Investment Solutions Forum 2019
W Hotel，Hong Kong
We were delighted to host our annual event in Hong Kong for the Investments Community in Wealth Management. More than 250 CEOs, COOs, Independent Asset managers and other senior practitioners attended – from a mix of local and international Private Banks, Retail Banks, Insurance Companies, Independent Firms & Family Offices, Asset Management Companies, and IFAs.
Thank you to all of our event partners: Swissquote, Premia Partners, Quantifeed, ADS Investment Solutions Limited (ADSI), Aberdeen Standard Investments, CSOP Asset Management, Neo Risk Investment Advisors, Morningstar, and Orbium.
Below for your interest and reference are links to the various pieces of content we captured from the day. Please click on the orange headlines – and do send any comments or feedback to [email protected].
Content Highlights
Video Highlights
Video Highlights Summary PDF
Exclusive Insights
Testimonials
I Love Wealth Management
Photos
Event summary
Panel discussions
Presentations & Workshops
Videos
Post Event Supplement
Post-event Report
You might also like to view the full Post-Event Report – which is a consolidated summary, including photos of speakers & delegates, the attendee profiles & some delegate feedback, polling results, and more.
Event Summary
The future ahead: Emerging markets on the rise of multi opportunities
We were delighted to host our annual investment-focused event in Hong Kong. Over 220 senior individuals attended – including leading product & fund gatekeepers from the top international and local Private Banks, Retail Banks, Multi-Family Offices and IFAs, as well as relationship managers and investment advisers from the industry.
Video Highlights - Videos
We asked leading industry experts - what are the opportunities and challenges for the year ahead? View the combined video highlights, or click on the links to view the individual videos.
Full Video Highlights
Video Highlights Summary PDF
I Love Wealth Management
Testimonials
Donald Amstad, Chief Operating Officer - APAC Distribution & Head of Investment Specialists - Asia Pacific, Aberdeen Standard Investments
Stewart Aldcroft, Chairman, CitiTrust
Harold Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Neo Risk Investment Advisors
Ryan Lemand, Senior Executive Officer, ADSI & Global Head of Wealth and Asset Management, ADS Securities, ADS Investment Solutions
Entela Benz-Saliasi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Finance, HKUST
Simon Godfrey, Senior Vice President, Head of Products, EFG Bank
John Robson, Chief Commercial Officer, Quantifeed
David Lai, Partner & Co-Chief Investment Officer, Premia Partners
Simon Ree, Founder, Options Club
Exclusive Insights
We asked leading industry experts for their exclusive and incisive insights. Click on the links to view the individual videos:
Donald Amstad, Chief Operating Officer - APAC Distribution & Head of Investment Specialists - Asia Pacific, Aberdeen Standard Investments
What is the outlook for emerging market debt?
Where can clients/advisors find opportunities given current market environment?
What's the biggest opportunity in equities globally today?
Stewart Aldcroft, Chairman, CitiTrust
Is Hong Kong still an important wealth management centre in Asia? Will it continue to be?
Harold Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Neo Risk Investment Advisors
Is do-it-yourself wealth management a trend?
Ryan Lemand, Senior Executive Officer, ADSI & Global Head of Wealth and Asset Management, ADS Securities, ADS Investment Solutions
What are the opportunities for Asian based clients to invest in the GCC today?
Are there any specific countries or sectors in GCC that offer the best values for investors today?
Andrew Daniels, Senior Analyst, Equity Strategies, Manager Research, Morningstar
Has there been a significant growth in ESG funds?
What is Greenwashing?
Entela Benz-Saliasi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Finance, HKUST
What are the recent developments we have seen in ESG? What’s next?
Are there any specific initiatives we have seen in Hong Kong to increase the focus on ESG?
Simon Godfrey, Senior Vice President, Head of Products, EFG Bank
What must be considered today when investing in Emerging Markets?
John Robson, Chief Commercial Officer, Quantifeed
Which wealth management firms will thrive in the future? Who will be disintermediated?
How is the role of technology and digital evolving in wealth management?
David Lai, Partner & Co-Chief Investment Officer, Premia Partners
Can you tell me details on the Premia MSCI Vietnam ETF you recently launched?
