Fund Governance – The Issues, the Outlook and the Solutions

The investment funds industry continues to experience severe pressure on margins, according to a recent Funds Europe survey, with 78% of respondents saying this is forcing fund management companies and their asset servicing partners to recraft their revenue management and pricing strategies.

Join us on 19 November to hear how companies are adapting their pricing models to protect net income and to support product innovation. How will advances in trading strategies, and changes in the regulatory framework, drive up the importance of pricing transparency? What are the risks attached to pricing inaccuracies? And where should firms invest in technology, data innovation and trade analytics to deliver revenue resilience?

As part of the panel discussion we shall also be pleased to take audience questions, subject to time. The panel includes:

• Rahul Banerji, Head of Pricing and Billing Sales, Europe, Oracle Financial Services
• Neil Wise, Global Head of Sales and TA Network Management, Investment Fund Services, Clearstream
• Sarj Panesar, Global Head of Business Development, Societe Generale Securities Services
• Carl Palmer, Chief Product Officer, MFEX

For more of the latest thought leadership from global experts on institutional & retail markets, traditional & alternative investments, front & back office, visit Funds Europe's Webinars Channel.

Please email Sam Buttress at sam.buttress@funds-europe.com with any questions or enquiries.

CACEIS and Funds Europe invite you to listen to a panel discussion concerning fund governance in Ireland – a discussion that takes place in the wake of the recent publication by the Central Bank of Ireland’s outcomes of its thematic review of fund management companies.

Fund governance is currently one of the key topics in the Irish fund industry with increased pressure from regulators and investors. The prospect of new regulations around CP86 and AIFMD II means more change for the industry as it responds to new investor challenges.

Nick Fitzpatrick, Group Editor of Funds Europe, will moderate a panel of experts who will talk about key issues for Irish funds and also consider some of the findings from a CACEIS/Funds Europe governance report published earlier this year that covered topics ranging across ManCos, ESG and diversity.

“We are delighted to partner with Funds Europe to present this research on Governance. As we have seen with the recent Central Bank of Ireland CP86 thematic review and the findings which have just been published, Governance is a crucial issue for the success and growth of our Industry”
Isabelle Porte, Country Managing Director, CACEIS in Ireland

The expert panel discussion takes place with the participation of:

•Declan Murray, Director of Management Company Services, Amundi Ireland
•Emma Love, Head of Compliance, TOBAM
•Andrew Kehoe, Fund Consulting & Head of Legal, KB Associates
•Kevin Mullen, Head of Markets Policy, Central Bank of Ireland


The panel discussion will consider the outcomes of the thematic review and the related rules on Fund Management Company effectiveness (CP86).

Time permitting, the panel will also consider regulatory issues further afield, such as AML and data governance.

As part of the panel discussion we shall also be pleased to take audience questions, subject to time.

Join our discussion on the future of transfer agency within the ever complex and changing technological age. The panel includes:

- Steven Caluwaerts, Director GDTA Product, HSBC
- Owen Carroll, Global Head of Transfer Agency, Citi
- Dan Kramer, Vice Chair, Calastone
- Richard Clarkson, Global Head of Solutions, Oracle
- Janusz Lorenc, CEO, Metrosoft

The webinar will be moderator by our in-house research editor, Bob Currie.

Join our webinar on November 5th with Roman Rjanikov, Portfolio Manager for the Upper Tier & Environmental Sustainability US High Yield strategies at DDJ Capital Management LLC, to hear how they build a differentiated, higher quality portfolio which provides a significant source of yield and income, while emphasizing environmental sustainability. The webinar will be hosted and moderated by Alex Rolandi, Staff Writer at Funds Europe.

Join Gary Paulin in conversation with Nick Pratt as they explore the trends that have driven the rapid adoption of outsourced trading, the role of COVID-19 in accelerating the impact of these trends and the signs that a ‘fourth wave’ of adoption is approaching.

Outsourced trading – are you in the 15% getting left behind?

