Citywire South West 2023

Dividend income has contributed around one third of equity returns since 1940 - a fact that has often been overlooked in recent years. Dividend-focused strategies are perfectly positioned to navigate the uncertain environment. But not all dividend strategies are created equal. Douglas Scott, co-manager of the Aegon Global Equity Income Fund will explore the profound importance of quality income and why it is vital when inflation and interest rates are rising.

- Explain how dividend strategies can provide a defensive option, as well as an income stream in the current environment 
- Demonstrate the importance of a ‘quality’ approach, rather than aiming for the highest yield
- Discuss where exciting opportunities can be found across the dividend universe

Company Profile: 

Aegon Asset Management is an active global investor. Our 390 investment professionals manage and advise on assets of £274 billion* for a global client base of wealth managers, financial advisers, family offices, pension funds, insurance companies and charities.

We organise our investment capabilities around four focused investment platforms where we have deep asset-class expertise: fixed income, real assets, equities, and multi-asset & solutions. Each platform has dedicated teams, organised globally and committed to maximising client benefit from their specialist areas. These platforms are supported by teams dedicated to responsible investing and multi-management.

Formerly known as Kames Capital in the UK, we became Aegon Asset Management in September 2020 when the organisation moved to a single global identity across all markets.

* as at 30 September 2022

Join fund manager Karen See to explore why Japan warrants your attention. Beyond - what is an attractive - market backdrop, Japan offers nascent online opportunities, companies at the forefront of accelerating applications in automation, premium ‘made-in-japan’ consumer product companies primed for the regional reopening and esoteric opportunities in industries that will benefit from broader trends in corporate reform. Join us to discover how this fund offers balanced and broad exposure to these exciting themes.

Workshop Objective:

To understand some of the key structural opportunities available to bottom-up and patient stock pickers. Investors’ unfamiliarity with Japanese companies often leads them to anchor off macro expectations, when investing in Japan. However, doing so can cause them to miss the tremendous upside available in backing individual companies.

Company Profile: 

Baillie Gifford’s sole business is investment management. Since the company was founded in 1908 it has been a partnership. Today it is owned by 51 partners all of whom work in the business.
We believe that the best investment ideas spring from thinking about future possibilities, not short-term probabilities. We set no barriers to the imagination of our investors, encouraging fresh perspectives and the use of diverse sources of information. We term ourselves Actual Investors.
We currently manage or advise some £227.5bn on behalf of clients worldwide. Whilst we are predominantly an institutional manager (circa 70% of FUM), we offer an extensive range of investment trusts and open-ended funds to UK wealth managers and intermediaries.

Europe is often misunderstood as an investment universe. Mark Denham, Head of European Equities, will discuss some of the world’s leading companies as well as often missed and exciting innovation in the region. He’ll demonstrate why Europe can be a world leader in the increasingly disrupted universe in which we find ourselves today. Mark is a bottom-up investor, preferring businesses that demonstrate high and sustainable profitability, with strong ESG credentials. We believe the combination of these factors lead to long-term alpha generation.

Mark Denham will share his investment approach based on the quantification of quality and growth, fundamental analysis, and a sustainable investment objective. A unique process, which looks for innovation and attractive trends in the region, refined over three decades.

Company Profile: 

Carmignac is an independent asset management firm established in 1989 on three core principles that still stand true today: entrepreneurial spirit, human-driven insight and active commitment.
With a capital entirely held by the family and staff, Carmignac is now one of Europe’s leading asset managers, operating from 7 different offices. Today, as throughout our history, we are committed to try harder and better to actively manage our clients’ savings over the long-term.

We are proud of the heritage we have in the responsible investing space and the role we have played in pioneering ethical investing over the last twenty-five years. But in this milestone year, we have never been more aware that this is a dynamic, fast-changing space and we must continue to innovate and evolve to stay at the forefront of responsible investing. We will highlight our three- pillared approach of avoiding companies with damaging or unsustainable business practices, proactively investing in companies providing solutions to the important sustainability challenges of our time and using our influence as shareholders to engage with investee companies to improve their ESG profiles. 

-    Understand how the emphasis in our Responsible Global Equity strategy has evolved over time;
-    Understand how we use sustainability themes to drive idea generation
-    Understand what meaningful, proactive ESG engagement looks like

Company Profile: 

Investing smarter for the world you want 

At Columbia Threadneedle Investments, we invest to make a difference in your world, and the wider world. Millions of people rely on us to manage their money and invest for their future; together they entrust us with £485 billion. Whatever world you want, our purpose is to help you achieve it. We do this by being globally connected, intense about research, having a responsible ethos and a focus on continuous improvement.

