Starting next week, some of the biggest names in institutional investing will gather virtually for the first Institutional Investor Festival.
The online event, held over two days in December, will bring together institutional allocators and consultants from across North America to discuss the controversies, debates, and news that dominated 2020. Speakers will include the leaders of some of the largest pension funds, asset managers, and hedge funds, with many more institutional allocators set to lead small-group discussions with peers.
The Festival will kick off on December 10 with a conversation between Chris Ailman, chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, and Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive officer of BlackRock. After the first afternoon of discussion, the event will continue a week later on December 17, with Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio set to close out the Festival.
Other speakers will include chief investment officers and other high-ranking investment officers from pensions, endowments, foundations, and health-care funds, including corporate pension veteran Robin Diamonte and Massachusetts pension chief Michael Trotsky. Jennifer Johnson, the president and CEO of Franklin Resources, will also speak in a one-on-one discussion with Institutional Investor editor-in-chief Kip McDaniel.
Topics will include some of the major investment stories of 2020: the volatility trades that sank pension and hedge funds alike; private equity’s race to invest billions as the market crashed; the day oil went to zero. Other panels will tackle cultural issues including racism in asset management and the future of remote work.
The Festival will be open exclusively to institutional allocators and consultants, along with members of the Institutional Investor and Alternative Investor Institutes.
Investors and consultants interested in attending the event on December 10 and 17 can register now on the event website.
