Webcasts

Investing in the Energy Transition

Investing in the Energy Transition

Listen as experts discuss the institutional investment opportunities in the global transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources and toward new sources, including hydrogen, LNG, solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. Additionally, they will review ways to realize returns from energy storage, carbon capture and other industrial changes, and they will cover divestiture and the concept of “orphaned by accident” segments of energy markets. Countries and companies are going to be spending money to invest in new industries that could attract global resources for a century or more. What kinds of trends, research and global developments should investors be watching as change happens?

Can Investors Earn Returns and End Cancer?

Can Investors Earn Returns and End Cancer?

One in five people worldwide will develop cancer before age 75. In the U.S., nearly $7 billion per year is spent on cancer research, and that total is expected to rise. Investment opportunities exist in immunotherapy, cell therapy, vaccines and other technologies. Private sector and government investment together will lead to world-changing therapies, meaning there is definite upside for investors. How can institutional asset owners capitalize on these opportunities? Asset owners, managers and advisers will discuss where to watch for investible insights.

The Innovators

The Innovators

What makes someone an innovative investor and which institutional investors have the flexibility to innovate? The honorees and finalists for CIO’s NextGen and Industry Innovation Awards will share their best ideas for new ways to meet institutional investing targets. They will also share their thoughts on the kinds of innovations that institutional asset allocators can pursue and what risks might not be rewarded.

Investment Returns and Monetary Policy

Investment Returns and Monetary Policy

With developed market central banks pausing interest rate hikes and certain developing markets already starting to cut, what does monetary policy mean for portfolio returns in 2024? If alpha is found in the interplay between public and private markets, what investments, asset classes or currencies are the likely winners and where should investors be underweight for 2024? Hear from asset owners, OCIOs and asset managers about what to watch for this year.

How to Overcome the Challenges of the Evolving Index Landscape

How to Overcome the Challenges of the Evolving Index Landscape

With more frequent and extreme volatility over the past decade, we have witnessed a profound transformation in the investment landscape which has challenged the resilience of popular indices. The dynamic shifts of indices may have far-reaching implications on asset allocation and diversification strategies, with the potential to wreak havoc on institutional portfolios.

Join Michael Hunstad, CIO of Global Equities at Northern Trust Asset Management, as he uncovers the driving forces behind index investment performance, and how to position your portfolio for the years to come.

2023 CIO Webinar: NextGens on Alternative Investments

2023 CIO Webinar: NextGens on Alternative Investments

Join CIO and members of its 2023 Class of NextGens as they share how they are thinking about alternative investments. They’ll discuss what role they and their organizations believe alts have in institutional investor portfolios now and in the future.
The discussion will address the balance between traditional investments (stocks and bonds) and alternatives in different kinds of portfolios with different goals and objectives—i.e., pension funds, foundations and endowments, etc. Members of CIO’s 2023 Class of NextGens will share their views—positive or negative—of alts’ benefits and risks.

2023 Coalition Greenwich LDI Research Study: Corporates move to secure funded status and begin endgame

2023 Coalition Greenwich LDI Research Study: Corporates move to secure funded status and begin endgame

Join pension experts from Coalition Greenwich, Mercer, Sterling Capital and Franklin Templeton as they explore the new fully-funded landscape for corporate defined benefit plans.

Key Topics:
• Greenwich reveals the top findings from their new 2023 LDI investor study.
• Mercer discusses why other pension plans believe this is a critical time to evolve LDI allocations to be more diversified and defensively structured.
• Sterling Capital discusses the practical approaches they are taking to lower funded status volatility, protect gains, and reposition for endgame scenarios for their clients.

Each attendee will be sent a complimentary copy of the NEW Coalition Greenwich LDI study.

Opportunity or Caution? The Outlook for European and Asian Real Estate

Opportunity or Caution? The Outlook for European and Asian Real Estate

Disruption driven by capital market volatility and secular demand shifts throughout European and Asian real estate markets continue to provide unique opportunities and attract growing institutional investor interest.

Please join Invesco’s Europe Head of Funds, Kevin Grundy, and Asia-Pacific Portfolio Manager, Jason Choi, as they discuss emerging opportunities in select sectors and countries within their respective regions. This insightful discussion will be moderated by Jennifer Stevens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance Global Advisors.

Factored into the discussion we will address a few of the concerns we’re hearing from institutional investors including:
• Geo-political uncertainty in Asia (China and U.S. tensions) and Europe (Russia invasion of Ukraine)
• The impact of higher rates and a looming recession on real estate values going forward
• The most compelling opportunities given limited capacity for new investments

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: Consultants

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: Consultants

How much difference does engaging an investment consultant make to an institutional investor’s performance? How do allocators measure the effectiveness of their consultant? When is it time to search for a new consultant, and what should allocators look for in their search?
These questions and more will be answered in the final webinar in CIO’s Allocator Insights series for 2023.

Unlocking Value in Dislocated Markets Through Secondaries

Unlocking Value in Dislocated Markets Through Secondaries

Continued market volatility and lower expected returns from traditional asset classes have brought alternatives to the forefront of the investing landscape. When seeking increased diversification and higher returns, investors often look towards private markets to help meet their objectives. Learn how secondary strategies can provide an opportunity to deliver on investors’ unique needs providing strong absolute returns in times of market dislocation.

