Chris Douglas, Mapua Wealth principal, takes to the stage next month at the Financial Advice NZ (FANZ) annual conference in Christchurch with a surplus of talking points to spark debate should it flag at the three investment sessions he will be on board for.
Market volatility, war, tariffs, climate change and artificial intelligence (AI), to name the obvious.
“And inflation, of course,” Douglas said.
The topics-du-jour will apply, too, across both the international shares, debt and asset allocation panels slated for the final day of the FANZ shindig.
First-up, Douglas will steer Harbour Asset Management co-founder, Andrew Bascand, and Keiran Moore, Munro Partners portfolio manager, through the current global equities maze amid a confusing moment in markets.
Bascand and Moore will officially supply ‘Contrasting perspectives on the outlook for equity markets’ – although the two managers share a growth-oriented perspective.
Notably, however, Harbour outsources global equities to T Rowe Price while Munro manages that asset class in-house. Little-known in NZ to date, Munro is about to open a portfolio investment entity product here, seeded by KiwiSaver provider, Aurora Capital.
But while international equities boasts the historic reputation as the more exciting asset class, fixed income also shares the FANZ investment limelight in what has been a transformational couple of years for global debt markets.
Equities, in fact, serve as the warm-up act for the debt panel comprising an Australian trio of: Coolabah Capital chief, Chris Joye; Teiki Benveniste, Ares Wealth Management Solutions head of Australia and NZ; and, session-lead, Tim Farrelly, founder of asset allocation specialist firm, Farrelly’s Investment Strategy.
As interest rates dwindle downward in the wake of slowly cooling inflation, the ability of fixed interest to deliver on its traditional twin roles of portfolio-diversifier and yield-supplier are more open than ever to the ‘contrasting perspectives’ title repurposed for the debt session.
In addition to the usual debt-based views on interest rates, inflation and economic fortunes, Douglas said the growing profile of private credit as a fixed income alternative is sure to get an airing as Joye, Benveniste and Farrelly duel on point.
Farrelly also returns with Douglas later in the afternoon for an interactive asset allocation implementation roundtable discussion with Fisher Funds chief investment officer, Ashley Gardyne.
A seasoned NZ visitor, Farrelly provides asset allocation models for advisers on both sides of the Tasman “grounded in a logical, client-focused, forward-looking risk and return forecasting framework based on a robust approach that has stood the test of time”.
Douglas said the FANZ investment sessions – ‘curated’ by the Graham Rich-run Portfolio Construction Forum – have been designed to give advisers a “better awareness of the challenges and opportunities” in global markets today.
“We don’t expect anyone will rush back and make huge changes to their client portfolios,” he said. “But it will arm them with questions to test their existing line-up and we hope it can provide advisers with ideas to better-engage with clients to help them stay the course through volatile times.”
The FANZ conference is scheduled over April 1-3 at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre with the event proper to kick off on April 2 after a first-day ‘master class’ series. All three investment sessions have been set down for Thursday, April 3, from 11:05 am.