L&G Talks Asset Management

We’re promised so many different things that are going to ‘change the world’ – from ever-smarter smartphones to space tourism. And investing for the long term means that each of us in the market are trying to assess what are the most meaningful changes, the impact they might have on our portfolios and where the new investment opportunities might be. But a question we’re so often asked by allocators and advisers is what’s a genuine long-term investment trend, and what’s a flash-in-the-pan investment fad?

In this conversation, we put together a method investors can use to differentiate the two and ask our guest experts their thoughts on some very esoteric topics, from vaping and cryptocurrencies to electric vehicles and e-sports. Not to be done all at the same time though.

·         Howie Li, Head of ETFs

·         John Roe, Head of Multi-Asset Funds

·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.

This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

With an August bank holiday hitting the mid-thirties, it feels like summer is going out with a bang. That’s why we thought we’d record a summer special episode of our own while we’re joined by some incredibly talented work experience guests at Legal & General Investment Management. Following our episode on millenials and how they’re saving and investing, we took the opportunity to ask these members of Generation Z how they’re looking at money, what are the financial features that most appeal and what they wish was taught more about personal finance in schools.

·         Blessing Verrall, Work Experience

·         George Bentley, Work Experience

·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager, LGIM

·         Eliza Grimond, Content Manager, LGIM

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.

This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

Christine Lagarde has a CV that makes many of us jealous: partner at the prestigious law firm Baker McKenzie by age 31, finance minister for France during the financial crisis, Chairman of the G20 in 2011 before becoming Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and most recently, nominated to the presidency of the European Central Bank. 

In this episode, we’re discussing how investors can look at changes of central bank leadership and why they matter for dealing with both the ‘five minutes to midnight’ problems and the much less pressing but no less important structural issues facing developed economies. Where many have praised Lagarde’s (small-p) political skills, how can we contrast this to market fears about Jerome Powell over at the Federal Reserve? And here at home, what can we expect from the as-yet unknown replacement for Mark Carney?

Read Hetal’s post on Lagarde’s appointment on our Future World Blog: https://futureworldblog.lgim.com/categories/insights/ecb-the-changing-of-lagarde/?cid=lgimtalks

·         Hetal Mehta, Senior European Economist

·         Chris Jeffery, Strategist

·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.

This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

We’ve unintentionally created a series in the past few months on the podcast. From the episode with Richard Romer-Lee which touched on the importance of communication with customers to the one with Helena Morrissey about how technology can help advisers reach more of the ‘uninvested’, these form a theme about how we as an industry are communicating with clients.

This week we’re continuing that conversation by inviting Andy O’Shea, Investment Director and Head of Fund Solutions at Pharon IFA, to talk to us about the ways he’s managing client conversations about risk and return expectations, how diversification is important but can easily confuse customers, the burgeoning role of thematics and alternatives, and how we need to look beyond headline costs to an investment’s fundamental value.

Also joining the podcast is Senior Investment Sales Manager, Matt Kemp, to provide his experience of the retail market and briefly discuss his West Ham fanzine, Over Land and Sea.

Read Matt’s latest insights on our Future World Blog: https://futureworldblog.lgim.com/authors/matthew-kemp/?cid=lgimtalks  

·         Andy O’Shea, Investment Director and Head of Fund Solutions, Pharon IFA

·         Matthew Kemp, Senior Investment Sales Manager

·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.

This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

While his distinctive Canadian twang might give him away, but Howie came to the UK to study law and fell in love with the place. A lawyer by training, he saw that would provide a useful structure of skills for transferring to a more commercial industry. 

From his time advising hedge funds to his current role as Head of ETFs, Howie has seen the index industry transformed over the years. Just 10 years ago, many investors’ first question about ETFs was what they were – now it’s so much more exciting where investors looking at the whole range of indexing opportunities such as thematic and factor-based investing.

Howie loves to travel with his family – especially to Italy on account of the food – but having moved to London has meant that his earlier passion for cars is a touch impractical…

Find out more about our ETF capabilities here: http://www.lgimetf.com/institutional/uk/en-gb?cid=lgimtalks

·         Howie Li, Head of ETFs

·         Robert StGeorge, Content Manager

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.

