Insurance Asset Risk Investment Seminar

Welcome

Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

Keynote address: Macro outlook

Speaker:
Arnab Das, Global Macro Strategist, Invesco

Keynote panel: Defining successful asset allocation strategies

Any GA investment strategy revolving only around holding public fixed income and equities has given some mixed results in recent years, as  sharemarkets jumped & tumbled, and interest rates rose.

This makes it, perhaps, unsurprising that the job of deciding on and implementing an asset allocation has become decidedly challenging for CIOs.

This panel discusses the major tenets of successful asset allocation of GAs by APAC insurers - and whether a process based on historical precepts is still as robust and valuable as it once was.

• Where do CIOs see the greatest opportunities in allocations in the coming years, and what classes are they de-emphasising, in GAs?
• What have been the main lessons since 2020, for determining, making and if necessary adjusting, asset allocations of insurance general accounts?
• How did CIOs see the nature and expectations of their jobs change during COVID insofar as asset allocation was concerned?
• What extra skills have CIOs needed / do they require in their teams / wider businesses, to make allocations to any of the newer asset classes?

Speakers:
Jaijit Kumar, Head of Asia Insurance Solutions, Invesco
John Zhu, Chief Economist Asia, Swiss Re
Mark Konyn, Group CIO, AIA
Matt Vincent, Regional Investment Manager APAC, Zurich

Moderator:
Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

Panel discussion: Real estate – Investment trends and performance for APAC insurers on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic

From offices to industrial complexes to housing developments, property investing offers a range of investment opportunities for general accounts. Taking the latest market trends, and societal changes as the pandemic gradually recedes, as a basis for our conversation, insurance CIOs discuss their GA allocations to property, whether these have performed 'as expected' during COVID-19, and the extent to which a CIO could keep 'expectations' in place for the asset class, during a global pandemic.

• Does the allocation still fulfil the role CIOs wanted from it, whether secure income, inflation-fighting, diversification, or is an adjustment needed to allocations?
• Should CIOs consider reallocating within property, or do liquidity constraints make any rotation a gradual process?
• Are there now types, or geographies, for property that seem the particular 'winners' from the past 3 years, or is diversification of property the 'best bet' for CIOs?
• Is geographic diversification realistically possible for APAC insurers in property, and how widely is it happening?

Speaker:
Thomas Au, Head of Investment Strategy for Asia, Invesco Real Estate

Moderator:
Anthony Yung, Head of Hong Kong Institutional and Pension Business, Invesco

Panel discussion: Why invest in private credit? And where are the opportunities?

As many APAC insurers plan adding private markets assets to their portfolio mix over coming years, panellists examine this intention, and discuss the reasons that some CIOs are already buying/holding private credit.

They discuss reasons for considering it, how long and involved the process of getting comfortable with the asset class was, then deciding on allocations, and the resulting outcomes.

• Why, how and when did they first consider making allocations to private credit, and what was the process from then, pre-investment?
• How have the allocations 'turned out' in insurers' portfolios - and what do plans look like from here?
• Does the allocation still 'fuilfil the role' originally envisaged for it, given how changeable the macro-economic environment has been?

Speakers:
Christian Choi, Regional Head of Investment, ALM & Capital for Asia, Ageas
Jeffrey Reemer, Managing Director, Senior Client Portfolio Manager, Private Credit, Invesco

Moderator:
Karman Fung, Associate Director, Hong Kong Institutional and Pension Business, Invesco

Panel discussion: How to build ‘all weather’ investment portfolios?

A panel of APAC insurers' leading investment specialists discusses what constitutes an 'all-weather' general account for the coming years, given the various challenges facing investors in the current environment - a possible inflexion point for interest rates, ongoing geopolitical stresses and price inflation, and very volatile markets for liquid assets.

• How can a CIO build a portfolio in this setting, with reliable income that will meet an insurer's insurance obligations, deliver some growth over time, and be resilient to specific shocks, without giving up too much opportunity through excessive diversification?
• Is an 'all-terrain' investment portfolio possible? What are its building blocks, and are non-mainstream asset classes necessary, to sit on its 'periphery'?
• By what metrics can such a portfolio's resilience be gauged? Is such a portfolio all-weather, for all time, or would it need adjusting, as the 'weather' of a prevailing investment climate changes? The panel of experts discuss such questions, and more.

Speakers:
Jaijit Kumar, Head of Asia Insurance Solutions, Invesco
Thomas Au, Head of Investment Strategy for Asia, Invesco Real Estate
Christian Choi, Regional Head of Investment, ALM & Capital for Asia, Ageas

Moderator:
Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk 

Event end