Agenda

Full agenda to be announced..

08.00 – 08.30: Registration & Refreshments

08.30 – 08.35: Chairman’s welcome
Punil Chaubal, Insurance Investment Advisory Leader, WTW

08.35 – 09.00: Unlocking Yield and Capital Efficiency Through Infrastructure Debt (sponsored by Templeton Franklin)
Will Devenney, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Debt, Franklin Templeton

Infrastructure debt presents a compelling opportunity for insurance investors seeking stable, long-term performance. Offering enhanced yield and capital efficiency, the asset class aligns naturally with long term liabilities and with matching adjustment requirements while providing strong downside protection and low correlation with traditional markets. Investors can benefit from attractive premia, unlocking superior risk-adjusted returns. Beyond its financial advantages, infrastructure debt plays a vital role in funding sustainable, real-economy projects—helping investors deliver on their ESG ambitions while generating resilient, dependable income streams.

09.00 – 09.30: Fixed Income Panel (sponsored by Insight Investment)

Chair: April La Russe, Head of Investment Specialists, Insight Investment

Panellists:

Todd Isaac, Chief Investment Officer, Hiscox 
Moiz Khan, Managing Director & Head of Investment Solutions, Reinsurance Group of America
Mark Moroney, Capital & Investments Director, NHBC 
Wim Vermeir, Chief Investment Officer, AG & Ageas

09.30 – 09.55: In Discussion: Fund Finance for Insurance Portfolios (sponsored by Aberdeen Investments)
Shelley Morrison, Head of Fund Finance, Aberdeen Investments
James Budenberg, Director, UK Insurance, Aberdeen Investments

Fresh from winning our IAM 2024 ‘Strongest Link’ panel, Shelley is back again to dive deeper into fund finance in insurance portfolios.

Our fast-paced, dynamic agenda will cover topics such as:

• What is fund finance and what are its sub-asset classes?
• How is institutional capital reshaping the fund finance landscape?
• What are the key risks for insurance investors?
• How can insurers use fund finance?

09.55 – 10.20: Integrating Climate into Fixed Income Portfolio (sponsored by Robeco)

Remmert Koekkoek, Head of Investment Solutions, Robeco

As an insurance investor, achieving the right balance between risk, return and sustainability is crucial – however the challenge lies in constructing resilient, climate-oriented portfolios that also deliver an optimal risk & return profile.

Remmert Koekkoek, Robeco’s Head of Investment Solutions, will describe the evolution of climate fixed income investing, explain how you can incorporate climate into your insurance portfolio through a live case study and Robeco’s FALCON platform.

10.20 - 10.40: Coffee break

10.40 – 11.05: Opportunities in Asset-Backed Finance for the Insurance Industry (sponsored by AXA IM Alts)

Christophe Fritsch, Global Head of Alternative Credit, AXA IM Alts

In a market shaped by macro divergence and persistent disruption, asset-backed finance is becoming a strategic lever for insurers. Instruments like NAV financing, capital call facilities, private ABS, and SRT offer solutions for liquidity, regulatory efficiency, and portfolio resilience. As traditional credit markets adjust slowly to shifting monetary policy, these private financing tools provide timely access to income and structural protection—making them increasingly relevant in today’s evolving credit landscape.

11.05 – 11.30: Time to bring real estate to the fore (sponsored by Columbia Threadneedle Investments)

James Coke, Executive Director and Fund Manager, Columbia Threadneedle Investments

With UK real estate having delivered an 8.6% return in the past 12 months, it is an opportune moment to consider fresh allocations to the asset class. There are exciting opportunities across established and emerging sectors – warehouses (industrial and retail), urban centres (offices and residential) and the green energy transition (power provision, natural capital) – which align with the Government's agenda to promote private market assets that deliver economic growth and wider societal benefits, alongside strong financial returns.

11.30 – 11.55: Session details coming soon, proudly sponsored by Nuveen

Abigail Dean, Global Head of Strategic Insights, Nuveen Real Assets, Nuveen

11:55 – 12:20: Blended Finance: How Insurers Can Access EM Investment Opportunities in Private Debt (sponsored by Schroders) 

Manuel Dusina, Head of Real Assets, Phoenix Group
Valerie Harrington, Senior Fund Manager, BlueOrchard Finance
Daniel Henton, Business Development Director, Schroders

This session explores how blended finance structures are enabling insurers, particularly life insurers, to access emerging market private debt opportunities. Representatives from Phoenix and BlueOrchard (a Schroders company) will share insights from their collaboration on developing impact-oriented solutions that align institutional capital with sustainable growth.

