| You don’t need me to tell you that the financial industry has been through some difficult times over the last few months. Massive outflows from mutual funds, major corporates struggling to cope with trading tactics on their shares, sub-prime, plunging property prices, and even the dreaded “R” word (recession) on people’s lips.
For any firm with a part to play in the investment funds industry, 2008 has shown some very worrying trends.
So, it might seem to be a strange time to be suggesting that a trip to Vienna may be in order, but for many firms, now is exactly the right time to be doing this. From 15-19 September, Sibos takes place in Austria, and it is for this very reason that over 7,000 of our industry’s decision makers will be making the journey. Sibos continues to be the global meeting place, the hub of financial discussion, and the focal point of forward thinking firms. Run by SWIFT, with our mission to bring operational efficiency, reduced costs, and optimal risk management to the industry, the agenda caters to these challenging times.
Negotiating tricky times
For the fourth year, we will be running a Fund & Investment Management Forum over two days, 17 & 18 September. The forum will allow delegates from our community to take advantage of a concentrated schedule of sessions specifically catering to their interests and needs. SWIFT recognizes that in these tricky times, more than ever perhaps, firms are focusing on how they can control their costs, eradicate errors, and assess how to construct their future business model.
In a market where even the most traditional long-only investment managers are now rolling out hedge funds, it is the contrast between these business models that forms the crux of two key panels. On Wednesday afternoon, Markus Ruetiemann and Jeremy Charles, COOs of Schroders and Thames River respectively, will look at the challenges presented by running two investment models side by side, and what the future might bring. Can two such different models, in terms of style, process, and culture, survive within the same house? Could they, perhaps, even become one as we strive for even greater efficiency in the future?
In a possibly more controversial discussion, Thursday morning will see a formal panel debate of the motion “Hedge Funds are the root of all evil”. Are we right to blame hedge funds for the woes of certain firms recently, or for some unusual voting patterns on the back of lending transactions? One thing is for sure, no one can sit on the fence, and this promises to be a highly entertaining debate with Julian Tregoning, Julian Shaw, Gary Aguirre and Jack Bouroudjian amongst others locking horns.
A topic that should certainly be on all of our agendas is covered in Thursday afternoon’s “Where is my pension?”. We probably all have that feeling that there may not be enough in our pension pots, and have heard those worrying estimates of how much we need to save each month to be able to retire in any degree of comfort. So, we have asked panelists from Watson Wyatt, Pension Governance LLP, and from the pension department of a corporate to join us in discussing the topic. We certainly can’t promise to fix your personal finances, but will be ensuring that the critical requirements are discussed, both for individuals and for those firms providing pension schemes to their employees.
| Worrying trends
For any firm with a part to play in the investment funds industry, 2008 has shown some very worrying trends. We have seen massive outflows from funds, in particular throughout Southern Europe, and so the future health of this business is very much on people’s minds. We will be examining this from two aspects at Sibos, with “The Battle for Fund Distribution” and “Will regulation help or hinder the investment funds industry?” following each other on Wednesday’s agenda.
The battle topic will examine exactly who is going to be leading the distribution of funds in the future – will it be funds supermarkets, central market infrastructures, retail banks, wealth managers, or the independent financial advisors? Beyond this, what are the products that a manager will need to have in order to survive in this space – long, short, 130/30, market driven, asset class driven, or with every latest derivative product going? Adam Lessing from Morley will lead a discussion with Schroders, Cerulli, Ausmaq, and Euroclear giving their thoughts on the global models going forwards.
As many have said in the past, Sibos is the one place where you can get over a month’s worth of your meetings done in a couple of days.
The regulation panel could possibly not be more timely. UCITS products continue to gain in popularity and we continue to hear that the rules in this space may be amended, so what would this change in the way the market conducts itself? The rise of the 130/30 product now begins to bring investors more choice, but can we really see a way in which this can be taken to a level where retail investors could safely be allowed to invest in a hedge fund? Our panel sees some of the leading industry names investigating these developments, with EFAMA, the Managed Funds Association, the European Commission’s consumer representative, and the Association of Mutual Funds in India joining others to discuss these critical topics.
A comprehensive program
Alongside these panels with be other sessions targeting those other areas that are on the agenda of the fund & investment management community. Carbon trading, foreign exchange, OTC derivatives, collateral management, securities lending, trading platforms, and specific regional sessions complete a comprehensive programme with thought leaders from all of these areas sharing their views with the wider community.
As many have said in the past, Sibos is the one place where you can get over a month’s worth of your meetings done in a couple of days, and probably the only place where you can get an update from the industry’s experts on the key issues impacting your business, across the entire investment, operations and technology spaces. For that reason, and in reflection of the challenging times that the financial industry has been facing and continues to face, we believe that this year’s Sibos will be one of the best attended and the most important ever.
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