An SPS Conference



Local Authority Pension Funds

Investment Issues

Thursday 17 November 2016

at Le Meridien, Piccadilly, London

Sponsored by:

Amundi

AXA Investment Managers

BlueBay Asset Management

BMO Global Asset Management

Harris Associates

Invesco Perpetual

Media Partners:

Investment & Pensions Europe

Savvy Investor

This conference is arranged by SPS Conferences

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CPD = 6.5 hours

Programme

08.30 Registration and coffee

09.00 Welcome and Opening Remarks

Trevor Cook, Managing Director, Specialist Pension Services

10. Session 1: Managing the Current Investment Climate

Moderator: Anthony Fletcher, Independent Investment Adviser, Derbyshire CC Pension Fund

What is Value for Money & How should you Assess your Global Equity Manager on That?

The latest research on active share, patient capital and the curse of the benchmarks. How can these help when pooling managers.

Danny Nicolas, Client Portfolio Manager, Harris Associates

Navigating the Storm

There are a number potential storms on the horizon which could generate very different outcomes for global financial markets. So how does the LGPS now look to achieve genuine diversification in this environment? Highlighting opportunities in some less traditional arenas, we will discuss how finding compelling investment ideas in difficult markets is still possible.

Georgina Taylor, Research Director, Multi Asset, Invesco Perpetual

10.25 Coffee / Tea

10.55 Session 2: Responsible Investing

Moderator: Aled Jones, Principal – Responsible Investing, Mercer

Responsible Investing in Property – Rising to the Agenda

Our approach to Responsible Investing - Invest, Improve and ‎Impact;  Why Responsible Investment in real assets can make a real difference; Creating sustainable income with great residual values; Tackling the agenda through improvement of assets;  A social impact - making a difference and The property market - the outlook.

Guy Glover, Fund Manager, BMO Real Estate Partners

Responsible Investing – Integrating ESG without Impacting Returns

Local authorities continue to face myriad headwinds as they seek to reduce deficits while aiming to meet the government’s pooling objectives of reducing costs and improving governance standards. These issues are driving demand for transparent, value for money solutions that generate long-term returns whilst being mindful of risk. But are schemes looking at all the risks that count? We look at how fully integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into the risk management framework of equity investing can help LGPS funds to achieve their financial outcomes and invest responsibly, without impacting on returns.

Jane Wadia, Head of Client Portfolio Management, AXA Investment Managers

12.10 Drinks and Lunch

13.30 Session 3: Opportunities in Alternatives

Moderator: Julian Pendock, Chief Investment Officer, London CIV

Harvesting Higher Yields: Should the LGPS be making more use of Higher-Coupon Fixed Income?

Can higher-coupon fixed income play a bigger role in helping the LGPS generate return as well as income to meet their cash flow needs.

Blair Reid, Institutional Portfolio Manager, BlueBay Asset Management

Investment Horizon and the choice of Real & Alternative Assets

In the current market environment of low/negative interest rates and high equity and credit valuations, institutional investors seek attractive, stable and uncorrelated return streams. While diversification of return and alpha drivers is a common objective across real & alternative assets, these investments differ widely in terms of vehicle and underlying asset liquidity. Local authorities can benefit by diversifying their alternative allocations across different investment time horizons, capturing a variety of liquidity premia.

Heinrich Merz, Chief Investment Officer – Alternative Assets, Amundi

14.45 Coffee / Tea

15.05 Session 4: Pension Fund Pooling & LGPS Panel

Moderator: Dawn Turner, Head of Pension Fund Management, Environment Agency

Pension Fund Pooling: Looking to the Future

Latest update on LGPS policy including pooling and the outstanding issues, fiduciary duties and investment regulations.

