Agenda

INVESTMENT LEADERS PANEL: DESIGNING AN INVESTMENT STRATEGY TO COPE WITH THE WORLD’S BIGGEST RISKS

• Which risks do you perceive to pose the greatest danger and greatest potential impact on investment markets? How are they already influencing short and long-term decision-making?
• Political risk
• Spotlight on brexit – how is brexit now influencing investment decisions?
• Us/china trade conflicts –how will this continue to impact markets?
• European elections
• Growing protectionism
• Extreme weather and climate change
• What are the challenges for insurers to invest in infrastructure to mitigate climate change risk and plug the $18trn gap in infrastructure investments highlighted by WEF?
• Cyber attacks/internet infrastructure breakdown
• Asset bubbles

Panellists:

Robert Kubin, Chief Investment Officer, PZU
Erick Decker, Chief Investment Officer, Mediterranean and LATAM, AXA
Gerard Fitzpatrick, Head of Fixed Income Portfolio Management, Russell Investments
David Heslam, Metlife

Moderator: Vincent Huck, Editor, Insurance Asset Risk

PLENARY: ASSET STRATEGIES FOR THE BULK ANNUITY MARKETS

• DB pension fund de-risking: market development and how big is the opportunity?

• Are we going to have sufficient assets to meet demand? Where else can we go?

• Constraints on the BPA portfolio: how much illiquidity can you bear?

• What new assets can meet matching adjustment criteria

• Equity-release mortgages: implications of the new PRA rules on NNEG valuation

• Challenges in pricing deals

• Competition from pensions superfunds

Speaker: Peter Vasey, Head of Financial Risk, Pension Insurance Corporation

PANEL DISCUSSION: CREATING A REGULATORY & POLICY ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS LONG-TERM INSURANCE

• How can regulation evolve to be more consistent with the long-term nature of insurance?
• How is Solvency II driving investment strategies and what will the 2020 review of SII hold in store?
• The treatment of long-term illiquid insurance liabilities and the assets that back them
• Review of long-term guarantees measures and measures on equity risk: update on progress.
• What regulatory changes would the industry like to see in order to break down barriers to investment?
• Simple Transparent standardized Securitisations.
• Integration of sustainability factors in SII – what is the new regulation going to look like and how is that going to impact investment decisions?
• Central bank policy - investment implications
• How will the PRA respond in a post-Brexit world?

Panellists:

Andrew Stoker, Chief Financial Officer, Rothesay Life
Massimo Di Tria, Chief Investment Officer, Cattolica Assicurazioni 
Emily Penn, Head of Capital Efficiency & Interim Head of Investments, LV=
Erik Vynckier, Foresters Friendly Society, Institute & Faculty of Actuaries

Moderator: Chris Cundy, Managing Editor, InsuranceERM and Insurance Asset Risk

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: A CHIEF ECONOMIST’S PERSPECTIVE: WHERE ARE WE IN THE CREDIT CYCLE? IS THE DOWNTURN IN SIGHT AND ARE WE PREPARED?

• How late in the cycle are we?

• What are the drivers and what could be the trigger for the downturn?

• Do we have the necessary policy tools available to us to confront the downturn and weather the storm?

• Global growth outlook

• Debt levels

• Central bank policy

• Rates outlook

• Volatility levels

• Emerging market economies

• What does this all mean for the insurance investment industry?

Keynote Speaker: Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist, EULER HERMES

PANEL DISCUSSION: SHIFTING INSURANCE BUSINESS MODELS – INVESTMENT CHALLENGES AND RAMIFICATIONS

• Shifting towards long-term insurance business
• Where is the new capital being deployed?
• Is the key to find assets to meet insurance liabilities, or insurance liabilities to meet assets?
• How are regulations evolving in other jurisdictions (e.g. Bermuda) and how does this affect investment?
• Shifting towards unit-Linked business
• What are the implications for customers
• How will unit-linked investment strategies evolve to meet evolving retirement needs?
• Can the "Patient Capital" in unit-linked savings be deployed into real assets?

Panellists:

Thomas Fiedler, Team Head, Strategic Asset Allocation/ Asset-Liability-Management, Ergo Group
Lauri Saraste, Director ALM and Solvency, LocalTapiola Life
Tony O'Riordan, CFO, New Ireland Assurance

Moderator: Iain Forrester, Head of Insurance Investment Strategy, Aviva Investors

PLENARY: THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUR INVESTMENT MANAGER

• It has become increasingly difficult to find assets that produce suitable capital efficient dynamics for insurers
• This is particularly apparent in the private markets where over demand has eroded some of the benefits the private markets historically offered (covenants, protections, yield pickup)
• Where are the investment opportunities?
• What should insurers look for in an asset manager?
• An understanding of each insurers specific regulatory requirements and constraints
• Expertise and in-depth knowledge to flex around existing commitments to ensure capital efficiency
• Resource and experience that allows them to build bespoke solutions and access a wide variety of assets

Speaker: William Nicoll, Head of Institutional Fixed Income, M&G Investments

KEYNOTE CIO PANEL: A CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER’S STRATEGIC OUTLOOK

• Key challenges/themes/priorities on the agenda for the CIO
• Building portfolio resilience and positioning your portfolio for the end of the cycle
• What strategy do you deploy to best meet your commercial requirements when the prognosis is that the markets are turning?
• Is now the time for a passive strategy?
• Is attack the best form of defense?
• Which product-types are fit for late-cycle investing?
• With such challenging market conditions, geopolitical backdrop, shifting industry themes and onerous regulatory demands, what strategic approach allows you to manage the multiple challenges and steer an investment strategy?
• What, if any, diversification opportunities do you see?
• Do you look to take on more risk/volatility?
• Do you need to change your investment business model or rebalance skill sets to meet these challenges?

