Asset Allocation Summit February 4, 5 & 6, 2009 Toronto

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Conference Agenda

Session 4:

1:30-2:10 - The Ties Between Pension Funding & Investment Strategy
Ian Edelist, Principal, Eckler Ltd.

The “perfect storm” of 2000-2002 had a few casualties. Pension managers and plan sponsors said they learned from the perfect storm and they began to implement some strategies to mitigate such risk. But did they ask themselves the right questions and allow them to survive the meltdown of 2008? This presentation will explore the relationship between pension funding and investment policies, and help answer the following questions:

What end goal are we trying to achieve with our investment policies?
How should our investment policy interact with a funding policy?
What is the exposure to our organization when there is a shock to the markets?
What strategies can genuinely mitigate risks to our organization and our pension plan?



2:10-2:50 - Real Estate Investment Strategies: The Case For Real Estate
Zelick L. Altman, Managing Director, Canada, LaSalle Investment Management

Real estate has long been accepted as an asset class that can provide a degree of protection from the effects of inflation. It offers low correlation to other asset classes; it is relatively illiquid and it requires a long-term commitment. This session will look at the role of real estate in a pension fund, opportunities for investment and how to implement and manage a real estate portfolio.

Real estate as an asset class
What real estate offers to a pension fund
Real estate's correlation with stocks and bonds
Historical performance
What we can expect in the future
The role of diversification in a real estate portfolio
The role of value added investment strategies in today's market
Closed end vs. open end funds



3:30-3:45 NETWORKING BREAK

2:50-3:30 - Socially Responsible Investing
Sarah Smith, Sales & Marketing Representative, Jantzi Research Inc.

Socially responsible investing incorporates non-financial environmental, social and ethical criteria into the investment decision process. It is receiving increasing attention, generating interest amongst institutional investors and public pension funds. Increasingly, pension plans are considering these issues as part of their investment analysis and fiduciary responsibility. This session will examine social investing opportunities and considerations.

? Corporate engagement and socially responsible investing
? Social screens: criteria for responsible investment
? Economically targeted investment: learning responsible investment
? Socially responsible investing: trends and returns
? Mission-based investing



3:45-4:25 - Separating Alpha from Beta
Adam E. Adamou, Managing Partner & Director, Caseridge Capital Corporation

For the past three decades, investors have used the alpha/beta paradigm to point out portfolio returns and describe investment objectives. However, there is growing consensus that the quest for alpha has in fact been driven by a dangerous bet on beta through leverage and by “doubling down” on the dominant industry trading trends. The quest for alpha is also a quest for the identification of new trends and once a trend is identified a “hive” mentality in the hedge fund industry takes over with money flowing quickly into these trends; this reinforces the trend and results in additional leveraged calls on the trends as the funds “surf the wave”. In this framework, portfolios stand to benefit immensely from separate portfolio management of alpha and beta. This discussion will review:

? What is separate portfolio management of alpha and beta?
? Benefits of separation to both investors and investment managers
? Adding value in the form of "pure alpha" strategies



4:25-5:00 - Protection over Prediction
Rana Chauhan, Chief Investment Strategist, Counsel Wealth Management

This presentation discusses why predicting market events, even though it seems easy in hindsight, is one of the most difficult things. And a better approach is to seek protection from larger uncertainties. A sound intellectual framework makes more sense than a prediction based framework.

- The mistakes investors and allocators make
- Understanding the downside of an investment when applied to a portfolio
- A simple framework makes more sense than a complex framework