Europe and the world face new challenges – geopolitical risks with China and Russia, environmental threats, reemergent inflation and interest rates, potential recession.  The European Select strategy is well-placed to address these.  Our focus on business models with pricing power and competitive advantage has helped us generate strong long-term returns.  The current environment – with more uncertainty and more challenges – makes this approach even more important for delivering attractive client outcomes.   Francis aims to discuss our stock-picking, focusing on examples of companies which are positioned to thrive against a more volatile and less predictable backdrop.  Europe is full of great companies – mixed in with some less successful ones too – and navigating this diverse universe can continue to produce good returns.

Company Profile: Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a global Asset Management company that looks after investments for individual investors, financial advisers and wealth managers, as well as insurance firms, pension funds and other institutions. All together it manages €559 billion with 2,500 people including more than 650 investment specialists. The company has presence in 19 countries across Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. 
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global asset management group of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP), a leading US-based financial services provider.

We are focused on quality growth, over the long-term. We are unconstrained by benchmarks, countries and sectors, allowing us to purely focus on bottom-up stock selection, driven by fundamental research. We seek to invest in companies with durable competitive advantages and to construct portfolios that can deliver sustainable, double-digit aggregated earnings per share growth over a five-year investment horizon.

Workshop Objective: Present our approach, team and track record over more than 20 years’ experience in European equities. We will also present some stock picks of the portfolio.

Company Profile: Comgest, with 30 bn of asset under management is an independent asset management company. Our strategy, values and objectives are the same today, as they will be tomorrow, as they were when the company was founded over 35 years ago. Comgest has always been 100% owned by employees and founders – as a partnership, our interests are aligned with those of our clients. We showed a continuity of our investment approach, style and team philosophy - across the globe - since inception. We are bottom-up stock pickers for non-benchmarked, concentrated and unconstrained strategies that have a long-term investment horizon.

In the context of the unprecedented level of market concentration in US equities this year, Christophe Foliot, the Lead Portfolio Manager of the Edmond de Rothschild Fund US Value, will highlight the diversification benefits of a Value based strategy. Over the last two decades, the EDR Fund US Value has maintained the same active stance, with a high level of style consistency, based on the ability to identify companies whose long term fundamental prospects and intrinsic value are not fully reflected in their stock price. The Fund invests in a wide array of sectors and companies, and offers a very low overlap and uncorrelated returns with the majority of other US equity funds.

Workshop Objectives: To understand why the market concentrated leadership in tech names this year is creating several opportunities in many unloved companies/sectors, with a very low level of financial risks as these companies have on offer high quality assets and trade at low valuations. 

Company Profile: As a conviction-driven investment house founded upon the belief that wealth should be used to build the world of tomorrow, Edmond de Rothschild specializes in Private Banking and Asset Management and serves an international clientele of families, entrepreneurs and institutional investors. The Group is also active in Corporate Finance, Private Equity, Real Estate and Fund Services. With a resolutely family-run nature, Edmond de Rothschild has the independence necessary to propose bold strategies and long-term investments, rooted in the real economy. Founded in 1953, the Group has CHF 160 billion of assets under management at the end of 2022, 2,500 employees, and 30 locations worldwide.  

Asia ex Japan is one of the fastest growing regions, but given its unique characteristics, one that has been challenging for investors to capture its successes through stock investments. The Federated Hermes Asia ex Japan Strategy has a track record of over 13 years and it is one of the top performing strategies versus peers since inception despite more than a decade of stylistic headwinds resulting from its distinctive contrarian investment approach. We like unloved companies in unloved markets and will discuss the opportunities we are seeing through our contrarian lens.  

Workshop Objective: Update for existing clients and general introduction for potential clients.    

Company Profile: Federated Hermes is guided by the conviction that responsible investing is the best way to create long-term wealth. We provide specialised capabilities across equity, fixed income and private markets, in addition to multi-asset strategies and liquidity-management solutions. Through pioneering stewardship services, we engage companies on strategic and sustainability concerns to promote investors’ long-term performance and fiduciary interests. Our goals are to help people invest and retire better, to help clients achieve better risk-adjusted returns and, where possible, to contribute to positive outcomes that benefit the wider world.
 

Why invest now in EM debt? Alejandro Arevalo, Investment Manager, will explain the benefits of the asset class – with a focus on short duration and corporate bond strategies. The benefits for investors include attractive yields relative to history and solid fundamentals in many emerging markets. Alejandro will explain why he is positive about the outlook for the asset class, his experienced team and its investment process and where they are finding the best investment opportunities, as well as areas they are avoiding.

Workshop Objective: To understand the factors that could support emerging market debt this year, as well as the risks that should be considered.

