In an era of unprecedented market concentration, allocators are rediscovering the often-overlooked small and mid-cap universe. Danan Kirby, CFA®️, Vice President, Client Portfolio Manager, Ariel Investments, will explore why he believes the current environment presents a unique opportunity. Changing interest rates, evolving regulations and shifting market sentiment are helping to create a fertile ground for small and mid-cap performance. Discover how historical patterns of market concentration and rotation could signal a potential shift in market leadership and why Ariel believes that value investing is positioned to capitalize on these emerging opportunities.

Workshop Objective: Gain insights into the valuation disparities of the small- and mid-caps and the potential for outperformance in a changing rate and regulatory environment. 

This presentation aims to explore the critical themes that will influence Private Credit and the broader private markets in 2025. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities, risks, and overall outlook for this asset class in the upcoming year. In the context of a dynamic macroeconomic environment, allocations to private credit can potentially provide investors with several key benefits:

•    Attractive Risk-Adjusted Returns: Private credit investments often offer higher returns relative to traditional fixed-income securities, adjusted for the level of risk involved.
•    Diversified and Uncorrelated Income Stream: These investments can provide a steady income stream that is less correlated with public market fluctuations, enhancing portfolio diversification.
•    Potential for Capital Preservation: Private credit can offer mechanisms for preserving capital, particularly in volatile market conditions.

While direct lending remains the largest sub-strategy within private credit, the landscape of opportunities is broadening. Individual investors now have increasing access to a variety of strategies, including asset-based finance and other innovative approaches. This presentation will offer a high-level overview of the current market landscape, highlighting the various access points available to financial advisors and their clients.

By attending this presentation, participants will be better equipped to navigate the evolving private credit market and make informed investment decisions that align with their financial goals.

Workshop Objective: This presentation seeks to inform attendees of the potential investment merit of an allocation to private credit, including attractive risk-adjusted income, capital preservation, and compelling diversification benefits. 

Company Profile: Blue Owl (NYSE: OWL) is a leading asset manager that is redefining alternatives.

With over $235 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2024, we invest across three multi-strategy platforms: Credit, GP Strategic Capital, and Real Estate. Anchored by a strong permanent capital base, we provide businesses with private capital solutions to drive long-term growth and offer institutional investors, individual investors, and insurance companies differentiated alternative investment opportunities that aim to deliver strong performance, risk-adjusted returns, and capital preservation.

Together with over 1,050 experienced professionals globally, Blue Owl brings the vision and discipline to create the exceptional.

Join the GS team to discuss the institutional services available to you and your firm!

•    Structured Notes & Hedging Portfolios: Direct access to customize structures across income alternatives, buffered equity, and 100% principal protection
•    GS Select: High tech/high touch digital banking and lending platform for financial advisors
•    Fixed Income Trading & Primary Markets: Trade individual bonds with our desk (treasuries, corporates, and municipals)
•    Hedging & Monetization: Solutions for concentrated stock positions 
•    Alternatives: Access to unique third party alternatives 
•    Hedge Fund Alternatives: Systematic, rules based strategies 
•    Investment Banking Services: dedicated resource that provides full suite of IB services
•    Private Stock Liquidity: For clients with a $20mm+ private holding, we can help find a buyer
•    RIA Custody: Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions 

Workshop Objective: Learn how Goldman’s services and products can be customized to meet your market outlook and your clients’ objectives.

Hosted by Chris Hunter, Head of HPS Private Wealth Solutions, the goal of the session is to educate investment professionals on current trends in the private markets and how HPS differentiates our platform - specifically in private credit. Within private credit, we aim to educate investors on capturing different parts of the market including non-sponsored investment opportunities – as well as the HPS process including sourcing, diligence, and structuring of the underlying investments. Investors will learn how the HPS platform and specialization ultimately fits into the broader ecosystem of private credit as well as the private markets allocations of client portfolios.

Workshop Objective: The sessions are designed to educate investors on the HPS platform and our suite of offerings across direct lending and private capital solutions.

