Events

Longevity literacy—an understanding of how long people tend to live in retirement—is key to retirement preparedness. If you don’t have a realistic understanding of a participant’s life expectancy, you are missing a foundational component of your retirement plan: a time horizon.  An engaging discussion on how to think about this theme holistically across the financial, physical, mental and social dimensions of your defined contribution plan population is planned for this session.

The fixed income markets present both peril and opportunity, coming off last year’s dismal market performance. Asset owners are engaged in re-assessing their fixed income allocation so they can meet diversification and – following last year’s interest rate-hiking cycle – total return objectives. With the ongoing uncertainties about the pace of rate hikes and the potential for growth slowdown, fixed income investors need to adopt a flexible mindset and opportunistic approach in order to best manage interest rate, credit and duration risks and seek out new investments. Many have taken last year’s lessons to heart, that they can no longer be complacent about market velocity and stability of fixed income going forward. 

Our panel of industry leaders – across active and passive approaches and public and private sectors – will provide their perspective on fixed income segments to consider today. They will discuss the increased dispersion across many fixed income segments, how private credit and loans are showing resilience, and the improved risk-return profile of corporate credit, among other sectors and approaches.

In a rapidly evolving retirement marketplace, retirement and wealth advisors are battling to differentiate their practices in the face of services commoditization, industry consolidation and eroding margins. DC-centric aggregator firms are using advancing technology and data to broaden their reach to a new revenue stream – leveraging the participant relationship to build a Wealth Management Practice.

Join State Street Global Advisors’ Greg Porteous, Head of DC Intermediary, Peter Hill, Head of Emerging Institutional & Model Portfolio Solutions Channels, and Dick Darian, Founding Partner, Wise Rhino Group, for a conversation on the benefits and obstacles on how plan sponsors, wealth managers and retirement advisors can work together to better serve DC plan participants.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was possibly the most significant piece of climate-related legislation in decades. The bill was more about infrastructure and addressing climate than it was about the bill's name – inflation reduction. The restructuring of many clean energy tax credits should prompt several companies to reevaluate their climate change plans.

The expansion of tax credits is consistent with the Biden Administration's commitment to the Paris Accord agreement and will likely serve as a catalyst for reaching its stated climate goals as taxes and regulation often impact investment decisions. In this webinar, we will discuss opportunities in renewable energy and infrastructure investments that we believe will benefit the most from this legislation.

Defined contribution plan sponsors are reassessing plan design and enhancing investment menus to improve suitability and choice for plan participants in light of the current inflationary cycle, and with a focus on employee’s long-term financial needs. In addition to reviewing target date funds and core menu options, customization for appropriate segments and personalization that can incorporate individuals’ financial situations are gaining steam via additional data and technology. Many plans continue to evaluate in-plan retirement income, with more solutions now available in the market. The passage of SECURE 2.0 in December and the Department of Labor’s clarification around ESG factors are also important milestones.

This audio webinar will cover current and emerging trends on overall plan design, investment considerations and customized solutions. Join us to hear how innovative sponsors are positioning their plans to improve overall retirement security for their participants.

The SECURE 2.0 Act – a package of retirement plan provisions to be met over several years – was signed into law on Dec. 29, 2022.  For defined contribution plan sponsors, the 400-page Act has delivered a host of technical, implementation and plan design issues to consider, from increasing the RMD age at the start of 2023 to automatic enrollments in 2025 and additional credits into 2027.

SECURE 2.0’s dozens of provisions will have a wide-ranging impact across all types of DC plans. So what should DC plan sponsors do today to meet the regulations, and which of the future compliance and administrative changes should they tackle first? This 60-minute webinar will offer practical steps for DC plan sponsors to follow, with stages and timelines for preparation. Panelists will also shed light on expected next steps by the Department of Labor and Treasury as they tackle the details on plan features, fee disclosures, emergency savings accounts, asset allocation benchmarks, and much more.

After two years of negative performance, gold could be at a crossroad heading into 2023.  While investors may be questioning gold’s role in a portfolio, this year may present new opportunities for gold to reinforce its long-standing position as a portfolio diversifier.

There are therefore many questions to consider that will have an impact on where gold prices head from here, including:

    •    What will happen to interest rates?
    •    What's the future of inflation?
    •    How will current tensions around the world play out?

This is a complex mix. The number of potential outcomes this time would suggest that gold may remain part of the solution for many.

As we conclude a highly volatile 2022, investors are anxiously looking for economic, policy, or geopolitical signs that a sustained market recovery is coming. We do believe that markets will begin to recover in 2023, but we also believe that the pain that investors currently feel may not lastingly subside until mid-year, with the exact timing of the relief tied to the actions of central bankers. A meaningful lowering of inflation, and risk assets finally finding their bottom, should trigger a cyclical weakening of the dollar and provide a catalyst as well.

As institutional investors reassess their portfolio strategy to be more resilient to inflation and market volatility, many are looking at infrastructure, via both listed and unlisted assets.

In traditional sectors such as utilities, transport and telecommunications and newer sectors in digital infrastructure, there are compelling opportunities today for long-term, stable returns, while bearing in mind the liquidity needs and risk tolerance of investors. Sustainable infrastructure has evolved across different sectors, and continues to develop in interesting ways.

Join us for this timely webinar and hear from a panel of experts on a range of infrastructure opportunities, how listed and private approaches can deliver on portfolio objectives, and the key capabilities necessary for infrastructure fund managers today.

