Institutional Investor is pleased to welcome back our flagship consultants forum for candid conversation, deep analysis, and peer-to-peer exchange.
The investment landscape continues to evolve at a historic pace. The sustained higher‑rate environment is reshaping asset allocation frameworks and exposing new fault lines across global markets. Innovation—powered by rapid advancements in data, automation, and AI—is accelerating structural change across industries and portfolios. Meanwhile, geopolitical realignments and shifting trade relationships are redefining global connectivity and ushering in a more complex, regionally driven economic order.
Against this backdrop, the ability to interpret, adapt, and engage has never been more critical.
Join us this October for forward‑looking insights from leading practitioners, practical guidance for navigating today's uncertainty, and meaningful dialogue with peers who are confronting the same challenges and opportunities.
Ready to join? Or learn more? Contact our team!
Featured Sessions from Last Year's Agenda:
Expert Analysis: Navigating Macro-Economic & Policy Uncertainty
Our opening expert panel guided attendees through the critical issues defining 2025 — trade frictions, a falling dollar, a growing deficit, policy uncertainty, and the multi-polar world — setting the scene for discussions across both days.
Consultant CEO/CIO Perspective: Keep Calm & Carry On
Leaders from Callan, FEG, LCG Associates, and Marquette Associates shared their biggest takeaways from a volatile year, their evolving approaches to risk and asset allocation, and their outlook heading into 2026.
Global Private Equity Outlook
A data-driven analysis from Bain & Company examining distributions, exits, valuations, and what the next wave of private equity growth could look like — including what the democratization of private equity means for institutional investors.
Allocator Perspective: Strategic Rebalancing & Liquidity Management
A candid panel discussion on how allocators are navigating rebalancing and liquidity management amid elevated volatility, greater private markets allocations, and lower distributions.
Keynote: Leveraging Emotion for High-Performance Leadership
Dr. Ethan Kross, bestselling author of Chatter and Shift and one of the world's leading experts on emotion regulation, delivered a compelling keynote on harnessing emotions for exceptional leadership and decision-making.
Geopolitics 2026: Forecasting the Future of Global Investment Risk
Jack Bartling, Executive Director of International Government Relations at JPMorganChase Center for Geopolitics, offered a forward-looking conversation on navigating geopolitical risk across institutional portfolios.
Featured Panel: Investing Amid the Next Phase of Globalization
A practical look at the U.S. versus international markets as shifting trade dynamics, geopolitical uncertainty, and evolving economic policies rewrite long-held assumptions in real time.
The training and education of investment teams, boards, and committees has rapidly become a priority for many asset management firms and allocating institutions.
With our stated goal of supporting and strengthening our community of investment professionals globally, Institutional Investor is excited to be partnering with the Allocator Training Institute on the Emerging Talent Academy (“the Academy”). The Academy offers accredited training to board and committee members as well as investment team and compliance staff at management firms and institutional investors.
The Academy’s training program aims to further equip investment professionals with the knowledge and quantitative tools they need to succeed professionally and on behalf of their organizations. Workshops and training include focus on performance calculations, measuring factor exposures, portfolio attribution, operationalizing processes, capital market assumptions, and investment due diligence.
Training Program Content
Participants will gain hands-on experience through case studies and interactive sessions. Each part of the Academy’s curriculum has been designed around the core concepts of utility and applicability, allowing participants to build the necessary knowledge base that will be useful in their role as an institutional allocator.
- Strategic vs. Tactical Asset Allocation Setting SAA targets and their impact, tactical allocation moves
- AI for allocators: examples of tools and processes that work
- Investment Policy Statements Spending policies, benchmark selection, allowable assets
- Capital Market Assumptions: building blocks approach, implementation, and uses
- Active vs. Passive SPIVA report findings, separating beta from alpha outcomes
- Evaluating Investment Managers: methods to assess probability of ex-ante alpha, memos
- Quantitative Tools: practical tools and heuristics to quickly evaluate data
- Case Studies Including: endowment troubles in ’08, Hartford Healthcare, UPS and Kodak pensions, PSERS
The program will provide frameworks, tools, and real-world insights to enhance decision-making and investment effectiveness. This two-day workshop runs alongside the Consultants & Institutional Investors Roundtable, offering a unique opportunity for emerging professionals to learn, network, and engage with seasoned institutional investors.
Led by Alex Ambroz, CEO of the Allocator Training Institute, and featuring industry experts including Cynthia Steer, Senior Advisor at Institutional Investor.
