Market Outlook and Portfolio Positioning: Dealing with an uncertain world

Bi-weekly webcam discussions on markets, funds, finance and economics. Each episode provides an overview on one ecosystem within investment management.

This week: Impact Investing through ETFs with Linda Zhang of Purview Investments

How can investors diversify their portfolio across asset classes to gain the most benefit from Emerging Market Investments? This webinar will hear from different investors share their success and learnings in their field.

Leonardo Da Costa, CFA, Director, Portfolio Manager - First Trust Global Portfolios Ltd
Ayodele Johnson, Financial Planning Consultant, Johnson Adviser Wealth Management

Moderated by Antonio Curia, Executive Director, Wimmer Family Office LLP

As markets mature, information asymmetries become harder to find and higher returns become increasingly elusive. Where is a good place for investors to focus and gain exposure to APAC at attractive prices and rates? The Venture Capital and Private Equity may be the place to find answers, though China A-Shares may also hold the keys to success. Indeed, Impact Investing is another alternative, which is burgeoning in the region.

This webinar will discuss:
- How investors from across the globe can access APAC
- Which sectors there is growing activity in, and why
- Which markets are worth a look, and what regulations in these markets.


Chris Papadopoullos, Research Assistant, OMFIF
Pietro Nicholls. Potfolio Manager, RM Funds
Koon Boon KEE. Director & Co-Founder. HERO Investment Management

Smart beta assets continue to grow and have almost reached $1 trillion, which is fueled by investors hoping for outperformance or risk reduction, occasionally also for both. But is there truly a reduction in risk relative to major indices by using factors? And, are the enhanced returns from smart choices, or from a compounded reduction in fees?

Join this webinar to hear about:
- what is behind the trend to allocate more assets to Smart Beta
- why multi-factor strategies growing in popularity
- why smart beta returns are likely substantially different to those from factor investing literature

Panellists
John Davi, Founder & CIO, Astoria Portfolio Advisors
Irene Bauer, PhD, Chief Investment Officer, Twenty20 Investments
Dina Ting, Head of Global Index Portfolio Management at Franklin Templeton

Moderated by Nicolas Rabener, Managing Director, FactorResearch

Who is in the Investment Management Community and what are they doing? Join this webinar to learn:
- What the community looks like now
- Which programs we've done this year, and who we're working with
- What to look forward to in 2020

A proliferation of ETFs has given ETF investors a buffet of options for any market condition.

This webinar will discuss which creative strategies are being used to counteract market volatility.

Moderated by Allan Lane - Co-Founder - Algo-Chain

Panellists
Rafaelle Lennox, Senior ETF Product Specialist, Franklin Templeton
Steven Dunn, Head of Exchange Traded Funds, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Aanand Venkatramanan, Head of ETF Investment Strategies, LGIM

Bi-weekly webcam discussions on markets, funds, finance and economics. Each episode discusses a topic within investment management.

This week: Behavioral Finance with Nathan Maddix

- biases in investment, such as equity premium puzzle
- base rate neglect and other probabilistic errors people make when trying to do multi-stage math for investments
- sunk cost bias/fallacy, which you mentioned in the first link above with Pacific Current Group
- nudging toward savings, typically that's what we would discuss - how to change the default options in defined benefit plans (pretty popular)

For companies and boards seeking to protect and create additional long-term value, leveraging diverse perspectives around the board table the power of their board diversity is critical.  Board diversity has been identified as a contributor to value creation for companies of all sizes and maximizes board effectiveness, by including a variety of perspectives, avoiding "group think" in the board room, and helping to ensure the board/company does not make risky decisions. This panel will bring together an investor representative, a corporate executive, and a board advisor/ESG consultant, all of whom have been successful and active in this space.  They will address the following questions:

- What is the optimal board composition for maximize corporate effectiveness? 
- What questions can and should directors ask themselves to enhance their boards' gender, social and professional diversity to obtain diversity of perspectives represented on the board? 
- What are concrete steps to take in the areas of board evaluations, refreshment, and succession planning to increase board diversity?

During the past 40 years Climate Science has accurately predicted rising sea levels, more rapid temperature rise at the poles and hurricanes and typhoons occuring at higher latitudes.

From 1998 to 2017 the global economic cost of climate-related disasters skyrocketed 151% over the previous 20 year period to $2.25 trillion.

Join our expert panelists for a discussion about future climate risk assessment options for companies, investors, financial advisors and policymakers.

Panellists
Jeff Gitterman, Co-founding Partner, Gitterman Wealth Management
Lisa Woll, CEO, US SIF, The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment
Claudine Schneider, Founding President & former U.S. Congresswoman, Solar Alliance
Francis Condon, Executive Director - Sustainable & Impact Investing, UBS Asset Management

Moderated by Paul Ellis

The next three decades will see the largest transfer of inter-generational wealth in history. In the U.S alone, we expect that between $30 and $40 trillion of wealth will be transferred from Baby Boomers to Generation X and onto Millennials.

Wealth managers will be dealing with a new generation of investors who are far more values-driven than earlier ones. And research indicates that both women and millennials are more likely to invest consistently with their values. A survey by BlackRock found that 67% of millennials want investments that reflect their social and environmental values, while 76% of women said the same.

Independent reports from Standard Life and JPMorgan forecast the global impact investment sector will be worth $1 trillion by 2020, compared to $60 billion currently.

This massive and wide-ranging trend raises a number of challenges for wealth advisors who want to succeed for their clients in this new environment. The panel will address these related issues:

● What is the most reliable methodology for identifying publicly traded companies that truly commit to specific ESG/Impact values in their operations?

● Can an ESG/Impact-driven portfolio perform at least at parity with a more traditional portfolio?

● What's the most effective way for a wealth advisor to convey to potential investors regarding his/her commitment to and expertise with ESG/Impact investing?

● Is the "typical" wealth advisory firm properly staffed and resourced to deal with this rapidly approaching trend? If not, what still needs to be done?

Moderated by James A."Buff" Parham, President & Owner, Parham & Associates

Ron Bates, Managing Director & Portfolio Manager, 1919 Investment Counsel
Scott Conlon, CFA, Equity Investment Specialist, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Julie Davitz, Head of Impact Solutions for Wealth Management, Bank of the West - BNP Paribas

Investor's Digest: The World of Shipping