Active vs Passive Management – Updating the Debate for DC Schemes!

Date:

16 May 2023 11:45 to 14:30

Venue:

Brewers’ Hall, Aldermanbury Square, London EC2V 7HR

Chairperson:

Colin Hately, Group Pensions Director, Associated British Foods Pension Scheme

Details:

The debate over active vs passive management has been raging for many years:

What is the latest research and thinking on active vs passive management?
Can active management ever deliver consistent alpha and add value despite the fees, or should pension funds just use passive management for most or all of their investments?
How do you know if added value is due to skill or luck?
Should schemes who have made losses over the last few years due to a passive approach be encouraged to change to an active approach?
How can pension funds ensure that returns achieved are not reduced unnecessarily by costs?
What are the practical challenges of benchmarking, monitoring and controlling if using an active approach?
Does investing in passive really mean ‘passive’ given you make ‘active’ decisions on index choices and therefore exposures/risks schemes run?
Does taking a more quantitative approach and considering a risk factor/premia approach make more sense now?
In the current market conditions with the likely end of the long bull run in ‘beta’ for many markets, is now the time to really consider active over passive?
Can active be the only true way to deliver on sustainability and ESG agenda for schemes?