Member Resources Main

Alternative Investments 2008
Globalization of Alternative Strategies

Program and Agenda

The landscape of the alternative investment industry is dramatically evolving as unprecedented growth in private equity and hedge fund allocations continues unabated. For investors in this market, staying abreast of the latest strategic innovations and best practices is critical not just for success, but for survival.

 

Delivered by the industry’s top thinkers, this conference equips participants with the tools to construct and effectively manage their alternative investment portfolios. With emphasis placed on global investing, this educational program brings together leading alternative investment managers and investors to explore the new techniques and the latest developments in manager selection, strategy differentiation, portfolio management, risk allocation, and business management.

 

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

 

7:00 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

 

8:00 a.m.
Conference Welcome
Ted Seides, CFA, Conference Co-Moderator
Director of Investments
Protégé Partners, LLC

 

Robert E. Kiernan III, Conference Co-Moderator
CEO
Advanced Portfolio Management LLC

 

8:30 a.m.
Allocations and Mandates for Alternatives: A Global View
Roger Urwin
Global Head
Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting

  • The migration of alternative management into new mandates and new areas — short extension strategies, natural resources, real estate, infrastructure, and more
  • Alternatives in an alpha and beta framework — the factors that drive risks and returns, including the impact of costs
  • Allocations — what should be and will be the case?

 

9:30 a.m.
Risks, Returns, and Improving the Manager Selection Process for Private Equity Funds
Ludovic Phalippou
Assistant Professor of Finance
University of Amsterdam

  • Identifying and measuring the risks in private equity portfolios
  • Measuring performance: Are returns as good as they look?
  • Selecting managers and choosing the right long-term partners

 

10:30 a.m.
Refreshment Break with Exhibit Viewing

 

10:50 a.m.
Emerging Markets: Why This Time Is Different

Arjun Divecha
Portfolio Manager
GMO Emerging Markets

  • Are emerging markets becoming a mainstream asset class?
  • Why is it that growth does not always translate into returns?
  • What are the opportunities for hedge fund, venture capital, and private equity investors in emerging markets?

 

11:50 a.m
Lunch Followed by Dessert with Exhibit Viewing

 

1:00 p.m

What Happened to the Quants in August 2007?

Andrew W. Lo
Harris & Harris Group Professor of Finance, Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Events that led to the unprecedented losses experienced by quantitative hedge funds in mid-2007
  • The endogeneity of risk exposures in the hedge fund industry and systemic risk increases in recent years
  • Risk management practices hedge funds can put in place to mitigate the impact of future market dislocations

 

2:00 p.m.
Foundation and Endowment Investing: Philosophies and Strategies of Top Investors and Institutions

Lawrence E. Kochard, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Georgetown University

  • Successful investment approaches used by today’s leading foundations and endowments
  • Challenges investors face in allocating assets, managing risks, and selecting from an increasingly sophisticated set of investment opportunities
  • Insights from 12 distinguished investors into how they integrate their ideas and strategies — from asset allocation to investing for the long term — into their portfolios

 

3:00 p.m.
Refreshment Break with Exhibit Viewing

 

3:20 p.m.
Distressed Debt: Is This an Entry Point?

Martin S. Fridson, CFA
CEO
FridsonVision LLC

  • Credit cycle: Where we are now
  • Default risk: Consequences of a hard or soft economic landing on the bond markets
  • Recovery rate factors: Cyclical variation, bankruptcy regime, capital structures, and market participants

 

4:20 p.m.
Private Equity and Venture Capital: Current Cycles, New Directions

Charles G. Froland, CFA
CEO
Performance Equity Management, LLC

  • After the storm: The impact of turmoil in the credit markets on private equity funding
  • Sources of added value and differences among global opportunities
  • Allocations to venture capital and private equity investments worldwide

 

5:20 p.m.
Networking Reception Hosted By Exhibitors

 

6:20 p.m.
Conference Close