Registration and Breakfast

Opening Remarks

Innovative Asset Owner Hotseat Panel: A robust panel featuring the most innovative CIOs of the year on the hottest topics of 2019. Hear from top CIOs about what they’re doing to stay ahead of the curve. They will share their candid investment insights during a lightning round of quick-fire questions. 
Moderator: Charles Van Vleet, Assistant Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer, Textron
Panelists:
Susan M. Ridlen, Assistant Treasurer and CIO, Eli Lilly and Company
Brian Pellegrino, Chief Investment Officer, The Georgia Tech Foundation
David Holmgren, Chief Investment Officer, Hartford HealthCare
TJ Carlson, Chief Investment Officer , Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS)

Emerging Markets: With China’s slowdown and quagmire of political concerns, should it be considered a standalone portfolio allocation separate from the rest of the emerging markets? Is India rising to be the new China? Where is the global growth story unfolding?
Moderator: Rich Nuzum, CFA,  Global President, Wealth, Mercer
Panelists:
Doug Brown, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Exelon Corporation
Anik Sen, Global Head of Equities, PineBridge Investments
Brooke Jones, Director of Investments, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Refreshment Break

Infrastructure & Real Assets: An exploration of opportunities that are amplified by the new economy and globalization.
Moderator: Jason Klein, Senior Vice President & Chief Investment Officer, Investments Office, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Panelists:
Hadley Peer Marshall, Managing Director, Infrastructure, Brookfield Asset Management
Robert “Vince” Smith, Chief Investment Officer & Deputy State Investment Officer, New Mexico State Investment Council

Improving Returns with Strategic Asset Allocation and Technology
Asset owners are now reaping the rewards of re-engineering their portfolios to incorporate digital technologies to enhance objective-based decision making and perform risk assessments, overlays, financial modeling, and asset analysis while meeting local compliance requirements across various jurisdictions. This panel will discuss useful technology tips that may help to boost future returns.
Moderator: Shawn Wischmeier, Chief Investment Officer, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
Panelists:
Joy Xu, Vice President of Strategies Asset Allocation and Fixed Income, Verizon Investment Management Corp.
Rens Göetz, Head of Asset Management, ABB Ltd.
Clint Coghill, CEO, Backstop Solutions

Lunch (North and Biddle 3rd Floor) 

Keynote: Geopolitics in a Disruptive Age
John will provide in-depth insights into various geopolitical themes and their implications with international trade, U.S. and European politics, foreign policies, 2020 curtain raiser, as well as other timely topics.
Presenter: John Emerson, Vice Chairman, Capital Group International, Inc. 
Sponsored by Capital Group

Recession, Geopolitics, and Cycle Positioning Hedges – With geopolitics becoming the elephant in the room, and recessionary hedges on asset owner’s minds, where do you best position yourself at this point of the cycle?
Moderator: Walter Kress, Chief Investment Officer and Treasurer, Americas at Ernst & Young, LLP 
Panelists:
Charles Van Vleet, Assistant Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer, Textron
Phillip Titolo, Portfolio Manager, Managing Director, Alternatives, MassMutual

Alternative investments aim to achieve yield, real returns and/or add diversification to portfolios—with assets that include hedge funds, private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate. At the same time, alts often help investors weather volatility, may provide downside protection and can be useful in bolstering ESG efforts in corporate America. The over-arching question is how to find the right alts for an investor’s particular need.
Fireside Chat with Anton Pil, Managing Director, Global Head of Alternatives, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Sponsored by J.P. Morgan
Interview by: Larry Light, Markets Editor, Chief Investment Officer

Refreshment Break

Opportunities within Reduced Market Liquidity – Amidst concerns that volatility will increase from reduced market liquidity (due to central bank contraction and greater issuance of government paper) a different set of risks and opportunities may emerge. This panel will explore what people are doing to take advantage of the new landscape.
Moderator: Anthony S. Waskiewicz, Chief Investment Officer, Mercy Health (St. Louis)
Panelists:
Patrick Adelsbach, Head of Credit Strategies, Aksia
Gretchen Lam, Senior Portfolio Manager, Octagon Credit Investors, LLC
Adam S. Cohen, Managing Partner, Caspian Capital LP

