Presentations

An overview of the Belgian Asset Management and Fund Industry looking at the numbers and detecting the major trends.

In light of the elevated market volatility we’ve witnessed in bond markets over the last year, many investors are grappling with the crucial decision of whether to stay in cash or to lock in higher yields by pivoting into a fixed income allocation. At PIMCO, we recognize the significance of this dilemma and firmly believe that the current environment presents a compelling opportunity to pivot to an active fixed income allocation. With yields near multi-year highs and world economies entering asymmetric business cycles, our analysis reveals there are important considerations that highlight the potential attractiveness of locking in yields now by rotating to core fixed income.

Thematic strategies are redefining the investment landscape and offer investors exposure to companies that will be the driving force behind the structural shifts shaping our future. In this session, we will share our key insights on the developments of the thematic space, around how to use thematic investment efficiently in your portfolio and how to build a Multi thematic portfolio that delivers exposure to a diversified basket of growing, up-and-coming companies instead of established tech megacaps.

This 30-minute fireside Q&A, moderated by Charlotte Boon – Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions, will outline Blackstone’s latest views on why eligible individual investors should allocate to private markets and explore with guest speakers the latest trends in how semi-liquid structures are unlocking private markets today.

Many investors privileged cash in 2023 to generate income. With the perspective of lower interest rates before year end, cash is unlikely to be king in 2024. We will discuss where to find sustainable income in financial markets.

For all the windmills, electric vehicles and other assumed fixtures in the low-carbon economy of the future, even more abundant are the less conspicuous contributors to carbon reduction that traditional decarbonisation strategies overlook. Less apparent does not equal less important, according to Jennison Associates. Learn how a more comprehensive decarbonisation approach can afford access to a $2.5 trillion opportunity set while advancing the carbon-reduction cause.

The investment sands are shifting rapidly. Companies are encountering limits in financial capital, natural resources and geopolitical goodwill. Such changes will drive a widening gap between the big winners and the big losers, presenting huge opportunities for long-term stock pickers. This presentation will explore some of the most exciting growth drivers for the next decade, the characteristics of the companies that will flourish in this new era of capitalism and the investment approach that will be required to unlock them.

The key benefits that ETFs can provide investors are well known – cheap and easy access to specific markets or defined types of investment. However, not all ETFs are created equal. The ETF market is evolving, with investors increasingly looking beyond “pure passive” market cap-based ETF investment exposures to research-led ETF investment exposures. Research-led ETFs can provide a broader, richer spectrum of investment exposures, with a more nuanced approach to managing risk and sustainability issues while capitalising on opportunity and offering investors a cost-effective solution for their portfolio allocation.

With the launch of the voice-based chatbot ChatGPT around a year ago, the topic of generative artificial intelligence (AI) received a new boost – also on the stock markets. Because of the rapid development of new AI technologies, companies around the world from all sectors have started to integrate AI into their businesses. Let us take a closer look at how AI can be made investable for mutual fund investors.

The ever-growing fashion industry is presenting a very attractive investment opportunity in a sector that most of us can relate to. Growth in the industry is driven by the combination of rising disposable incomes and desire for self-expression globally, be it by the emerging middleclass consumers or wealthy luxury spenders. At the same time, the industry is facing serious sustainability concerns that urgently need to be addressed. On average, garment workers are paid 45% below local living wages, and less than 1% of garments are recycled. It is critical that sustainable solutions are implemented to transform the sector’s operations from a linear, take-make-waste model to a circular one, and important social issues like garment workers’ rights and wages are addressed.

Robeco’s new Fashion Engagement Equities fund sees these challenges as value-generating opportunities. It aims to capture financial returns and drive positive change in the industry through a disciplined, long-term investment approach based on thoughtful engagement. In this session, Portfolio Manager Dora Buckulcikova shares the fund’s philosophy, process and lessons learnt from early engagements with investee companies.

Infrastructure is the backbone of society, providing essential services for economic growth and supported by the multi-decade secular trends of energy transition and digitalisation. Operating in industries with high barriers to entry and supported by regulation and/or take-or-pay contracts, infrastructure exhibits resilient and inflation-hedged earnings growth, defensive cash flow characteristics, and above average yields making it an attractive proposition for investors.

We believe the long-term nature of infrastructure assets and cash flows are best suited to bottom-up, fundamental analysis. Our philosophy recognizes that not all infrastructure assets are the same. As such, we focus on core infrastructure assets; that is, assets with lower volatility of cash flows and higher expected risk adjusted long term returns. We implement an analysis framework that combines a comprehensive quality assessment and a long-term value-based investment approach.

Explore current opportunities across private credit in both liquid and more illiquid markets. Michael will discuss how liquid senior secured loans can provide attractive floating-rate income while benefitting from structural downside mitigants. We will also address the portfolio benefits of longer-term, more illiquid credit opportunities, including those of performing companies via direct lending arrangements as well as the significant increase of opportunities unfolding around distressed credit and special situations.

The outlook for fixed income looks promising amid declining inflation and central banks set to initiate monetary policy easing this year. Whilst the exact timing remains uncertain, the direction of travel is clear and this is favorable for bonds. While cash might have felt comfortable over the past couple of years, history tells us that bonds outperform cash once we are past peak policy rates. For long term investors, this is good chance to lock in yields. With soft landing as our base case scenario, spread sectors appear fundamentally sound and offer value given where yields are.

Join us for an interactive presentation on investment grade fixed income. We’ll discuss our view on how best to implement IG as part of a broader portfolio, why IG is attractive right now, and where we see the best opportunities across global corporates and sovereigns within benchmark relative, absolute return, and sustainability focussed strategies.

