Agenda

The rise of alternative asset classes among institutional investors has been one of the most notable investment trends in recent years. But while alternative asset classes can provide additional and uncorrelated returns in the current low yield environment, the adoption by more conservative sovereign investors, in particular central banks, is still lagging behind. What is the role of alternative asset classes in the portfolio especially of fixed-income heavy investors in a lower-for-longer post-Covid-19 world? How can traditional reserve management portfolios innovate?

Following the sharp sell-off in March and the subsequent spectacular recovery markets are again going through a new period of volatility. As the pandemic continues spreading across countries and the economic recovery at risk, what is the outlook for equity markets? Will tech stocks continue outperforming? Has the time for value stocks finally arrived? How should investors be positioned at this point in the Covid-19 crisis?

Central banks from different parts of the world have started pilots on so called central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Following mixed results from private sector initiative such as Libra central banks have taken the lead as global payment systems undergo a massive technological change. What are the implications for reserve managers? How will CBDC impact reserve management? What are the implications for leading reserve currencies? How the rise of CBDC impact gold?