This event has now taken place but you can watch the video recording of it through our Youtube Channel, get to it by clicking the button below

When

Tuesday, July 13th from 6pm to 8pm UK time

Where

Online symposium via Zoom.

Format

There'll be a great line-up of speakers plus ample scope for discussion and debate.

Why you should attend

We don’t think there has ever been such a period of multi-directional change impacting the world of investment as is being experienced right now. It’s easy to think of this as a time of chaos and confusion, with so many competing interests and forces pulling and pushing the sector in many different directions, all at once. It’s a struggle to keep up.

As well as the long list of “normal” issues we also have the consequences of Covid, Brexit and the growing urgency around Net Zero to contend with.

The overall purpose of this symposium is to provide an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to share their thoughts and insights into what could and should be done to drive the positive, progressive and purposeful reform that is needed in the world of investment.

We have an enormously long list of topics we can dive into such as:

Achieving good outcomes for investors through the value for money agenda, with ongoing developments in the costs and charges arena
Achieving good outcomes for all stakeholders, including our planet, with topics such as
- ESG investing
  - The lack of “what’s under the bonnet?” detail on the funds available
  - Data reporting on ESG – how much is enough?
  - Transparency around sustainable investment strategies
  - The EU taxonomy
  - The new Corporate Sustainable Finance Reporting for firms > 500 people
  - Defending against greenwashing
  - How does the sector avoid bamboozling investors who want to invest in better environmental outcomes, but who are foxed by the various ESG standards and cannot work out what is actually worth having. Is this going to put them off investing or worse still, is it a potential mis-selling scandal?
  - The rise of Impact Investing as the next evolution from Sustainable Investing
  - The expansion of investor responsibility to include incorporation of sustainability and transition to low carbon economies in investment strategies as part of fiduciary duty
  - Are ESG Initiatives truly sustainable or hostages to market volatility?
Consumer protection matters
- Whether “The porosity of the Regulatory Perimeter is a Charter for Scammers”
- Whether the FCA is fit for purpose; and if not what should be done about it
- Investor due diligence; what should it look like?
- Investment scandals such as the Woodford saga; and Sharesoc’s campaign about it
- UK Financial Services regulation post Brexit
- How the Financial Services Compensation Scheme should be funded moving forward
- The Special Administration Regime
- The FCA Register; does it need overhauling, if so, how?
Issues for advices firms and wealth managers
- How are they adapting their processes in relation to the increased interest in ESG?
- How should advice firms differentiate their investment solutions for drawdown retirees, aligning cashflow modellers to investment risks so that volatility and longevity risks can be better managed?
Corporate governance in the world of investment
- How can we best avoid a repeat of cases like Greensill Capital and Archegos
- What’s caused the regulatory failure in this space?
- Illiquids – issues around returns and performance fees
Issues with opacity around insurance investments and savings annuity products
What impact are Crypto, Digital Assets and Tokenisation having on the world of investing?
Index investing:
- Reconciling the demand for index-based investment solutions with the problems of fiduciary responsibility
- The drive towards ever more customisation in indices due to ESG etc – how to restructure the industry to be able to deliver custom solutions to all investors.
- How the industry should respond to an increasing focus on regulation of indices – primarily the SEC’s increasing activism in this area following the S&P $9m penalty
- What risks does index investing entail for market liquidity? The corollary of that being: Is there a future for value investing?
The incentive structures in asset management: are AUM and performance based fees the best we can do; and how does this encourage sustainable/impact investing?
The need for common data standards in fund management
What scope is there in the market for simple, non-toxic products?
The battle for transparency in the ongoing scandals around US Public Pension schemes