USS Competition Seminar

The Future of Fund Management
Managing Pension Fund Assets As If The Long Term Really Did Matter 

was held on 28 October, 2003

Venue:
The Hotel Okura, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Purpose:
This Seminar was designed to discuss the ideas generated by the USS Competition and how they might be implemented with presentations and debate by the pension fund industry, recognising the achievements of the entrants and exploring areas which may not have been adequately addressed by the competition.

Key speakers:
Sally Bridgeland, Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow
Alan Brown, State Street Global Advisor
Matt Christensen, Eurosif
David Chynoweth, USS
Prof Sir Graeme Davies, USS
Nick Fitzpatrick, Hewitt Associates
Jonathan A.G. Heller, Heller Associates
Paul Hodges, IeC
Arno Kitts, Henderson Global Investors
Euan Munro, Standard Life Investments
Anne-Maree O'Connor, CoreRatings
Nigel O'Sullivan, Goldman Sachs International
Raj Thamotheram, USS
John Troiano, Schroder Investment Management
Debbie Veverka, T. Rowe Price Associates
Peter Webster, EIRIS

This event was arranged by the EPFIF and endorsed by the Universities Superannuation Scheme and Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow

This event was supported by:
Goldman Sachs International
Standard Life Investments
State Street Global Advisors
T. Rowe Price Global Investment Services

 

 
 Outline of the programme
09.00 Registration Coffee / Tea
09.30 -
09.45 		USS Chairman's Introduction
Roland van den Brink, Managing Director Investments, Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Metalektro will introduce Prof Sir Graeme Davies, Principal, University of Glasgow and Chairman, Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd. who will review the concept behind the competition.
09.45 – 10.20

Analysis of Responses
Roland van den Brink will then introduce Sally Bridgeland, Associate, Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow who will provide a synopsis of the entries, an overview of the judging and review many of the good (and "interesting") ideas submitted including the proposals that made it to the short list.
10.20 – 10.50 Coffee / Tea
10.50 -
12.30

Reviewing the Winning Entries - Implementing ideas with potential
David Chynoweth of USS Ltd. and a Competition Judge will discuss the merits of the winning proposals with Arno Kitts, Director of Institutional Marketing Henderson Global Investors, Jonathan A G Heller, Managing Associate, Heller Associates, Paul Hodges, Chairman, IeC and Peter Webster, Executive Director, EIRIS and will review the reasoning behind the entries and the merits of the winning proposals both from a responsible and a long term perspectiveone.
This will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Peter Scales, Chief Executive, London Pensions Fund Authority and including Arno Kitts, Director of Institutional Marketing Henderson Global Investors, Euan Monro, Investment Director, Head of Group Funds, Standard Life Investments and Raj Thamotheram, Senior Adviser, Responsible Investment, USS Ltd. to address some of the issues raised including how ideas can be implemented over the long term. There will be time to address questions from the floor.
12.30 – 14.00 Drinks followed by lunch - (Sponsored by Citigroup Asset Management)
14.00 – 15:00 The Future of Fund Management
Petri Kuusisto, Director, Investment, Varma-Sampo Mutual Pension Insurance Co. will moderate a panel of speakers including Nigel O'Sullivan, Managing Director, European Pension & Insurance Group Goldman Sachs International, Alan Brown, Group Chief Investment Officer, State Street Global Advisors and Matt Christensen, Executive Director, European Sustainable and Responsible Investment Forum (Eurosif) who will review the future of fund management. The discussion will look at current and possible future trends and cover issues of sustainability, business models, organisation structure and remuneration of fund managers, following up on the morning presentations and discuss the move from producing products to delivering services. Questions will be taken from the floor.
15.00 – 15.30 Coffee / Tea
15.30 – 16:30 The Problems with Benchmarks – can they be overcome?
Malcolm Gray, Finance Director, Railways Pension Trustee Co. Ltd will moderate a panel of speakers led by Nick Fitzpatrick Head of Global Investment Consulting, Hewitt Associates and including Debbie Veverka, Director of Institutional Client Service, T. Rowe Price Associates, John Troiano, Executive Director, Schroder Investment Management and Anne-Maree O'Connor, Managing Director, CoreRatings to review performance measurement, incentives and risk control issues. Questions will be taken from the floor.
16.30 – 16.40 Conclusions/Summary - the way forward from here
Raj Thamotheram will summarise the points raised during the day and consider how fund management might move forward.
16.40 -
(until 17.40)		 Cocktail Reception. All delegates invited. 
Click here for further details of the competition