The next evolution of LDI: Seeking to safeguard funded status and planning for the end game

The next evolution of LDI: Seeking to safeguard funded status and planning for the end game

The rapid rise in interest rates has produced steep declines in liability values, leading to significant improvements in many corporate pensions’ funded status. With the average plan now fully funded, we explore how sponsors are planning to safeguard their status and prepare for the future.* Join corporate pension experts from Mercer, Aon, and Franklin Templeton as they explore the key questions their clients are grappling with, including:
• How are plans re-thinking asset allocation and plan design in this new, fully funded reality?
• How should plans evolve their manager line up as they mature and approach their end game?
• Should sponsors think differently given their need to lower funded status volatility and lock-in gains?
• What potential risks are on the horizon that pensions should be preparing for today?
*Source: Aon Pension Risk Tracker, March 2023.

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: ESG

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: ESG

Evaluating environmental, social and governance investments is not a simple task. A variety of ESG issues have entered the discussion around the world. For example, corporate supply chains are being evaluated for everything from the use of forced labor (modern slavery) to environmental issues. In addition, the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment has proposed the Physical Climate Risk Assessment Methodology to facilitate the integration of physical climate risks into investment processes.
Join CIO for a discussion about the many factors investors could consider in evaluations; proposed Securities and Exchange Commission regulations; the value ESG investing can bring to a portfolio; and more.

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: OCIO

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: OCIO

Institutional asset owners have shifted nearly $4 trillion to outsourced chief investment officers, and there are more than 100 providers of the service. Strategies vary, but how should allocators measure the performance they are getting from those providers? There is a suite of indexes that track OCIO returns and at least one ETF, while the CFA Institute in 2022 launched an effort to create GIPS standards to do just that.
Join CIO for the second iteration of its Allocator Insights webinar series in 2023 to learn about best practices for evaluating OCIO performance and comparing the services different providers can add to an institutional investment office. Expect to hear about the challenges and opportunities of different OCIO models and tips for monitoring an OCIO.

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: Diversification

2023 CIO Allocator Insights Webinar Series: Diversification

Investors are told to diversify their portfolios to reduce risk—using uncorrelated investments ensures that when some are down, others are up. However, that’s been harder to do in this market environment. For institutional investors with a long-term view toward guaranteeing payments to retirees or endowed institutions, achieving diversification means something different than a balance of stocks and bonds.
Join CIO for a discussion about how different institutional investors use different asset classes—and managers—to create a diversified portfolio.

Will 2023 be better for equity investors?

Will 2023 be better for equity investors?

2022 was a dismal year for the markets. Has it created opportunity in equities? Join us for a fireside chat to dig deeper into expected drivers of equity returns as we head into the new year. Our experts will discuss:
• Rates, inflation and valuation
• Growth and recession expectations
• Size, style and regional opportunities and risk

CIO Webinar: A Conversation With SBCERA’s CIO

CIO Webinar: A Conversation With SBCERA’s CIO

The $13.4 billion San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association, which already has lower exposure to equities than many of its peers, decided to move out of international and emerging markets stocks and more into U.S. equities. Join CIO’s next Allocator Insights webinar to hear SBCERA’s CIO Donald Pierce discuss that decision, how they reached it and what impact the strong dollar had on that move and on the rest of the portfolio.

Pierce will also talk about:
• The cash SBCERA is keeping on hand, and where they are seeing opportunities to add income-generating assets;
• What asset classes are most important to achieving the plan’s 7.25% assumed rate of return in a low-return environment; and
• How the fund is managing global and domestic fixed income in a time of rising interest rates and inflation.
Attendees will also learn how SBCERA is thinking about the war in Ukraine and other geopolitical tensions relative to the portfolio, and they will gain insight into the fund’s research and decision making process and when SBCERA will reevaluate it.

Navigating a New Risk Paradigm

Navigating a New Risk Paradigm

This volatile environment, where markets seem to change risk posture on a dime, is here to stay and wreaking havoc on institutional portfolios. This session will provide practical insights into how investors can view, analyze and deploy risk across all asset classes–-including ESG investments—in order to achieve their objectives in this new market paradigm. Key topics: Identifying the key drivers of the persistent and extreme bouts of market volatility revealing common sources of unintended risks and how to mitigate them Uncovering critical portfolio considerations for this new age of volatility.

Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial CIOs: Intergenerational Perspectives on the Top Investment Job

Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial CIOs: Intergenerational Perspectives on the Top Investment Job

How do CIOs from different generations approach the top investment job? Let’s find out! We will explore intergenerational perspectives on topics ranging from data to technology to team culture to skill sets with accomplished CIOs from each generation. In particular, we’ll ask about their:

• Career path to the CIO seat
• Most critical skills to being an effective CIO today and how the role has changed over time
• Thoughts on what makes a world-class investment culture and how to build one
• Top tips for dealing with the daily deluge of information
• Preferences for how they like to spend their time, and what they like to think about
• Vision for how their teams should spend their time
• Perspective on how technology has evolved and shaped their roles
• View on the evolution of DEI and ESG