Fund: The Baillie Gifford Multi Asset Growth Fund

Scott Lothian, Investment Manager

The Spice of Life: Investing for Real-World Outcomes

At Baillie Gifford we have a long history of managing successful multi-asset strategies. With curiosity and open minds, we build robust, forward-looking portfolios, which target attractive returns with low volatility. In this presentation we will discuss how a flexible approach can capture the most attractive investment opportunities in the next ten years, and how we can combine these to achieve real-world outcomes.

Fund: Goldman Sachs Wealthbuilder Fund

Brendan McCurdy, Vice President, Portfolio Strategist

Staring into the Dragonfly’s Eye -10 Ways to Look at Risk

Many investors assume, incorrectly, that the purpose of risk management is to minimise risk. In fact, many investors even go so far as to worry that too much focus on risk management will constrain their portfolio managers and inhibit their ability to generate positive returns. Nothing could be further from the truth..."In an investment portfolio, risk is necessary to drive return. The purpose of the risk management function is not to minimise risk, but rather monitor the level and sources of risk in order to make sure that they match expectations. In fact, an investor with strong risk management controls ought to feel more comfortable targeting and maintaining a higher overall level of risk, thus leading to higher returns over time.

Alan Sensicall 

My Personal Finance Skills – Because Pro Bono Matters

For the past 18 months, The Personal Finance Society and its members have been running a pro bono scheme helping the next generation to have a better understanding about money.

The My Personal Finance Skills pro bono initiative delivers financial education workshops to schools and colleges across the UK through a network of Education Champions (PFS members) and aims to be the largest programme of its type in the UK.

Content for this programme of financial education workshops has undergone a process of testing and evaluation before being awarded the financial education quality mark. This gives the volunteers the confidence that what they deliver helps students understand more about money. Key areas covered include: my future finances, staying safe from scams and moving on from school.

This session will be delivered by a PFS Education Champion and will high light the benefits for both the students and the PFS member in getting involved with their local community.

Fund: Orbis Global Cautious Fund

Rob Perrone, Investment Counsellor

Mind The Gap

The financial world is filled with spreads and ratios, but one gap matters more than all the rest: the gap between an asset’s price and its fundamentals. In recent years, this gap has widened across securities, asset classes, and different parts of the world. For investors, this presents great opportunity—and great risk. Applying a fundamental approach across markets can help investors take advantage of excessive optimism and pessimism, rather than getting swept up with the crowd.

Fund: Merian Global Dynamic Allocation

Dan Matthews, Fund Manager

Turning Global Data into Investment Insight

Global macro drives market returns, and it makes sense for investors to adjust their asset allocation to equities or bonds as the economy turns up or turns down. To forecast macro successfully requires a clear, sustainable and rigorous process, based on sensible data, and with models that have been developed and refined over many years. A flexible approach to asset allocation is needed, rather than one chained within static boundaries under all economic conditions. By buying stocks directly, rather than via ETFs, an ESG approach can be adopted. 

Peter Wyllie, Director of Capital Markets

Reimagining Real Estate Investment

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) is one of the most significant asset classes in the UK. It has delivered strong returns, annualising at 9.7% since 1950, with annualised volatility of less than 10%, so much less risk than other mainstream asset classes. However, the challenge for investors has been how to access this opaque and illiquid market, which has so far been dominated by large institutions, sovereign wealth funds and very high net worth investors. General investors have been restricted to gaining exposure to CRE via direct ownership of smaller secondary assets, publicly-listed REITS or open-ended funds, all of which have different investment characteristics to owning prime CRE.

That is why we have created IPSX, the world’s first regulated stock exchange dedicated to the initial public offering and secondary market trading of companies owning single institutional grade CRE assets (or multiple assets with commonality). IPSX has been recognised by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Recognised Investment Exchange, providing both real estate owners and investors with the protections of a regulated market. It represents a major evolution in the real estate market.

In this short presentation, IPSX will cover the following key points:

• The attractions and returns of prime CRE over time, and the diversification and yield benefits for Multi-Asset investors

• The mechanics and trading details of IPSX - the IPO process, market-making and secondary trading

• The characteristics of IPSX quoted companies - stabilised, fully let, income producing real estate assets, providing a secure income, as well as an opportunity for capital growth

• The attraction and likely costs of investing in CRE securities compared to funds, PLCs, and other investment vehicles

• The appeal to property owners of a new, liquid market for their assets

• Q&A