The First Annual Advances in Asset Allocation Seminar on March 17 - 19, 2008 at the Dorchester in London will provide participants with an in-depth appreciation of the concepts and techniques that will shape the future of investment management and equip them with practical tools to improve asset allocation processes, implement novel investment management approaches, and develop new products.

The seminar addresses estimation issues and model shortcomings to optimise portfolio construction in a world that does not conform to the tenets of modern portfolio theory. It explores optimal risk budgeting techniques in the context of core-satellite investing and applies them to the design of long-only absolute return funds and new liability driven investment (LDI) solutions. It also looks at the potential of alternative classes and strategies as diversification and substitution vehicles and imparts research-based insights into fundamental indices, optimal benchmarks, and efficient indices.

Presented in a highly accessible manner by a team of instructors with established reputations for bringing together academic expertise and industry experience, the seminar balances exploration of new models and approaches with applications and case studies.


Seminar Instructors

Lionel Martellini : Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School and Scientific Director of the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre. He is an expert in risk management and asset allocation processes and modelling.

Noël Amenc : Professor of Finance and Dean of Research at EDHEC Business School and Director of the EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre. He is a specialist in asset management, performance analysis, and alternative investments

Bernd Scherer is Managing Director and Global Head of Quantitative Structured Products at Morgan Stanley (London). He is an expert on portfolio construction, strategic asset allocation, and ALM.

The programme is intended for investment management professionals who advise on or participate in the design and implementation of asset allocation policies and portfolio models and for sell-side practitioners who develop new asset management and ALM solutions for investors. It should be of particular interest to chief investment officers; directors of investments; heads of asset allocation, new product development/structured products/institutional solutions, research; portfolio/fund managers; senior advisors/consultants; and senior investment officers from asset management companies, consultancies, family offices, insurance companies, investment banks, pension funds, endowments and foundations, and private banks.

Find out more here.