Can you tell me details on the Premia US Treasury Floating Rate ETF you recently launched?
Simon Ree, Founder, Options Club
What is the Options Club?
You recently wrote a book. What does it cover?
Panel Discussions
We held 4 interactive panel discussions throughout the day – which involved senior industry practitioners who we invited to participate and share their thoughts. We have also incorporated into the summaries below the briefing notes which speakers sent to us in advance of the event. Plus, we have included the results of audience polling as well as questions we received from delegates. Click on each headline to view the PDFs.
Opportunities and Challenges for Asia’s Wealth Management Community
A panel of experts at the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum reviewed the state of the wealth management industry to highlight what value proposition might be required to survive and prosper in the future. They debated whether the cost and revenue pressures are of such a scale as to threaten the survival of some of the key players. They discussed whether the growth of private wealth in Asia will propel the market, or if only the biggest and best can survive. They wondered if, at the other extreme, the smaller adaptable, nimble newer competitors can forge a market presence and prosper.
Panel Members
Richard Straus, Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Banking, EFG Bank
Jean-Louis Nakamura, Chief Investment Officer, Asia Pacific - Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong, Lombard Odier
Silvio Struebi, Partner, Simon-Kucher & Partners
Stewart Aldcroft, Chairman, CitiTrust
Michael Benz, Senior Advisor, Synpulse
Positioning the Wealth Management Machinery and Investment Engines for the Future
A wide-ranging discussion took place during the second panel of the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum, with an eclectic group of experts offering different opinions on the future of wealth management in terms of its future products, services, business model and profitability, including assessing the impact of the ongoing battle between active and passive strategies, and the role of digital in promoting potentially improved investment opportunities, strategies and enhanced user interface.
Panel Members
John Robson, Chief Commercial Officer, Quantifeed|
Harold Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Neo Risk Investment Advisors
Tony Wong, Head of Intermediary Sales, CSOP Asset Management
Tobias Bland, Chief Executive Officer, Enhanced Investment Products
Terence Goh, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Bam Fintech
Simon Ree, Founder, Options Club
Younger Generations of HNWI Clients – Investment Trends and Outlook
What does Millennial mean when it comes to wealth and wealth management, for those who are inheriting Asia’s vast private wealth and those who are now making the region’s future wealth? Whichever route they arrive at their huge wealth, the private banking and wealth management community are concentrating increasing efforts at keeping them within their folds as clients or bringing them to their firms as new customers. How is the wealth products, services and advisory industry adapting their strategies, and their teams, to cope? A panel of experts assembled for a fascinating panel discussion at the September Investment Solutions Forum.
Panel Members
Janet Li, Asia Wealth Business Leader, Mercer
Aleksey Mironenko, Partner & Chief Distribution Officer, Premia Partners
Entela Benz-Saliasi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Finance, HKUST
Sunita Subramoniam, Vice President, Product Strategist - iShares, BlackRock
Shifting the Dial – How Should Asia’s HNWIs Recalibrate Their Portfolios
A panel of experts assembled at the last group discussion of the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum to ponder the optimal portfolio strategies for late 2019 and in anticipation of 2020. There was plenty of healthy disagreement on all the key investment markets, and only one clear consensus, namely that the world remains an uncertain place, and returns will remain elusive.
Panel Members
Simon Godfrey, Senior Vice President, Head of Products, EFG Bank
Michael Levin, Head of Asset Management, Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse Asset Management
Jacky Tang, Head of Portfolio Management Group Asia, Co-Head of Investment Strategy Group Asia, Goldman Sachs
Harold Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Neo Risk Investment Advisors
Angel Wu, Managing Director, Head of Product Management Group, Bank of Singapore
Presentations
Below are summaries of the Presentations and Wealth TALKS delivered at the event. These were 10-minute slots hosted either by senior industry practitioners who we invited to speak (Wealth TALKS), or by some of our event partners (Presentations). Also listed with each summary are links to the presentation slides (where these are made available by speakers). Click on each headline to view the web versions of these – from which you can also access the 1-page PDFs.
