Agenda
08.00 – 08.30: Registration & refreshments
08.30 – 08.35: Chairman’s welcome
Matthew Connell, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Chartered Insurance Institute
08.35 – 09.00: Keynote speaker - The Year Ahead
Camille Blackburn, Director of Wholesale Buy Side, FCA
The keynote will highlight some of the current and emerging issues in asset management. This will include a discussion about the continued growth in private markets in the UK. Camille will encourage industry to work together to address some of the risks identified and provide an overview of some new regulatory initiatives for 2025.
09.00 – 09.30: Fixed income panel (sponsored by LGIM)
The fixed income market in 2024 is emerging as a significant area of opportunity for insurance investors amid a landscape filled with economic adjustments, geopolitical tensions, and the anticipation of a US Presidential election. This panel will explore the key opportunities within fixed income for insurers and the risk appetite in this market.
Panel chair:
Paul Whelan, Partner and Co-head of Global Fixed Income Manager Research, Aon
Panellists:
Todd Isaac, Chief Investment & Treasury Officer, Hiscox
Corrado Pistarino, Chief Investment Officer, Foresters Friendly Society
Matthew Rees, Head of Global Bond Strategies, LGIM
Ying Ye, Chief Investment Officer, Allianz Insurance plc
09.30 – 09.55: Real estate markets have reached the bottom - a good time to start lending?
Stefan Wundrak, MD Real Estate Research, Nuveen
With signs of a budding recovery in real estate, Stefan Wundrak, Head of European Research at Nuveen Real Estate, will give an overview of the key fundamentals at play and will delve into the factors shaping the commercial real estate debt sector and where he believes the opportunities are.
09.55 – 10.20: The Strongest Link: Insurance Investment Special (sponsored by abrdn)
If you had one more pound to invest, where would it go? In this breakthrough format, select abrdn portfolio managers argue the case for your marginal pound to go to infrastructure equity, emerging market debt, short-dated public credit and fund finance. The twist? After each question you’ll have the chance to eliminate the one you find least compelling. Who will be sent back to the office early? Who’s desk will the metaphorical trophy grace? We can’t wait to find out.
Panel chair:
Rob Andrew, Head of Insurance and Pension Solutions, abrdn
Panellists:
Sameer Amin, Managing Partner, Concession Infrastructure, abrdn
Brett Diment, Head of Global Emerging Market Debt, abrdn
Shelley Morrison, Head of Fund Finance, abrdn
Mark Munro, Investment Director & Portfolio Manager, Short-Dated Enhanced Income, abrdn
10.20 - 10.40: Coffee break
10.40 – 11.05: What’s next for European Private Credit
Michael Dennis, Partner & Co-Head of European Credit, Ares
Ares will explore opportunities for insurers within the European Private Credit space and how this fits in within current investment portfolios.
11.05 – 11.35: Private credit panel (sponsored by Schroders)
Private credit has emerged as one of the fastest growing asset classes in the institutional investment space. With the potential to offer an illiquidity premium compared to publicly traded fixed income asset classes, as well as its historically higher average recovery rates than equivalent rated public corporate bonds, and historically low correlation to more traditional asset classes, this asset class offers strong diversification benefits. The panel will explore what areas of private credit are being utilised in portfolios and how this is enhancing risk/return investment profiles.
Panel chair:
Punil Chaubal, Insurance Investment Advisory Lead, WTW
Panellists:
Angel Kansagra, Head of ALM and Investment Solutions, Lloyd's
Prasun Mathur, Head of Private Assets, Aviva UK Life
James Mitchell, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Research, Phoenix Group
David Ramroop, Chief Investment Officer, Just Group
Augustin Segard, Portfolio Manager, Infrastructure Debt, Schroders Capital
11.35 – 12.00: New perspectives on liquidity: allocating successfully for increased private market allocations and falling rates
Mike Leonard, Head of Insurance Solutions, Aviva Investors
Alastair Sewell, Investment Strategist, Aviva Investors
This session will explore the role of liquidity in a total portfolio allocation, both from the perspectives of private asset cash flows and ongoing insurance liquidity needs. The session will overlay portfolio construction concepts with the latest rates outlook and implications for successfully allocating liquidity into this environment.
