Focus on Advanced Portfolio Construction

Economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, interest-rate volatility, and significant valuation disparities continue to impact markets, making it crucial for advisors to focus clients on controllable factors. Participants will leave with clear, actionable recommendations to enhance portfolio resilience and strengthen client relationships during periods of heightened uncertainty.  
 

Learning Objectives:  

• Learn the critical role of asset allocation in managing risk amid volatility.  

• Gain historical insights into valuation cycles and current market disparities.  

• Uncover behavioral finance strategies for effectively communicating with clients, particularly when navigating amplified market noise.  

Chris Geczy

Adjunct Professor of Finance, Academic Director, Wharton Wealth Management Initiative, Academic Director, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

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As we move through 2025, investors remain focused on where the economy and markets are headed. Amidst significant global volatility, potential policy impacts from Washington are still uncertain. Across markets, equity valuations remained elevated, while bond yields have moved higher in response to proposed policies. Using slides from the Guide to the Markets, Jack Manley will shine some light on these issues and their investment implications, discussing the economic outlook for 2025 and beyond, while highlighting key investment opportunities.

Learning Objectives:

• Communicate current economic and market trends.

• Identify potential opportunities and risks with the domestic and global markets.

• Gain an increased knowledge on global markets and the outlook for stock and bond market performance.

Jack Manley

Executive Director, Global Market Strategist, JP Morgan Asset Management

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Advisors constructing fixed income portfolios for high-net-worth clients are faced with increasing market complexity, a virtually unlimited array of options, and a wide spectrum of individual client needs. Furthermore, client objectives often evolve over time. We have found a customizable framework which blends flexibility and transparency with institutional-grade investment capabilities to be the most compelling solution for many clients and their advisors. In this session we will explore key considerations involved in building a custom fixed income solution and examine common asset classes used as foundational components in such solutions.

Learning Objectives:

• Form a better understanding of the different dimensions of customized fixed income solutions.

• Hear from experts about the unique customizations available within each asset class and the nuances we consider when utilizing them.

• Review real-life case studies about how this flexible framework has been successfully applied to clients.

Stephanie Goldych Abelard

Associate Investment Director, Custom Income Strategies Group, Loomis, Sayles & Company

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Jeffrey Bieniek

Credit Strategist, Relative Return Team, Loomis, Sayles & Company

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Michael Skurka

Investment Director, Municipal Bond Team, Loomis, Sayles & Company

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Cheryl Stober

Investment Director, Loomis, Sayles & Company

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Jennifer Thomas

Co-Portfolio Manager, Mortgage and Structured Finance Team, Loomis, Sayles & Company

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For advisors serving the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth market segments, an understanding of the private markets is a must-have. In this session, we will examine the current state of the private markets, focusing primarily on private credit and private equity; why investors are interested in the space; and how to allocate appropriately within a diversified portfolio.

Learning Objectives:

• The current state of private markets including size, growth, structures, and why investors increasingly are interested in the space.

• The definition of illiquidity and leverage premiums and why they matter with respect to investing in private markets.

• Why the evolution of the “evergreen” structure has been important to the growth of private investments, and where it is most appropriate.

• The areas of private markets that are of most interest to investors in the current market environment.

• How to allocate to private investments within the broader context of a diversified portfolio.

Scott Welch

Partner & Chief Investment Officer, Certuity

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In this session, Patrick Mullins will discuss the potential benefits separately managed accounts (SMAs) can have for your clients' tax bills. Long-short strategies can help strategically transition concentration risk, extend the tax benefits of aged direct indexing accounts, and help hedge against capital gains taxes during liquidity events.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how SMAs can help reduce clients’ tax liabilities.

• Learn how long-short strategies can manage concentration risk and extend tax benefits.

• Explore techniques to hedge capital gains taxes during liquidity events using SMAs.

Patrick Mullins

Head of SMA Specialists, Invesco

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Wealth management is a crowded and highly competitive marketplace for high-net-worth (HNW) clients. Research on HNW clients has shown that ethics and expertise are the most impactful drivers of trust. Join Sean Walters, chief executive officer of the Investments & Wealth Institute for a review of the Institute’s “Code of Professional Responsibility” and an interactive exercise designed to engage you and your peers in a discussion of ethical dilemmas.  

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the nine principles for professional conduct from the Institute’s “Code of Professional Responsibility.”

• Understand how to apply the code to the service expectations of clients.

• Discover how the code applies to client expectations around ethics and expertise competencies.

Sean Walters

Chief Executive Officer, Investments & Wealth Institute

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