With the funded status of pension funds seeing huge improvement on the back of strong market returns in 2021, there’s been a continued focus on pension risk transfer activity as well as ways to further refine risk mitigation strategies that can weather potential market volatility and a rising interest rate environment this year.

For plans who have moved further along on the LDI glidepath, what are the key considerations to keep in mind? For those who want to maintain a dynamic approach to pension risk management, what are some best practices and investment opportunities to consider as they look ahead? 

What are key success factors for a PRT transaction that plan sponsors should keep in mind?

This timely webinar offers current perspectives on managing and mitigating pension risk to achieve target outcomes

In a period of increased geo-political risk and tighter monetary policy around the world, can emerging markets allocations deliver the diversification and return that asset owners expect going forward?

While negative investor sentiment has impacted overall EM performance earlier this year, active management of growth opportunities in companies and sectors across several emerging markets continues to deliver value for investors. Despite the more challenging credit conditions across various regions, EM debt allocations, both corporates and sovereigns, are supported by a number of underlying fundamentals.

Join us for this timely discussion that offers forward perspective to 2023. Our panel of EM equities and debt specialists will share insights on EM countries, sectors, issuers and investment strategies that institutional investors should consider – and warn against those to avoid or wait for improving conditions.

Innovation in ESG Investing

Even as asset owners remain strongly focused on performance as they navigate through this challenging market environment, they continue to pursue effective ESG strategies — whether that’s assessing material ESG risks in mainstream strategies or investing in sustainable and impact opportunities. ESG investing has moved beyond identifying ESG leaders and highly rated ESG companies to a broader array of custom solutions and thematic approaches. Challenges in data standardization remain, but asset managers have moved forward with proprietary tools to harness increasing amounts of ESG data and with improved clarity around their ESG strategies. Join us for this 60-minute audio webinar where our expert panel will discuss the latest in: 

·         What’s ahead across the spectrum of ESG strategies

·         Opportunities in the transition to a net zero economy

·         Customization with an ESG lens

·         Engagement and impact

·         ESG data access and management

·         Upcoming themes from biodiversity to human capital

Does the driver of inflation matter for asset allocation decisions going forward? Join us for a conversation on inflation, where it’s going and what it means for asset allocation.

A panel of experts will discuss:

• Long and near-term inflation views and expectations
• Demand-driven v. supply-driven inflation
• How asset classes behave in different inflationary environments

As hiring and wage pressures continue, your retirement plan and benefits package is an effective and efficient way to help participants (and your organization) succeed long term. Join our experts as they discuss three timely trends for 403(b) plan sponsors.

• Glide path: How to evaluate and select an appropriate glide path for plans with different populations (for example, plans that have a higher concentration of women or older employees).
• Environmental, social, and governance: Why, what, and how?
• Legislation: Overview of Secure 2.0 and how plan sponsors can prepare.

These insights are relevant for retirement plan sponsors, human resources leaders, and investment decision-makers, as well as for retirement plan advisors and consultants.

Institutional investors are taking a closer look at real assets for inflation protection, diversification and yield that can help them stay on track to achieve their return targets. Which specific real assets – from real estate and infrastructure to commodities – should investors be considering for different objectives? What are some optimal ways to allocate to the different real assets? Is it a multi-strategy approach or a specific sleeve? When are active and indexed approaches most appropriate? How has sustainability progressed across the real assets landscape today?

This hour-long audio webinar takes a deeper dive into real assets segments such as commercial and multi-family real estate, commodities, gold and more, giving investors current insights on opportunities and risks to watch, as well as the latest developments on ESG integration, portfolio monitoring and benchmarking across allocations

Email and registration page copy: SECURE 2.0 is poised to change the 403(b) investing landscape by extending the ability to invest in collective investment trusts (CITs). In anticipation of the enactment of this provision, it is important to consider the changes in store for 403(b) plans.

Join experts from State Street Global Advisors and Aon for a discussion of:

• the current state of the proposed bill
• a roadmap for preparing plan sponsors to consider integration of CITs into their plans, led by a Consultant having these conversations now
• how to communicate these changes to participants and prepare for implementation.

Plan sponsors are in an intensive period of review and refinement of their defined contribution plans in response to the current market environment, shifting workforce demographics and evolving employee expectations. Many sponsors are reassessing the appropriateness of their plan investment menu given rising inflation and market volatility, and are considering how best to respond to participants’ needs on retirement income solutions and sustainable investing options.

This audio webinar will cover current and emerging trends from overall plan design and investment considerations to newer participant demographics approaches and customized solutions.

Join us to discuss how innovative plan sponsors are fine tuning their plans to improve overall retirement security for their participants

Please join one of Fisher Investments’ portfolio managers for Fisher’s outlook on global equity markets.

During this webinar, Aaron Anderson, Fisher Investments’ Investment Policy Committee Member (Portfolio Manager) will review macro factors effecting global equities, as well as where Fisher believes we are in the market cycle and what that means for portfolio positioning. Leveraging insights from our global research platform, we believe this webinar will offer useful perspective on global equity markets. Some topics Aaron will address include: 

•    How investor sentiment is shaping our outlook
•    Inflation should moderate in the back half of 2022, easing pressure on central bankers
•    Expectations for global equities against a backdrop of slowing global growth
•    Political gridlock is prominent globally, reducing political risk