Harrogate Programme

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Registration & Welcome Refreshments
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Welcome & Introduction
Speaker
Conference Chair
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Keynote Address - Setting the scene: The World of Multi-asset Investing, Defaqto

Consumer Duty continues to drive adviser demand for high quality outsourced investment solutions and multi-asset propositions are constantly evolving to me the high demand. Defaqto sets the scene for the event by looking at how advisers are using these solutions, be that through funds or MPS structures, considering elements including: performance, fees, risk, asset allocation and ESG.

Learning Objectives:

In this session, Defaqto’s Investment experts will look specifically at the following:
• Defining multi-asset
• Comparing funds, outsourced MPS and adviser-led portfolios
• Addressing ESG under SDR, through multi-asset

Speaker
Insight & Consulting Director
Defaqto
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Session 1, The Active vs Passive Sweet Spot, HSBC Asset Management

Join Jennie Byun, Senior Multi-Asset Investment Specialist at HSBC, to discuss active vs passive considerations investors can take when building a multi-asset portfolio.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the spectrum of active and passive investment techniques, and the difference between them

• To understand the advantages and disadvantages of active asset allocation and active stock selection in dynamic market conditions

• To outline the market outlook for the rest of the year and demonstrate how an active approach to portfolio management can benefit investors in this environment

Speaker
Senior Multi-Asset Investment Specialist
HSBC Asset Management

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Session 2, 5 Key Questions to ask your Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) Provider, Quilter Cheviot

The FCA’s Consumer Duty directive, which came into effect in July 2023, is leading advisers to appraise and realign their processes and propositions. In just five questions, we outline what to look out for to ensure that your clients are getting the best outcomes from your chosen MPS.

Learning objectives

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

  • Explain the characteristics of a 'typical' MPS, the challenges that these can present and the potential advantages of truly active management in terms of flexibility, returns and risk management.
  • Explain what a dynamic, responsive investment process looks like and the benefits that it brings your clients.
  • Understand the complexities managing multiple mandates across a range of platforms can present in terms of operational efficiency and consistency of both costs and holdings. 

Speaker
Head of MPS
Quilter Cheviot

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Q&A
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Networking Break
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Session 3, Mapping the Evolution of Multi-Asset Investing, Blackrock


Learning Objectives:

1. Mapping the Evolution of Multi-Asset Investing - Tracing the history of multi-asset investing from seminal academic works, rise of balanced funds and the changing regulatory landscape.

2. Understanding the Benefits of Multi-Asset Strategies - Multi-asset strategies benefit from the power of diversification, the risk-return trade-off and the importance of being granular and nimble in portfolios.

3. Identifying the Key Drivers of Multi-Asset Returns - Explore how economic factors, valuations, and correlations between asset classes drive the performance of multi-asset investments.

Speakers
Vice President and Product Strategist MyMap
Blackrock
EMEA Head of Indexed Licensing
MSCI Speaker

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Session 4, Risk - more than just a number, Quilter

The use of risk profilers and risk ratings have grown in popularity and influence over recent years. But what does that risk number actually mean?

Learning Objectives:

In this session, Quilter’s investment experts will highlight that risk is more than just a number by explaining:

  • the key difference between a risk rating and a risk target
  • how a risk target focused on volatility can be used to support the advice process
  • how managing investments with a risk target can result in positive client outcomes.
Speaker
Investment Director
Quilter

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Session 5, How to Improve Your Clients’ ‘User Experience’, Downing Fund Managers


You work hard to keep your clients happy: Be it top-notch planning; well-trained support staff; or just the cracking biscuits in the meeting room, it’s all about making their ‘user experience’ as good as it can be.

But, in the blink of an eye, all that can be ruined by an ill-considered CIP.

In this session, we look at ways in which your choice of investment product can damage your users’ perception of your service or, if you get it right, enhance it. 

Learning objectives

  • By the end of this session, you will be able to explain how different types of investment product can help or prevent a client from completing the financial plan you have created for them.
  • You will be able to explain how, despite delivering its stated outcome, an investment product may still result in poor client outcomes on account of an undesirable user experience.
  • You will be able to state the two main ways in which a client’s resolve will be tested when holding a market-based investment, and how you might help them endure both sets of challenges.

Speaker
Fund Manager
Downing Fund Managers

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Q&A
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Lunch and Networking