Company Profile: HPS Investment Partners is a leading global investment firm that seeks to provide creative capital solutions and generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our clients.  We manage various strategies across the capital structure, including privately negotiated senior debt; privately negotiated junior capital solutions in debt, preferred and equity formats; liquid credit including syndicated leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations and high yield bonds; asset-based finance and real estate. The scale and breadth of our platform offers the flexibility to invest in companies large and small, through standard or customized solutions. At our core, we share a common thread of intellectual rigor and discipline that enables us to create value for our clients, who have entrusted us with approximately $148 billion of assets under management as of September 2024.

Invesco Real Estate manages $91B+ across the globe and has been in the industry for 40+ years. Invesco will be discussing their real estate platforms robust investment capabilities and specific tax-deferral strategies. The 1031/721 exchange solution provides investors the opportunity to potentially exchange, on a tax-deferred basis, an active investment in real estate for a passive investment in an institutionally managed portfolio of high-quality, diversified commercial real estate. Our Real Estate Exchange Specialist at Invesco Real Estate will provide an update on the 1031/721 exchange requirements. Discuss client scenarios for deferring taxes on appreciated real estate and give an overview of the key benefits and reasons to consider syndicated DST programs. Our Specialist will provide details about how these programs were designed to seamlessly merge illiquid real estate into a framework that is compatible with the wealth management business. 

Workshop Objective:

•    Provide a broad overview of the 1031 exchange landscape 
•    Simplify and breakdown the phases in the 1031/721 exchange process  
•    Give advisors the ability to discuss the benefits of 1031 exchanges with clients to help emphasize the importance of tax and estate planning 

The Morgan Stanley Advisor Solutions Team (MSAS) within Capital Markets,  provides best in class service that reflects the Firm’s commitment to thought leadership, innovative solutions, and cutting-edge strategies while offering RIAs & Family Office’s the flexibility to hold collateral at third-party custodians. 

Join the Morgan Stanley Advisor Solutions Team to discuss institutional portfolio strategies and offerings:

•    Hedging & Monetization Solutions for Concentrated Stock Positions held away at Third-Party Custodians
•    Hedge Fund Solutions: Thematic Investment Strategies, Systematic Trading Strategies & Access to MS Research 
•    Securities Based Lending for securities held away at Third-Party Custodians
•    Structured Investment Portfolio Solutions – Income Generation, Outperformance, Downside Protection, and Hybrid solutions.

Workshop Objectives: Learn about how Morgan Stanley delivers an “Integrated MS” approach to portfolio construction, providing Independent Advisors with best-in-class service that reflects the Firm’s commitment to thought leadership, innovative solutions, and cutting-edge strategies. MSAS collaborates with product experts throughout Global Markets, Investment Banking, and Investment Management equipping RIAs & Family Offices with a comprehensive wealth management solution. 

Company Profile: The Morgan Stanley Advisor Solutions Team (MSAS) within the Institutional Equity Division (IED) provides best in class service that reflects the Firm’s commitment to thought leadership, innovative solutions, and cutting-edge strategies while offering Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) the flexibility to hold collateral at third-party custodians. MSAS specializes in Hedging & monetization strategies for client’s with concentrated stock positions, Structured Products, Thematic Investment Strategies.

Hosted by Lauren Hochfelder, the goal of the session is to educate investment professionals on how the North Haven Investment team is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growing opportunity for net lease investing by leveraging the expertise of Morgan Stanley's premier real estate and private credit groups.

NetREIT's objective is to provide attractive current income through tax-advantaged distributions and capital appreciation primarily by investing in a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial real estate properties net leased on a long-term basis to credit-worthy tenants.  NetREIT believes net lease investing combines the appreciation potential and inflation protection inherent in hard asset ownership with the predictable current income inherent in fixed income investments.

Workshop Objective: The session is designed to educate investors on the potential benefits of net lease investing 

Company Profile: Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has more than $1.6 trillion in assets under management or supervision.  Morgan Stanley Investment Management strives to provide outstanding long-term investment performance, service, and a comprehensive suite of investment management solutions to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals worldwide. The combination with Eaton Vance allows the firm to bring even more value to clients through many high quality, complementary investment offerings, delivered with an unwavering commitment to client service.  Professionals across the globe draw upon these capabilities to develop strategies that address a wide range of investors’ needs across the public and private markets.

