Rethinking risk

It was a different world at the Eighth Annual Risk Management Conference. While asset allocation has long held its ground as the prevalent management strategy among Canadian plan sponsors, a sea change appears to be on the way. It’s coming in the form of liability-driven strategies and risk budgeting techniques that promise investors a new way of managing risk. The conference was held in stunning surroundings—the Fairmont Mont Tremblant, Hotel in Tremblant, Quebec—and our agenda promised delegates two rigorous days that included the leading risk management strategies from around the world.

The conference kicked off with the inimitable Dr. Horace “Woody” Brock’s keynote on reconceptualizing risk. You’ll find an article based on Dr. Brock’s presentation included in this issue. It set the tone for a conference dominated by discussion of some new and important ways to tackle the challenges of Canadian plan sponsors today.

Liability driven investing was one topic that arose often while other presentations looked into the best ways to use global fixed income to manage risk and achieve diversification. Long- and short-term strategies were also on the table along with alpha and hedge fund approaches that can help plan sponsors meet their liabilities down the road. Corporate finance, capital asset pricing models and the elimination of the foreign property rule were also prevalent on an agenda that sought to generate useful discussion and debate among delegates. Our coverage follows here and we hope we’ve managed to capture the best of this year’s conference proceedings for your edification.

—Caroline Cakebread

For a PDF version of this article, click here.