How have alternatives done in the wake of the financial crisis?
How will their role change in the future?
CONFERENCE AGENDA
Conference session attire is business casual.
Dinner on Wednesday evening is formal business.
Theme: Alternatives Then and Now
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1
For a map of the venue click here.
5:00 - 6:00 pm Speaker Rehearsal (Imperial Room)
5:45 pm Shuttle to Prince of Wales Hotel (Meet in Hotel Lobby)
6:00 pm Opening Cocktails (Prince of Wales Hotel)
7:15 pm Welcome Dinner Reception (Prince of Wales Hotel)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2
8:15 - 9:15 am Registration and Breakfast (Main Dining Room)
9:15 - 9:30 am Opening Remarks (Imperial Room)
9:30 - 10:30 am KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Trust and Delegation
Due to imperfect transparency and costly auditing, trust is an essential component of financial intermediation. In this paper we study a comprehensive sample of due diligence reports from a major hedge fund due diligence firm. A routine feature of due diligence is an assessment of integrity. We find that misrepresentation about past legal and regulatory problems is frequent, as is incorrect or unverifiable representations about other topics. Misrepresentation, the failure to use a major auditing firm and the use of internal pricing are significantly related to legal and regulatory problems, indices of operational risk. Due diligence (DD) reports are costly and are only performed when a fund is seriously considered for investment. It is important to control for this conditioning which would otherwise bias cross-sectional analysis. We find that DD reports are typically issued on high return funds three months after the historical performance has peaked. DD reports are also issued at the point of highest cash flow into the fund. This pattern is consistent with return chasing behaviour by institutional hedge fund investors
Speaker:
Bing Liang, Professor of Finance, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst
10:30 – 11:15 am SESSION TWO
The Long and Short of Market Neutral
In 2008, virtually all asset classes including alternative strategies, moved in the same direction and posted negative returns. However, one alternative investment strategy, equity market neutral, continued to provide low correlation despite extreme market volatility. This session will discuss the role of market neutral in a well-diversified portfolio – benefits of the asset class, index considerations, quantitative and fundamental approaches, where to fit your allocation, and applications within your portfolio.
Speaker:
Joseph Morgart, Senior Vice-president, Alternative Investment Strategies, Pyramis Global Advisors
11:15 - 11:30 am NETWORKING BREAK (Imperial Foyer)
11:30 – Noon SESSION THREE (Imperial Room)
Investment in Infrastructure
There are many different ways that large Canadian pension funds can participate in infrastructure. What are the alternatives available to small and medium size Canadian pension funds that want to invest in infrastructure or participate in infrastructure projects? What are the differences between these alternatives? What due diligence should be done by small or medium sized Canadian Pension Funds before making such an investment?
Speaker:
Bradley McLellan, Partner, Weir Foulds LLP
Noon – 1:00 pm LUNCH BREAK (Main Dining Room)
1:00 – 1:45 pm SESSION FOUR (Imperial Room)
Housing Index Derivatives as Alternative Investment Instruments
On May 26, 2006, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) introduced the first exchange-traded futures and options on housing market indices. The purpose was to offer hedging vehicles for the real estate markets. In addition to their hedging role, housing index derivatives can be used as alternative investments since they are normally negatively correlated with equity and fixed income indices. Preliminary analysis shows that adding the composite housing index can significantly improve the portfolio diversification benefits.
Speaker:
Melanie Cao, Associate Professor, Finance, Schulich School of Business, York University
1:45 – 2:30 pm SESSION FIVE
Long-Term Outlook for Real Estate Panel
Given the current economic climate, plan sponsors are seriously wondering what to do with their investments. Some plan sponsors have been successful with this real estate and others have suffered. What is the outlook for real estate investment post-crisis and where are the opportunities? Is the market rebounding after a tough 2008?
Panellists:
Malcolm Musgrove, Portfolio Manager, Aurion Capital Management
Errico Cocchi, Pension Fund Investment Manager, The City of Montreal
Russell Chaplin, Global Real Estate Strategist, Executive Director, UBS Global Asset Management
2:30 – 3:15 pm SESSION SIX
Private Equity Market Challenges and Opportunities
This session will examine the outlook for this asset class and look at valuations, deal flow and exits; the secondary market and the special situations/distressed space. What factors do plan sponsors need to consider? And what opportunities exist for them?
Speaker:
Stuart Waugh, Managing Partner, Northleaf Capital Partners
3:15 – 3:30 pm CLOSING REMARKS
5:45 pm Shuttle to Inniskillin Winery (Meet in Hotel Lobby)
6:00 pm Cocktails and Hors d’Oeuvres (Inniskillin Winery)
7:00 pm Formal Dinner Reception (Inniskillin Winery)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3
8:15 – 9:15 am Breakfast (Main Dining Room)
9:15 – 9:30 am Opening Remarks (Imperial Room)
9:30 – 10:15 am SESSION SEVEN
Alternatives and Implementation for Small to Mid-Sized Plans
In Canada and around the world, the biggest pension funds have been able to invest in alternatives, bolstered by in-house staff and big assets. But - what about the smaller funds without that capacity? Under what circumstances do alternatives make sense for those funds?
Speaker:
Valter Viola, President, Holland Park Risk Management
10:15 – 11:00 am SESSION EIGHT
Liability Driven Investing
The drop in funding ratios has made pension plans all too aware of the need to match their assets and liabilities and to manage risk more effectively. How can liability driven investing (LDI) help pension plans to scale back their risk exposures? To what extent are plans adopting LDI approaches today, and what are the trends for the future?
Panellists:
Leona Fields, Pension Fund Manager, York University
Claire Kyle, Director, Pension Investments, Bank of Montreal
Gerry Wahl, Vice-president, ComprehensivePensionGovernance
11:00 – 11:30 am SESSION NINE
Canadian Investment Review Online Debates Demonstration
CIR Online Debates is an exclusive educational forum where senior pension-plan decision-makers can debate, comment, vote and interact with their peers. Listen as the editor, demonstrates how to use the site. She will also provide information as to why it’s useful
to Canadian pension plan sponsors and how it can help them access the key information they need on various hot button topics.
Speaker:
Jennifer Hughey, Editor of Conferences and Online Events, Rogers Publishing
11:30 - 11:45 am CLOSING REMARKS
11:45 am CONCLUDING LUNCHEON (Main Dining Room)
