Tuesday 6th May
Devil’s Advocates | Afternoon
Dafydd Edwards, Independent Board Chair, Powys Pension Fund
Anthony Fletcher, Independent Adviser
11:00 – 11:30
Registration
11:30 – 11:40
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Chair
John Harrison
Adviser
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership & Staffordshire Pension Fund
11:40 – 12:30
Panel: Implementing government policy for pooling assets – a pool perspective
The government has clear expectations for the next phase in asset pooling. In this panel session representatives of a range of pools will share their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities they see in the years ahead.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Kevin McDonald
Director
ACCESS Support Unit
Joe McDonnell
Chief Investment Officer
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
Euan Miller
Managing Director
West Yorkshire Pension Fund
Richard Tomlinson
Chief Investment Officer
LPPI
Joe Webster
COO
Brunel Pension Partnership
12:30 – 13:20
Light Lunch
13:20 – 14:00
Panel: Local investment projects in practice
The government is keen to encourage local investment to promote its UK economic growth agenda. What does this mean in practice for local projects and what challenges and opportunities arise?
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Peter Bachmann
Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure
Gresham House
Laura Blakey
Director of Strategic Finance & Investment
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Paddy Dowdall
Assistant Executive Director
Greater Manchester Pension Fund
John Lynch
Managing Director
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
14:00 – 14:40
Panel: Investment trends and the impact on strategy
The macro-economic outlook is hugely uncertain. The protectionist policies of the new US administration may present challenges to global growth and inflation that have not been seen in generations. The panellists will seek to identify the key issues for investors to focus on and discuss how to structure asset allocation to navigate the potentially choppy waters ahead.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
William Bourne
Independent Adviser
Nick Dixon
Head of Pensions
Avon Pension Fund
Chris Katanchian
Portfolio Analyst
T. Rowe Price
14:40 – 15:20
Panel: Strategy perspective (Fixed income)
While inflation measures have fallen significantly from recent peaks, government bond yields remain volatile. The panellists will consider the impact this is having on fixed income markets and the wider economy, the outlook for the coming years and the implications for LGPS investment.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Ian Bettney
Portfolio Manager
Janus Henderson
Shiventa Sivanesan
Head of Investment Management & Stewardship
West Midlands Pension Fund
15:20 – 15:40
Break
15:40 – 16:20
Panel: Strategy perspective (Equities)
Until recently equity market performance was polarised in favour of US companies, particularly those in the technology sector. This session will look at the reasons for recent market movements, the implications for valuations and the opportunities these may offer for LGPS funds and other long term investors.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Mark Davies
Head of Public Markets
LGPS Central
Rebecca Irwin
Managing Director
Jennison Associates
Thomas Kieselstein
Senior Partner & Co-Founder
Quoniam Asset Management
Colin Standish
Assistant Director (Overseas Equities)
West Yorkshire Pension Fund
16:20 – 17:10
Panel: How collaboration has fared elsewhere
What collaboration lessons can the LGPS learn from other large pension fund investors? In this panel session we will discover how two UK funds (Railpen and USS) and a US fund (Illinois Police Officers) address their collaboration challenges.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
John Chilman
Former Chief Executive of Railpen
Naomi Clark
Head of Investment Product Management
USS
Mike Weston
Senior Adviser
Labaton Keller Sucharow (Former CEO, LGPS Central)
Richard White
Executive Director
Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund (IPOPIF)
17:10 – 17:20
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:20 – 17:30
Chair’s Closing Remarks & Delegate Observations
Chair
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
17:30
Private key collection and check-in becomes available
18:30
Mini golf
19:30
BBQ Buffet
Wednesday 7th May
Devil’s Advocates | Morning
Joanne Donnelly, CEO, LPFA
Neil Mason, LGPS Senior Officer, Surrey County Council
09:00 – 09:05
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Chair
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
09:05 – 09:45
Panel: Strategy perspective (Property)
Investing in real estate is not straightforward given inherent illiquidity and high transaction costs. The panellists will provide both fund and investment manager perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that LGPS funds and pools face when investing in property.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Mark Evans
Head of Property and Commercial Development
Royal London Asset Management
Justin Faiz
CEO & Co-Founder
Pluto Finance
George Graham
Director
South Yorkshire Pensions Authority
09:45 – 10:25
Panel: Strategy perspective (Private markets)
LGPS fund allocations to private markets have risen steadily in recent years as investors have sought to harvest illiquidity premia and access higher income. With a much changed yield environment, will private markets allocations continue to attract higher allocations and how does the Government’s ambition to promote UK growth impact on the sector?