What some initially treated as simply a cost-efficiency exercise has rapidly evolved and the outsourced trading model now resembles an optimal state offering diverse benefits in terms of efficiency, operational resiliency, governance and managing technological complexity. In a recent survey, 85% of 300 global asset managers responded that they have already outsourced their trading desk or are interested in doing so in the future.

In this webinar, Northern Trust Capital Market’s global head of Integrated Trading Solutions, Gary Paulin, will explore:

•How firms – large and small – have come to see outsourced trading as a better way of doing things

•Outsourced trading’s role as a proactive response to margin pressure, a way to de-risk and streamline operations and, critically, as a way to enhance governance and operational resiliency

•The rising interest in data analytics to scrutinize manager skill and decision making in pursuit of greater efficiencies that might be a first hint of a new ‘fourth wave’ of outsourcing

•What firms must do to avoid missing the future

Live Luxembourg webinar: What's on the next 12-18 months' agenda of (expected) regulatory change? What are the consequences for the industry?

Market volatility in the first half of 2020 has raised a plethora of questions for insurers about different parts of their investment portfolio.

Looking specifically at their investment grade portfolios and excess cash, many have asked how they can enhance returns and strengthen the performance of their assets:

•without taking significantly more credit risk
•without having a material impact on their Solvency Capital requirements
•while maintaining a higher level of liquidity

Join our webinar on September 10 with Gopi Karunakaran, Portfolio Manager at Ardea Investment Management, to hear about safe and stable fixed income outcomes within a tailored risk framework.

Join us on August 26 at 4pm HK time/9am UK time for a discussion with Mirana Cheung, Managing Director China, Apex Group, Danny Tan, Partner, Head of Investment Funds Practice, Asia-Pacific, Ashurst & Mervin Teo, Vice President, Quadria Capital Wee Hwee Teo, Head of Real Estate & Asset Management, KPMG (Tax) Singaporea and Fiona Rintoul, Editor, Funds Europe

CACEIS and Funds Europe present their latest research report on Fund Governance.

Fund Governance is becoming one of the key topics in the fund industry with increased pressure from regulators and investors, and stronger (closer, tighter etc.) focus on ESG issues and diversity

The report will be presented by Nick Fitzpatrick, Group Editor of Funds Europe, followed by an industry experts panel discussion.

Neil Coxhead, Managing Director, UK Branch & Head of Regional Coverage – Ireland, North America & UK from CACEIS “this research has been initiated as we have seen a significant increase in the focus of governance across our institutional client base”.

The presentation by Nick Fitzpatrick will cover:

•Independent Directors
•Diversity
•ESG
•Pay and Voting
•Mancos and ACDs
•Transparency
•Industry Regulation and Co-operation

This will be followed by a panel discussion with:

•Andrew Berry, Director, DMS Governance
•Phil Barker, Non-Executive Director, AXA Investment Mangers UK
•Vassos Vassou, Director, Independent Pension Trustee, Dalriada Trustees

As part of the panel discussion we shall also be pleased to take audience questions, subject to time.

In 2008, it was Madoff. In 2020, the coronavirus has caused the financial services sector to evolve once again - especially in the area of due diligence.

In Backstop’s upcoming webinar, How COVID-19 Has Impacted Regulatory and Institutional Due Diligence, we have a panel of experts in the financial services industry:

•Mitchee Chung, European Director at Mercer Sentinel Group
•Gregory Worsfold, Founding Partner, Optima Partners
•Peter Rigg, Director, Sagar Partners Limited

Webinar Details:

Representing investment consultants, compliance advisors, and third-party marketers, Mitchee, Gregory, and Peter will discuss:

•How they are seeing allocators adjust their investment and operational due
diligence practices to the pandemic
•How they are seeing regulators shift their business continuity and disaster
recovery frameworks
•How managers can best continue to raise capital and win new mandates in
the absence of face-to-face meetings

In these unprecedented economic times, it is vital for long-term fixed income investors to find ways to both navigate and harness volatility. Join us on 18 June to hear Todd Thompson, CFA, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, discuss how Reams Asset Management is Navigating Volatility in the Bond Market.

