Market strategist and PortfolioConstruction Forum regular, Jonathan Pain, outlines what lies ahead in 2011, including the investment theme he describes as the next BIG thing...

The 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Resources Kit is an invaluable set of continuing education material including the presentations, podcasts, videos, and research papers across the Masterclass, Critical Issues Forum, and Due Diligence Forum programs...

A regular keynote at PortfolioConstruction Conference, the Hon. Dr Pippa Malmgren was unable to join us this year - so in association with Ironbark Asset Management, we recently caught up with Pippa to get her views on building shock resistant portfolios...

The 10-hour Critical Issues Forum is one of two key components of the annual PortfolioConstruction Conference. It is a totally independent 10-hour plenary program featuring interactive sessions and selected international and local portfolio experts, designed by our specialist, experienced and independent team to cover two of our three pillars – Markets and Strategies. This Resources Kit - available only to Conference delegates - comprises videos, podcasts, papers and slides along with questions/comments raised by delegates during the program...

This Resources Kit - available only to Masterclass delegates - comprises presentations, podcasts, and papers from the 8-hour 2010 Asset Allocation Masterclass program the day before Conference, during which selected international and local portfolio experts discussed that, with Western economies burdened by debt at a level not seen before, asset allocation has to take into account an entirely new landscape that in fact is a reversion to the past...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, our two Inquisitors - Tim Farrelly and Chris Watling - summed up their key take outs from Conference, and actions to take as a result when building investor portfolios...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Tim Farrelly, Principal of farrelly's, argued that bubbles are often - but not always - detectable in advance and gave delegates an analytical framework to identify bubbles before they burst...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that, going forward, it is vital to consider the market environment and latest academic research, and develop a better approach to TAA and downside risk protection, including using second generation capital protected strategies to help create more robust portfolios...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 highlighted the importance of a specific allocation to global listed soft commodities due to its small representation in the MSCI World Index, and argued that the soft commodities sector provides portfolio diversification benefits, with a low correlation and more attractive risk/return profile compared to broad global equities...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued the case for active management in the Australian smaller companies segment, highlighting that historically, median small cap managers have solidly exceeded the relevant benchmark, and addressed some of the reasons why an active small cap manager can provide a valuable addition to an investor’s portfolio...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 addressed the construction of a multi-manager alternative product completely at odds with conventional wisdom in that it has a very small number of managers, and the use of such a fund in a typical Australian diversified portfolio...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 reviewed the concept of Active Money and how it can be applied in the Australian equity market to provide practitioners with a greater level of insight into the risk in Australian equity products...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that 130/30 strategies can viewed as an alternative to long-only funds, with short selling used as a possible way to generate alpha and improve portfolio efficiency...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Woody Brock, Founder of US-based Strategic Economic Decisions, argued that the US can rebound from its projected record US$20 trillion deficit, and what's required to achieve a soft landing...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, David Owyong, Head of Quantitative Research with MSCI Barra, explained the critical changes ahead for portfolio construction practices, particularly management of extreme events, SAA and risk management...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, our day one keynote speakers - Jonathan Pain, Chris Watling, Chris Selth and Manu Bhaskaran - argued their disparate views on the likely shocks ahead and the implications for building shock resistant portfolio...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Chris Selth, CIO with 5 Oceans Asset Management in Sydney, argued that the GFC was a wake-up call on the need to build shock resistant portfolios and explored how we can test old truths against new risks...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 explore which asset classes should be hedged, looking at the optimal hedge ratio for international equities. Is there in fact one answer, or does it change over time? Does it differ depending on the investment time frame? As the Australian dollar tends to be a pro-cyclical currency, does some hedging make sense?

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that typically, investors have arrived at their equities allocation (and domestic/international split) via mean-variance analysis of historical index returns and that this approach is fundamentally flawed Forward-looking investors should be asking “Where are the future tailwinds and is my portfolio positioned appropriately?”

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 examined and exploded many of the myths and delusions that investors have clung to, and proposed new ideas on how to build truly shock-proof portfolios...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that simple strategies such as investing in government bonds or passively following market indices through the cycle are no longer sufficient to fulfill the dual purpose of protecting portfolios when growth assets are weak and generating sufficient income to meet client goals...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that the framework within which the industry makes investment choices and constructs investment portfolios for clients is fundamentally flawed and that what is required is an objectives-based framework...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 argued that heightened volatility and potentially lower growth rates lie ahead. It discussed how to adjust portfolios, including what sources of alpha are likely to be most successful, what it means for the risk management of equity portfolios, and whether market capitalisation weighted benchmarks are less appropriate...

This Due Diligence Forum Research Paper and Presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 focused on the volatility of investment income, and real growth, revealing that a high yield equity strategy can be the cornerstone of retirement income planning and that account-based pensions with this investment approach can resolve the longevity question by minimising the need to sell down assets...

In this 2010 PortfolioConstruction Conference Critical Issues Forum session, Jonathan Pain, Editor of the Pain Report, argued that the world is now divided between the submerging and emerging nations, and explained the implications for portfolio construction...

Filmed exclusively for PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010, these vignettes feature global investment thinkers - Niall Ferguson, Russ Koesterich, Bill Gross, Larry Kantor, Jim O'Neill, Bill Priest, Tim Farrelly, Hamish Douglass and Peter Gunning - giving their perspectives on the Conference theme "building shock resistant portfolios"...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured three experienced asset allocation practitioners discussing different ways that asset allocation strategies have been successfully implemented in practice...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Tim Farrelly of asset allocation research house farrellys, explaining processes and techniques for identifying if and when emerging markets should figure heavily in portfolios...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Mihail Dobrinov explaining the transformation of emerging markets as an asset class in terms of risk dynamics, as well as various techniques to identify and manage risks...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Tim Farrelly of asset allocation research house farrellys, arguing the importance of having a clear and clearly articulated investment philosophy, and helped delegates begin to formulate their own personal investment philosophy...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Andrew Lill of AMP Capital Investors explaining the ways in which fixed income investing can potentially navigate the current environment and the implications for portfolio construction...

This Asset Allocation Masterclass presentation from PortfolioConstruction Conference 2010 featured Chris Watling of Longview Economics arguing that there were four key reasons why recent equity market falls are just a wave of risk aversion and nothing more sinister...

PortfolioConstruction Forum publisher, Graham Rich, caught up with the Hon. Dr Pippa Malmgren, for an update on her view of the markets...

This Academy Seminar debated three carefully selected topics, in a Socratic learning environment: Currency (to hedge or not to hedge); Adventures in asset allocation; and, The US economy (now and possible future scenarios)...

Our final session of the PortfolioConstruction Markets Summit 2010 pulled together the day's discussion to ensure delegates determined their key takeouts and the portfolio construction implications...

Does the dawn of a new decade signal a change in the global economy?