Funds Selection Nexus 2017 Singapore

Date:
October 12, 2017
Time:
8:00am – 1:10pm
Venue:
The Westin, Singapore

 

Asia’s largest fund selector gathering

 

2017 Event Photos

Agenda

8:00am – 8:55am Registration & Coffee
8:55am – 9:00am Welcome & Opening Comments
9:00am – 9:40am Leaders Conversation Panel 1 | Differentiating fund offerings for Asia: Go global or local?
Moderator:
Richard Otsuki, Deputy Editor & Head of IPS Coverage, Asian Private Banker

Conversation catalysts:
Vic Malik, Head of Investment Advisory, Standard Chartered Bank
Wayne Low, Director, Managed Investments, Citi Private Bank
Wong Meng Keet, Head of Managed Product Solutions, UOB Private Bank

9:45am – 12:25pm Workshop Rotations

  • Alpha delivery through stock picking and/or alpha extension – Columbia Threadneedle Investments
  • The resurgence of emerging markets – Franklin Templeton Investments (Asia) Limited
  • Multi Strategy Credit: targeting high-yield-like returns with lower volatility – Hermes Investment Management
  • Integrating ESG in thematic equities, a portfolio enhancement – Pictet Asset Management
  • Unconstrained bond strategy – provide an attractive level of income along with the opportunity for capital growth – Vontobel Asset Management
12:30pm – 1:10pm Leaders Conversation Panel 2 | Asia’s search for yield: What works and what doesn’t?
Moderator:
Richard Otsuki, Deputy Editor & Head of IPS Coverage, Asian Private Banker

Conversation catalysts:
George Lam, Head of Mutual Funds & ETF, South East Asia, HSBC Private Bank
Paul Stefansson, Managing Director, Head of Client Investment Specialists Funds and Mandate After-sales APAC, Investment Platforms and Solutions, UBS Wealth Management
Pierre DeGagne, Director – Investment Funds, Fund Selection & Strategy, DBS Bank
Rodolphe Larqué, Head of Funds and ETFs, Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

1:10pm – 2:00pm Networking Luncheon

Leaders Conversation Panel and Workshop Topic Details

Leaders Conversation Panel 1 | Differentiating fund offerings for Asia: Go global or local?

While asset managers continue to promote a wide variety of broad-based and global strategies, Asia’s private banking market is characterised by investors’ selective biases and their avoidance of unfamiliar assets. Those private banks that aim to meet demand in a region where client-directed investing prevails will need to apply a local mindset and effectively differentiate their regional offerings within the broader, global wealth management industry. What local investor needs are Asia’s private banks seeking to fulfil? How can niche strategies capitalise on growing a growing demand for thematic investment investments in, for example, healthcare or robotics? Just how enticing are broad-based, global strategies to Asian HNWI clients?

Moderator:
Richard Otsuki, Deputy Editor & Head of IPS Coverage, Asian Private Banker

Leaders Conversation Panel 2 | Asia’s search for yield: What works and what doesn’t?

After years of monetary loosening, income investing continues to dominate in Asia amidst an unending demand for yield. At the same time, Asian HNWIs have become more mature in terms of their income investment approach, as evidenced by a wholesale shift from predominantly single bonds investing to mutual funds, including multi-asset income, unconstrained bond and fixed maturity bond funds. Asset managers continue to add value by providing ever more granular exposures through various strategies to meet this incessant demand for yield. How have private banks and clients matured in terms of income investing within the mutual funds space? What new needs are emerging, however specific or broad? What tail risks in income investing have been overlooked?

Moderator:
Richard Otsuki, Deputy Editor & Head of IPS Coverage, Asian Private Banker

Alpha delivery through stock picking and/or alpha extension

Columbia Threadneedle’s global equity team has anchored its approach towards identifying high quality companies that have a strong growth trajectory. The team fundamentally believes that true quality and growth outperform the market over the long term, where winning companies are those that are able to protect prices and grow market share.However, in the short term, opportunities may present themselves in different guises, including volatility that may lead to price dislocation. As such, alpha extension is one of the ways that we may be able to add further value over the longer term, by utilizing an opportunistic and flexible long-short approach that can fund higher long exposures to high conviction stocks with a comparable exposure to short-stock positions. In aggregate, the strategy will have no more equity risk that the market itself, whilst benefitting from high exposure to “winner” stocks as a key benefit.

