William Morgan (Atrium Investment Management) and Matt Swieconek (Findex) share their thoughts on using illiquid assets, such as property and infrastructure, as part of an allocation within a portfolio.

The biggest contributor to portfolio outcomes is asset allocation. Richard Rauch (First Sentier Investors), Michael Karagianis (JANA Investment Advisers), Alex Cathcart (Drummond Capital Partners), Jesse Imer (Mason Stevens) and Jerome Lander (WealthLander) discuss their optimal approach to asset allocation, particularly when building portfolios in a challenging environment.

"Aussie retirement funds have the highest ‘growth/defensive’ asset mix in the world – does this mean they are highest risk?  What is the best or ideal asset allocation for long term investment funds, including retirement/pension funds?" asks Ashley Owen

"The RBA is lagging has more work to do! In Sept 23 quarterly inflation rose from 0.8% to 1.2%, but cash rate's been sitting at 4.1% since June 23, after 12 rate hikes. Is the RBA doing enough? " asks Ashley Owen,

Transitioning to net zero will be anything but smooth. John Woods (Australian Ethical) and James Kingston (iShares) talk about the challenges ahead when positioning portfolios for net zero and whether that transition offers investment opportunities.

"Nothing scares investors more than news of a ‘recession!’ But why? Recessions have mostly been good for Australian shares!" says Ashley Owen, "Contrary to the popular myth that recessions are bad for share markets, in the vast majority of economic ‘recessions’ in Australia over the past 150 years, the local share market has actually risen! "

Alex Cousley (Russell Investments), Monik Kotecha (Insync Funds Management), Pruksa Iamthongthong (abrdn), and Paul Saliba (Evolutionary Portfolio Services) discuss where advisers should be looking for opportunities in global equities.

Speaking at the IMAP Portfolio Management Conference 2021, Al Clark (MLC), Piers Bolger (Infinity Asset Management/Viridian Advisory) and Michael Karagianis (JANA) explore the challenges of asset allocation in a low interest rate environment.