For decades, bonds provided diversification, stability and protection in downturns. But rising debt burdens, inflation risks and fiscal uncertainty are challenging those assumptions. This session explores why bond markets may behave differently in the years ahead, what it means for multi-asset portfolios, and offers innovative and specific proposals to deal with the problem.

Speaker: Christopher Jeffery - Co-Head of Asset Allocation, L&G

The clock is ticking on the DC model: a pension pot is a countdown to a complex decumulation phase that the industry is ill-prepared to manage. As millions of savers approach retirement with no guaranteed lifetime income, the focus must urgently shift. While the industry has focused on accumulation, decumulation requires balancing income security, access to capital and long-term growth. This session explores how retirement-income design and portfolio construction can help retirees navigate these trade-offs as pension systems evolve.

Speakers:
Frank Cooke - Head of International Solutions, AllSpring Global Investors
Matthias Scheiber - Head of Multi Asset, AllSpring Global Investors

In this fireside conversation, asset owners and market practitioners discuss the evolution of asset-backed lending from a specialist allocation to a strategic component of institutional portfolios, the factors underpinning its growing relevance, and its role within portfolio construction. Drawing on perspectives from pensions, insurance and lending markets, the discussion will explore how investors see the asset class alongside other private credit or wider fixed-income allocations, the objectives it can support, as well as implementation and governance.

Steven Gardner - Head of Institutional, EMEA, Aviva Investors

As AI tools improve, their errors can become harder to see. This workshop examines the shift from an AI-augmented analyst to more autonomous workflows and how oversight should scale with the cost of error and where the output goes. Two Claude demonstrations will show this in practice and offer ideas for applying AI to manager review and portfolio monitoring. Participants will gain a clearer way to assess their own workflows and decide when stronger controls are warranted.

Where does China fit within a global technology allocation? This workshop will move beyond the macro story to examine how institutional investors can identify and access opportunities within China’s rapidly developing technology ecosystem. Drawing on areas including semiconductors, optical communications and AI infrastructure, the discussion will consider where China offers differentiated exposure, how valuations and competitive advantages can be assessed, and the practical considerations involved in incorporating Chinese technology into a global portfolio.

Europe is entering an era shaped by geopolitical change, climate impacts, macro volatility and AI. This workshop examines how these converging forces are reshaping investment needs, business resilience and credit underwriting. For private credit investors, the opportunity lies in financing both resilient businesses and resilience providers, supporting Europe’s adaptation while underwriting resilience rather than attempting to predict disruptive events.

Speaker: Peter Arnold - Head of European Private Markets, LBP Asset Management

Emerging market debt offers yield, diversification and access to fast-growing economies, but headline figures can mask underlying risks. For more than a decade, DPAM's proprietary sustainability model has assessed 85 countries on factors including education, health, fairness and environmental performance. This session explains how the approach helps identify resilient economies and uncover long-term investment opportunities.

Speaker: Thomas Timmerman - Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, Degroof Petercam Asset Management

Blockchain is moving finance from fragmented, closed systems to shared infrastructure, reducing costs and friction in payments, trading and lending. Stablecoins and tokenisation are driving adoption, with AI accelerating the shift as economic activity becomes more automated. Yet institutional capital still lags. This session examines where value accrues, what investors can own, why specialist Blockchain venture access matters, and how institutions can approach portfolio construction and allocation.

Speaker: Ruud Smets - Managing Partner & CIO, Theta Capital

This session addresses the use of AI to analyse thematic exposure across public and private portfolios. Participants will learn how the approach has evolved from classifying investments according to a single dominant theme, to recognising exposure across multiple themes to fully understand the thematic exposure and risks across a total portfolio. The session also introduces a framework to assess AI as a structural-rend risk, considering both the potential benefits of AI adoption and the risks of business-model disruption. 

Most energy transition portfolios focus on renewable generation, but supply alone is only half the equation. This session explores how combining renewables with energy efficiency can deliver the same decarbonisation outcome with lower capital requirements. With demand increasingly driven by regulation rather than subsidies, the discussion will examine the investment opportunity in scaling fragmented efficiency projects through institutional capital.

Decades of US financial dominance are being tested by structural shifts and policy uncertainty, forcing pension investors to rethink core allocation assumptions. This session analyses the macroeconomic and market implications of this shift, as well as exploring how it impacts pension asset allocations, and how pension investors can build diversified and resilient portfolios. The session also asks which regions and sectors are likely to benefit as global capital flows rebalance.

AI exposure is increasingly embedded across institutional portfolios, creating hidden concentrations beyond direct technology holdings. Based on the latest Economist Impact research, this session examines whether the AI cycle reflects fundamentals or momentum, where concentration risks sit, how an AI-led correction could transmit through portfolios, and practical options for managing exposure across active and index allocations.