5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Presentation rehearsals in the Alberta room.

Reception, registration and light buffet dinner
Please join us for an informal reception in Mt. Stephen Hall.

Breakfast at Bow Valley Grill

Opening Remarks

Session One - Keynote speech
[Download Presentation (1MB)]
George Martin, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachussetts

Coffee Break

Session Two – The special needs of plan sponsors: alternatives and asset/liability matching

Long Horizon, Inflation Sensitive Income Strategies: Is your bond portfolio an albatross?
[Download Presentation (1.4MB)]
Much of the discussion surrounding alternative investments centres on short-horizon trading strategies as practiced by most hedge funds. Large funds have also produced absolute returns by utilizing long-horizon strategies such as private equity. Smaller programs can also generate attractive, reasonably stable, real returns using a combination of publicly traded, income-oriented vehicles.
Eric Innes, YMG Capital Management

Confessions of a Reformed Traditional Investor
[Download Presentation (88K)]
The fading tailwinds of the remarkable 23-year trend to lower interest rates marks a point of inflection which should accelerate the transition of alternative strategies to the mainstream. Inadequate prospective returns on traditional portfolio structures will drive sponsors to more flexible structures that permit assumption of more active investment risk. This in turn must be integrated with more explicit, dynamic and effective risk management that is best achieved within an asset/liability framework.
Gia Steffensen, Legg Mason

DESIGNATED RESPONDENTS:
Pierre Drolet, Domtar
Dan Foster, United Church of Canada

Coffee break and speaker photos

Session Three – The current hedge fund environment

Market-Neutral Strategies in the Current Environment: what's so good about stable returns anyway?
[Download Presentation (780K)]
The low interest rate environment of the past few years has put tremendous pressure on pension funds. The present value of liabilities has increased while current and future expected yields on fixed income instruments have decreased. At the same time, equity markets have been flat overall. Concerns over the performance of the so-called traditional investment classes have given rise to a greater interest in alternatives. One alternative, market neutral strategies, has itself been affected by low volatility in the equity markets as well as by low interest rates. Does market neutral continue to have a place in the asset mix?
Joseph Shier, Maple Financial

Hedge Fund Returns: a Function of Volatility, Liquidity, and Transparency
[Download Presentation (1.9MB)]
Examining the dynamics of absolute returns generated by hedge funds for institutional investors requires starting with an examination of the volatility of returns. The level of absolute returns is further challenged by demands for liquidity and transparency by investors.
John Rowsell, York/Glenwood

DESIGNATED RESPONDENTS:
Andrew Campbell, Nunavut Trust
Claire Kyle, Bank of Montreal

12:15 - 12:30 p.m.

12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

1:45 - 3:00 p.m.

Group Photo

Lunch at the Bow Valley Grill

Session Four – Analyzing the hedge fund marketplace

Portfolio Construction Myths: The role of standalone statistics in choosing hedge funds
[Download Presentation (176K)]
The standalone statistics often used to "filter" hedge funds in a search may do more harm than good for your total portfolio. This presentation examines the reliability of measures such as volatility, downside correlation, maximum drawdown and Kappa (Omega) in predicting the portfolio benefits that individual hedge funds may generate.
Jim Knowles, RBC

Hedge Fund Capacity: understanding the issues
[Download Presentation (500K)]
Both single-manager funds and funds-of-hedge funds are experiencing record setting inflows of capital, already besting last year's new investment totals. What does the growing demand for hedge funds and funds of funds mean for investors? Is there enough capacity—and performing managers—to go around? Will there be a liquidity crunch?
Jeffrey Lombardo, Cidel/Pioneer

DESIGNATED RESPONDENTS:
Johnny Quigley, Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon
Malcolm Mung, TELUS

Break

Session Five – Private equity strategies

Private Equity: A Buyer's Guide
[Download Presentation (148K)]
The presentation will touch on the different types of strategies, the most commonly used structures, and the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as common terms, with an emphasis on what's important and what you ought to focus on when negotiating terms with the GP, what to expect in terms of performance, performance dispersion, how to evaluate a GP, and other important considerations for a prospective buyer.
George Engman, Integrated Asset Management

The Importance of Private Equity Manager Selection
[Download Presentation (228K)]
Private equity has delivered strong long-term investment returns, driven by the active, value-added investment style of professional fund managers. Top-tier private equity managers have demonstrated an ability to sustain their performance across multiple funds. Successful fund of funds managers identify and access managers capable of out-performing across market cycles.
John Greenwood, TD Capital Private Equity Investors

DESIGNATED RESPONDENTS:
Douglas Robertson, Canada Post
Larry Johnson, Advisor to institutional investors

4:30 p.m.

6:15 - 7:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m.

Day One Closing Announcements

Cocktail reception in the Conservatory

Dinner in the Cascade Ballroom
Dinner Speaker: Lloyd Axworthy

Breakfast at Bow Valley Grill

Session Six – Alternatives from a plan sponsor's perspective

Philip Falls, IWA-Forest Industry Pension Plan

Pierre Drolet, Domtar

9:15 - 9:45 a.m.

9:45 - 11:00 a.m.

Coffee break

Session Seven – Overlays and alpha-beta strategies

Alpha-Beta Separation: advantages and limitations of alpha-only strategies
[Download Presentation (116K)]
The use of alpha-only or portable alpha strategies has emerged as key issue for plan sponsors over the past few years. However, the use of these strategies has also reinforced the potential importance of tactical asset allocation decisions more generally in helping plan sponsors meet their return targets. This presentation addresses some of the key opportunities and issues involved with using alpha-only strategies particularly for plan sponsors in Canada.
Russell Read, Deutsche Asset Management

A Non-Traditional Approach to Investing in Hedge Funds
[Download Presentation]
This session addresses the conventional alpha-beta separation approach to investing in hedge funds, its implications and the underlying premises on which it is based. By looking at alpha and beta holistically, this presentation will examine non-traditional approaches to allocation, return attribution, risk analysis, and manager selection for not only hedge funds but traditional portfolios as well. Wendy Brodkin, Goodman Institutional Investments

DESIGNATED RESPONDENTS:
Johannus Poos, Nortel Networks
David Lawson, Workers' Compensation Board - Alberta

11:00 - 11:15 a.m.

11:15 - 12:30 p.m.

Coffee break

Session Eight – Managing the risks of alternatives

Another Look at Career Concerns: a study of hedge fund managers
[Download Presentation (168K)]
Do managers' career concerns affect their decisions and behavior? A study of the determinants of fund failure (i.e., manager termination) provides evidence that experienced managers are less likely than inexperienced managers to be terminated for risky investment strategies. Additionally, these more-senior risk- taking managers regularly experience high levels of new investment.
Nicole Boyson, Northeastern University

Where's the Risk in Alternatives?
[Download Presentation (264K)]
The risks of alternative investments are simply a matter of perspective. While alternatives possess different types of risks, the fact is the volatility of most traditional assets is much greater than that of alternatives. As a result, investors have lost more money in 'bad' traditional investments than in the worst alternative strategies.
Dennis Bein, Integra

DESIGNATED RESPONDENTS:
David Finstad, Alberta Investment Management
Barbara Miazga, University of Ottawa

12:30 - 1:45 p.m.

1:45 - 2:00 p.m.

2:00

4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Session Nine – Working lunch and Interactive "Crossfire" close

Closing remarks

Conference closes

Closing reception in Rundle Hall