• Identifying rare companies capable of delivering outsized long-term growth
• Whether the recent broadening of market leadership beyond mega-caps is changing opportunity sets
• The gap between AI’s productivity promise and its real-world impact on businesses
• The recent software sell-off and debate around AI disrupting traditional SaaS models
• How geopolitical tensions and market rotations may shape long-term global equity opportunities

• How geopolitics is now a major driver of markets and portfolio risk
• Competing global blocs, especially US–China tensions, and how they are reshaping asset allocation
• How US regional focus and supply-chain shifts are changing emerging market dynamics
• Key market influences such as Europe, energy security and climate policy
• Rising geopolitical risk and how it is renewing focus on active management

• The Return of Small and Mid Caps
• Finding Opportunity Beyond Large Caps
• Income, Franking and Growth Trade-offs
• Where Small Cap Value Is Appearing
• Managing Volatility and Future Risks

Infinity Asset Management are the winners of the 2025 IMAP Managed Account award for best Australian Equities Small Cap manager

• From Assumptions to Action – Inside the Investment Process
• Positioning for Today’s Markets
• When to Go Active and When to Stay Passive
• The Role of Alternatives
• Turning local - Australia
• Outlook for 2026

Morgan Stanley are the winners of the 2025 IMAP Managed Account award for Licensee and Multi-asset categories. 

• What’s Driving Markets
• Aoris’s Lens on Quality and Valuation
• Where Aoris is Finding Value
• Investor Behaviour and Outlook

Aoris Investment Management are the winners of the 2025 IMAP Managed Account award for International equities.

• The key changes they are seeing in the Australian fixed interest market right now
•  AT1 hybrids are trading at post-GFC tights, with Big Four margins around +185bps. What’s driving this demand-supply imbalance?
• How investors think about liquidity and volatility risk
• Tier 2 spreads have compressed too far, partly due to ETFs making up about 8% of the universe. What’s your advice on positioning in this context?
• BondAdviser has noted wave of issuance recently; is this just post-reporting season activity, or a sign of deeper appetite for A$ credit?
• Will international names continue dominating issuance
• Lonsec recently downgraded Metrics’ flagship fund. Should investors read this as a broader signal for the private credit space?
• Private Credit as an asset class and the way investors should assess risk in this part of the market

• Key differences between listed and unlisted property
• The role of REITs in balanced and income-focused portfolios
• Positioning AREITs & Global REITs vs bonds, hybrids, and unlisted trusts
• Value of diversifying across domestic and global exposures
• Impact of rates, macro trends, and why listed property looks attractive now

• Thinking about portfolio construction
• Benefits and challenges of investing globally vs investing in domestic credit markets
• Macro and fundamental backdrop for global credit investing over the year ahead
• Public vs private credit … or both?

- Benchmarking managed accounts in Australia today

- Specific challenges facing advisers when reviewing managed account performance

- How can advisers approach benchmarking for portfolios with allocations to alternatives?

- How should advisers balance performance with risk management?

& more

Hosted by Emily Barlow (Perpetual Private)

• How do you define risk?
• Are there risks you are more or less focussed on?
• How does this play through into portfolio construction?
• & more...

•  A personalised approach to managing wealth
• Implications on portfolio construction
• The market outlook and more....

• The pros and cons of direct investing versus funds and whether there is room for both approaches
  
  
• The role of green bonds and infrastructure debt
  
  
• How investors should be positioning the defensive part of their portfolio
  
  
• Areas investors should be avoiding at this point in the market cycle & more

• Are equities overvalued and should investors be repositioning their portfolios?
• Does Growth face headwinds in a higher for longer interest rate environment?
• Is the magnificent 7 a bubble that’s about to burst?

