Chief Investment Officer Webinar Series
Allocator Insights
Allocator thinktanks are a large part of what we do at CIO. Times are changing fast in 2020, and this webinar series is designed to help you navigate the new terrain. Each month, the editors of CIO and industry experts will discuss ideas to vet new opportunities, hedge risks, redefine benchmarks, and plan for burgeoning trends on the horizon. Join us and bring your best ideas.
PAST EVENTS
Missed one? No worries. All past webinars are available to watch on demand by checking its corresponding box on the register form.
JUL. 23
2:00 p.m. EDT
Passive Investing Leveraging ESG Integration and ESG Benchmarks
With hundreds of data sources at our fingertips, it is now possible to combine passive investing with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Both are continuing to gain momentum.
In fact, investments in companies with sound governance and strong sustainability performance added stability when markets wrestled with the sudden shift to remote workforces and the challenges of social and racial disparities. Now, in a changing world driven by controversy, global unrest, and volumes of so called “non-financial” data, allocators are considering whether to use ESG benchmarks and how they should be constructed for giving the best directives to managers.
We’ll explore some of the most pressing and controversial questions of 2020, including:
- What are the most promising parts of ESG to allocators, and how are they driving their objectives through the benchmarking process?
- Are ESG benchmarks sound enough for fiduciaries, and what elements are most important to consider?
- What are some identifiable risks and opportunities that should be used to guide risk budgets for managers?
- How are climate change considerations, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and mission-driven objectives being used effectively for return-seeking portfolios?
This webinar is for allocators who are exploring innovative ways to strengthen their portfolios and enhance their returns.
Sponsored by
PRESENTERS
Chris Ailman
Chief Investment Officer
CalSTRS
Hernando Cortina
CFA, Head of Index Strategy
ISS ESG
Rafaelle Lennox
Vice President, ETF Product Strategy
Franklin Templeton
MODERATOR
Christine Giordano
Managing Editor
Chief Investment Officer
AUG. 13
2:00 p.m. EDT
Commercial Real Estate
The commercial real estate landscape is changing, and that change is prompting questions.
Allocators who want to tap into real estate need to know:
- What are the problems and promises of investing in properties, whether via real estate investment trusts (REITs) or direct ownership of buildings?
- What are the most promising sectors amid a recession, and what are the most problematical? Retail, for instance, is on its back, but not every part of it. What are the best practices for repurposing upon the loss of anchor tenants, and driving traffic through new models?
- As corporations shift away from towers, what happens to Grade A in top tier cities?
Our expert practitioners will explore these and other topics in our webinar.
PRESENTERS
Jonathan Grabel
CIO
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA)
Ash Williams
Executive Director & CIO
State Board of Florida
MODERATOR
Larry Light
Markets Editor
Chief Investment Officer
SEP. 10
2:00 p.m. EDT
Climate Risk and Financial Performance
CIOs are often caught in a torrent of exacting arguments about climate change, with tax revenues coming from extractive industries, and endowments and sovereign wealth funds buttressed by fossil fuel activity. Yet climate change may be the biggest challenge to our generation.
Whether it’s through carbon taxing, companies unprepared for the changes ahead or physical impacts from climate change, climate risks are looming. So what are ways to assess climate’s truest risks? How does climate change translate to a near-term portfolio context?
New tools can help investors foresee their own risk scenarios and stress test their portfolios by applying their climate scenario assumptions to companies’ financial statements to assess financial impact.
During this discussion, we’ll be asking:
- When looking at physical risk, what are the primary factors to get right?
- When measuring for scope, if only a percentage of companies are reporting correctly, how do you assess a sensible outcome?
- With all of climate change’s uncertainties, shouldn’t a CIO be agnostic and focus on opportunities within the current market?
- What are solid ways of measuring risks to each portfolio holding, as well as to the portfolio in aggregate?
- How can allocators provide guidance on climate risk if they do not manage money directly?
- As one gets started, what are the top three things to consider?
Sponsored by
PRESENTERS
Anne Simpson
Interim Managing Investment Director of Board Governance & Sustainability
CalPERS
Viola Lutz
Head of Investor Consulting Climate
ISS ESG
MODERATOR
Christine Giordano
Managing Editor
Chief Investment Officer
OCT. 28
2:00 p.m. EDT
Rebalancing and De-Risking During a Pandemic and Election Year
Pension plans must churn out good returns while not endangering their ability to be adequately funded to meet obligations.
Given uncertain markets in a pandemic and election year, what is the right asset allocation for this task? The automatic response often is to decrease exposure to equities. Surely, though, there are stock sectors to stay in, as equities are, for good reason, the engine of portfolio growth.
Sponsored by
PRESENTERS
Leslie Lenzo
Senior Vice President, Investments
Advocate Health Care
Robert “Vince” Smith
CIO
New Mexico State Investment Council
Darren Wolf
Global Head of Investments
Alternative Investment Strategies
MODERATOR
Larry Light
Markets Editor
Chief Investment Officer
NOV. 11
2:00 p.m. EST
Alts
Alternative investments are increasingly in vogue among institutional investors, as they are typically uncorrelated to equities.
Our expert panel delves into what makes the most sense for the long term and what the best strategies are for choosing alts and examining and testing the viability of various strategies, from hedge funds to private equity, real estate and commodities.
We’ll talk some inside baseball about some of the better plays for allocators.
PRESENTERS
Mark Baumgartner
Chief Investment Officer
Institute for Advanced Study
Philp Zecher
Chief Investment Officer
Michigan State University
MODERATOR
Larry Light
Markets Editor
Chief Investment Officer
DEC. 2
2:00 p.m. EST
Debriefing 2020: Portfolio Tools and Tactics for the Years Ahead
2020 has been a defining year for portfolios, as well as allocators. This webinar will vet ideas for a post-election investors’ environment, and review what worked, what didn’t, and what tactics allocators are considering for an evolving investment landscape.
PRESENTERS
Matt Clark
Chief Investment Officer
South Dakota Investment Council
Robin Diamonte
Chief Investment Officer
Raytheon Technologies
MODERATOR
Christine Giordano
Managing Editor
Chief Investment Officer