The Healthcare sector is known for its defensive characteristics, especially in volatile market environments. However, we believe many investors overlook the offensive role that a healthcare allocation can play in investor allocations. We believe that this unique combination of offensive and defensive characteristics is a necessary prescription for ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. In our view, a business-based approach to investing in the healthcare sector can provide exposure to durable long-term growth opportunities and improve risk-adjusted performance for investors over time. 

Workshop Objective: Understand the offensive and defensive nature of the healthcare sector, the secular growth opportunity, and how a business-based approach can improve long-term risk-adjusted outcomes for investors.

Company Profile: AllianceBernstein is a leading investment-management firm with $670 billion in client assets under management, as of 31 June 2023. With a unique combination of expertise across equities, fixed-income, alternatives and multi-asset strategies, we aim to deliver differentiated insights and distinctive solutions to advance investors’ success. Across our global network, we’re fully invested in delivering better outcomes for our worldwide clients, including institutional, high-net-worth and retail investors. By embracing innovation, we seek to address increasingly complex investing challenges and opportunities. And we pursue responsibility at all levels of the firm—from how we work and act to the solutions we design for clients.

Against a backdrop of extraordinary concentration in the US market, with the Mega Cap 8 representing 70% of the S&P 500's performance in the first half of 2023, finding diversification in equities has become increasingly more important. This session explores how better risk adjusted returns may be available to investors further down the market cap spectrum. Jonathan Tredgett of Findlay Park will dispel the myth that you must sacrifice quality to find diversification in midcaps, and through deep fundamental research it is possible to identify companies that are able to weather any market environment.

Workshop Objective: We will discuss why we believe that there are compelling fundamental and valuation reasons supporting greater midcap exposure.

Company Profile: Findlay Park is a London-based, independent investment partnership, with one investment team exclusively focused on North American equities. Our core purpose is to generate compelling compound returns for our investors, measured over decades. Over the past two years we have been finding better risk-adjusted opportunities in US midcap companies ($3-50bn) following a prolonged period of underperformance by this subset of the market.

The US equity market is deep and wide and goes way beyond the well-known tech giants. History has taught us the importance of being invested in all pockets of the markets as they work at different times. The US All Cap Opportunities Equity strategy seeks to capitalise on our best research ideas across the market capitalisation and style spectrum making it a one-stop-solution for US equities.

Join Julian Cook, Portfolio Specialist, to understand the opportunities in different market environments using an all-style, multi-cap approach, his framework for pursuing highest-conviction ideas, and insight into how superior stock selection can drive returns. 

Workshop Objectives: Understanding the current macro landscape in the US and the 
case for an all-style, multi-cap approach

Company Profile: Founded in 1937 during the Great Depression, T. Rowe Price is built on the enduring philosophy of our founder; meeting clients’ individual needs. For over 80 years and through changing investment and economic environments, the core principles that guide our business have remained the same. Today, T. Rowe Price is one of the largest investment firms in the world, managing £1.05 trillion for clients in 56 countries.

Figures as at 31 December 2022.