- Factoring private market allocations into a liquidity risk management framework and allocation
- Allocating liquidity into a falling rate environment
- Optimising liquidity
12.00 - 12.25: Infrastructure - Focusing on Europe, the world’s leading infrastructure market
Mark Gilligan, Head of Infrastructure, AXA IM Alts
Europe stands out as a global leader in infrastructure investment, offering a wide range of opportunities across renewable energy, digital infrastructure, and more. With less capital competition compared to North America, Europe presents attractive, risk-adjusted returns. Key trends like decarbonization, electrification, and digitalization are shaping the future of the region’s infrastructure, backed by strong policy support. This session will provide insights into how Europe’s infrastructure market is evolving and why it remains a compelling choice for long-term investment.
12.25 – 13.05: Lunch break
13.05 - 13.10: Afternoon Chairman's welcome
David Otudeko, Assistant Director, Head of Prudential Regulation, Association of British Insurers (ABI)
13.10 – 13.40: Managing credit for insurers (sponsored by Columbia Threadneedle Investments)
Insurers have a broad range of investment strategies depending on their risk and liability profile however fixed income continues to be the largest single asset class for most insurers globally. Columbia Threadneedle through its experience in managing both policy holder and shareholder assets would host a panel of insurance experts to discuss a range of relevant fixed income themes, benefits of a global approach and integrating impact.
Panel chair:
Nabil Owadally, Senior Portfolio Manager, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Panellists:
Anand Rajagopal, Head of Sustainability/ESG research, Phoenix Group
Adam Ruddle, Chief Investment Officer, LV=
Lizzie Staunton, Head of Investments, Zurich
Tammie Tang, Senior Portfolio Manager, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
13.40 – 14.05: Emerging Market Corporate Bonds
Robert Nelson, CFA, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Research Analyst, Franklin Templeton
Such has been the growth of the emerging market corporate debt market that it exceeds the size of emerging market sovereign debt, offering investors a rich and diverse opportunity set. The presentation will consider the merits of the asset class in general and the risks and opportunities of investing at the present time.
14.05 – 14.30: Fireside chat: Private Credit Evolving Opportunities
Scott McClurg, Head of Private Credit, HSBC Asset Management
Deepak Seeburrun, Head of Global Insurance & Key Partnerships, HSBC Asset Management
Private credit as an asset class is in demand from a range of institutional investors due to its role as a portfolio diversifier that aims to capture illiquidity premium, low correlation to the traditional asset classes and increasingly a fixed income substitute. Our fireside chat will explore the key drivers behind this, delve into which areas of Private Credit are proving popular with insurers as the asset class lands into the mainstream.
14.30 – 14.40: Coffee break
14.40 – 15.05: How the Role of Infrastructure is Changing in Asset Owners' Portfolios: Looking back, considering the present and gazing forward
Katarina Roele, Vice President, IFM Investors
The importance of the Infrastructure Asset Class has grown significantly in recent years. As a specialist in Infrastructure Asset Management, IFM Investors have taken results from the IPE Top 100 Infrastructure Investors survey as well as from an FT survey to bring insights to the on-going role of Infrastructure looking forward.
15.05 - 15.30: Climate transition: investing for the future (sponsored by Robecco)
Aliki Rouffiac, Portfolio Manager, Robeco
Climate investing continues to be at the top of insurance companies’ investment agendas as many either have a net zero commitment or are in the process of making one. Historically, policies on transition financing have differed from region to region, resulting in inconsistent definitions and unclear labels when looking at investment opportunities. The common path, therefore, was to focus on financed emissions as a core metric in portfolios, resulting in investors moving away from carbon-intensive companies. But is this the right thing to do? While this has reduced accounted emissions in portfolios, it has not reduced real-world emissions which have only continued rise. At Robeco, we believe it is important to support and accelerate climate action by investing in high-emitting companies that are investing in technology for the future. In other words, investing in the climate transition. During this session, we’ll discuss how we identify these companies and explore how our insurance clients are investing in the climate transition across their public markets portfolios.
15.30 - 16.00: Real assets panel (sponsored by Manulife Investment Management)
Real assets offer an illiquidity premium, tend to be less vulnerable to unexpected changes in inflation and are uncorrelated with financial assets., therefore providing portfolio diversification. This panel will explore the real asset strategies being deployed in the current investment environment and how insurers are benefiting from this space.
Panel chair:
David Otudeko, Assistant Director, Head of Prudential Regulation, Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Panellists:
Luke Browne, Senior Managing Director, Head of Asset Allocation, and Senior Portfolio Manager, Manulife Investment Management
Daniel Blamont, Group Investment Operations Director, Royal London
Kedi Huang, UK Chief Investment Officer, Aspen
Prabby Mann, Head of Real Estate, Phoenix Group
16.00 – 16.05: Chairman’s round up and end of conference
