CONFERENCE DETAILS

SPS Annual Bond Investment Strategies for Pension Funds

January 11, 2022

Venue information

The Dilly, London

Purpose

This conference will explore a variety of bond and credit investment strategies/solutions for pension funds,
examining the opportunities and challenges associated with each in a post-Brexit, post-pandemic economy.
With an eye on macroeconomic trends and policy, as well as pension funds’ long term funding objectives and
ESG requirements, we aim to include both public and private strategies ranging from those designed to
manage cashflows, volatility, interest rates or inflation to those intended to improve returns.

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Programme

This will be a full day conference with approximate timings of:

09.00

Registration

09.30

Session One: Considering ESG in Bond Investing

Moderator:

Andrew Harrison

Director

Law Debenture

Jesus Martinez

Senior Portfolio Manager, Rates & Money Markets

Aegon Asset Management

Bringing Sustainable Investing to Sovereign Bonds

The past decade has seen the widespread integration of ESG factors in investment decision-making, particularly in equities, corporate bonds and real assets. Sustainability considerations, however, have often been considered too difficult to apply in government bonds, despite the importance of the asset class to long-term institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers. This talk will discuss how innovative solutions are changing that approach, offering an investment with strong capital-preservation characteristics and attractive yields.

William Vaughan

Associate Portfolio Manager

Brandywine Global (A Franklin Templeton company)

Corporate Credit: ESG improvers or best in class? Which is more likely to drive long term returns in the transition to Net Zero

Is a strategy of investing in bonds with issuers whom have low ESG ratings which are likely to improve better than investing in issuers with higher ESG scores? This presentation will consider some empirical evidence and consider what the answer means for engagement, divestment and a portfolio’s carbon footprint.

10.40

Coffee Break

11.10

Session Two: Changes in Bond Investing

Moderator:

Steven Hickey

Head of Credit Research

XPS Pensions Group

Jon Mawby

Head of Investment Grade Credit

Pictet Asset Management

Strategic Credit: Times have changed in fixed income, should your approach?

The investing landscape has changed in fixed income. Central bank and investor actions have distorted the playing field; downside risks have increased and mis-pricings are commonplace. This presentation will talk about the ‘very long in the tooth’ credit cycle, the outlook for central bank tapering, and why Modern Monetary Theory could be the last hope for policymakers.

Edward Harrold

Investment Director

Capital Group

Investing for Income in 2022; using higher yielding fixed income in the de-risking journey

In this session, this presentation will share views of the macro environment and how in this context UK DB pension schemes can enhance their portfolios to incorporate liquid, higher yielding fixed income, and how this can help to improve funding levels and cash flows to support continued de-risking.

Chetan Ghosh

CIO

Centrica

Pension Fund Perspective

12.35

Lunch

13.50

Session Three: Challenges of Fixed Income Investing for Pension Funds

Moderator:

Graham Bryant

Client Director

ITS Limited

Bryan Carter

Head of Emerging Markets Debt Fixed Income

HSBC Asset Management

Sustainable Emerging Markets Fixed Income

EMD managers are accelerating the integration of ESG factors and objectives into their investment strategies. But what is better, fundamental ESG research or quantitative implementations from ESG data providers? We will discuss the latest thinking on engagement with issuers for advanced ESG portfolios and how fundamental research affects ESG impact and outcomes

Matt Toms

Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income

Voya Investment Management

How to Survive Raising Rates as a Fixed Income Investor

With continued worries of inflation and central banks taking steps to be less accommodative, investors are looking to identify a path for navigating fixed income portfolios in a rising rate environment. This presentation will discuss;

The path forward for interest rates and how high they could go
The impact from central banks stepping away from quantitative easing
The persistence of inflation in the global economy
Where investors can find value in today’s fixed income markets

Andrew Milligan

Independent Economist & Consultant

The Challenges for an Investment in Bonds over the Next Twelve Months

This presentation will look at the arguments of whether bonds actually have any role to play in a pension scheme for the foreseeable future. There are a few potentially interesting approaches, such as absolute return bond funds, or holding bonds to maturity, or playing some of the highest yielding markets. However, the arguments are gaining ground that, putting aside LDI matching, then the roles of bonds in terms of liquidity and cash flows, are being replaced by other assets in the alternatives space.

15.45

Summary and Close followed by drinks

Cost

The conference is by invitation only for pension funds and other institutional investors and we welcome new attendees from these investors. Therefore if you are not already receiving an invitation please contact us. A limited number of Complimentary invitations are available to genuine pension fund representatives (executives and trustees) and other approved institutional investors. However, to ensure we have room for as many funds as possible, we have to limit free places to 3 attendees per approved organisation thereafter a reduced rate fee is payable per delegate. Furthermore, SPS always reserves the right of admission (free or paid) and our decision is final.