John Wright, Partner, Head of Public sector practice, Hymans Robertson;

LGPS Perspectives

A panel of LGPS scheme executives and trustees will talk about their pension fund’s investment strategies and experiences. Panelists to include:

Peter Wallach, Head of Pension Fund, Merseyside

Bridget Uku, Group Manager, Treasury & investments, London Borough of Ealing

Phil Triggs, Strategic Finance Manager, Pension Fund & Treasury, Surrey

16.20 Drinks reception followed by Close of Conference

Speaker bios

Guy Glover, MRICS, is a Fund Manager for the F&C UK Property Fund. Guy has over 20 years experience in property. He joined the Group in 2004. Guy has experience across all market sectors, with recent focus on Central London. Guy is a Chartered Surveyor and holds a Bachelors Degree in Land Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Property Investment. Prior to BMO Global Asset Management, Guy worked for 9 years at Wereldhave Property Corporation plc, where he was responsible for asset managing their UK portfolio. Prior to this, he worked at Northampton Borough Council. Guy graduated from the University of Reading with a BSc in Land Management and holds the RICS Postgraduate Diploma in Property Investment. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1994.

Heinrich Merz joined Amundi in February 2016 as Chief Investment Officer for all hedge fund investments (Funds of hedge funds and a managed account platform). Previously, he was Co-Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Permal Investment Management Services, where he was a member of the firm’s investment committee and managed a number of funds, including customized hedge fund portfolios. He joined Fauchier Partners in 2010, which was acquired by Permal in March 2013. Before this, he was a Senior Hedge Fund Specialist at Cambridge Associates where he implemented and monitored the direct hedge fund programs of Foundations and Endowments. From 2005 to 2008, Heinrich was a Trader then Analyst in the equity team of Concordia Advisors, a multi-strategy hedge fund, where he started his career. Heinrich holds an M.I.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University, is a CFA Charterholder and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. He speaks English, French, German and Spanish.

Danny Harris joined Harris Associates in 2012. He has a BBA, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999 an MS Finance, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2001. Danny was Director, Institutional Sales with Harris Associates (2012-14); Executive Director, Morgan Stanley, 2009-2012; Executive Director, UBS, 2001-2009; Equity Analyst Intern, T Rowe Price & Associates, 2000; Equity Portfolio Manager, University of Wisconsin Applied Security Analysis Program, 1999-2000. Danny has 17 years of investment industry experience.

Blair Reid joined BlueBay in August 2013 as an Institutional Portfolio Manager in the Asset Allocation Team. Prior to BlueBay, Blair worked for Goldman Sachs Asset Management where he spent six years as a lead portfolio manager in the fixed income team, specialising in emerging market debt and FX. Previously he worked for Barclays Global Investors as well as Aon Hewitt, where he was an investment consultant. He holds an MBA from London Business School, a Bachelor of Economics degree from Macquarie University in Sydney and is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Georgina Taylor, Product Director – Multi Asset, Invesco Perpetual. Based in Henley-on-Thames, Georgina joined the company in June 2013, and serves as the Product Director for the Multi Asset team. Previously, she was Head of Equity Strategy at State Street Global Markets, where she was involved in enhancing the macro input to specific State Street products, and presenting this to clients. She commenced her career in 2001 as an equity strategist at HSBC, followed by a similar role at Goldman Sachs in 2004 where she was involved in global equity and asset allocation research. Georgina then gained asset management experience at Legal & General Investment Management, contributing to the overall asset allocation outlook for the firm and multi asset funds. She graduated from the University of Bath in 2000 with a BSc (Hons) in Economics.

Jane Wadia has been Head of AXA IM Rosenberg Equities’ Client Portfolio Management team since 2010, with responsibility for managing relationships with investors and consultants globally. Jane joined AXA IM Rosenberg Equities in 2003 as a client service portfolio manager and became Head of Client Services AXA Group and Head of Client Services Europe in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Prior to that Jane was a Portfolio Manager within the Global Equities Department at AXA IM in Paris. Jane holds a Bachelor’s degree from CESEM, Reims, France.