• Changing with clients over time
• Developing a business plan that helps you
• Developing your niche/strengths
• Knowing when to let clients go
• Managing referrals well

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA of IMAP

• Craig spoke to S&P DJI research showing that index investors have an above-average chance of achieving above-average investment results.
• He debates his view that most active managers under-perform most of the time, with any out-performance tending to be temporary. 
• The effect of transaction costs contributing to the net performance difficulties for active investment management
• The use of wider dispersion across assets as a way to measure the potential value of stock selection ability to construct an index-beating portfolio 

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA of IMAP

• Who are they?
• The rise in unexpected demographics
• What are the needs of these clients?
• How to connect with clients families for ongoing support. 
• Social media and tomorrows clients 

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA of IMAP

• the reasons for the growing demand for assistance with Philanthropy
• identifying clients with interest in this area
• how and when  to discuss Philanthropy with clients
• options to present

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA of IMAP

• The challenges of running investment management within a diversified financial services business
• Typical HNW clients and their needs
• How do investment objectives and needs of HNW differ from other clients?
• HNW objectives: ESG, income, use of alternatives
• Managing the compromise between efficiency and high service requirements
• The interaction between the investment team and advisers

Moderated by David McDonald (IMAP)

• Interest rates: are RBA and Fed finished. Have they gone too far - is recession likely
• Can inflation return to target soon or are we in for an extended period of 3-4% inflation (or higher)
• Asset allocation views at present
• Domestic vs international exposure in equities and bonds
• Expected returns for portfolios over the next few years

Moderated by David Mcdonald (IMAP) 

•  How infrastructure performs under different economic conditions
• Prospects for dividend growth
• ESG implications 
• Defensive qualities of infrastructure

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA (IMAP) 

• Why active management works. What is active and what is passive?
• The role of ETFs and their increasing popularity 
• The rise of new methods of investing 
• The role of financial advisors and asset consultants and how this has changed
• Have client needs changed? 
• Residential property and the sharp rise in interest rates 
• Property sector - is it the end of the office? 

• How alternatives perform during market volatility
• Whether private investors should be allocating to alternatives
• How to meet income needs with alternatives
• How alternatives can be accessed by retail investors
• Whether alternatives offer an uncorrelated option to bonds and equities
• How higher interest rates and inflation impact alternatives

Featuring Mathew Kaleel, Janus Henderson
Moderated by David McDonald, CFA IMAP

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA IMAP

•  What Asset Allocation decisions are you making?
• What is your view on bonds vs equities and domestic vs international?
• What will the RBA and Federal Reserve choose to do in 2023?
• What are the risk events in 2023?
• Australian equity outlook and sector views

 Featuring:

Victor Huang, Milliman

Marcus Bogdan, Blackmore Capital

Leon de Wet, Elston Asset Management 

Kieran Rooney, Evergreen Consultants

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA -  IMAP 

• What is your value proposition for different groups of clients and how to create a sustainable service option
• Technology to implement your proposition and communicate efficiently with clients 
• ESG: what are client preferences and how can advisors become comfortable in discussing ESG with clients. 
• Ethical thinking in dealing with clients
• Geopolitics: handling client concerns
• Communicating with clients around volatility and appropriate actions or need to not make changes if not appropriate 

Featuring:
James Freeman, Philo Capital Advisers
Nick Mitchell, Mason Stevens
Steven Tang, Zenith Investment Partners
Rick Di Cristoforo, Morningstar
 
Moderated by David McDonald, CFA -  IMAP

• What is your value proposition for different groups of clients and how to create a sustainable service option
• Technology to implement your proposition and communicate efficiently with clients 
• ESG: what are client preferences and how can advisors become comfortable in discussing ESG with clients. 
• Ethical thinking in dealing with clients
• Geopolitics: handling client concerns
• Communicating with clients around volatility and appropriate actions or need to not make changes if not appropriate 

Featuring:
James Freeman, Philo Capital Advisers
Nick Mitchell, Mason Stevens
Steven Tang, Zenith Investment Partners
Rick Di Cristoforo, Morningstar
 
Moderated by David McDonald, CFA -  IMAP 

• Perpetual's views on current macro-economic and market issues
• Inflation, interest rates and geopolitics 
• Views on key asset classes. Equities v Bonds, alternatives. Offshore v domestic assets. 
• Volatility - is it expected to continue?
• Client communication with an emphasis on coping with volatility

• Targeting the healthcare and essential services retail sectors
• Investing here in contrast to other asset classes
• Investment opportunities & considerations 
• Approaching investment in the sector

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA of IMAP

• Recent market volatility and outlook 
• Approaches to risk management
• What works for clients and the value of education
• Benefits of managed accounts and using external investment experts 