Source: Columbia Threadneedle Investments as of 31 December 2022.

2022 saw the outperformance of factor investing, and we believe the market is structurally primed for this trend to continue. First Trust has been at the forefront of factor investing for decades, learn why we think value and quality look particularly attractive in this current market climate, and how to implement these factors in client portfolios. We will take a closer look at how to define ‘quality’ and the best way to get value exposure through dividends. We will also explain why Quality and Income factors have tended to achieve better risk-adjusted returns with less participation to the downside during significant market corrections. Lastly, we will highlight the time-tested strategies that investors can use to apply these factors and detail why we are bullish on the new S&P 500, but bearish on the current one

•    Why and how to use factors?
•    What is “Quality” and why should investors look to it in times of market distress?
•    Why looking for dividends for “Value” exposure can be a winning strategy

Company Profile: 

First Trust is a privately owned U.S. based financial services firm established in 1991. Our mission and approach are simple. We aim to offer investors a better way to invest by providing transparent and innovative solutions - through knowing what we own, investing for the long term, employing discipline and rebalancing our portfolios. 
 
Today First Trust is one of the fastest growing global ETF providers and as at the end of February 2023 has $1196.248 Billion global assets under management and supervision

Against a backdrop of rising uncertainty, investors are increasingly looking to the broader global equities market as a source of diversification, with the equity income category, in particular, seeing strong interest. Join Portfolio Manager, Sam Witherow from the International Equity Group, as he discusses the prospects for the category in the context of broader markets and where he continues to find opportunities across the yield spectrum. Sam will explain why the JPM Global Equity Income Fund, with its balance of dividend quality and growth, is well suited to navigate today’s market environment.

Explain how, given sticky inflation and a volatile macro backdrop, the category still offers an attractive proposition

Explore how our philosophy allows us to balance dividend yield, dividend growth and dividend resilience leading to non-traditional portfolio outcomes.

Describe where the investment team is currently finding the best opportunities

The traditional inverse relationship between credit spreads and government bond yields was challenged in 2022. With inflation remaining a primary concern for investors, we believe central bank action will be a significant driver of real yields and asset price volatility in markets in 2023. How can investors navigate this volatility and position themselves best for the new investment regime? 

Join Matthew Rees, Co-manager of the L&G Strategic Bond Fund, and Amelie Chowna, Senior Fixed Income Investment Specialist, as they explain how a nimble, well diversified, team-based approach led to the fund outperforming its peer group over the last one, three and five years – and how the fund is positioned for a challenging economic environment in 2023.

• Outline how the landscape has changed after a bruising 2022
• Describe the fund’s positioning to manage these challenges
• Outline LGIM’s Fixed Income outlook for 2023 and beyond

Company Profile: 

We are Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), the asset management business of Legal & General Group. Our purpose is to create a better future through responsible investing. We strive to achieve this through a strong sense of partnership with our clients, working together to achieve positive long-term outcomes. 

We draw on industry-leading expertise to innovate constantly across public and private assets, index and active strategies. And we are a responsible investor, rising to the challenges of a rapidly changing world. On behalf of savers, retirees and institutions worldwide, we manage £1.2 trillion in assets.*

*Source: LGIM internal data as at 31 December 2022. The AUM disclosed aggregates the assets managed by LGIM in the UK, LGIMA in the US and LGIM Asia in Hong Kong (2018-2019 only). The AUM includes the value of securities and derivatives positions.

Based on a decade of experience in investing in US Value stocks, Daniel White, Fund manager of the M&G North American Value Fund and Head of the M&G Global Equity Team, will 
will explore the recent value revival, as well as highlighting the huge potential opportunity set in the US market. After a stellar year for Value in 2022, is there more juice left? Dan will explore this, as well as how to potentially squeeze that out in the shape of alpha in this uncertain environment?

To highlight the potential opportunity set in the US market and where to find value in an uncertain environment. 

