Fourth Annual Sovereign Wealth Fund Conference

Long-Term Investing in a Changing World

December 5 – December 6, 2013

Singapore Management University, Singapore

This conference—the fourth in a series of high-profile, international gatherings—members of the investment community, policy makers and academics came together to discuss theoretical and practical approaches to the question of long-term investing.

The emergence of large sovereign wealth funds in countries over the world has stirred the investment profession. Their common mandate which broadly commands: “Thou shalt invest for the long term, for future generations” is of global concern. Meanwhile long-term investing is difficult, particularly so today in an economic environment that is fundamentally changing, and within capital markets that are ill-adapted as it stands for attaining long-term performance objectives.

Building on our track record of high-profile conferences, in New York and in Paris, we extend our horizons going out to Singapore and bringing new expertise to the Long-Term Investment community. The conference focused on the approach and the sustainability of long-term investment processes. We brought together high-calibre academics, investment executives and policy makers from the United States, Europe and Asia to engage in debate, share their experience and push the boundaries of the investment profession forward in facing these new challenges.

Click here to view the Conference Brochure.

Panels and keynotes focused on

• Structural changes in world inflation and growth perspectives
• Long-term investment processes and vehicles on the capital markets
• New and confirmed experience in governing sovereign wealth funds

Keynote Speakers

• Lim Boon Heng, Chairman, Temasek, on Temasek’s investment perspectives (Read a transcript)
• Thomas Sargent, Professor of Economics, New York University, and Nobel Laureate in Economics, on central bank forward guidance
• Robert Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University, and Nobel Laureate in Economics
• Pascal Blanqué, Deputy Chief Executive Office and Chief Investment Officer, Amundi, on the new normal: golden rules of investing, impact on long-term investors and asset allocation

Part of the Research Initiative Sustainable Investment
View other Sustainable Investment events

Session 1: The Impact of Foreign Capital on Local Firms in Emerging Markets

• Bertrand Badré, Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer, “Building a market platform for infrastructure investment projects”
• Eugene Kandel, Head of the National Economic Council of Israel, “The access to capital for small-size enterprise”
• Sanjay Peters, Research Scholar at the Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University, co-authors Patrick Bolton and Joseph Stiglitz, “Investing in large-scale infrastructure projects”.
• Chairman: Jan Svejnar, Professor of Economics at Columbia University, “The impact of foreign capital on local firms in emerging markets”

Smaller-size enterprise experiences difficulties in gaining access to investment capital, which seems due to a mismatch of scale between large investors on the one hand and small enterprise on the other. How should the market of investing in industry be re-organized so as to overcome this hurdle? Could this investment market, which traditionally is a local concern, gain from internationalization? In the same way, there seems to be potential for a sizable market of investing in infrastructure projects, though this market would need to be facilitated somehow.

Session 2: The Strategic Allocation of Sovereign Wealth

• Marie Brière, Head of Investor Research Center at Amundi, co-author Zvi Bodie, “A new framework for allocating sovereign wealth”
• Michael Papaioannou, Deputy Division Chief at the International Monetary Fund, co-authors Das, Lu and Petrova, “Sovereign risk and asset liability management (ALM)”
• Chairman: Serge Darolles, Professor of Finance at Paris-Dauphine University,

Sovereign wealth funds do not have the privilege to serve a single purpose. Whilst standing bail for economic growth, an SWF may be called in to serve as a stabilization fund, reserves, or may in certain cases be called in to weather extreme events. It is a challenge to somehow lay out a liability structure, which is the first step toward defining investment objectives, and match this with the fund’s inflows. The innovative framework in which this Asset Liability Management question can be set out, is discussed by leading practitioners.

