Monday, September 14
The Greatest Investing A/B Test of All Time
An A/B test is a simple thing: You produce two versions of something, send it to a broad audience, and see which performs better. Facebook was built this way, through tens of thousands of small design tweaks; so were many other technology platforms you use every day. Even Institutional Investor’s newsletter subject lines are constantly A/B tested to see which performs.
For investing, 2020 provides one of the greatest A/B tests of all time.
Many different portfolios entered 2020. They were all subjected to a historical market crash and recovery, to a global economic recession, and to unprecedented government intervention.
Which portfolio – in essence, which version of Facebook’s design – endured the test best? Which strategies, tactics, tilts, allocations, and hedges performed as they should have? Which governance structures, team dynamics, and talent weathered the crisis most robustly?
At the E&F Annual Roundtable, compare notes with your peers and partners – so that you’re ready for whatever else 2020 throws at you.
Thursday, September 17
2020: The Grand Alternatives Laboratory Experiment
Most alternatives managers marketed their strategies as providing diversification and protection on the downside. They were supposed to do well in turmoil – much like the chaos and crashes felt in 2020.
Did they live up to their promises?
The pandemic, and the resulting market crash and recovery, gave asset allocators a unique opportunity to test and evaluate their portfolio strategies – and asset management partners – just like one would in a controlled lab experiment.
From hedge funds to private credit to real assets, what performed as they were supposed to? Which strategies deviated from their objectives?
At the E&F Annual Roundtable, analyze the claims, benefits, and drawbacks of alternative strategies gained from the pandemic’s aftermath.
We thank our 2020 Advisory Board for their input into this year's agenda.
Kristin Agatone
Lehigh University
Archibald E. Asawa
Soka University of America
Mark Baumgartner
Institute for Advanced Study
James Bell
Beth Israel Lahey Health
Howard Berner
Principia College
Jim Bethea
University of Iowa Foundation
Kathleen Browne
Denison University
Amy Chen
Smithsonian Institution
James Clarke
Kansas University Endowment Association
Kelsey Deshler
Carleton College
John DeSisto
Yawkey Foundations
Brian Doyle
Communities Foundation of Texas
James J. Dunn
Verger Capital Management
David E. Erickson
Ascension Investment Management
Craig Grenier
Northeastern University
Geetanjali Gupta
New York Public Library
Britt Harris
UTIMCO
Jeffrey Heil
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Rosalind M. Hewsenian
Helmsley Trust
Richard Hisey
Berklee College of Music
David J. Holmgren
Hartford HealthCare
Jonathan D. Hook
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
Clarissa C. Hunnewell
Boston University
Meredith Jenkins
Trinity Wall Street
Letitia Johnson
Amherst College
Brian Johnson
University of Southern California
Elizabeth Jourdan
Mercy Health
Charles A. Kennedy
Carnegie Mellon University
Mark B. Kerwin
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Jason Klein
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Richard Kraich
West Virginia University Foundation
Katharine Krieger
Broad Foundation
Chun Lai
Rockefeller Foundation
William Lee
New York Presbyterian Hospital
Kim Y. Lew
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Jason Matz
GHR Foundation
Zackery McGuire
University of Georgia Foundation
Muthu Muthiah
Group Health Foundation
Keith Nelson
Texas Children's Hospital
May Ng
Annie E. Casey Foundation
Anurag Pandit
ALSAC / St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Jason Perlioni
Johns Hopkins University
Charles J. Pippin
Pepperdine University
Scott M. Pittman
Mount Sinai Health System
Scott Richland
California Institute of Technology
Philip Rotner
Boston Children's Hospital
Karl Scheer
University of Cincinnati
Susan Slocum
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Rick Slocum
Harvard Management Company, Inc.
Nicholas A. Warren
Brandeis University
George Wilson
Boston Foundation
Shawn Wischmeier
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
Burton Yuen
Kamehameha Schools
Institutional Investors
Katarina Storfer
kstorfer@institutionalinvestor.com
Asset Managers
Raina Bedard
raina.bedard@institutionalinvestor.com