Moderated by David McDonald, CFA of IMAP

• Global and local inflation outlook
• Economic growth: Are we in for a recession, stagflation or neither
• The impact of growth and inflation on real assets
• What is worst outcome for real assets?
• Which real asset sub classes offer inflation protection and how?
• Liquidity issues and access to real assets for managed accounts
• The impact of covid and work from home on office property

• Demographic and generational trends in China and Asia
• Implications for portfolio construction
• Changes in Asia over past decade and whether geographic allocation is still valid
• How to achieve exposure - directly or indirectly
• Sector specific issues
• Implications of Asian trends for global growth 

• How are you changing portfolios in response to rising inflation and interest rates?
• Now that bond yields are over 3% are you reconsidering adding to fixed income in portfolios?
• What other asset classes do you like in this environment?
• Is it too late to sell long duration assets now or switch out of high growth managers?
• How do you see rising inflation impacting equity markets?
•  What parts of the equity market do you prefer in an environment of rising rates and high inflation?
• What sectors do you see as potential offering inflation protection?

• The impact of higher interest rates and inflation when selecting managers
• The concept of style adjusted alpha
• We've seen a switch from growth equities to value. Is this likely to be a short-lived phenomenon or could higher bond rates dampen the performance of high growth stocks?
• The search for protection against inflation in the current environment
• Ukraine and Russia and any impact on growth 
• Predicting long-term profitability and success of individual companies
• Regional preferences within global equities and the importance of geographical exposure. 
• The importance of valuation and short-term performance?

 What are investors asking their adviser about?

What is the source of inflation – supply driven or labor market – which will prove significant in the long run?

How quickly will the Fed raise rates and what are they watching most closely?

How are investors reacting to rising interest rates?

How might market respond in 2022 to the current economic conditions?

What is the role of real assets in the portfolio?

What role do real asset play for Australian investors?

What are the implications of the Ukrainian conflict for investment markets?

Has the spike in energy prices accelerated the potential to include alternative energy sources in portfolios?

Moderated by David McDonald,CFA IMAP Investment Specialist

 Who is starting SMSFs and what are their motivations?

Who is making the investment decisions once the SMSF is established?

Relation of the SMSF strategy to the mandate for the managed account portfolios

Incorporation of other assets into the way the portfolio is managed

Role of ESG in SMSF portfolios 

Advantages of using managed accounts for SMSFs

What are main assets in SMSF and what is missing?

Moderated by David McDonald, IMAP Investment Specialist

 The events of 2021:

Which asset classes/sectors did well and which ones didn't perform?

The reversal in the value vs growth story and performance of the tech sector

What happened in fixed income given inflation fears and expectations of rate rises?

For January 2022:

How did markets perform?

What have been the main drivers for this performance?

What concerns and questions did your clients have?

Is the "correction" over or we can expect continued volatility?

For 2022:

What you are recommending for portfolio positioning?

What are your expectations for interest rates and inflation?

 What are major questions and concerns that clients might have?

 Moderated by David McDonald, IMAP Investment Specialist

• How ESG is integrated into the Responsible Listed Infrastructure fund 
• The different approaches to ESG across managers and how they have changed over the years
• Why the UN Sustainable Development Goals are a natural "benchmark"
• Whether there has been an uptick in clients wanting ESG solutions 
• Is net zero is achievable in listed infrastructure? What would that mean to portfolios and portfolio construction? 

 Moderated by Toby Potter, IMAP Chair 

• Alternative strategies and how Managed Account portfolio managers think about them
• The role of Alternatives in portfolios and the level of exposure appropriate in portfolios
• Whether Alternative strategies be thought of as part of the way of managing volatility or as a return generator
• Their short and medium term outlook for investment markets and how that colours their view of the use of Alternatives

Moderated by Toby Potter, IMAP Chair 

·         What are the differences between NFP and taking on an individual client?

·         ESG or ethical considerations are obviously more likely to be significant. How do these tend to manifest in their requirements?

·         What pointers do you have for advice practices that would like to develop a NFP component to their business?

•  What use is made of ETFs in managed account portfolios and is this changing as FUM in managed accounts grows?
• What issues can this give rise to?
• How are these issues addressed? 
•  What are the roles of the various participants in particular the issuer and market makers?
•  What are the particular challenges of fixed interest ETFs?
• How can a portfolio manager efficiently switch between similar ETFs?