Session 3: Inflation-Protected Securities

• Marielle de Jong, Head of fixed-income quant research at Amundi
• Aje Saigal, Senior Consultant with the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
• John Sequeira, Principal Economist at the Monetary Authority of Singapore
• Matthew Yiu Siu-Fung, Lead economist with AMRO Singapore
• Chairman: Jun Yu, Singapore Management University

Facing an aging population who seeks to safeguard purchasing power, a series of Central Banks in Asia have started issuing inflation-linked bonds. Governments welcome the new bonds as well in that they enhance the public debt structure, mitigating risks, so that eventually debt financing costs may be reduced. Foreign investors may crowd into this state-citizen win-win relationship driven by very different motives: they tend to be attracted by the risk-diversification opportunity the bonds represent rather than the inflation protection, and in the case of Singapore, they may very well trade them as vehicles for gaining exposure to the Singaporean dollar.

Session 4: Sharing New Experiences in Governing Sovereign Wealth Funds

• Ana Maria Jul, International consultant to the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama
• Eugene Kandel, Head of the National Economic Council of Israel
• Eric Parrado Herrera, Professor of Economics at the Adolfo Ibanez University and consultant to the sovereign wealth fund of Mongolia
• Chairman: Frédéric Samama, Deputy Global Head of Institutional Clients, Amundi

The intent of this panel is to close the conference on a light note, hearing executives of new sovereign wealth funds speak from their experience. A key question is whom their fund is—or will be regulated by: the Central Bank predominantly, the Ministry of Finance or by a third party.

Panel: Debate on Orchestrating the Allocation of Sovereign Wealth

• Eric Parrado Herrera, Professor of Economics at the Adolfo Ibanez University and consultant to the government of Chile on governing sovereign wealth
• Eric Tazé-Bernard, Chief allocation advisor of Amundi
• Leslie Teo, Chief Economist of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
• Chairman: Stephen Satchell, Fellow at Trinity College Cambridge

Stately Support

Amundi Asset Management

Amundi ranks first in Europe and ninth worldwide in the asset management industry with Assets under Management of close to €750 billion2. Located at the heart of the main investment regions in almost 30 countries, Amundi offers a comprehensive range of products covering all asset classes and major currencies.

Amundi has developed savings solutions to meet the needs of more than 100 million retail clients worldwide and designs innovative, high-performing products for institutional clients which are tailored specifically to their requirements and risk profile.It contributes to funding the economy by orienting savings toward company development.

Amundi has become a leading European player in asset management, recognized for:

• Product performance and transparency;
• Quality of client relationships based on a long-term advisory approach;
• Efficiency in its organization and team engagement to serve its clients;
• Commitment to sustainable development and socially responsible investment policies.

Co-Organizers

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, Singapore Management University

The Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics at SMU seeks to pioneer and promote the study of Financial Economics and Financial Econometrics in areas of strategic relevance to Singapore’s economy and the economies of the region.

Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University

The Committee on Global Thought (CGT) was established in 2006 with the mission of enhancing the school’s engagement with global issues. The CGT is designed expand cross-disciplinary connections to develop new ways to analyze and address the challenges and opportunities of globalization.

Center on Global Economic Governance, SIPA, Columbia University

The Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG) is a study center that acts upon the need for new theories, empirical studies and policy initiatives that cut across nation-state boundaries and address the new reality.

Dauphine University

Dauphine is specialized in the Organization and Decision Sciences. Its mission is to educate future generations of executives, entrepreneurs, leaders and scholars to be both experts in their fields and socially responsible, cultured, open-minded members of the community.

Venue

Singapore Management University

A premier university in Asia, the Singapore Management University (SMU) is internationally recognized for its world class research and distinguished teaching. Established in 2000, SMU’s mission is to generate leading edge research with global impact and produce broad-based, creative and entrepreneurial leaders for the knowledge-based economy. It is known to be a pioneer in Singapore for its interactive and technologically-enabled pedagogy of seminar-style teaching in small class sizes which remains its unique hallmark. Home to about 8,000 students, SMU comprises six schools: School of Accountancy, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, School of Economics, School of Information Systems, School of Law and School of Social Sciences, offering a wide range of bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degree programs in business and other disciplines.