Opening Remarks From The Chair

• The role of unlisted assets in the late stages of a lifecycle
  strategy. Higher or lower allocation?
• The paradox of lower volatility potentially leading to
  higher risk for long term investors
• The different role of long duration and short duration
  fixed income in lifecycle strategies
• Different methods to define life cycle member cohorts
• Criteria in determining asset allocations for each cohort

• The optimum allocation to active or passive
• The minimum allocation to active managers required to
  “keep them honest”
• Is a 100% passive strategy in the long term best interests
  of superannuation fund members
• Are in house equities teams better suited to passive or
  active investments
• The impact of tax in choosing between active and passive
• Differentiating the role of the asset consultant and the CIO
  in determining the active/passive mix

• The definition of “Growth” and “Defensive” assets. The pros and cons of a more prescriptive definition
• What a more prescriptive definition might look like
• The major differences between industry, retail and SMSF asset allocations. Who has got it right or are they all wrong?
• The risks and rewards of a 100% allocation to growth assets over a superannuation fund’s members over their lifetime
• The default asset allocation “herd mentality”. Are super funds too cautious to move away from the pack?
• Currency allocations. The “magic number” for overseas currency exposure and why

LUNCH BREAK

• Derivatives at a member option level versus using the
  default option as the “banker”. Comparing cost, speed and
  precision
• Matching derivatives to physical asset performance for
  global equities fixed income durations and other considerations
• Alternative approaches to the use of rebalancing derivatives at an option level
• Timing of trades and the opportunities to add alpha in the
  rebalancing process

• How much truth is there in the saying that a static benchmark means “you are selling your winners and buying your losers”
• Why static benchmarks are predominant over floating
  benchmarks
• The arguments for floating benchmarks
• How a floating benchmark can help reduce transaction
  costs and tax drag and the materiality of the impact on
  performance
• The case for limits on ranges for floating benchmarks
• Attribution analysis issues with floating benchmarks

• Asset allocation lessons learned during COVID-19
• The value of a “Reference” portfolio in performance
  attribution
• Attribution of risk and return in asset allocation
  decisions
• Have “defensive” assets justified their description?
• Has the use of derivatives contributed to investment
  risk in volatile markets?
• The growing interest in low cost, passive superannuation fund member options

• Insights of risks and opportunities in the emerging
  markets landscape
• Macroeconomic fundamentals and the risk in emerging market currencies
• Managing the exposure of emerging market investments