Mr. Thompson’s discussion will focus on:
* Comparisons of this period to past market dislocations
* Economic shutdown and potential recovery scenarios
* Current opportunities and risks within fixed income
* Industries that might be permanently altered by COVID-19
* Outlook for fixed income investing in H2 2020 and beyond

This webinar is for institutional investor and due diligence purposes only. It is not for use with the general public.

Join us on 3rd of June, when Matt McGeary, CFA, and Jason Wulff, CFA, Portfolio Managers from Eagle Asset Management, an affiliate of Carillon Tower Advisers, will present, “A new market regime: Opportunity for investing in durable US small caps.”

Their discussion will focus on:
• The opportunity of small caps – accelerating innovation and demographic changes may reward companies that can nimbly adapt and exploit their intellectual capital
• The evolution of the small cap universe – with the increase in the number of non-earners, the rise of passive investing and algorithmic trading – it is more evident to find companies with durable franchises.
• With the rush to add liquidity to the market at each downturn and increasing influence from policy makers and politicians, employing a disciplined process may help to avoid unintentional outcomes and drive positive outcomes

Join us May 27th as BCA Research’s strategist, Mathieu Savary discusses the cycles in the time of COVID-19. Discussion highlights will include:

· The global economy will contract at its fastest pace since the early 1930s, but will not slump into a depression.
· Easy monetary conditions, an extremely expansive fiscal policy, and robust bank and household balance sheets are crucial to the economic outlook.
· Risk assets remain attractive.
· The dollar and bonds will soon move from bull to bear markets.
· The credit market offers some attractive opportunities.
· Stocks are vulnerable to short-term profit-taking, but the cyclical outlook remains bright.
· Favor energy and consumer discretionary equities.

The indications are that, in the long-term, investors will continue to look to the alternative asset classes to achieve better returns, capture new opportunities, protect assets and diversify portfolios – but there are clear challenges on the horizon when it comes to alternative fund structuring and domiciliation decisions.

Various obstacles, from market access, regulation, cost and asset valuations as well as the significant fallout of the coronavirus pandemic this year, are all making the alternatives landscape much more complex and look set to have a major impact on private equity and real estate deal completion and structuring. As a result, managers are weighing up their options and fund domiciles are having to respond appropriately and innovatively.

Please join us for this webinar, where Elliot Refson, Director of Funds at Jersey Finance, will explore current trends in the alternatives space alongside other private equity and real estate fund experts and discuss key issues such as tax neutrality, AIFMD and global fund distribution through to substance, tax, regulation and reporting.

Panelists will also examine how Jersey has responded to recent regulatory initiatives, such as BEPS and changes to non-resident Capital Gains Tax for UK real estate holdings, how IFCs are innovating in a changing environment, and what the future might hold for private equity and real estate professionals.

Panelists include:

•Tim Morgan, Partner, Mourant Ozannes
•Mike Byrne, Partner, PwC
•Emily Haithwaite, Partner, Ogier

Following the 2008 financial crisis, firms allocated considerable resource to meet regulators’ requirements. As well as giving consumers greater protection, a major aim of post-2008 regulation was to make the financial system stable and more robust. Now, with the financial shock caused by Covid-19, panellists will discuss whether they think the regulatory efforts have been effective in mitigating the current crisis.