Personalization and tax loss harvesting are the new alphas that improve client outcomes, but they come at a significant cost for RIAs. Boosting operational efficiency -- or operational alpha --  is the key to scaling growth for today's advisors. While direct indexing has been the solution for enabling greater personalization and tax-efficiency in equities -- making it the fastest growing segment of the SMA market -- we have taken a step further by extending the concept of direct indexing to fixed income assets as well. Technology is the new wrapper that is now empowering advisors to scale across all public markets.  Hear from Brooklyn's CEO, Erkko Etula, to explore how AI can power advisors -- ranging from custom index creation and thematic investment interests to boosting operational efficiencies, and take a look behind the curtain to understand how the digital era can unlock client engagement and growth. 

Workshop Objective:
•   Understand how multi- asset direct indexing can eliminate workflows associated with rebalancing and managing cash flows 
•    Explore how AI can power custom index creation, catering to thematic investment interests 
•    Add value in trade execution through algorithmic trading 
•    Automate concentrated position management to diversify out of concentrated risks, in a tax aware way 
•    How to evaluate technology, platforms, and develops to obtain the scale necessary to support your business  

Company Profile: Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, offers a comprehensive range of outcome-focused investment solutions designed to secure the long-term financial goals of institutional and individual investors. Nuveen has $1.2 trillion in assets under management as of 30 June 2024 and operations in 27 countries. Its investment specialists offer deep expertise across a comprehensive range of traditional and alternative investments through a wide array of vehicles and customized strategies.

Gain a comprehensive understanding of how the access points to invest in alternatives have changed and why PIMCO believes semi-liquid vehicle structures (eg. interval funds and operating companies) are optimal for capitalizing in markets where banks have pulled back from lending.

Workshop Objective: This workshop will provide an overview of PIMCO’s alternative credit platform and product suite, including interval funds like PFLEX, PMFLX and REFLX.  

Company Profile: PIMCO is a global leader in active fixed income with deep expertise across public and private markets. We invest our clients’ capital in income and credit opportunities that span the liquidity spectrum, leveraging our decades of experience navigating complex debt markets. Our flexible capital base and deep relationships with issuers have helped us become one of the world’s largest providers of traditional and alternative investment solutions and a valued financing partner.

Join Liberty Street Advisors and The Private Shares Group in a discussion about investing in the private innovation economy through late-stage ventured backed, growth orientated companies.  We will cover several topics on this subject including our Private Shares Fund.  A 1940 act interval fund that looks to democratize access to private markets by removing the cumbersome barriers to entry typically associated with investing in alternatives. Meaning:  
o    No Subscription Documents  
o    No Accreditation Requirements 
o    No Performance Fees 
o    Daily NAV  
o    $2,500 Minimum  
o    1099 Tax Reporting 
o    Quarterly Repurchase Program of 5% of Fund’s outstanding shares at NAV 

Workshop Objectives: Learn how Liberty Street Advisor’s suite of solutions & capabilities can help navigate the current market environment including accessing late-stage private companies. 

Company Profile: The Private Shares Group relates to the investment team that manages investment strategies focusing on private innovation companies with a strong bias to the late-stage venture and growth phases of development. The investment team is associated with SEC registered investment advisers Liberty Street Advisors, Inc. and Pearl Lane Advisors, LLC, with offices in New York and Silicon Valley.  

HRC Group, founded in 2003, is responsible for the marketing for the private shares fund and other strategies where Liberty Street Advisors, Inc is an advisor.

Learn about an opportunity in multifamily housing and how significant forecasted supply constraints may favorably benefit clients investing in real estate today.  We’ll discuss how real estate investing may provide tax advantages and a hedge against forecasted inflation.  

We’ll also explore using an opportunity zone strategy in client portfolios to enhance returns while shielding capital gains harvested amid the recent volatility.  Hear from one of the country’s Top 25 Opportunity Zone fund managers and multifamily real estate developers on how they are investing in a housing market that is short approximately 4 million homes.  

Company Profile: Redbrick LMD is a vertically integrated real estate investment, management and development company, with a primary concentration in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. We specialize in large-scale, institutional-quality development projects with high impact, while also owning and managing a portfolio of existing operating real estate assets. 

