity risk, and taxation risks. Then we'll review how different asset allocations would impact client outcomes, before looking at how different investment outcomes impact lifestyle outcomes, before assessing the impact of implementation costs.

 3.30pm

Afternoon tea

 3.45pm

Research report:  Runaway inflation - should we be worried?
Tim Farrelly | Principal | farrelly's
Tim will present farrelly's latest research on inflation and its impact on portfolios. He'll discuss why we should care, whether we can believe the official statistics, what drives price increases, what makes up CPI in different countries and where should CPI to go - and finally, what actions we should be taking in our client's portfolios, as a result.

 4.15pm

Delegate discussion
Graham Rich | Publisher | PortfolioConstruction Forum
Graham will moderate a discussion on the key take outs from the day - what Delegates will do differently as a result of the presentations, discussion and workshops. He'll also canvass Delegate's ideas for the most useful research and development farrelly's could undertake, to address key asset allocation questions and dilemmas.

 5.00pm

Networking drinks
Join with the Delegates from all three pre-Conference Masterclasses for a relaxed drink at the end of a long day's work!

Back to top >           Register now >
 

As the largest demographic cohort ever seen moves toward ‘retirement’ and their investments pass from accumulation to income generation, financial planners need to adjust their business model. The life planning approach to servicing clients has been bandied about for a decade or so, but many financial advisers remain unsure about it. But a recent study shows CFPs who took a life planning approach to business had clients who were over 3.2 times more likely to recommend them to others.

You will leave this Masterclass with a with a new perspective on constructing portfolios for baby boomers, to generate income for 20, 30 or 40 years to come...
 

Retirement and Life Planning Masterclass - Moderators

Bob Veres | Editor | Inside Information
Bob Veres is the most dynamic change agent in the US financial planning profession. He has been named one of the most influential people in the US planning profession by both Investment Advisor and Financial Planning and is a founding member of the PortfolioConstruction Journal Editorial Board. Through his Inside Information service, Bob offers insights into the best practices, ideas and innovations from across the US financial planning profession. Sharing more than 20 years of conversations with successful advisers, Bob offers real-world, hands-on insights into how to overcome the productivity hurdles and become indispensable in clients' lives. 

Paul Resnik | Co-founder | FinaMetrica
An active participant in the Australian financial services industry, Paul Resnik has been at the forefront of retirement planning issues for more than 25 years, and is Australia's foremost protagonist for lifestyle planning. He is co-founder of FinaMetrica and is currently leading its communications team. FinaMetrica's US-patented financial risk tolerance assessment tool and methodology is used by high-end financial planners in 12 countries and has been translated into five languages.
 

Retirement and Life Planning Masterclass - Program

 From 9.00am

Check-in and coffee

 10.00am

Why life planning? The potential rewards for you and your clients
Life planning promises significant financial and emotional rewards, arguably greater than through traditional financial planning, for you and your clients.

 10.15am

Boomers are different, and need to be treated differently
As the largest demographic cohort ever seen moves toward "retirement" and their investments pass from accumulation to income generation, financial planners need to address a number of critical questions:

• What is happening to "retirement"?

• How do we assess and deal with longevity?

• Should we be illustrating portfolio outcomes and spending 10-15 years beyond life expectancy?

• Should you bring all the family generations into the planning process?

 11.15am

The life planning conversation
There is much more to financial planning than super & tax planning and portfolio construction.

• What questions should be asked at the start of the relationship to help clients uncover their deepest goals?

• How do you include clients' and partners' different financial risk tolerances in the life planning discussion?

• What issues should be addressed as time goes on?

 12.30pm

Lunch

 1.00pm

Matching assets to liabilities as they fall due in retirement
Asset allocation in de-accumulation requires a different perspective. Portfolios constructed with no real investment time horizon work reasonably in the accumulation phase but are unlikely to be efficient in drawdown.

 1.00pm

Matching assets to liabilities as they fall due in retirement
Asset allocation in de-accumulation requires a different perspective. Portfolios constructed with no real investment time horizon work reasonably in the accumulation phase but are unlikely to be efficient in drawdown.

• Do planners need to develop their own portfolio models for clients?

• Is there a role for lifetime annuities in typical portfolios?

• When and how should the equity in lifestyle assets such as the family home be brought into the portfolio?

• Do managed funds provide the control of income that is required in de-accumulation?

• Should we use alternative portfolio allocations in de-accumulation?

 3.45pm

Changing the financial planning practice
What financial planning service do Boomers require? What remuneration model will work when clients have reducing investment balances? How do you make the planning process client centric? The case for service specialisation - the "narrow and deep" strategy.

 5.00pm

Networking drinks
Join with the Delegates from all three pre-Conference Masterclasses for a relaxed drink at the end of a long day's work!

Back to top >           Register now >

© 2008 Portfolio Construction Forum, Brillient Investment Publishing Pty Ltd ABN 19 122 531 337. 
All rights reserved. Refer Terms & Conditions of Use.