Shifting from allocator of capital to a proactive, intentional investor across multiple dimensions – With increasing relevance in a low return environment, how CIOs can best position themselves and their partners to achieve best results.
Moderator: Kevin M. Leonard, Partner, NEPC, LLC
Panelists:
Jonathan Grabel, Chief Investment Officer, LACERA
Bob Jacksha, Chief Investment Officer, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

Novel Technology vs. Deep-rooted Intuition: Preserving investment philosophy in a world of big data.
Fireside Chat with Olivia Engel, Senior Managing Director and CIO of Active Quantitative Equity at State Street Global Advisors—discusses how her team balances access to sophisticated data sets and new technology with an investment philosophy that is rooted in fundamentals and economic rationale.
Sponsored by State Street Global Advisors
Interview by Christine Giordano, Managing Editor, Chief Investment Officer

Networking Reception

Breakfast

Welcome Remarks & Introduction:
Christine Giordano, Managing Editor, Chief Investment Officer
Dr Maximilian Horster, Managing Director, Head of ISS-climate

Applying ESG – folding ESG into due diligence seems intuitive, but what are the best practices in applying it? And does it add value to the bottom line?
Moderator: Tim O’Donnell, Senior Vice President, Fund Evaluation Group (FEG)
Panelists:
Ralph Bassett, Deputy Head of North American Equities, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Dan Chu, Executive Director, Sierra Club Foundation
Bertrand Millot, Head of Investment Stewardship, CDPQ

How do you preserve capital and generate profit consistently? Answering this question is at the core of what asset owners and managers do. After the stock market’s roller-coaster ride in 2018 and 2019, it pays to examine the best ways to balance risk and potential award, and how to identify the catalysts that drive share appreciation.
Fireside Chat with Jack Murphy, Chief Investment Officer, Lead Portfolio Manager, Levin Easterly
Sponsored by Levin Easterly Partners
Interview by Alison Cooke Mintzer, Editor-in-Chief, PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER/Chief Investment Officer

Bringing The DB Mindset to DC Plans – As DB plans retreat, it’s only intuitive that a CIO’s brain power must also focus on the new dynamics of a DC plans. How to avoid the average-Joe buffet and actively manage your DC plan to become a power player.
Moderator: Christopher Lyon, Principal, Rocaton
Panelists:
Julie Glynn, United Technologies Corporation
Robert M. Hunkeler, Vice President, Investments, International Paper

Refreshment Break

ESG in Investing: Myths and Facts
Many investors still see ESG investing as a fashionable trend for the niche of mission-focused investors. Maximilian Horster makes the case that considering ESG factors has become a mainstream practice for investors that is here to stay. He also shows that ESG considerations can be a source of financial outperformance for more future-proof investment strategies.
Presentation: Dr Maximilian Horster, Managing Director, Head of ISS-climate

Shifting Markets and Team Structuring – Do today’s shifting markets demand team restructuring? Do they mandate different skills from the employees a CIO hires? Different partnerships? Different compensation structures? This discussion will focus on how best build out and frame your team, your managers and your allocations.
Moderator: Peter D. Grant, Principal, Mercer 
Panelists:
Anne Dinneen, Chief Investment Officer, Hamilton College
Rosalind Hewsenian, Chief Investment Officer, Helmsley Charitable Trust

Closing Remarks

Lunch (North and Biddle 3rd Floor)

Private Session with Asset Owner CIOs Only 
There comes a time in every conference when CIOs want to close the doors and talk and network among themselves. Created by popular CIO demand, this special closed-door session will hash out topics chosen by, and relevant to asset owner chief investment officers. CIOs of public and private plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices are welcome to attend.