Company Profile: Jupiter is a specialist, high conviction, active asset manager. We exist to help our clients achieve their long-term investment objectives. From our origins in 1985, Jupiter now offers a range of actively managed strategies available to UK and international clients including equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives. Jupiter is a constituent member of the FTSE 250 Index and has assets under management of £50.8bn /$62.7bn /€57.8bn as at 31/03/2023.
Independence of thought and individual accountability define us. Our fund managers follow their convictions and seek those investment opportunities that they believe will ensure the best outcome for our clients. They do this through fundamental analysis and research, a clear investment process and risk management framework, with a focus on good stewardship.

The GF Sustainable Future Global Growth Fund uses the Sustainable Future investment process to invest in a broad range of companies from around the world based on the fund manager’s view of their long term return prospects and exposure to our growth themes.

Workshop Objectives: To explain how the Fund’s investment process uses a thematic approach to identify the key structural growth trends that will shape the global economy of the future.

Company Profile: Liontrust is a specialist asset manager that takes pride in having a distinct culture and approach to running money. The company launched in 1995 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. We are an independent business with no corporate parent. Our purpose is to have a positive impact on our investors, stakeholders and society. 
We believe investment processes are key to long-term performance and effective risk control. Our fund managers are truly active in applying their investment processes. There is no house view - our fund managers have the freedom to manage their portfolios according to their own investment processes and market views.

Join Nicolas Crémieux for a deep dive into the convertible bond asset class including latest macro views, addressing misconceptions and the role they can play in your overall portfolio. Nicolas will introduce our high conviction Sustainable Convertibles Global strategy. A pure-play convertibles fund with a sustainable focus, the team actively manage portfolio delta to deliver equity participation in rising markets and limit the downside in falling equity markets. 

Workshop Objectives: The objective of this workshop is to help multi-asset investors deepen their understanding of the convertibles asset class, explaining to them why they should invest and how to get exposure successfully, as this asset class remains strong on a risk-adjusted basis and has the ability to generate strong returns.

Company Profile: Mirabaud Asset Management is part of a private owned partnership, originally founded in 1819. We provide a range of investment solutions across Fixed Income, Equities and Alternatives, to Institutional and Wholesale investors in Switzerland and Europe. A common philosophy applies across each of these areas of expertise, which is an active, high conviction approach to generating long term risk adjusted returns. A focus on managing risk and a commitment towards environmental, social and corporate governance principles are important constituents of our heritage.

We operate in Europe’s key financial centres: Geneva, Zurich, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Luxembourg.

Most investors have very little exposure to the climate-solutions investment universe – a select but diverse group of companies that are enabling the multi-decade shift to a low-carbon economy. These companies make up only a small fraction of broad global stock indices. Beyond the positive environmental impact, there are two key investment reasons to consider allocating to climate-solutions companies, says Ninety One’s Jennifer Moynihan. First, given the vast investment that will go into decarbonisation in the years ahead, these companies have significant long-term return potential as well as benefitting already from the growth in this industry. Second, because decarbonisation companies are exposed to such a powerful structural growth opportunity, they have different long-term drivers of success than other companies which means they can add diversification to an equity portfolio.

Workshop Objective: For investors to understand the significant long-term return opportunity in investing in climate-solutions companies and the powerful structural growth opportunity they are exposed that can add diversification to an equity portfolio.

Company Profile: Investing for a world of change

Ninety One is an active, global investment manager managing €147.1 billion in assets (as at 31.03.23). Our goal is to provide long-term investment returns for our clients while making a positive difference to people and the planet.

Established in South Africa in 1991, as Investec Asset Management, the firm began as a small start-up offering domestic investments in an emerging market. In 2020, as a global firm proud of our emerging market roots, we demerged to become Ninety One.

We are committed to developing specialist investment teams organically. Our heritage and approach let us bring a different perspective to active and sustainable investing across equities, fixed income, multi-asset and alternatives to our clients - institutions, advisors and individual investors around the world. 

Based on the work of Professor Shiller, the Barclays range of CAPE indices, accessible though Ossiam UCITS ETFs, offers a good risk-return profile on US, Europe & Global large cap equity universes. Experts from Barclays and Ossiam will walk you through the investment process, both in terms of sector selection and ESG features.

Workshop Objectives: Present the meaning and usefulness of the Shiller Cape ratio for equity sectors - Explain the construction methodology of the Barclays Shiller Cape indices - Demonstrate the added value of ESG integration with such an approach

Company Profile: 
Company profile - 120 words    Ossiam is a specialist asset management company that develops and manages investment funds, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), based on systematic investment processes. Ossiam is headquartered in Paris, France and is a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers. Ossiam's total assets under management amounted to €7.8 billion at the end of 2022.
Barclays is a consumer and wholesale bank, supporting individuals and small businesses through our consumer banking services, and larger businesses and institutions through our corporate and investment banking services. Our Corporate and Investment Bank is comprised of the Investment Banking, International Corporate Banking, Global Markets and Research businesses; it provides money managers, financial institutions, governments, supranational organisations and corporate clients with services and advice for their funding, financing, strategic and risk management needs.

