Join AGF Investments for an insightful discussion on long term growth opportunities in key sectors such as power and electricity, generative AI, robotics, future mobility, generational wealth transfer, and more. Additionally we will delve into our active investment process and strategic pivots to capture market leadership, resulting in high-conviction portfolios and a macro-resilient investment experience for AGF’s growth strategies.  

Workshop Objectives: You will learn how AGF’s growth equity strategies employ a distinct investment approach to take advantage of long-term growth opportunities in every investment cycle.

Company Profile: Founded in 1957, AGF Management Limited (AGF) is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm delivering excellence in investing in the public and private markets through its three distinct business lines: AGF Investments, AGF Private Capital and AGF Private Wealth. 
 
AGF brings a disciplined approach focused on providing an exceptional client experience and incorporating sound responsible and sustainable practices. The firm’s investment solutions, driven by its fundamental, quantitative and private investing capabilities, extends globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and their clients to high-net worth and institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations. 

Over the past few decades Peter Fitzgerald, Aviva Investors’ Chief Investment Officer – Discretionary Macro, has navigated the complexities of global macro investing, utilising liquid alternatives to manage uncertainty. The AIMS Target Return Fund exemplifies this approach, aiming to deliver resilient returns across diverse market conditions. By focusing on a carefully managed, risk-based approach, the fund employs a multi-strategy, global macro approach to withstand market turbulences. This strategy underscores the importance of adaptability and strategic diversification in achieving consistent performance and mitigating risks in a multi-asset portfolio.

Workshop Objectives: How to assess risks and opportunities within global macro investing
To understand the role of liquid alternatives in a multi-asset portfolio

Company Profile: Aviva Investors is a global asset manager with over USD$319* bn of AUM managed in real asset, fixed income, equity, multi-asset and alternative investments in 12 countries. Our clients can benefit not only from our significant local knowledge and experience, but also from the extensive global investment resources at our disposal. Responsibility is incorporated at all levels of our organization: understanding the factors, risks and opportunities in ESG helps us to be better investors and delivering the investment results our clients expect.
The value of an investment is subject to increases and decreases.  Investors may not recover the amount originally invested. * Data as at 30 September 2024

With a volatile US market, a portfolio of US credit is an attractive progression from money markets, offering a stable and consistent income stream. AXA IM’s US Credit FMP aims to mirror the profile of a single bond while using a diversified portfolio over a fixed period. These credits mature in about 3 years or less, where the AXA IM team has ample visibility of credit strength and cash flows. 
The AXA IM US credit team have a long history of working on credit migrations, and we have a 23-year track record across a diversified US HY product suite and 17 dedicated professionals. 

Workshop Objectives: Vern Bond will run through this strategy in the current market to educate investors on the opportunities of AXA IM’s credit fund. 

Company Profile: AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a leading global asset manager offering a diverse range of global investment opportunities in both alternative and traditional asset classes. Through our products we aim to diversify and grow portfolios, while delivering long-term investment performance and value for clients.

AXA IM manages approximately €879 billion in assets, of which €493 billion are categorized ESG-integrated, sustainable or impact. As an established player in responsible investing, we adopt a pragmatic approach with a view to provide long-term value to our clients, our employees and the broader economy. 

Part of the AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, AXA IM employs over 3,000 employees and operates from 24 offices in 19 countries globally.

Seeking Resilient, Tax-Advantaged Income with Net Lease identifies the opportunity for investors to harness the income potential of real estate. The presentation defines the triple net lease structure, explores the potential for insulation from rising variable expenses in a traditional lease agreement, introduces sale-leaseback transactions as a differentiated source of origination, and compares the investment characteristics of the net lease approach to other income-oriented strategies. 

Workshop Objectives:

•    Define triple net lease and identify the investment characteristics of the strategy
•    Explain how market conditions impact the traditional gross lease structure compared to triple net lease 
•    Identify sale-leaseback and illustrate the market opportunity 
•    Outline the benefits of sale-leasebacks for tenants and investors  
•    Explain how private real estate fund structures have evolved to create greater access for wealth investors

Asset allocation is not a trivial exercise; it can seem even more complicated with alternative investments. This interactive session will focus on the real-world challenges advisors must solve for to implement a private credit allocation, such as how to optimally source the exposure, address the impact of fees, and evaluate the pros and cons of different investment vehicles. We hope to show that incorporating alternative investments is neither frustratingly complex nor naively easy to accomplish.

Workshop Objective: To share actionable strategies for integrating direct lending into client portfolios.

Company Profile: Golub Capital is a market-leading, award-winning direct lender and experienced private credit manager. We specialize in delivering reliable, creative and compelling financing solutions to companies backed by private equity sponsors. Our sponsor finance expertise also forms the foundation of our Broadly Syndicated Loan and Credit Opportunities investment programs. We nurture long-term, win-win partnerships that inspire repeat business from private equity sponsors and investors.
As of January 1, 2025, Golub Capital had over 1,000 employees and over $75 billion of capital under management, a gross measure of invested capital including leverage. The firm has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit golubcapital.com. 

 Investors don’t need to sacrifice stability to pursue higher yields. Join Sean Morris, Executive Director at PGIM Private Alternatives, for insights on boosting risk-adjusted return potential via private credit allocations that can offer higher yields while enhancing diversification.  

Direct lending enjoys a reputation as one of the most attractive segments in private credit for good reason. Still, heavy competition can weigh on returns and underwriting standards in large-company financing. Sean will explain how this dynamic fosters opportunity in the underserved middle market, where potential for higher yields and stricter terms is spread across a comparatively expansive investment universe.