This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

Many investors don’t think they need an ETF trading strategy – that is until it’s too late. After all, how different can it be from trading a stock? 

But buying and selling ETFs requires a much clearer view on the liquidity of the underlying securities. According to this week’s guest, Annacarla Dellepiane, Head of ETF Capital Markets, employing best practices can shave crucial basis points off of your next transaction. This can include considering market volatility in relation to bid/ask spreads and avoiding specific market events such as opens, close or the dates of major announcements.

Find out more about our ETF capabilities here: http://www.lgimetf.com/institutional/uk/en-gb?cid=lgimtalks

·         Annacarla Dellepiane, Head of ETF Capital Markets

·         Robert StGeorge, Content Manager

We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.

This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

Where have all the deficit hawks gone? With mainstream politicians no longer comparing government finances to household saving habits, it appears that a new wave of fiscal spending is on the horizon.   This is part of a growing debate around Modern Monetary Theory, also known as MMT or “a dangerous proposition” if you’re the ECB, about why spending should only be constrained by inflation, how unemployment exists by choice, and that fiscal policy should be the main tool to control economic cycles.  In a world where central banks have become persistently more dovish as inflation targets are missed, the tenets of MMT mean that it has become much easier for politicians to run up larger deficits. In this episode, we explore the potentially radical implications this theory and the changing political landscape could have for inflation and investors’ portfolios.  Find more of the team’s insights on Politics & Policy here: http://www.lgim.com/uk/en/insights/our-thinking/long-term-thinking/?cid=lgimtalks

  ·         Alex Mack, Fixed Income Fund Manager·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager  We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.  This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management. 

Sonja brings a wealth of experiences to her new role as Chief Investment Officer. But at school, her dream job would have been to become a professional horse-rider and fill her time with dressage and show jumping. An apprenticeship at Deutsche Bank introduced her to the world of finance but it was internships at DWS, a consulting practice and in marketing for a not-for-profit organisation which showed her where her career passions lay.  Sonja Laud discusses how there is no status quo for asset managers in a time of structural shifts in regulation, and client demand. But it’s also a sign that asset managers as an industry need to step up to the big societal issues on which clients are looking for action. With regards to LGIM, its clear to her that the next trillion under management will have to come from a very different source than the first.  Hear more about her personal experience with coaching and the importance of mentoring in this wide-reaching episode.  Quick note: This episode was recorded in the previous month while Sonja was still Deputy CIO so there might be a few confusing references!  ·         Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer·         Eliza Grimond, Content Manager  We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.  This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

We’d all love to predict with pinpoint accuracy the timing of any future bouts of volatility and the impact it would have for schemes’ returns. In turbulent times, investing can be like an endless game of ‘whack-a-mole’ – as one risk is removed, another can come to light. While fortune-telling might not yet be an exact science, there are still a number of methods defined benefit schemes can employ to manage their risk.  In this week’s episode, we look at how aligning your asset strategy to your long-term goals, rather than short-term market cycles, can help provide some portfolio protection. The team also discuss the benefits of using natural cashflows to meet the need for income which avoids the risk of selling assets in stressed conditions.   You can find the full article discussed in this episode here: http://www.lgim.com/uk/en/insights/our-thinking/client-solutions/managing-risk-in-turbulent-times.html?cid=lgimtalks

  ·         Femi Bart-Williams, Senior Solutions Strategy Manager·         Peter Boakes, Solutions Strategy Manager·         James Kinsley, Senior Consultant Relations Executive  We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the types of content you’d like to see covered.  This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

The responsibility for people’s financial futures has increasingly been transferred to the individual yet a broad majority of the population remain wary of investing. Asset managers, advisers and pension schemes need to emotionally engage people to make investing not only relevant but also appealing. Technology is by no means the panacea to this challenge but it can be a crucial component of that engagement.  The personal finance landscape has gone through a technological upheaval and yet still seems like it has a long way to go. From thoughtfully designed propositions to tailored user experiences, this episode explores some of the lessons learned from Legal & General’s efforts to ‘engage the nation’ in investing, the ways they’ve invested and developed their technology and what’s the future for the direct-to-consumer industry.  To find out more about the Personal Investing side of Legal & General visit https://www.legalandgeneral.com/investments/  

  We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the types of content you’d like to see covered.  This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.