SESSION ONE

THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT – NAVIGATING GLOBAL GEOPOLITICS

The volume of geopolitical coverage and analysis has risen exponentially in recent years, with issues such as the trade war between the US and China, Brexit, and conflict in the Middle East all dominating mainstream news headlines.

In such a climate, is there room for a contrarian or left of centre view? What are investors potentially missing that has the potential to disrupt markets? Our opening speaker will look across the landscape of global geopolitics in 2020, providing an alternative perspective on developments set to play out over the next decade.

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SPEAKER:

LIBBY CANTRILL, Executive Office, Public Policy, PIMCO

THE EMERGING MARKETS EXPERIMENT IS OVER  

It has become widely appreciated that emerging markets will be a key driver of global growth over the next decade. However, this potential has not translated into profits, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index delivering a lacklustre 3.8% annualised return over the 10-year period to October 31, 2019.

Are the tables set to turn? Should investors carry a much more meaningful allocation to emerging markets? Or should the experiment of modern emerging market investing, which brings together markets as diverse as China, Russia, South Africa (and most recently, Kuwait), come to an end?

Speakers in this session will debate this contention, delving into the key factors that will drive performance in both regions, the case for and against investing in emerging markets, and how they would set their international equities asset allocation.

    
SPEAKERS:

QIAO MA, Portfolio Manager – Asian Equities, Cooper Investors 

MATT REYNOLDS, Investment Director, Capital Group

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