Market volatility can shake the resolve of even the most patient investors. But creating a portfolio that consistently delivers a smoother pattern of returns is challenging and requires an active strategy that focuses on both down and up markets. That matters now more than ever. Kent Hargis, Chief Investment Officer will outline how an active approach focused on quality, stability and price can provide investors with more levers to manage volatility in a year that could be full of surprises. 

Workshop Objective: Defensive equity strategies that limit downside losses but lag too much in up-markets may be missing the mark. Learn how we seek to redefine investment success through upside and downside capture.

Company Profile: AllianceBernstein is a leading investment-management firm with $725 billion in client assets under management, as of 31 December 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.

After the strong rally of mega-cap stocks of 2023, an ever-greater share of risk in global equity portfolios is concentrated in the largest stocks by market capitalisation. To secure diversification and future-proof their portfolios, investors increasingly need to look beyond large caps, and interest in small mid cap equity strategies is on the rise. Asset Management One will introduce their approach to unlocking the alpha potential of this opportunity set.  The AMO Global Small-Mid Cap Equity Quality Growth Portfolio is a concentrated portfolio built through fundamental bottom-up stock picking. The investment process focuses on identifying quality growth companies which can increase enterprise value over time through internal growth drivers. The investment team focus on four drivers of quality: excellent business model, differentiated competitive advantage, value proposition to customers, and long-term oriented business strategy with outstanding management. The portfolio aims to invest in leading companies within their industry peer group and capture long-term sustainable growth from these investee companies.

Workshop Objective: To deeply understand how small mid cap stocks contribute to enhance risk/return profile of entire equity portfolio and how to approach small mid cap stock portfolio

Company Profile: Headquartered in Tokyo, Asset Management One Co., Ltd is a leading global asset manager offering Japanese, Asian and Global investment strategies to some of the world’s largest institutional, wholesale and corporate asset owners. As of Q4 2023, the firm’s assets under management were US$431bn. The current day company traces its investing legacy back over 90 years to the last century. The group’s experience and Asian-focused perspective offers crucial insights into understanding the nuances of opportunities and challenges not only within Japan, but also across global markets.

This presentation outlines our fund's tech-centric investment strategy, with an emphasis on valuation and openness to contrarian perspectives. We delve into artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, and examine how key players such as Microsoft and Meta Platforms align with our valuation-focused philosophy. While we explore a spectrum of technology trends reflected in our current portfolio, we extend our discussion beyond AI to include investments in Nokia, Ericsson, Visa, Mastercard and Western Digital. We also highlight the influence of generative AI, with a nod to NVIDIA's pivotal role in advancing this AI space.

Workshop Objective: Attendees will gain insight into our balanced technology investment strategy, including the rise of AI and generative AI, valuation considerations, and exploring undervalued opportunities beyond generative AI. 

Company Profile: DNB Asset Management is one of the leading asset managers in the Nordic region offering a wide range of investment strategies from equity and bond funds to thematic funds focusing on technology, the environment, healthcare and the financial sector. DNB Asset Management has been at the forefront of responsible investment, building on a long tradition of investing in the Nordic region since 1967. 

Our balanced SRI strategy, Etica ESG Dynamic Allocation, aims to replicate the consolidated investment strategy of Etica Bilanciato, our Italian fund with 21 years of track record (launched in 2003). It invests in equity markets worldwide, seeking the best opportunities at thematic, geographic and sector level and in bonds of predominantly euro-area regulated markets. The fund is characterised by its active management style; the management team combines the “top down” approach used for asset allocation with the “bottom up” approach for stock selection.
Our SRI investment solutions aim to deliver medium-long term performance opportunities based on the real economy, rewarding businesses and countries that adopt virtuous environmental, social and governance practices (ESG).

Workshop Objective: With over 20 years of experience, we demonstrate that robust ESG analysis adds value in terms of the risk-return profile and, especially during periods of high volatility, can also serve to mitigate financial risk. 

Company Profile: Etica Funds is an Italian asset management company that has been exclusively focused on socially responsible investments since its founding in 2000. Our mission is to represent and promote the values of ethical finance in financial markets and focus the attention of the public on socially responsible investment and corporate social responsibility.  100% of our Assets under Management (AuM) consist of sustainable and responsible assets.
As the first Italian asset manager to sign the UN PRI in 2009, we have passionately dedicated ourselves to ethical and SRI investments for the past 23 years.  We embarked on this journey at a time when discussing SRI Investments in the financial sector was not yet mainstream, pioneering sustainable finance in Italy. Our efforts have demonstrated that ESG analysis brings added value, even in terms of the risk-return profile.
We are recognized in Italy and in Europe (e.g. RIBI award 2023) as a boutique firm sincerely committed to environmental, social and governance themes.
We manage sustainable investments through a specific proprietary methodology of securities screening (ESG EticApproach®) and a proprietary metric named ESG risk, which measures ex ante the risk resulting from factors caused by ESG issues, with the goal of creating value for investors and society at large.

After an infamous 2022 and closing 2023 with historical positive performances in November and December, now investors face the challenge of enlarging the returns in the bond space as long as possible, knowing that Central Banks will definitely cut rates during the year.
With this in mind, the risk -reward perception has changed. Money Markets funds are facing dark clouds in the horizon as the bulk of their maturities are short term, and the new issuances will be at lower rates. On the credit side, this asset class cannot compete with Euro or US govies in terms of quality.
Therefore, Euro & US Short Term govies can offer investors a protection with regards spreads widening and Yields and should be the cornerstone to build efficiency for conservative portfolios in 2024.

Workshop Objective: To help investors materialize the opportunities now available in government bonds along the curve and in various geographies, with Eurizon´s efficient range of mutual funds.

Company Profile: Eurizon is a leading player in the European Asset Management space, of widespread international presence. Eurizon Capital SGR is the Asset Management Division Company of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. In Europe, Eurizon controls Eurizon Capital S.A. which develops growth in foreign markets, Epsilon SGR, specialized in absolute and total return strategies, and the Eastern Europe hub. In the UK, with Eurizon SLJ Capital LTD, a joint venture providing investment and advisory services with a focus on Chinese and emerging market debt, currency management and macroeconomic research. Eurizon operates through its commercial branches in Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland.

 Equity markets finished 2023 focusing on upcoming rate cuts, this led to a reversal of the negative mood observed in Q3 and strong gains in equity indices. Looking to 2024, the equity outlook remains positive but quite uncertain. It appears rate cuts are coming, but a notable deterioration in economic data and continued disinflation may be required to validate expectations built in equity markets.

Expensive, non-dividend payers led the way in 2023, but long-term, dividend payers tend to be more resilient. Benjamin Franklin once said, "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten". If history is any guide, Dividend-growing, High-Quality stocks have weathered complicated markets very well before and could continue to do so going forward thanks to their “all-weatherness”:

•    High quality companies are known for their historical stability and resilience
•    High quality companies have outperformed in the long term
•    Well-chosen profitable companies can provide dividend return and dividend growth

In this session, we will analyse and showcase how high-quality dividend growers can deliver consistent outperformance and demonstrate an ‘all-weather’ profile that makes them an ideal candidate for core equity holdings.

WisdomTree was founded in 2006 with a passion for creating better ways to invest, being the first investment manager to weight by dividends. Since 2014, our European business has grown in terms of product set and AUM. In April 2018, we completed the acquisition of ETF Securities' exchange-traded commodities, currencies and short-and-leveraged business, including the world’s first gold ETP. Today we are the biggest independent ETP provider globally and offer one of the most innovative ranges of ETPs, covering commodities, FX, equities, fixed income, cryptocurrency and liquid alternatives.