Fund Finder Middle East

Ritz Carlton DIFC, Dubai

January 24th, 2024

Fund Finder Middle East Workshops aim to help you efficiently select your Investment Products.

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What can you expect from this event?

Format

A concise and targeted half day event in a pressure free, relaxed, and educational environment.

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Speakers & Topics

A maximum of 8 selected sponsors present their strategies & products to fund selectors from across the GCC.

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Audience

A specialized event designed to expose fund selectors to new investment products whilst enabling them to exchange ideas and network with their peers from across the region.

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Fast, efficient workshop format

The workshops will take place at the Ritz Carlton DIFC and will see 8 sponsors each presenting 4 times over the course of a half day.

4 rooms, 4 moderators, 10-12 fund selectors per room. Sponsors present once in each room for half an hour.

This is an event where sponsors are invited to present on overall strategies or on specific investment products.

When not presenting, sponsoring groups are welcome to sit in on other presentations, or network in the lobby.

YUNUS SELANT

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ROBERT ERICH POLSTERER

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OSCAR ORELLANA-HYDER

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Neutral market experts moderate the workshops

Speakers & Topics

Julian Marks

Managing Director, Head of Corporate Hybrid Bonds,

Nomura Asset Management

What are Corporate Bonds and how do they fit into a Fixed Income Portfolio?

Corporate Hybrid bonds are becoming an increasingly significant part of the Investment Grade bond indices. Yet, many investors have little understanding of these bonds’ characteristics and often mistake them for ‘Coco’s’. This session will look to explain what corporate hybrid bonds are, why they are attractive and discuss how they can enhance the risk-adjusted returns of a fixed income portfolio.

Joined NAM in January 2023 to launch the Corporate Hybrids Strategy. Previously, Julian was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Neuberger Berman for 15 years, where he initiated and led the corporate hybrid strategy from inception in 2015 until his departure, by which time dedicated assets were over $4bn. Julian joined the investment industry in 1999 and held a range of portfolio management and analyst roles at Commerzbank, Barclays Global Investors and Mercury Asset Management.

Duncan Robertson

Portfolio Manager: Asia Equity,

TT International

Opportunities in Asian Equities beyond China

With China’s economy continuing to struggle, it is easy to forget that Asia offers some of the most exciting structural growth opportunities in the world. These range from domestic demand plays in underpenetrated markets such as India and Indonesia, to companies in Taiwan and Korea that are helping to drive technologies of the future like AI and EVs, as well as businesses in markets like Vietnam which are benefiting from concerted efforts to diversify manufacturing bases away from China. In this session, Asia Portfolio Manager Duncan Robertson elaborates on some of the opportunities he is seeing, particularly in the mid-cap space.

Duncan Robertson is Portfolio Manager of TT’s Asia Equity Strategy. Before

joining TT in 2014, Duncan was a Senior Portfolio Manager of the Global

Emerging Markets Fund at USS Investment Management. He graduated from

the University of Bristol with a BSC in Economics and Finance. Duncan is

also a CFA Charterholder.

Anjali Bastianpillai

Senior Client Portfolio Manager,

Pictet Asset Management

Artificial Intelligence: Unleashing the Potential of Tech-Investing?

AI is the big trend for this decade. While AI is the most talked about topic currently, it

is striking to us that it is likely to be underestimated by a wide margin. Thanks to the

emergence of large data sets, cloud architecture and a new breed of powerful

semiconductors, the conditions are in place for the technology to extend its reach

into new realms. The emergence and accelerating adoption of generative AI are

creating more competition among the leading cloud services platforms, boosting

demand for GPUs, cloud compute and storage while increasing AI-enabled

applications which should translate into resilient enterprise demand. The likes of

ChatGPT offer only a glimpse of AI’s possibilities. We are confident AI will disrupt

business models, drive operational efficiencies, and create strategic differentiation

over the next decade.

Anjali Bastianpillai joined Pictet Asset Management in 2016 and is a Senior Client Portfolio Manager in our Thematic Equities team, responsible for our Robotics, Security and Digital strategies. Prior to taking on her current role in 2018, she was a Senior Client Portfolio Manager for the Total Return Fixed Income team focusing on Credit Long/Short and EM Debt Long/Short strategies.

Anjali joins from Tide Pool Capital (a marketplace lending fund focused on US consumer credit loans) where she was Head of Credit & Risk. Prior to Tide Pool Capital, she was at Vitol Services Limited as a Senior Credit Officer and The Carlyle Group as Head of Investor Relations for European Leveraged Loans. Anjali started her career as a Financial Analyst at Capital Markets Assurance Corporation (now MBIA Inc) before working as a securitisation analyst at Standard & Poor’s.

Anjali holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University.

Vincent Chung

Portfolio Manager,

Diversified Income Bond Strategy,

T. Rowe Price

Rethinking Fixed Income Amid Macroeconomic Fog: Poised to Outperform Core Bonds in 2024

The global economy has been resilient despite higher interest rates, but

strong growth is unlikely in 2024. This should limit upside in risky asset

prices, so income from higher yields is likely to be an important driver of

returns in 2024. However, diverging central bank and fiscal policies should

keep interest rate volatility elevated. Recession remains a risk but credit

fundamentals are supportive. Diversified bond strategies with flexibility to

navigate global interest rates, credit and currency risk are poised to

outperform traditional core bonds.

Vincent's investment experience began in 2014, and he has been with T.