ESG Investing Surging Globally, but Investors Beware of Greenwashing
Delegates at the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum in September were treated to a tale of both great growth potential and also of caution from Andrew Daniels, Senior Analyst, Manager Research at global investment research and management group Morningstar. He told the audience of the growth in sustainable investment activity globally, but also addressed the concerns of ‘Greenwashing’, the practice of making ordinary funds appear greener than they are in order to win a larger slice of the growing wall of money pouring into ESG alignment.
The GCC – Opportunities in the Newly Emerging Market Status Countries
The Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) are being upgraded to the status of Emerging Markets by major indices, creating a new region for investors in the EM arena to focus their attention. GCC countries are different from the other countries in the EM universe to date, as they are oil-exporting, their currencies are pegged to the dollar, they enjoy high foreign currency reserves and very low debt-to-GDP. Momentum investing in GCC stock markets has proven to be quite lucrative for traditional Emerging Market investors of late. Dr Ryan Lemand, Senior Executive Officer for ADS Investment Solutions & Global Head of Wealth and Asset Management for ADS Securities addressed delegates at the Investment Solutions Forum to highlight the opportunity.
State of the Emerging Markets: Unearthing the Hidden Gems in Asia
Aleksey Mironenko is a keen proponent of the value HNWI investors can find in China ‘A’ shares and in the key parts of Asian stock markets. In his capacity as Partner & Chief Distribution Officer for Hong Kong-based investment manager Premia, he gave a presentation at the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum to highlight opportunities in China new economy shares, in innovative Asian companies and in the firm’s recently launched Vietnam ETF. He believes that in a world of inflated valuations and liquidity seeking new homes, ASEAN and China markets are at an exciting phase of development and offer a highly diversified range of opportunities. And to access these, HNWIs can buy into Premia’s growing stock of China and ASEAN ETF strategies.
Investing During the US-China Trade Conflict: Uncorrelated Equities and Truly Risk-Free Cash
Throughout 2019 the world has suffered from the US-China trade conflict fallout, and while many investors have been inclined to de-risk and wait it out, there are opportunities lost as well by pursuing that strategy. Instead, Hong Kong investment manager Premia Partners believes a more appropriate strategy is to identify the equity winners regardless, minimise correlations, and buy into truly risk-free assets as a hedge for any doomsday scenario. David Lai, Premia Partner & Co-Chief Investment Officer, and Aleksey Mironenko, Partner & Chief Distribution Officer, paired up for a fascinating Workshop at the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum.
‘Do-It-Yourself Wealth Management’: Efficient and Low-Cost Access to Professionally Managed Global Diversified Portfolios
At a recent Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum, Dr Harold Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neo Risk Investment Advisors, highlighted how the widespread availability of ETFs combined with managed account technology allows individual investors to have global, diversified, low-cost portfolios managed professionally in their own accounts with full transparency. He called it ‘Do-It-Yourself Wealth Management’.
Index and Quant Investing in Asian Markets for Asia’s Wealth Management Community
Harold Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neo Risk Investment Advisors, offered a fascinating Workshop at the Investment Solutions Forum to explain how factor/smart beta investing and dynamic risk management works. These investment approaches are widely used in developed markets, but their adoption in Asia has been lagging. Using passive investments, smart beta and dynamic risk management can significantly improve investment performance while reducing risk in Asian equity markets.
The China Potential & Using ETFs and Tactical Trading Strategies to Boost Returns
Louis Lu, Head of Quantitative and Alternative Investment Department at CSOP Asset Management, sees huge opportunities for China. He addressed the Hubbis Investment Solutions Forum to explain the why and how of participating in that market, including offering some interesting trading strategies to boost returns, while reducing unwanted volatility.
EM Fixed income and China ‘A’ Shares – Yield and Return in a Low-Return World
Donald Amstad, Chief Operating Officer, APAC Distribution & Head of Investment Specialists for Asia Pacific at Aberdeen Standard Investments sees real value in Emerging Market Debt as an asset class. He gave a lively presentation at the Investment Solutions forum to highlight these fixed-income opportunities, and to advise HNWI clients and the assembled advisers where and how they can buy such instruments. And he also pointed the spotlight to the great China ‘A’ share revaluation bonanza that, he believes, has begun in earnest in 2019.