Jags Walia, Head of Listed Infrastructure, will discuss the current environment for infrastructure investing, paying particular attention to the opportunities thrown up by recent geopolitical events. His presentation will highlight how the desire for food and energy security is feeding into stock valuations in subsets of the transport, grid, pipes and energy infrastructure sectors and how the combination of fundamental research and data analysis help our global listed infrastructure team identify the winners and avoid the losers.

We will discuss recent product trends and performance, from thematic investing to broad index strategies, framing what’s hot and what’s not against the backdrop of historic asset class returns and forecasts for the future. We will explore how investors can navigate through the noise and position themselves for investment success and how best to model rational behavior without becoming distracted by short-term trends.

BlackRock Portfolio Consulting utilise Aladdin to provide complimentary, customised analysis for clients to aid with their investment decisions. The team will present their analysis of multi-assets balanced funds domiciled within Belgium and Luxembourg. The analysis focuses on 2 key areas; (1) how multi-asset managers are positioned, and the asset allocation changes made throughout 2023 and (2) how the average asset allocation may be optimised, informed by BlackRock’s Capital Market Assumptions.

Private Assets in a Multi-asset portfolio: why, what and how. In the last decade, accommodative monetary policy has resulted in record low interest rates, which in turn supported equity returns. In contrast to this prior goldilocks environment, we expect returns to be more challenged over the coming decade. Investors may need to expand their search for returns beyond public markets as we enter a new cycle with more elevated public equity valuations and higher interest rates. But there are key considerations to take into account when adding private markets to public portfolios.

Investors want to balance ESG investments and strong financial performance. The question arises: can one still achieve strong returns while investing in green initiatives and adhering to ESG principles?

There are different ways to look at ESG investments that contribute towards a greener economy. Some look at specific sectors , such as renewable energy, clean technology, waste management, some look at contemporary themes such as sustainable Real Estate project development and sustainable agriculture. Some look at lowering your carbon footprint or look at leading companies that keep offering strong financial performance by implementing strong ESG practices.

Investing in Green Equities offers exciting opportunities for investors due to the market’s high diversification. Uncover the current trends and challenges in this space, and understand the advantages of venturing into this market through a comprehensive panel debate.

Funds that will be highlighted in the panel:

• Amundi: KBI Energy Transition
• AXA IM: AXA WF Framlington Sustainable Europe
• Schroders: SISF Global cities
• UBP: 30 Global leaders Equity

Amundi, AXA IM, Schroders and UBP are pleased to join forces and experience to discuss the different investments sector companies, the latest trends, inspiring you on how to navigate the Green Equity market.

Private market investments should play a key role in investment portfolios with benefits in terms of potentially better risk-adjusted performance over traditional asset classes and enhanced diversification. As a powerful tool, we think private markets can help investors fill various portfolio gaps, thereby gaining exposure to a new investment universe underrepresented in public markets boosting income streams, providing stable yields, and good inflation protection.
Looking ahead, there are attractive opportunities particularly in private equity secondaries and private infrastructure, but what is required to capture this growth?

In the current rate environment, M&A Arbitrage can bring to a portfolio: positive absolute returns and a true decorrelation to both equities and fixed income.

The M&A activity has been very strong since the beginning of the year, with many interesting deals in the Energy, Healthcare and Tech sectors announced globally. We will be discussing how we implement M&A deals into a diversified portfolio.

The record-high concentration of the S&P 500 has prompted investors to reconsider their strategic asset allocations; many are left wondering, is it still possible for active managers to add value in the US Large-cap equity market?

In this panel, our experts will answer pressing questions on the current concentration of the S&P 500 and assess how today’s conditions compare to the historical record of the index.
Join our panelists for their insights on how investors can tactically navigate this extreme market concentration.

Investors want to balance ESG investments and strong financial performance. The question arises: can one still achieve strong returns while investing in green initiatives and adhering to ESG principles?

There are different ways to look at ESG investments that contribute towards a greener economy. Some look at specific sectors , such as renewable energy, clean technology, waste management, some look at contemporary themes such as sustainable Real Estate project development and sustainable agriculture. Some look at lowering your carbon footprint or look at leading companies that keep offering strong financial performance by implementing strong ESG practices.

Investing in Green Equities offers exciting opportunities for investors due to the market’s high diversification. Uncover the current trends and challenges in this space, and understand the advantages of venturing into this market through a comprehensive panel debate.

Funds that will be highlighted in the panel:

• Amundi: KBI Energy Transition
• AXA IM: AXA WF Framlington Sustainable Europe
• Schroders: SISF Global cities
• UBP: 30 Global leaders Equity

Amundi, AXA IM, Schroders and UBP are pleased to join forces and experience to discuss the different investments sector companies, the latest trends, inspiring you on how to navigate the Green Equity market.

In an environment of market uncertainty and questions over style leadership, explore how boosting your core can help drive greater long-term returns. With a rapidly evolving technology landscape its crucial to navigate away from the noise and focus on fundamentals. By leaning in to on-the-ground research and advanced technology and AI – portfolios can deliver impressive risk-adjusted returns in the future.

The US corporate bond market is one of the largest markets in the world, and has exhibited an attractive risk-return profile over multiple decades.

As investors, we have and will continue to face uncertainty in markets all over the world, which is where fixed income strategies, including short duration bonds can help minimise portfolio volatility, while maintaining liquidity and generating stable income.

Find out how active investors can invest in such portfolios, backed by fundamental credit research to mitigate downside risk from credit cycles.

The Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence identify the year’s most exceptional funds and fund managers for investors around the world. Awards are announced throughout the year at ceremonies across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, honoring managers that have added the most value for investors.