The hallmark of Redbrick’s projects includes an innovative and forward-looking approach to value creation and risk mitigation such as a pioneering strategy in the U.S. to decarbonize real estate and solving complex problems regarding resiliency for national-security related initiatives.  

We are one of the largest private landowners in Washington, DC with a development pipeline of approximately 8 million sq ft, half of which is located in Opportunity Zones in the District of Columbia. As stewards of capital, alignment of interests coupled with a keen focus on future-proofing projects are foundational cornerstones of our approach to delivering long-term value to investors and other key stakeholders.

Our presentation will focus on the small and small/mid domestic equity asset classes and the current opportunities we see for investors in this space. We will discuss the current macroeconomic factors and market psychology affecting the asset class and the catalysts for change, as well as the advantages of active management within this market segment. The presentation will then highlight Tributary Capital Management’s approach to evaluating small- and mid-cap businesses and our portfolio construction process, drawing on over 25 years of experience managing the Tributary Small Cap Strategy.  

Workshop Objective: Attendees will walk away with an understanding of where we see value in the Small and Small/Mid Cap asset class and an understanding of Tributary’s philosophy around selecting companies for our portfolios.

Company Profile: We are a boutique investment management firm with a specialization in capacity-constrained asset classes. Steady leadership and dedication to our core investment philosophy sets us apart.
Our investment philosophy, which has been in place for more than 25 years, focuses on owning quality companies that are undervalued and is rooted in bottom-up, fundamental research. The portfolio managers have worked together for nearly two decades and provide the steady leadership that ensures the consistent execution of our investment philosophy across market cycles. They lead our investment team, which is deep in talent and tenure, and leverage their collective knowledge to thoroughly evaluate each investment.

Record equity market results have tempted investors to rush to invest into companies at the first sign of dazzle before taking the time to understand the sustainability of that ‘dazzle’ or growth. This approach has proved dangerous as the winds can quickly change direction and wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars in market cap in just a few hours. Join us to learn how our disciplined, patient approach focused on uncovering international gems, with sustainable streams of earnings growth, can generate alpha and help to diversify your portfolio when the weather on the horizon is uncertain.  

Workshop Objective: The objective of the workshop is to provide investors with an understanding of lesser owned yet attractive investment opportunities outside of the US. Address common misconceptions of ex-US investing.  

Company Profile: Vontobel Asset Management, Inc. is a global investment management firm (“VAMUS”, “we” or “our”) registered as an investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  VAMUS is based in New York, NY, and have provided global asset management services to investors since 1984.  We are a wholly owned subsidiary of Vontobel Holding AG, a Swiss holding company in Zurich, Switzerland. 
We offer fundamental analysis-based investment advisory and sub-advisory services to a broad array of institutional and intermediary clients, respectively. Our client base includes a list of corporations, public and private pension plans, and foundations and endowments.

Founded over 48 years ago and independently owned, WCM stewards over $90B** of assets in long-only, focused equity strategies implementing the core belief that high quality businesses, with positive moat trajectories and aligned corporate cultures, lead to more durable growth than longer-term consensus expectations. Our Focused International Opportunities (FIO) strategy draws from other WCM strategies focusing on our high-conviction non-US ideas. Since the strategy inception in November 2018 through December 2024, FIO has outperformed WCM’s other international strategies on an absolute basis. In this presentation, Greg unpacks how it all works. FIO is accessible via a Mutual Fund, commingled vehicle, model delivery, and separate accounts.

Workshop Objective: For calendar years 2001-2024, 82% of the top 50 performing stocks in the MSCI All Country World Index were from outside the US.*** This workshop helps Advisors build client portfolios that consider non-US companies.

*The strategy is managed flexibly, with the ability to invest in businesses across market capitalizations. However, the strategy's investments are primarily allocated to small- and mid-cap international public companies on initial purchase

**As of 12/31/2024, includes model assets. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The international strategies may be benchmarked against different indices than FIO.

***Source: FactSet, MSCI. MSCI All Country World Index, total return, by stock in USD for the period 12/31/2000 – 12/31/2024. 
Each calendar year end was calculated as the number of non-US companies divided by the sample size (top 50) and averaged.