The Pacific G10 Macro Rates strategy is widely acknowledged to be differentiated from many traditional macro funds. This strategy focusses on G10 sovereign bonds and interest rates, meaning the Fund does not invest in equities, credit or emerging markets. The team have developed a relative value process which harnesses inefficiencies in the pricing of interest rate products rather than forecasting their direction. For example playing curve shapes, but also investing in cross currency interest rate strategies and spreads. This is particularly pertinent at times, such as now, when confusion takes hold of financial markets. 

With increasing divergence in monetary policy across the G10 countries, coupled with continued volatility in the forward rates markets, the team’s opportunity-set looks greater than ever.

Workshop Objectives:
-    G10 Macro Rates versus traditional Macro Investing
-    Relative Value Investing: Pricing Anomalies & Mean Reversion 
-    Diversification & Uncorrelated Returns 
-    Discuss Market Environment

Company Profile: Pacific Asset Management (PAM) is an independent asset manager responsible for more than $4.8bn of assets. Fresh and progressive, PAM is rethinking the conventions of how asset management works. Its single manager business focuses on high-conviction investing in less efficient markets, where it believes active managers can outperform. Alongside the G10 Macro Rates strategy, it also offers Emerging Market Equity and Longevity & Social Change solutions. PAM’s technology-enabled model portfolio solutions are available on all major platforms.

For the last 30 years, Japan has been a perennial underperformer relative to global markets and been largely ignored by investors. Despite this, it is a market that has been fertile stock picking ground for Platinum Asset Management.  There have been gradual changes in corporate governance since we established our dedicated Japan strategy in 1998, but these have been galvanised and accelerated by recent government driven structural reforms.  Rarely have been more reasons to be excited about the investment opportunity in the region.  Leon Rapp, a 30-year Japan veteran, will highlight why now is such an exciting time for Japanese equities and where Platinum is finding compelling investment opportunities.  

Workshop Objective: An overview of Platinum’s Japan strategy which follows a benchmark unconstrained, fundamental equity long-short approach. The strategy was established in 1998 and a UCITS vehicle was launched in 2015.

Company Profile: Founded in Sydney, Australia in 1994, Platinum has built a strong long-term track record as a fund manager specialising in global equities. Platinum is an active, equity (long/short) manager focused on delivering long-term absolute returns, offering global, regional and sector strategies. Platinum takes a disciplined approach: pursuing opportunities overlooked by the market, ignoring benchmarks, and seeking to protect capital. Platinum is staffed by over 100 professionals including an investment team of 35, encompassing five global sector teams and a specialist Asia coverage team.

In 1H of 2023, large-cap dominated the Japanese market.  Particularly after April, while financial policies in Europe and US continued to tighten, Japan maintained its monetary easing, leading to expectations of Japan's resilient economic sentiment compared to Europe and US. International investors' funds in-flowed, resulting in significant outperformance of large-cap stocks.  We will be explaining why this rally will continue and what will be the drivers of growth in Japanese equities.

Workshop Objectives: To introduce the bottom-up opportunities in Japan that we believe can grow in the coming market environment.

Company Profile: At SPARX, we believe in fundamental, bottom-up investing to uncover long-term growth opportunities across Japan and Asia. Founded in 1989, SPARX Group is one of the largest independent, Asia-focused asset management boutiques headquartered in Tokyo. Since establishment, we have focused our efforts and expertise initially in Japan and then across Asia, investing through a variety of market environments. Conducting thousands of company research activities per year, we draw on this experience to identify companies that can consistently generate excess returns. Our unique and unconstrained investment style serves a diverse client base of long-term oriented investors around the globe.

Oliver Boulind, Head of Credit, HSBC Asset Management will take a deep dive into the fixed income markets, what this current environment means for investors and what solutions are available as they navigate this uncertain and volatile market turning point.

Workshop Objectives: Oliver Boulind, Head of Credit, HSBC Asset Management will go into depth looking at a short duration, multi-sector fixed income solution.

Company Profile: HSBC Asset Management, the investment management business of the HSBC Group, invests on behalf of HSBC’s worldwide customer base of retail and private clients, intermediaries, corporates and institutions through both segregated accounts and pooled funds. HSBC Asset Management connects HSBC’s clients with investment opportunities around the world through an international network of offices in more than 20 countries and territories, delivering global capabilities with local market insight. As at 31 of March 2023, HSBC Asset Management managed assets totaling US$41bn on behalf of its clients. Our vision is to become a core solutions and specialist Emerging Markets, Asia and Alternatives focused asset manager with client centricity, investment excellence and sustainable investing being the key proponents of our strategy. To help us achieve our strategy, we focus on eight strategic growth initiatives, as follows:
1. Private Loans & Credit
2. Direct investment capabilities in Alternatives – Private Equity and Infrastructure
3. Liquidity solutions
4. Sustainable and Impact investing
5. Solutions i.e Insurance companies
6. ETFs (particularly ESG, Fixed Income and Asia)
7. Building a competitive fund range for our Wealth distribution channels
8. China and India