Influential Investors Forum

1. 12:30 pm - 1:20 pm

   Registration and Buffet Lunch (North and Biddle 3rd Floor) 

2. 1:25 pm - 1:30 pm

   Welcome Remarks: (Cambridge Room 2nd Floor)
   Vishesh Kumar, Editor-in-Chief, Chief Investment Officer 

3. 1:30 pm - 2:15 pm

   What’s going on in Quant?  A qualitative discussion about quantitative investment trends.
   Quantitative investment strategies continue to grow and they are increasingly complex.   Our panel will discuss their views on where they believe quantitative investments strategies work and where they don’t work.  Our practitioners will have a candid discussion about how to navigate the seeming endless quantitative investments choices.  Which asset classes are best for quant?  How to analyze buy-side vs sell-side quant products?  Our panel will discuss the common objections that “non-quant” investment committees have, how to explain complex strategies, and how they monitor these investments .   Leading experts and CIOs discuss the quantitative landscape, technology, and mindset required to navigate this growing investment segment.
   Moderator: Doug Kramer, Co-Head of Quantitative & Multi-Asset Class Investments, Neuberger Berman 
   Panelists:
   David Holmgren, Chief Investment Officer, Hartford Healthcare
   Neil Rue, Managing Director, Pension Consulting Alliance
   Harshal Chaudhari, Chief Investment Officer, IBM Retirement Funds

4. 2:15 pm - 3:00 pm

   Revisiting EM In a New Market Order
   The market conditions of the post-financial crisis era are ending as we enter the “New, New Normal.” That means investors are less focused on reading the tealeaves on central bank policy and again back to focusing on generational megatrends. But are these trends the same the world over? Few regions of the world will be as influential over the next decade as will Asia. What is their New, New, Normal?
   Moderator: Rich Nuzum, Wealth Leader, Growth Markets Region, Mercer
   Panelists:
   Robert J. Horrocks, PhD, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager, Matthews Asia
   Raphael Arndt, PhD, Chief Investment Officer, Future Fund
   Ash Williams, Chief Investment Officer, Florida State Board of Administration (SBA)

5. 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

   Coffee Break
   

6. 3:30 pm - 4:15 pm

   The New, New Normal for Liabilities
   The unprecedented events of the past decade have created a new, new normal for asset markets, but liabilities are new and different too. Plan populations have aged, retiree populations have grown, plans are closed or frozen, and pension risk is a bigger issue than ever for most plan sponsors. The new, new normal for liabilities means that investment time horizons are shorter, cash flow is negative, and the impact of a market downturn could be catastrophic. We’ll discuss how to incorporate the characteristics of the pension obligation into the asset allocation so that risk and the potential for returns can be balanced in an effective and thoughtful way.
   Moderator: R. Evan Inglis, Senior Vice President and Actuary, Nuveen’s Institutional Solutions Group
   Panelists:
   Elisabeth Bourqui, Head of Group Pension Management, ABB Group, Zurich, Switzerland
   Vijoy Chattergy, Chief Investment Officer, Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System
   

7. 4:15 pm - 5:00 pm

   The Alpha Drill Down: Revisiting Alpha in a Shifting Market
   High correlations, low dispersions, and record inflows into passive flows characterized the policy-driven environment in the wake of the financial crisis. But markets shifted their character dramatically over the last year as the New, New Normal set in. Investors must now revisit alpha in this new market context. How should alpha be defined and why does it exist? What role does it play in a broader portfolio? What are the most challenging environments for alpha – the post financial crisis era being a case in point – and how to navigate them? And most importantly, what is the current outlook for alpha and what are the most compelling opportunities now? Leading CIOs leave no stone unturned in this candid, penetrating discussion.
   A conversation with Dmitry Balyasny, Managing Director & Chief Investment officer, Balyasny Asset Management and Tom Joy, Director of Investments, Church Commissioners for England

8. 5:00 pm - 5:45 pm

   The Next Generation Award: Title Round
   Five illustrious young asset owners have been named finalists for the 2017 Next Generation award. Only one can
   take the title. Five finalists, a lightning round of questions, one secret ballot per audience member, nearly 100 CIOs
   and deputies voting, and a single winner of the Next Generation asset owner title, to be revealed at the Industry
   Innovation Awards dinner that evening.
   Moderator: David Holmgren, Chief Investment Officer, Hartford Healthcare
   Finalists:
   Erik Carleton, Director of Pension Investments, Textron Inc.
   Nick Csicsko, Investment Director, Trinity Wall Street
   Carlos Rangel, Director of Investments, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
   Paul Benjamin, Director of Investments, Alcoa
   Yup Kim, Senior Portfolio Manager, Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation

9. 5:45 pm - 6:15 pm

   Cocktail Reception (Gordon Reading Room 2nd Floor)

10. 6:15 pm

    Walk to Dinner at New York Public Library