At this session, we will be discussing the merits of a traditional approach, as well as non-traditional alpha extension approach, and the merits of each especially in a moderated growth environment.

Workshop host:
Neil Robson, Portfolio Manager, Columbia Threadneedle Investments

The resurgence of emerging markets

Emerging-market (EM) equities have extended their 2016 recovery, with the MSCI EM Index returning 18.6 % (in US-dollar terms) compared with a 11.02% gain in the MSCI World Index for the first half of 2017. The strong start to the year reflects a continuation of both fundamental recovery and improved sentiment. Despite the resurgence in EM stocks, many investors remain considerably underweight in this asset class.While areas of risks remain, including concerns about the sustainability of the EM rally, we believe the upturn in EM earnings growth is still in the early innings, and that valuations and sentiment will continue to be supportive of further gains for the asset class.

Franklin Templeton’s Chetan Sehgal will share why the investment case for EMs remains solid and how the Templeton EM equity strategies are currently positioned to take advantage of the structural trends in EMs.

Workshop host:
Chetan Sehgal, Director of Global Emerging Markets/Small Cap Strategies, Templeton Emerging Markets Group
Franklin Templeton Investments (Asia) Limited

Multi strategy credit: targeting high-yield-like returns with lower volatility

The workshop is intended to introduce and explain Hermes Credit’s unique approach to investing in liquid multi-asset credit. To that end, Mitch Reznick, CFA, Co-Head of Hermes Credit will walk participants through the team’s investment philosophy, investment strategies, portfolio construction and risk management of the Multi Strategy Credit. This award-winning, global credit product – now in its fifth year – is intended to generate high-yield-like returns with less volatility by combining high conviction credit selection with defensive trades that offer downside protection. Based on their 15 years of working together, the co-heads of Hermes Credit believe that they have been able to deliver this objective by focusing on non-traditional risks, security selection and by taking a global approach to credit.

Workshop host:
Mitch Reznick, Head of Credit Research & Co-Head, Hermes Investment Management

Integrating ESG in thematic equities, a portfolio enhancement

The demand for sustainable investing is growing – investors now consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors across US$8.72 trillion of professionally managed assets, a 135% increase since 2012.High Net Worth investors are drawn to sustainable investing to reflect their personal values, improving portfolio risk/return characteristics, as well as making a positive social and environmental impact.

For 20 years Pictet Asset Management has been building sustainable investments solutions across the globe. As at end June 2017, we manage over US$10 billion assets through our environmental and sustainable strategies.

At this workshop, our Senior Product Specialist will discuss how ESG factors are being integrated, measured and reported in thematic equities, getting past the myth that sustainable investing means sacrificing returns, and lead to better-informed investment decisions from a financial and extra-financial point of view.

Workshop host:
Marc-Olivier Buffle, Senior Product Specialist, Pictet Asset Management

Unconstrained bond strategy – provide an attractive level of income along with the opportunity for capital growth

Interest rate rises pose a threat to all bond investors, but some funds deliver a high level of income and are better placed to weather any hikes. Investors looking for top-yielding bond funds that will survive an interest-rate rise. A track record since 2010 with USD 4.8 bn AuM* under the strategy, our approach is a simple long only, unleveraged active management, but with the ability to hedge. The strategy focus on providing an attractive level of income. Stable management team of 8 PMs of which 3 are partners, and no staff turnover since inception of strategy in 2010. The team have won numerous industry awards including Best Strategic Bond Fund for years running.Our strategy aim to seek attractive levels of income, the possibilities of capital gain, with a strong focus on capital preservation. The portfolio gross yield is >5%. Eoin will also explain more our 2017 favorite fixed income sector plays: European CLOs and Subordinated Banking Debt during the workshop.

Workshop host:
Eoin Walsh, Partner, Portfolio Manager, TwentyFour, Vontobel Asset Management

2017 Partners

 

Inquiries

For further information, please contact: [email protected]
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