M&G Investments is a global asset manager, serving customers and clients for more than 90 years since launching Europe’s first ever mutual fund back in 1931.
We’re part of M&G plc, a family of brands, all aligned behind the same ambition: to manage our customers’ investments so that they can live the life they want, while aiming to make the world a little better along the way. Through long-term active investment management, we build solutions around what matters most to our customers and clients. 
We manage assets of over £308 billion (at 30 June 2022) in equities, multi-asset, fixed income, real estate and cash for our customers and clients in the UK, Europe and Asia.

Much like the James Bond franchise, the bond market entered a transitional period throughout 2022. This transitional period has reset yields at the highest levels for a decade with bonds now looking alluring again. In this presentation, PIMCO will explore the key macro-themes and considerations at this stage of the cycle whilst also considering the forward looking opportunity set across the fixed interest spectrum. Within this context, they’ll also introduce their flagship Income strategy.

•    Explore market dynamics and returns for the bond market in 2022. 
•    Consider the current macro-environment and core factors at play within the bond markets for 2023.
•    Explain current valuations and the forward looking opportunity set within the bond market.
•    Introduce the PIMCO GIS Income fund and explain how it would be utilized within portfolios.

Company Profile: 

PIMCO is a global leader in active fixed income. With our launch in 1971 in Newport Beach, California, PIMCO introduced investors to a total return approach to fixed income investing. In the 50+ years since, we have worked relentlessly to help millions of investors pursue their objectives – regardless of shifting market conditions. As active investors, our goal is not just to find opportunities, but to create them. To this end, we remain firmly committed to the pursuit of our mission: delivering superior investment returns, solutions and service to our clients.

The great economic moderation of low and stable inflation is over and marks the end of a near four decade long golden era for asset prices. In its place we find a new investment regime which heralds the return of inflation and market volatility. We will discuss the profound impact that rising inflation and geopolitical volatility will have on portfolio construction and asset allocation decisions, whilst identifying specific ideas that can help preserve and grow client capital in a period of profound uncertainty.

•    Providing a framework for how to think about asset allocation in a period of regime change and volatility
•    Ensure delegates understand the nature of inflation within the global economic system
•    Exploring the impact of inflation on a range of asset markets and deliver an understanding of the likely behaviour of equities, bonds and other assets in a range of environments

Company Profile: At Ruffer, our aim is to deliver consistent positive returns through an unconstrained approach regardless of how financial markets perform. We seek to achieve this by maintaining an offsetting balance of growth and protective assets and have achieved a long, successful track record of protecting and growing the value of our clients’ assets. Our approach has been successful through periods of market fragility including the bursting of the dot.com bubble, the credit crisis and covid-19. We aim to continue this success, whatever the future holds. 

After a volatile period for Asian stocks, we will review the drivers of recent market performance, look at the income opportunity there and how China’s move away from zero Covid has impacted our positioning towards China and the wider regional markets. He will also discuss the outlook for the region including our stance on IT and the attractiveness of current valuations.

At the end of the presentation you should have an appreciation of some of the key issues driving Asian markets, why we are cautious on China and have an understanding of the case for investing in income in Asia.

Company Profile: 

As a global asset and wealth manager, Schroders delivers a broad range of investments designed to meet the diverse needs of institutions, intermediaries and high net worth individuals.

For over 200 years we have built principled partnerships with our clients, putting them at the centre of everything we do. As an active investment manager we believe that we have an important role to play in driving better outcomes for our clients and society as a whole.

One way to achieve better-than-benchmark returns with lower risk is to ignore the benchmark completely. This means not owning the majority of companies included in the benchmark, and avoiding most of the larger companies in particular. It also means prioritising the protection of client capital, and allowing the power of compounding to work over extended periods. High active share, long time horizons, low turnover, and a focus on absolute risk can result in portfolios that look quite different from many others. We’ll discuss what high-quality companies look like to us, and what outcomes can be generated for clients by holding such companies in portfolios.

The session will aim to stimulate debate about whether some seemingly old-fashioned ideas about active investing might be a source of difference and defensiveness, with current and future relevance.

Company Profile: Founded in 1988, Stewart Investors run Worldwide, Emerging Markets, Asia-Pacific, European and Indian Subcontinent equity investment strategies. Pioneers of sustainable investing, the team launched their first sustainability fund in 2005, and to this day sustainability remains integral to their investment process. They believe companies that deliver benefits to society and the environment face fewer risks over the long term and are therefore better placed to deliver positive returns to shareholders. Their investment philosophy centres around the principle of good stewardship - careful, considered and responsible management of clients’ funds - with sustainability at the heart of this process.