The annual summit will return as a virtual live streamed event on September 14-15 to provide timely updates on market trends, data, and innovative strategies critical to industry veterans and those new to the space.
More than 30 industry leaders will convene for the virtual event to share insights on sub-advisory opportunities, winning mandates, fund sponsors, and trends. The two-day summit will allow asset managers, wholesalers, and distributors from banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, mutual funds, and liquid alternative funds to connect with peers and gatekeepers, exchange ideas, and learn critical information to keep up with a dynamically changing environment.
Speakers and sessions to take the virtual stage
Day One highlights:
The summit will kick-off with an in-depth look at the state of the sub-advised and multi-managed funds. During the session, Carl Robinson, partner, Genesys Research, and Jayson Bronchetti, CFA, CAIA, president, Lincoln Investment Advisors, will analyze developing trends and mandate change activity in the current market environment, discuss how the current environment and associated pressures impact the business and how they will influence it moving forward, and explore the timing and trends in sub-advisory searches.
Next, there will be a panel discussion to break down performance in the recent market environment by asset class. James Carpenter, director and client portfolio manager, Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss, will moderate the discussion among panelists as they examine the recent market environment’s impact on sub-advised strategies in specific asset classes; review opportunities in small cap funds and capacity strained strategies; discuss how private equity and hedge funds are faring in sub-advised mandates; and address the liquidity and pricing issue within the fixed income market.
The staggering lack of diversity in asset management will be a timely hot topic during a panel discussion about the systemic change with diversity and inclusion. Panelists will address the conditions that have fueled racial inequality in order to create effective initiatives for real change, share strategies to improve diversity of investment teams, and explore why manager research teams put more value on managers where there is diversity.
Day Two highlights:
The second day of the conference will jump into the changing partnership model with Stephane Corsaletti, chief investment officer, Allfunds; Rob Balkema, CFA, head of multi-asset solutions, North America, Russell Investments; and Amit Popat, partner & international business leader, wealth management & E&F; European business leader, sentinel, Mercer. They will discuss recent trends impacting sub-advisors and how to handle them, how boutiques can get an edge on the larger firms, and opportunities for sub-advisory partnerships with European private banks looking for a way to differentiate themselves.
Alwi Chan, senior vice president and deputy chief investment officer, AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, will shine a light on the rise of indexation: potential pitfalls and current market observation. Chan will share perspectives on the $15 trillion AUM that are controlled by three investment management firms and approximately the same amount of passive assets licensed to three index providers.
New forum features
Speed networking
The two-day summit will wrap-up with interactive roundtable speed networking where participants will be able to ask allocators, gatekeepers, and industry experts hard-edge questions. Industry leaders available for speed networking include:
- Zoe Brunson, senior vice president, investment strategies, AssetMark
- Rob Balkema, CFA, head of multi-asset solutions, North America, Russell Investments
- Rayman Bovell, CFA, head of wealth portfolio management, HSBC Global Asset Management (USA)
- Mike Christiansen, CFA, CFP®, team leader – equity, investment manager research, Edward Jones
- Hooman Kaveh, chief investment officer, Mercer
Key themes
The summit will feature five key themes that play a critical role in the sub-advisory environment, including:
- Performance in the recent market environment, particularly the impact to sub-advised strategies in specific asset classes
- COVID-19 impact to due diligence
- How to position your firm for success in a marketplace with a growing and opportune appetite for ESG integration
- Threat warnings with analytics
- Diversity and inclusion in asset management
Playback option
The virtual event provides attendees with access to conference presentations for 90 days after the live event, making it easy to re-watch sessions or catch any presentations that may have been missed.
The virtual conference software is compatible with desktop computers, iPads, tablet computers, and iPhone cellular devices with wireless internet connection. Click here to check for system compatibility with the live stream platform in advance.
To learn more about the 30th Sub-Advised Funds Forum, including a full agenda, list of speakers, and registration information, click here.