* Subject to change
Hong Kong - 5th March
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Registration & breakfast
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Welcome address from Investment Week
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KEYNOTE - Navigating a new world order: Achieving investable resilience against all odds
After decades of relative stability, investors are operating in a more contested, fragmented and unpredictable world. This candid, wide-ranging conversation unpacks the macro and geopolitical questions shaping today’s investment mindset – from inflation and elections to trade wars and technology rivalry. It’s less about forecasts and more about frameworks for thinking clearly in an increasingly complex world.
- We’re in an era of extreme geopolitical tension, which is impacting supply chains, currencies, trust, national security, trade barriers and more. How does all this reshape capital flows?
- One area everyone looks to as a gamechanger in various ways is AI. Is this the answer to drive productivity in the face of so much uncertainty and risk? Are financial returns likely to keep pace with the speed of deployment?
- How do you answer the $64m question – are we in an AI investment bubble, or at the start of a genuine structural transformation in finance?
- Given what you have shared, what do you think should investors be doing with AI right now? And what are the most dangerous mistakes you see?
- However, if we see convergence in AI models, are we quietly increasing systemic fragility rather than resilience?
- That brings us naturally to governance, because resilience isn’t just about models, it’s about oversight. With this in mind - from an ESG and board perspective, what questions should directors be asking about AI risk and accountability?
- Widening the lens beyond AI, is sustainability in Asia still a structural growth story, or is capital becoming more selective and pragmatic?
Speaker
Dr S H Ho Professor of Banking and Finance, and Associate Dean (Research), School of Business
Director of Research Centre for ESG The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
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PANEL DISCUSSION - Rethinking risk, time horizons and asset allocation in a less predictable world
This session explores whether uncertainty is now structural rather than cyclical, and how that changes the way investors frame risk, time horizons and conviction. Against this backdrop, how should investors think about uncertainty when historical playbooks no longer fit?
- From your vantage point running discretionary and managed portfolios across Asia, what feels structurally different today compared with the last decade of investing? Where are the old playbooks clearly breaking down?
- If uncertainty is now structural, not cyclical, how does the traditional 60/40 framework need to evolve to still serve wealth clients, or does strategic asset allocation itself need redesigning?
- How are you redefining “risk” inside portfolios? Is volatility still the right anchor, or are drawdowns, liquidity and geopolitical exposure becoming more central?
- In an environment where correlations can flip quickly, how should diversification be rethought? What actually diversifies portfolios today?
- Asia sits at the centre of geopolitical realignment. How are you positioning portfolios around US/China tensions, capital flow fragmentation and policy divergence? Is regionalisation reshaping strategic allocation?
- How do you balance shorter-term tactical flexibility with long-term conviction when clients are exposed to constant headlines and market noise? What governance or decision-making structures help avoid reactive shifts?
- Are clients’ time horizons long term enough, or has behavioural pressure effectively shortened them more than ever? How does that influence the way you construct portfolios?
- Where do you see the biggest complacency in markets today – inflation durability, fiscal sustainability, policy coordination, AI productivity assumptions? Or something else?
- If you were launching a flagship portfolio for Asia-based wealth clients in 2026, what would look meaningfully different from a portfolio built five years ago? Asset mix, liquidity profile, alternatives exposure, currency positioning?
- What single indicator or signal are you watching most closely over the next 12–24 months that could challenge current asset allocation consensus?
Speakers
Regional and Hong Kong Head of Discretionary and Funds, Asia Pacific, Wealth and Premier Solutions
HSBC
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The Global Industrial Renaissance: The Strategic Reset in Manufacturing, Infrastructure, and Defence
The world has entered a multi-decade period of surging infrastructure and defence spending. Simultaneously, elevated geopolitical uncertainty is driving nations to reorient supply chains towards their most trusted economic allies. Against this backdrop, First Trust will detail the truly global nature of the opportunity in defence spending, going far beyond the typical companies most associate with the theme.
We also believe the closely related opportunity in infrastructure is not just in Germany or Europe, but globally. We’ll explore which firms will be instrumental in delivering the systems and equipment necessary to safeguard countries against evolving security challenges, and which materials could prove essential.
Sponsor
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Networking break
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Empowering the underestimated in emerging markets
Emerging Markets remain a major engine of global growth. In this session, we explore how active investing – powered by targeted, constructive engagement – uncovers under-recognised quality businesses both within Asia and across the broader Emerging Markets universe.
By focusing on fundamentals, long-term structural growth drivers, and governance improvements, active engagement becomes a key source of differentiation and a meaningful return enhancer. We will also discuss how disciplined stock selection, portfolio construction, and risk awareness enable investors to capture long-term value across a complex and fast-evolving EM landscape.
Sponsor
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Blind Spots, Flows, and Opportunity: Decoding EM Debt in a New Macro Regime
TT discusses how today’s shifting macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop is reshaping opportunities across emerging market debt. The presentation explores how blind spots in hard-currency markets and flow dynamics and market structure in local markets can uncover value overlooked by traditional EM debt frameworks - illustrating how TT’s differentiated process identifies non-consensus opportunities in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Sponsor
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Panel Discussion: Rewriting the playbook: Asset allocation in a regime shift
With markets now operating under a different set of rules – stickier inflation, geopolitical tension, shifting fiscal dynamics and less predictable correlations – allocators must build portfolios that can adapt across regimes.
- How is asset allocation evolving in response to higher volatility, dispersion and structural uncertainty?
- How do traditional 60/40 models now become more resilient?
- Where do alternatives genuinely enhance diversification?
- And how should managers think about liquidity, duration, and risk budgeting in a world where macro assumptions can shift quickly?
- What is the one macro assumption investors still rely on that is most likely to be wrong?
- If you were building a portfolio from scratch today, what would you approach differently?
Speakers
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Lunch and close of event