08:45
Welcoming remarks
08:50
Keynote address: Opening macro reality check: Markets, rates and the ‘unpriceable’ world
- The growing disconnect between macro noise and asset pricing – why has escalating global risk failed to move asset prices – and what might break that resilience?
- Are oil prices still a reliable economic indicator?
- Tail risk pricing: are markets rationally filtering noise, or dangerously under-pricing systemic risk?
- The AI CapEx boom – is the fear of an AI bubble burst realistic and justified?
- Inflation, rates and fiscal stress – are we entering a structurally different regime?
- How will fiscal and monetary policy shape the financial markets and economic growth over the coming months?
- Future direction of travel for interest rates and inflation
- Potential divergence between Europe and US in terms of direction of interest rates – what are the implications for investment strategy?
- How worrying is the fiscal position of the US and the current debt trajectory? Will the US dollar remain the world's safe-haven asset?
- What does all this mean for credit and equity markets and asset prices?
09:10
CIO panel - From macro signals to balance sheet decisions
- Which macro signals are having the biggest influence on asset allocation decisions, - and where are we in the credit cycle?
- Value in a tight spread environment: where to find true relative value and genuine opportunities?
- Diversification decisions: the role of technology/innovation assets, EMD, and currency exposure (including USD concentration)
- Risk management and resilience: implications of crowded trades, leveraged sovereign risk, duration positioning, and geopolitics.
Panellists:
Annabel Rudebeck, Deputy CIO & Head of Investment Management, Western Asset Management (by Franklin Templeton)
Corrado Pistarino, Chief Investment Officer, Foresters Friendly
Kedi Huang, SVP and UK Chief Investment Officer, Aspen Insurance Group (subject to final confirmation)
Roman Hederer, Head of Portfolio Management, Legal and General
09:50
Sponsor session
10:10
CIO keynote: Seeking out the canary in the coal mine – hidden risks for insurance portfolios
- Stability vs fragility – is market resilience real or mis-placed complacency?
- Where are risks being underestimated or ignored?
- Mispriced or unpriceable: what's quietly building up in asset prices and credit markets?
- Where might the hidden vulnerabilities lie?
- From noise to signal: the early warning indicators and triggers that would prompt a major repositioning over the next 12-24 months
Keynote speaker:
Ashish Dafria, Chief Investment Officer, Aviva
10:30
Networking coffee break
10:55
Panel discussion: Strategic partnerships and outsourcing
- How insurers are using partnerships and alternative capital to access complex/illiquid assets, and the trade-offs involved
- Control, governance, and fiduciary duty: oversight of sourcing, valuation, monitoring, and conflicts – especially where asset managers are also shareholders
- Prudent person principle under pressure: How are regulators applying the prudent person principle to strategic partnerships?
- What 'good' looks like next: which models are likely to endure, how AI/data may shift transparency, and the ingredients of successful partnerships over the next five years
Panellists:
Angela Jung, Group Head of Investment Risk, Monument Re
Todd Isaac CA, CFA, Chief Investment & Treasury Officer, Hiscox
11:35
Fireside chat – HSBC Global Asset Management – Topic TBC
11:55
Lunch
12:50
Panel discussion: Financing the ai infrastructure build out – unpacking the investment risks and opportunities
- Balance sheet reality check: Do AI infrastructure assets genuinely fit insurer liabilities, capital frameworks and valuation discipline — or are hidden risks building?
- Are the risks – construction risk, uncertain demand, tech becoming obsolete, energy dependency, concentration – truly being rewarded?
- Stress-testing downside, liquidity and exit assumptions in an immature and rapidly scaling market.
Panellist:
David Dowsett, Chief Investment Officer, Convex Insurance
13:30
Sponsor session
13:50
Funded re at scale: alignment, asset strategy and regulatory scrutiny?
- Are incentives between cedants and reinsurers truly aligned?
- How are oversight, controls, and risk tolerances evolving?
- Asset strategy under pressure: sourcing high-quality, long duration assets without diluting underwriting standards or increasing complexity.
- How are deal structures changing and are transparency, valuation discipline, and cross-border supervision keeping pace?
- What happens in a downturn? In a stressed credit or liquidity environment, where would the model be tested first – and who ultimately bears the downside?
Panellists:
Peter McGloughlin, Chief Investment Officer, Canada Life Reinsurance
Grisha Spivak, VP - Specialist, Pricing and Portfolio Solutions, S&R, Pacific Life Re
Jeetesh Patel, Head of Reinsurance and Structuring, Phoenix Group
14:30
Optimising the matching adjustment portfolio: strategy and technology to gain the competitive edge
- The key updates to MA rules/expectations and how they alter the investable universe for UK insurers
- Have reforms increased private market access and which private market assets are easiest/hardest to make MA-compatible and why?
- MA eligibility and asset characteristics, what matters most in practice: cashflow predictability, credit quality, structural protections, complexity, and demonstrable risk management
- How can AI be used to manage and optimise insurance asset portfolio?
- Where are the opportunities for AI to materially enhance Matching Adjustment portfolio construction?
- What does best practice now look like? Technology, governance, modelling, and regulatory engagement in a more flexible MA regime
Panellists:
Ashish Doshi, UK Insurance Lead, Insurance Strategy, Ortec Finance
Darragh Culley, Head of Investment Business Development, Legal & General
David Otudeko, Director of Regulation, ABI (Association of British Insurers)
Stuart Leveton, Head of Shareholder Assets, Scottish Widows
15:10
Networking and coffee break
15:35
Private markets at scale: Strategy, discipline and the insurance balance sheet
- Beyond yield enhancement – what is the real role of private markets now on the balance sheet?
- As allocations grow, secondaries deepen and private markets institutionalise, are we underestimating liquidity, correlations and downside risk?
- Valuations, models, and scrutiny: managing opaque pricing, rating/model risk, and rising regulatory attention.
- Credit discipline and differentiation: how insurers are strengthening underwriting, governance, monitoring, and using structures (ABF/structured credit) to create real balance sheet value rather than repackage risk
Panellists:
Michela Bariletti, Chief Credit Officer, Standard Life
James Sackett, Principal – AB CarVal
Konstantinos Stergiou, CFA, Head of Financial Risk, AXA UK & Ireland
16:15
Panel discussion: Fine-tuning the operating model for the modern insurance investment function
- Oversight vs outsourcing – where capability must sit internally
- AI, data and decision making – what is real today vs hype? Where are tools changing decisions or workflows?
- Future structure of the insurance investment team: leaner models, specialist needs, and where human judgement remains essential
- Can insurers realistically run leaner teams? Where is human judgement irreplaceable?
- What differentiates top-tier investment functions now and in the future?
Panellists:
Mark Gillan, Head of Investment Operations, Scottish Widows
Lara Bermard-Villeneuve, Chief Investment Officer, MSIG Europe SE
Sunita Thornton, Head of Investment Operations Transformation, Just Group Plc<
16:55
Closing keynote: What investment leaders must rethink now
17:15
Closing remarks