Newport Beach, California, January 18, 2017 – Canterbury Consulting, an independent investment advisory firm overseeing $17.4 billion for foundations, endowments, and families, recently hosted the 2017 Investment Forum, Canterbury’s annual assembly of some of the world’s foremost investment management leaders. Attendees were treated to timely investment strategies and insights from notable representatives of Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., PIMCO, Templeton Global Macro, and HS Management Partners.
Liz Ann Sonders, Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., spoke at the signature event hosted at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel on January 5. Sonders predicted fiscal stimulus from a Trump administration, but also alluded to an unavoidable sea change.
"Talk of the deficit and debt has taken a back seat to the benefits of fiscal stimulus via tax/regulatory reform and infrastructure spending,” said Sonders. “But at some point we will need to pay the piper."
In addition to Sonders, the forum featured prominent experts who provided exclusive forecasts and insights on critical investment topics for more than 150 of Canterbury Consulting’s endowment, foundation, healthcare, and family clients.
Mihir Worah, managing director for PIMCO’s Newport Beach office and CIO of Asset Allocation and Real Return, addressed asset allocation in his presentation. Worah is a generalist portfolio manager who manages a variety of fixed income, commodity, and multi-asset portfolios.
“Equity and credit valuations appear to be close to historical long-term averages and we don’t believe a recession is imminent,” said Worah, “Returns from traditional asset classes are likely to be lower, and therefore investors need to consider alternative sources of return.”
Senior Vice President and Director of Research for Templeton Global Macro, Sonal Desai, Ph.D., focused her presentation on regional and country-specific macro factors, which included interest rates, inflation, economic growth, sovereign debt levels, and currencies.
“With strong employment, solid economic growth, and increasing wages, an increase in inflation in 2017 is almost a given," said Dr. Desai.
Harry W. Segalas, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of HS Management Partners (HSMP), presented existing and forthcoming global equities concerns and opportunities.
“We look to top-line growth to be the primary driver of profits for global companies,” said Segalas. “Real demand must drive earnings progress, and we see some of the strongest areas of growth coming from the shift to digital, e-commerce, and mobile, as well as developing markets.”
This is the ninth year Canterbury Consulting has hosted the annual invitation-only investment forum.
“This year’s investor forum once again showcased leaders in the investment-management industry, and our expert speakers engaged with the audience on wide-ranging topics, including the potential impact of the incoming presidential administration and a number of investment themes and opportunities,” said Debashis Chowdhury, President, Canterbury Consulting. “We continue to take pride in creating an environment in which trustees and asset owners alike can gain knowledge directly from top-notch investment managers, while also networking and collaborating with peers on common challenges.”