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
David Atterbury
Managing Director
HarbourVest Partners
Jason Cogley
Managing Director
Fiera Infrastructure
Adil Manzoor
Head of Private Markets
Merseyside Pension Fund
10:25 – 11:10
Team Challenge: Improving pool administration, communication & governance
A new take on a roundtable discussion with tables collaborating to answer a range of questions relating to administration, communication and governance.
Facilitator
Robert Branagh
Pensions Trustee
11:10 – 11:35
Break
11:35 – 11:50
Team Challenge results
Facilitator
Robert Branagh
Pensions Trustee
11:50 – 12:30
Panel: Net zero
The LGPS has been at the forefront of long term investors addressing climate change. The previous widespread global support for achieving net zero is showing signs of waning, especially in the US. The panellists will discuss whether our net zero ambitions are still achievable and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Baiju Devani
Investment Director
Bluefield Partners
Speaker to be confirmed: Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners
12:30 – 12:40
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
12:40 – 13:40
Lunch
Devil’s Advocates | Afternoon
Richard Law-Deeks, CEO, LGPS Central
Abigail Leech, Director of Finance, People and Culture, LPPA
Doug McMurdo, Chair, Bedfordshire Pension Fund
13:40 – 14:20
Panel: Building local impact solutions across the private asset classes
This session explores the opportunities for investing locally, but with an emphasis on the potential impact that this can deliver.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Mark Lyon
Deputy CIO
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
James Murray
Head of Social Infrastructure
AlphaReal Capital
Nemashe Sivayogan
Head of Treasury & Pensions
London Borough of Merton
Speaker to be confirmed: Schroders Capital
14:20 – 15:00
Panel: Making effective strategic asset allocation decisions
The government would like LGPS pools to become the principal source of strategic asset allocation advice to their partner funds. Is this a good idea, what needs to happen to make it a reality and how will we measure success? The panellists will consider the perspectives of a fund, a pool and an independent adviser.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Philip Hebson
Independent Adviser
Neil Mason
Senior LGPS Officer
Surrey County Council
Chris Rule
CEO
LPPI
15:00 – 15:40
Panel: Private debt
Higher interest rates have been reflected in higher required yields on private market debt. This session will debate what this means for the type of projects capable of delivering these returns.
Moderator
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Panellists
Lalantika Medema
Product Strategist
PIMCO
Kunal Shah
Managing Director
Brightwood Capital Advisors
15:40 – 16:05
Break
16:05 – 16:35
Interview: Performance
Are pools doing a good job in reducing costs and improving performance? This will be an interactive interview in which Chris Sier will briefly suggest answers based on Clearglass’s data and invite questions and comments from the audience.
Interviewer
John Harrison
Symposium Chair
Interviewee
Christopher Sier
CEO
Clearglass
16:35 – 17:25
Panel: What lies ahead?
The only constant is change. The first phase of the LGPS pooling project is nearly at an end. How will the next phase pan out? In this session panellists will share their views about the potential direction of travel for the sector to meet the challenges of the next five years.
Moderator
Jeff Houston
Independent Adviser
Panellists
Trevor Castledine
Chief Commercial Officer
LGPS Central
Matthew Graham
Chief Business Development Officer
LPPI
Ewan McCulloch
Chief Stakeholder
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
Andrien Meyers
Chief Commercial Officer
London CIV
Anthony Parnell
Treasury and Pension Investments Manager
Carmarthenshire County Council
17:25 – 17:35
Devil’s Advocate Summaries
17:35 – 17:40
Chair’s Closing Remarks & Delegate Observations
Chair
John Harrison
Adviser
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership & Staffordshire Pension Fund
17:40
Drinks Reception
19:00
Dinner and Guest Speaker
Speaker
Mark Foster
Former Olympic swimmer and world record holder.