Expect to learn:
•    What makes the middle market a vast and persistent opportunity source.
•    How middle-market lending can deliver enhanced yields per unit of leverage.
•    Why experience, networks and capabilities are critical to middle-market success.

Workshop Objectives: Gain insight as to why direct lending in the midsized-company category offers above-average return potential, lower leverage and stronger protections.

Company Profile: At PGIM Investments, we think globally and execute locally. We provide access to active investment strategies in the pursuit of consistent outperformance and local market expertise to meet our clients’ needs.
We’re part of PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI)¹—the world’s 14th-largest investment manager with more than $1 trillion in assets under management (AUM)² and a company that individuals and businesses have trusted for 150 years.

Source: PGIM as of 31/12/24. PFI of the United States is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom or with Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom.  PGIM is the investment management business of PFI. PFI is the 14th-largest investment manager (out of 411) in terms of global AUM based on the Pensions & Investments Top Money Managers list published on 10/06/2024. This ranking represents assets managed by PFI as of 31/12/2023.

For more than a decade, bond investing was characterised by low yields in the “cheap money” era of ultra-loose monetary policy. Times have changed; an unprecedented tightening cycle has seen carry return to the asset class. The “income“ in Fixed Income is well and truly back. But where we go from here is unclear. The current landscape is marred by increased volatility and an uncertain macro and rates environment. We believe a contrarian and value-driven approach is vital to protecting and appreciating capital in these turbulent times. Capital markets have evolved, and so must the way credit is managed.

Workshop Objectives: How to generate equity-like returns with bond-like volatility: demonstrating that a contrarian, value-driven and nimble approach to credit investing is needed for better risk-adjusted returns

Company Profile: Pictet Asset Management is a specialist asset manager offering investment solutions and services to investors around the world. Our purpose is to build responsible partnerships with our clients by exceeding their expectations for investment performance and service.

What makes as distinctive is our independence, long term thinking, partnership, responsibility, and entrepreneurial spirit. Our range of investment capabilities is pioneering and differentiated. We don’t do everything, rather we focus on the areas where we can add value for our clients. In the US Offshore market, we are known for our expertise in: Emerging Market Debt, Thematic Equities, Liquid Alts and Money Market.

We are part of the Pictet Group, a firm privately owned since its foundation in 1805, and based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Artificial intelligence is emerging as the next general-purpose technology, triggering a wide range of new applications across all parts of the economy. As we begin to understand what these might be, Nick Dumas-Williams, an Investment Analyst in the Polar Capital Technology Team, gives his thoughts on the broader outlook for AI and where he is seeing the most exciting developments, both for the enablers of the technology and the wider beneficiaries across all sectors.

Workshop Objectives: The objective is for delegates to understand the early stages of artificial intelligence as a general- purpose technology and where the team are seeing the latest developments in both technology enablers and their beneficiaries across all sectors. 

Company Profile: Polar Capital is an experienced, investment-led, active fund manager The company prides itself on its collegiate and meritocratic culture. Since incorporation in 2001, we have steadily grown our range of autonomous investment teams. The business is structured to allow teams to focus on their portfolios while a best-in-class operational structure works on everything else. Headquartered in London and listed on the UK stock market, Polar Capital has a global presence, including offices in New York, Connecticut and Georgia.

Against the background of volatile equity markets, we will review the key aspects that are making fixed income ETFs indispensable tools for a diversified strategy…again. With yields at historically attractive levels, bond markets and economic cycles geographically desynchronized, understanding diversification with and within fixed income remains key to portfolio construction, for large core multi asset and passive income strategies alike. With fixed income ETFs offering simplicity, broad diversification and reliability, we will go through implementation examples with a view to demonstrate that the growth of the Fixed Income UCITS ETF market Is still at its debuts.

Workshop Objectives: 

-    How to gauge diversification benefits within multi-asset and fixed income portfolios
-    Balancing risk and opportunity costs with income and diversification benefits thanks to the multiple markets underlying broad fixed income benchmarks
-    The key success factors and innovations behind the growth of the fixed income ETF market

Company Profile: Xtrackers by DWS is a global provider of passive solutions with an index track record going back over 20 years. We provide investors with innovation, access and value through a broad range of cost-effective, high-quality US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) across all major asset classes – equities, fixed income and smart beta. 
 
Xtrackers provides numerous building blocks for traditional investment strategies, FX-hedged equities, mainland China equities, ESG strategies (environmental, social, governance), dividends and factors, high-yield, as well as innovative products on thematic investments and growth trends of the future.

137 Ventures offers tailored liquidity solutions for founders, executives, and early employees of high-growth private tech firms. Their flexible approach includes structured liquidity, direct secondaries, and primary financings, addressing a market gap where stakeholders need liquidity before public offerings or acquisitions. By providing capital access without requiring traditional exits, 137 Ventures fosters continued innovation and company growth.

With $3+ billion in AUM, the firm invests in SpaceX, Anduril, Gusto, Flexport, and more, spanning sectors such as space, HR tech, logistics, and consumer products. As private companies stay private longer, 137 Ventures is well-positioned to meet growing liquidity demands, supporting stakeholders while enabling companies to maintain strategic flexibility in their growth journey.

Workshop Objectives: Provide an overview of 137 Ventures and tailored solutions it provides to some of the most successful private companies in the US. 

Company Profile: 1PLTFRM empowers General Partners with the tools and insights to expand reach, accelerate growth, and enhance investor engagement. By combining advanced analytics with a broader distribution network, we help GPs scale efficiently while maintaining transparency and strong investor relationships.

As allocators, operators, and technologists, we built 1PLTFRM to address the challenges of private markets—limited access to high-quality investments and heavy operational burdens. More than just technology, 1PLTFRM delivers tailored solutions to support wealth managers and their clients.