Speakers include:
•Nick Fitzpatrick, Group Editor, Funds Europe & Funds Global (Moderator)
•Pat Lardner, Chief Executive, Irish Funds
•Yvonne Connolly, CEO Ireland, Carne Group
•Philip Dempsey, Country Head Ireland, Sanne Group
•Rachel Turner, EMEA Head of Investment Managers & Insurance, BNY Mellon

Some of the topics covered and questions asked will include:

•How are fund boards and designated persons expected to respond to the
Covid-19 emergency and what can they expect from regulators and
outsourcing partners as Ireland and other relevant jurisdictions operate under
lockdown?
•How can funds and service providers support ongoing regulatory requirements
arising from 2008 as well as additional ones created by the current situation.
•ESMA’s recently recommendations to market participants that covered issues
such as business continuity planning, risk management, and reporting on short
positions.
•The requirement for funds with high PRISM ratings to report daily on certain
risks, such as liquidity, valuations and cybersecurity.
•How safe would it be for the funds industry to expect some leniency or flexibility
from regulators at this time, and in what areas?

CAMRADATA Live has changed significantly over the last 18mths and we now offer so much more to asset managers within their existing subscription. As some managers may not be aware of all these benefits, CAMRADATA will be hosting a live webinar to demonstrate the value added functionalities now available to you, listed below:



The Knowledge Bank – populate all your thought leadership to The Knowledge Bank at no additional cost.


Manager Search Activity Report - our new detailed quarterly asset manager search activity report provides a deeper analysis on the search activity in CAMRADATA Live.


On-Line Analytical Tools – our Peer Group Reporting and IQ Reporting tools are now available as part of your subscription.


On-Line Manager Directory – be listed in our on-line manager directory providing quicker and easier access to all your information.


Unlimited Logins – Logins now available for anyone within your firm at no additional cost.

CAMRADATA Live has changed significantly over the last 12mths and we now offer so much more to institutional investors. As the rules around governance get tighter, CAMRADATA Live offers pension funds, consultants and insurers, an independent way to have more informed discussions with one another regarding their asset managers’ capabilities and performance.



As some investors may not be aware of these benefits, CAMRADATA will be hosting a live webinar to demonstrate the value added functionality available to you, listed below:



Access to CAMRADATA Live - our online manager research database of over 700 asset managers and 5,000 strategies. Access is provided at no charge to institutional investors and is both independent and anonymous; allowing you to monitor and manage changes with existing, or potential new managers, on an ongoing basis. This now includes new Private Markets strategies and ESG questions.


Assisted Search Service – CAMRADATA provides an Assisted Search service for any investor looking to assign a mandate or conduct research into a particular asset class. We do not provide advice, but will facilitate the collection of data and provide specific reports directly to the investor for review.


On-Line Analytical Tools – our Peer Group Reporting and IQ Reporting tools are now available to all institutional investors; allowing you to run as many reports as often as you like on an automated basis. This not only provides a way to monitor managers performance on a quarterly basis at no additional cost, but also provides you with an audit trail.


The Knowledge Bank – an opportunity to access thought leadership, whitepapers, research, via The Knowledge Bank.


Unlimited Logins – you can request logins to CAMRADATA Live for anyone within your firm providing they are an institutional investor, including but not limited to your finance team, trustee board, manager research and pension fund teams.

Despite the current global environment of extreme market volatility amid numerous geopolitical and macroeconomic issues, emerging markets remain intriguing for institutional investors looking to add a compelling and low-correlation component to their portfolio.

Join our webinar on March 10, when Arup Datta, Head of Global Quantitative Equity Team at Mackenzie Investments, will share his expert insights, from the perspective of a disciplined, risk-aware quantitative investor, on emerging market trends.

Arup Datta has more than 27 years of experience in quant equity investing, with significant exposure to emerging markets. While there are additional layers of complexity to consider when investing in emerging markets, he can help investors navigate this challenging space to enhance their potential for generating alpha.

In this webinar, Arup Datta will:

• Compare quant and fundamental approaches to emerging market investing and why he favours a quant approach to uncover specific opportunities in emerging markets.

• Highlight his team’s approach to quant investing, with its focus on alpha over asset gathering, and how they are well-positioned to thrive in today’s emerging markets.

• Shed light on why it’s particularly attractive to invest in emerging markets now, as they remain a relatively overlooked or misunderstood category by many institutional investors.