Risk Management Conference
August 16-18, 2023 | Fairmont Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, Que.
All times listed below are in Eastern Time. This agenda is subject to change.
August 16, 2023
6:15 – 7:15 AM:
Breakfast (Le Comptoir)
6:50 – 7:15 AM:
Depart to golf course—meet in hotel lobby, transportation and lunch to be provided
8:00 AM:
Tee off (Le Diable Golf Course)
1:00 – 2:00 PM:
Return to hotel
5:00 – 6:00 PM:
Speaker rehearsal (Mali Ballrooms I, II and III)
6:00 – 9:00 PM:
Opening cocktail reception and dinner (Soutana III, Terrace, Soutana I, Soutana II)
August 17, 2023
7:30 – 8:30 AM:
Breakfast (Le Comptoir)
8:30 – 9:00 AM:
Opening remarks and icebreaker activity (Mali Ballrooms I, II and III)
9:00 – 10:00 AM:
The ever-shifting national political landscape
In the keynote address, Chantal Hébert will take a look at the state of play at the federal level as Canada edges closer to what could be a change election. Are Canadians witnessing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s swan song? Or will he earn an encore in the next election? And will his pattern of federal minority governments in the process of becoming the new normal in the country’s politics?
Speaker:
Chantal Hébert, political commentator, journalist, columnist and author
10:00 – 10:30 AM:
Concentrated equity: Premise versus practice
Concentrated equity strategies are considered one of the trendier investing concepts of the past decade. This session will explore whether they have lived up to their premise of delivering superior performance by focusing on stock pickers ‘best ideas’ and will highlight challenges that they have presented for manager selection and integration into broader portfolio.
Speaker:
Seth Weingram, senior vice-president, director, client advisory, Acadian Asset Management
10:30 – 11:00 AM:
Networking break (Mali Foyer I and II)
11:00 – 11:30 AM:
Reimagining interest rate risk and strategies: Understanding the impact of range-bound yields
This session will explore tools intended to help determine interest rate boundaries, uncover elements that asset owners should consider as rates move within these boundaries and the expected impact of range-bound rates on credit spreads and yield curve dynamics. This insightful discussion will review the implications of a range-bound interest rate scenario.
Speaker:
Michael Cook, vice-president, client relations and LDI client portfolio manager, CIBC Asset Management
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM:
Opportunities and risks in real estate today
Private market values remain resilient so far, implying publics are a generational buying opportunity. Who’s right? In this session, Corrado Russo will explore what are public market valuations are implying about future risks.
Speaker:
Corrado Russo, managing partner and head of global securities, Hazelview Investments
12:00 – 1:00 PM:
Lunch (Convention Terrace)
1:00 – 1:30 PM:
A tug of war between labour and inflation: Investing through volatility
This session will share insights on managing the ultimate tug of war in today’s environment – navigating the effects of labour on inflation. Hear how investors can protect against inflation volatility and position portfolios to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.
Speaker:
Ilan Kolet, institutional portfolio manager, Fidelity Investments
1:30 – 2:00 PM:
Diving for treasure in choppy waters: Opportunities in event-driven credit
Concerned about a challenging credit environment in the face of higher rates and potential recession? You’re not alone. This session will explore the risks and rewards of investing in distressed and opportunistic credit in volatile markets.
Speaker:
Duncan Farley, portfolio manager, leveraged finance, RBC BlueBay Asset Management
2:00 – 2:30 PM:
Networking break (Mali Foyer I and II)
2:30 – 3:00 PM:
Rethinking the re-up in private equity
The global economy is undergoing a dramatic shift across geopolitical, economic, environmental and social dynamics that are marshalling a new era for private equity investing. This session will explore why investors need to critically revisit their historical approaches to private equity strategies in light of the changing dynamics.
Speaker:
Lee Gardella, head of private equity North America, member of the investment committee, Schroders Capital
3:00 – 3:30 PM:
Canada's changing regulatory environment
In this session, Mitch Frazer will provide a broad overview of the changing legal and regulatory landscape facing Canadian defined benefit pension plan sponsors. He'll also discuss the state of ongoing initiatives, including ones related to development of a regulatory framework for target benefit pension plans.
Speaker:
Mitch Frazer, managing partner, Mintz LLP
3:30 – 4:00 PM:
Building a comprehensive risk approach for a rapidly changing world
Since launching in 2021, University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP) undertook transformative work to develop and implement its investment and enterprise risk approach. In this session, Barbara Zvan will discuss building UPP’s long-term risk strategies and capabilities, sharing insights that draw on her expertise as a global leader in risk management and responsible investing from her previous roles, including serving as chief risk and strategy officer at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Speaker:
Barbara Zvan, president and chief executive officer, University Pension Plan Ontario
5:30 PM:
Meet in lobby for transportation to offsite dinner
6:00 – 9:00 PM:
Formal cocktail reception and dinner (Le Pont Couvert)
August 18, 2023
7:30 – 8:30 AM:
Breakfast (Le Comptoir)
8:30 – 9:30 AM:
Uncertainty: Political and global macro risks and opportunities (Mali Ballrooms I, II and III)
In this session, Charles Myers will discuss major events affecting the global investment landscape – ranging from U.S. presidential and congressional politics and legislative agenda, fiscal and monetary policy and investment implications, U.S.-China and Taiwan risk, the war in Ukraine and trans-Atlantic relations, playing the transition to renewables and enforcement to rise: crypto, fintech and ESG fund disclosures.
Speaker:
Charles Myers, chairman, Signum Global Advisors
9:30 – 10:00 AM:
Two sides of the coin: Opportunities vs. headwinds for investors in Canadian and U.S. real estate
The long-term outlook for residential markets is positive and continues to garner attention regardless of rising interest rates. There continues to be tremendous opportunities in key regions across North America for real estate development despite the headlines and this session will provide an overview of these opportunities for investors.
Speaker:
Vikram Rajagopalan, senior managing director, Trez Capital
10:00 – 10:30 AM:
Networking break (Mali Foyer I and II)
10:30 – 11:00 AM:
Countering ESG criticism to reputational risk factors
In the era of online activism, everything is political — including the investment policies of Canada's defined benefit pension plans. In this session, Hugh O'Reilly will explain why plans with pragmatic environmental, social and governance policies should be bold about engaging with critics and presenting a nuanced defence of their approaches to the public.
Speaker:
Hugh O'Reilly, executive director, Innovate Cities
11:00 – 11:30 AM:
Implementing a centralized trading platform at the BCI
In 2018, the BCI adopted a centralized trading framework to bring together global derivatives and trading. In this session, Carmen Firmani, co-author of a recent paper on the merits and drawbacks of centralized dealings, will discuss the key findings of the paper including improved execution, governance and oversight through centralization.
Speaker:
Carmen Firmani, senior manager, client relations, British Columbia Investment Management Corp.
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Liability-driven investing in the post-pandemic period
In 2005, the CBC Pension Plan adopted a liability-driven investment (LDI) strategy – one that remained at the core of the DB plan's strategy for more than 15 years. In this session, Duncan Burrill will discuss how and why the significant economic and markets events of 2020 and 2021 led to a wave of significant changes being made to the LDI strategy.
Speaker:
Duncan Burrill, managing director and chief executive officer, CBC Pension Plan
12:00 – 1:00 PM:
Closing lunch (Convention Terrace)
SPONSORS
ACADEMIC SPONSOR
GOLF SPONSOR
KEYNOTE SPONSOR
ACADEMIC PARTNER