12.20 – 13.00: Lunch break

13:00 – 13:25: Alternative Credit: The diversification benefits of bank originated assets (sponsored by HSBC Asset Management) 

Borja Azpilicueta, Head of Capital Solutions, HSBC Asset Management
Deepak Seeburrun, Head of Global Insurance, HSBC Asset Management

Demand for diversification has led bank partnerships to innovate, offering insurance investors access to distinctive investment opportunities which target specific investor outcomes. Alternative Credit is no longer a satellite allocation, it provides a variety of IG and non-IG solutions with shorter maturities, lower interest rate correlation or a different risk return generation profile. Please join HSBC Asset Management’s Deepak Seeburrun, Head of Global Insurance, and Borja Azpilicueta, Head of Capital Solutions for an insightful discussion on the complementary strategies available to institutional investors looking for increased diversification, stronger credit resilience and robust downside protection whilst still generating potentially attractive illiquidity premium.

13:25 – 13:55: Panel - Challenges and opportunities of AI in Insurance: Balancing Return, Capital and Liquidity in making robust investment decisions (sponsored by Ortec Finance) 

Gerry Anderson, Vice President, Portfolio Manager, AllianceBernstein
Amrit Summan, Investment Solutions Director, Ortec Finance

Traditional portfolio optimisation techniques often fall short when dealing with multiple objectives and complex, non-linear constraints—especially in the insurance sector where risk capital requirements add an extra layer of complexity.

On this panel, Ortec Finance and AllianceBernstein showcase how Scenario-Based Machine Learning (SBML) can redefine the optimisation process by leveraging stochastic scenarios and advanced machine learning techniques.

This session will explain how scenario-based machine learning is able to find more efficient portfolios than traditional optimisation techniques. This session will explore how insurers can optimise across multiple objectives simultaneously while incorporating complex constraints using SBML, such as optimising for book yield and capital requirements. We will also consider how illiquidity can be built into the portfolio optimisation process, which is particularly pertinent given increasing allocations to private assets.

13:55 – 14:20: Session details coming soon, proudly sponsored by Ares 

14:20 – 14:35: Coffee break

14:35 – 15:00: Convertible Bonds: A Capital-Efficient, Return-Enhancing Solution for Insurers (sponsored by Advent Capital)

David Hulme, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, Advent Capital Management

In today’s environment of rising return targets and tighter capital constraints, insurers are increasingly seeking investment solutions that balance performance with regulatory efficiency. David Hulme, Head of Advent’s Global Balanced Convertible Bonds Strategy, brings over 20 years of experience managing convertible bond mandates for insurance clients — with a particular focus on non-life insurers.

In this session, David will share how convertible bonds can enhance portfolio Sharpe ratios while benefiting from favorable capital requirements under Solvency II. By combining equity upside with a more efficient capital profile than traditional equities, convertibles offer insurers a way to access growth potential with less impact on their solvency capital. He will provide practical insights into how insurers can integrate convertibles to improve capital-adjusted returns and portfolio efficiency.

With their unique blend of defensive and growth characteristics, convertible bonds offer insurers a differentiated way to meet performance goals without significantly increasing risk or capital strain.

15:00 – 15:25: Unlocking Yield Potential: Securitised for Insurers (sponsored by Janus Henderson)

Kareena Moledina, Lead – Fixed Income Client Portfolio Management (EMEA) / Fixed Income ESG, Janus Henderson

Recent regulatory changes are making securitised investments more accessible and capital-efficient for insurers.  It has long been known that they offer attractive yield potential and regular cashflows, making them ideal for portfolio diversification and asset-liability matching, but prohibitive regulation and capital charging has stifled Insurers ability to benefit. We explore how insurers can take advantage of these developments to not only enhance returns in a low-yield environment, diversify their portfolio, alongside introducing the products that could solve the cashflow conundrum. Is it time we brought Securitised in from the cold, and followed the US to reap the rewards?

15:25 – 15:55 – ESG/Sustainability Panel

The insurance industry stands to reap significant benefits from embracing ESG and sustainable investing in strategy execution. Insurers must take advantage of ESG and sustainable investment opportunities to propel their growth strategy, future viability, and long-term sustainable delivery of dividends for stakeholders. This panel will look at how international markets are affecting domestic portfolios, new assets coming to the fore, and what should insurers’ objectives be over the next five years.

Chair: David Thompson, Chief Investment Officer, Zurich Insurance Company

Panellists:
Cleo Fitzsimons, Head of Sustainability, PIC
Rebecca Lea, Manager, Investment & Climate, Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Hetal Patel, Head of Sustainable Investment Research, Phoenix Group
Nimisha Sodha, Established Head of Responsible Investment

15:55 – 16:00 – Chairman’s roundup