John Wright is a partner and head of the public sector team at Hymans Robertson. He is responsible for ensuring that the Firm supports clients on the major issues of the day, including consultations on reform and the new structure of the LGPS. John led Hymans Robertson's contribution to the Hutton review of public sector pensions, providing well received assistance to the Commission and ensuring clients were well informed on the range of potential policy outcomes and their implications. John also speaks frequently on public sector pensions issues at industry events and conferences.

Conference Notes

Purpose: This conference aims to examine current LGPS investment issues, investment trends and the outlook for the industry.

Date: Thursday 17 November 2016 Venue: Le Meridien, 21 Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BH. Tel: 020 7734 8000.

Cost: £1250 plus VAT. In addition a limited number of sponsored places are available to representatives of pension funds (and other institutional investors who themselves do not offer investment management services to others) at £850 plus VAT. Please check that you are eligible. The charge includes all conference documentation, drinks, lunch, tea and coffee breaks. Payment is required before the event. A VAT receipt will be supplied on request. SPS Conferences events are exclusively aimed at genuine pension fund executives, trustees and their advisers, who may qualify for free entry. SPS Conferences reserves the right of admission (free or paid) and our decision is final.

Cancellation: prior to 7 November 2016 subject to a fee of £60.00. No refunds can be made if cancellation is after this date but delegates may be substituted at any time. Cancellation by SPS will result in a full refund of delegate fees paid but no other expenses incurred.

Amendments: SPS reserves the right to amend or cancel the conference at any time but will always attempt to give prior notice. Cancellation by SPS will result in a full refund of delegate fees paid but no other expenses incurred.

PMI Accreditation: Attendance at the conference will be given 6.5 hours of CPD with the PMI.

Data Protection: Personal data is gathered in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Your details may be passed to other companies including the conference sponsors who may wish to provide you with offers or other information related to your business activities. If you do not want to receive such information please tick the box in the booking form below.

Specialist Pension Services: SPS Conferences is a small, specialist company focusing entirely on providing essential, high quality and timely investment information to Large Pension Funds and their Advisors via a series of one day conferences in London and in key locations throughout Europe.   SPS Conferences is the sister organisation of the EPFIF (European Pension Fund Investment Forum) and has been running investment conferences for the Pension Fund community since 1993. A wide range of investment and related topics are covered, including Alternative Investing, Bonds, Equities, Property, Absolute Return, Private Equity, Risk Management and DC Issues.  Furthermore, because we know that you prefer to be educated rather than sold to, we strongly encourage our speakers to focus on giving educational speeches. An Advisory Committee of Pension Funds has been set up to help us keep our conferences relevant to your needs year on year, as we understand that there is a preference to be amongst peers at conferences rather than be outnumbered by Marketing Executives from Service Providers and so we have a very strict admittance policy biased heavily towards Large Pension Funds.  We aim to have more pension funds in the room than service providers.  SPS Conferences understand that delegates appreciate generous question and answer sessions during the conference and we also provide a number of opportunities to talk to your peers and the speakers.  This includes tea/coffee break(s), a full three course sit down lunch and a drinks reception at the end of the day.  When you put all this together, you get conferences where you can learn essential, timely information to assist you with all areas of pension fund investment management, in a friendly, relaxed, atmosphere amongst your peers.  please visit our website: for an update of this conference and details of the other specialist pension and investment conferences we organise.

Queries: please contact: Ms Sue Golton at Specialist Pension Services Limited. Telephone +44 (0)1438 712345 Telefax +44 (0)1438 718883 Email: sue@

SPS Conferences is a division of: Specialist Pension Services Limited Registered Office Address:Northside House, Mount Pleasant,Barnet, Herts EN4 9EE. Registered in England No 2706061

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Booking Form

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Please complete this form and return it to: Specialist Pension Services Ltd., Fulling Mill Barn, Fulling Mill Lane, Welwyn, Herts AL6 9NP Fax: +44 (0)1438 718883 Tel: +44(0)1438 712345 E-mail: bookings@ UK VAT No 600 7011 09

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