Panellists:

Ashish Dafria, Chief Investment Officer, Aviva UK Insurance
Jelle van der Giessen, Chief Investment Officer, NN Group
Massimo Di Tria, Chief Investment Officer, Cattolica Assicurazioni

Moderator: Russell Büsst, Chief Investment Officer, Conning

EMERGING MARKETS DEBT AS A FIXED MATURITY STRATEGY

With the persistent low-yield environment, insurers are increasingly considering Emerging Markets Debt (EMD) as a means to enhance returns. This session will cover:

• The breadth and depth of EMD, that insurance companies can utilise to help tailor their portfolios.
• The opportunity for diversification.
• The yields on offer.
• The look through volatility and focus on credit risk for investors with fixed time horizon.
• Default dynamics.
• What insurers need from asset manager to access EMD.

Speaker: Jason Trujillo, Portfolio Manager, Invesco

PANEL DISCUSSION: PRIVATE MARKETS VS. PUBLIC MARKETS: WHAT IS NEW IN THE ALTERNATIVE ASSETS SPACE?

• What is the right illiquidity premium for the current market conditions? As we enter a more challenging capital market with a risk of credit spreads widening, does private credit continue to offer a good diversification opportunity?
• Growing threats to the private credit market
• Pricing challenges
• To what extent are insurers able to benefit from market illiquidity premiums?
• Which of the illiquid assets will continue to be favorable compared to the more traditional liquid asset classes?
• How are investors rebalancing their portfolios accordingly?
• How do you enhance yields by the illiquidity premium?
• Innovation and diversification: As demand outweighs supply, how are insurers innovating within the alternative assets space in order to obtain the same level of returns?
• Risk oversight on private assets – what further should firms be doing to manage and operate that well

Panellists:

Seth Ruthen, Managing Director, Client and Product Solutions, Apollo Global Management
Eleanor Bucks, Managing Director, Direct Investment and Real Assets, Legal & General Retirement
Santosh Pandit, Senior Manager, Risk Specialists, Insurance Analytics, Prudential Regulation Authority, Bank of England 
Michael Ashcroft, Head of Investment Capital Analysis, Scottish Widows

Moderator: Ruth Farrugia, Managing Director, Head of EMEA Portfolio Management, MetLife, London

IDEAS EXCHANGE: SMALL BREAK-OUT GROUPS FOR A FACILITATED ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

Delegates can choose two roundtables to attend.
The roundtables will be hosted twice, once at 15:30 and again at 16:00

Roundtable discussions include:

• How can the industry work together to increase the supply of matching adjustments assets? - hosted by M&G Investments
• Impact investing: a win-win alternative - hosted by AXA Investment Managers
• Squaring the circle: the sweet spot in alternative Fixed income - hosted by Royal London Asset Management
• Fixed income traditionally is the asset class of choice for insurers seeking to match liabilities - What does the risk of rising volatility mean to insurance balance sheets?
• Once upon a time insurers were drawn towards Absolute return and diversified growth strategies which promised attractive returns. Sadly such strategies have suffered numerous and increasing levels of disappointment. Are there more focused solutions available?
• Where is the sweet spot as insurers seek the dynamic of maximising return, minimising risk and optimising regulatory capital?
• Impact of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9 on investment decisions and performance - hosted by BDO
• Unearthing opportunity: where real assets and ESG collide - hosted by Aviva Investors
• Diversification of the fixed income portfolio for insurers - hosted by Invesco
• The use of private debt in insurance investment portfolios: approaches and challenges - hosted by Aon
• Lights out for LIBOR: how can insurers prepare for a smooth transition - hosted by Hymans Robertson

PLENARY: WILL GENERAL INSURERS EVER LEARN TO TAKE INVESTMENT RISK?

• General insurers' competitive advantage is typically associated with underwriting, but some would argue that given the diversification benefit of investment risk, and the improved expected return on capital, general insurers should take more investment risk;
• However one also needs to consider the impact on the associated cost of capital to the insurer's shareholders, and should be viewed from a wider portfolio construction perspective;
• The presentation will consider the aforementioned points, and assess what other variables should influence the investment risk allocation within a general insurer, including the impact of time horizon and balance sheet leverage.

Speaker: Conor Sweeney, Investment Risk and Operations Manager, Canopius

PANEL DISCUSSION: INVESTING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE CRITERIA: ENCOURAGING FURTHER PROGRESS

• What does an ESG investment approach mean in practice and how do you practically transition to the action/business as usual phase?
• How and why choose from ESG, SRI and impact investing? Strengths and weaknesses from each?
• What additional skillset is required to make ESG compliance a reality?
• As sustainable investment moves into the mainstream, how would you expect to see asset allocation be changing as a result?
• Are any specific ESG asset classes emerging?
• Approach to stranded assets
• Do we have all the data we need to implement an ESG investment policy?

Panellists:

Pascal Zbinden, Co-Head SAA & Markets, Swiss Re
Sean Carr, Regional Director of EMEA Analytics Sales, FactSet
JB Beckett, Author 'New Fund Order', Emeritus Association of Professional Fund Investors

Moderator: Adam Leach, Insurance Asset Risk