Rowe Price since 2019, beginning in the Fixed Income Division. Prior to this,

Vincent was employed by Observatory Capital Management LLP as an

investment analyst, focusing on emerging market sovereign and corporate

debt. Vincent also was employed by the Royal Bank of Scotland as an

analyst in the markets division.

James Harries

Senior Fund Manager,

Troy Asset Management

The Cockroach Portfolio – How to preserve capital in an uncertain world

Troy Asset Management will share their approach of winning by not losing and how to preserve and grow clients’ wealth over the long term. Troy will also make observations on the current macro backdrop and discuss how this informs the asset allocation of their conservatively managed multi-asset strategy.

MJames is the Senior Fund Manager responsible for the Trojan Global Income Strategy. He has 27 years’ investment experience, and has managed global equity portfolios since 2002.

Joining Troy in 2016 to establish the Trojan Global Income Fund, James was previously a Fund Manager at Newton Investment Management where he established and managed the Newton Global Income Fund. He was also the alternate manager on the Newton Real Return Fund. Under James’s management, the Newton Global Income fund grew to c. £4.5bn in AUM and was first in its sector over 10 years. James graduated from Bristol University with a BSc in Politics, before completing his Masters in Finance at the London Business School. He holds the ASIP qualification and is an Associate Member of the CFA Society of the UK.

Matthew Morgan

Head of Fixed Income,

Jupiter Asset Management

Making the Case for High Yield

Is now the time to allocate to high yield credit? Matt Morgan, head of fixed income, will

discuss the current opportunity offered by high yield markets and how robust credit

research is fundamental in a deteriorating macro environment. He will also discuss how

Jupiter approaches high yield markets with a focus on being active, pragmatic and risk

aware.

Matthew Morgan is Head of Fixed Income, with overall responsibility for the management

of Jupiter’s fixed income investment professionals, and the commercial and business

strategy of Jupiter Fixed Income. Matt reports directly to CEO Matthew Beesley and is a

member of the Senior Management Team.

Matt joined Jupiter in 2019 and in his most recent position was lead Investment Director

across Jupiter’s fixed income and multi-asset businesses. Previously Matt spent 13 years

at BlackRock, where he was a director with lead responsibility for BlackRock’s

relationships with some of the UK’s largest financial institutions.

Matt has a degree in History and Modern Languages and is a CFA Charterholder.

Matthew Kates

Portfolio Manager: European Equities,

GIB Asset Management

Why culture is so important to long-term business success: a European perspective

We believe culture is critical to enduring financial performance. Companies with the right culture in place tend to display a remarkable resilience, an ability to persevere through adverse conditions, largely because they have a natural tendency to do the right thing, regardless of cost.

In this presentation, we explain our theory through case studies of real-life

companies that complement our philosophy.

Matthew Kates is a Portfolio Manager at GIB Asset Management. Matthew

has over 20 years of industry experience, both within investment banks and

asset managers. Matthew started his investment career with Threadneedle

Asset Management, as an equity analyst for the UK Crescendo long/short

fund. More recently he was a lead portfolio manager for the European

Income funds at UBP Asset Management.

Matthew graduated from the University of the West of England with an upper

second class honours in Business Studies. He is a CFA Charterholder and is

an Associate Chartered Management Accountant.

Antoine Lesné

Head of SPDR ETF Research & Strategy EMEA,

State Street Global Advisors

2024: Turbulence Ahead? Landing softly with Convertible Bonds

While the historical tightening of monetary conditions has not led to a

recession in 2023, the consensus is gradually moving towards the possibility

of a soft landing. Historically such backdrop have been supportive of risk

assets. While there may still be some volatility ahead, convertible bonds can

offer investors a number of advantages, including opportunities for

asymmetric returns, exposure to the burgeoning AI theme, refinancing

opportunities, and potential diversification possibilities. And today, it can be

delivered through a transparent process thanks to an ETF.

Antoine is a Managing Director of State Street Global Advisors and Head of ETF

Strategy & Research for EMEA. Antoine's responsibilities include developing a

strategy framework for the existing SPDR ETF range to align it with financial market

developments and long-term economic outlooks. This is delivered through research

on ETFs as well as market analysis that support the distribution of ETFs across

EMEA. Antoine is a regular commentator on markets via press and TV programs

such as CNBC Squawk Box.

Prior to this role Antoine was a senior Fixed Income Portfolio Strategist in EMEA

covering Europe and Global Fixed Income beta strategies as well as smart beta.

Antoine joined SSGA in 2006 from Sungard Reech where he was responsible for

selling advanced pricing and risk analytics to banks and asset managers in France

and the Netherlands, with a focus on structured fixed income derivatives. Prior to

that he took part in a start-up which managed an internet based Interest Rate

Swaps interdealer trading platform. He started his career at Societe Generale

Corporate and Investment Banking on the Fixed Income & FX structured products sales desk.

Antoine has earned a Masters degree from the French Business School, ESCEM, with a major in Finance in 1998.

A hand-picked group of fund selectors

The Audience

Investment professionals from Global & Local Banks - Family Offices. UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar.

Invited fund selectors

Delegate passes will be issued on a strict invitation-only basis, where only key decision makers are able to attend.

Free flights and accommodation

All delegates from outside of Dubai are entitled to free flights and accommodation. Up to 25 non-Dubai delegates are flown over for each event.

In Partnership with AllFunds

All of Fenwick Media's events and projects in the Middle East are done in partnership with Allfunds.

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Fund Finder Events

Fund Finder events gather wholesale fund selectors who work in the local markets