Alternatives are essential

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:12:26

RICK RIEDER

Now it's a pretty extraordinary gathering together of different opinions, different perspectives. Clients of ours from around the world, engaging on topics that range the whole gamut.

00:00:12:27 - 00:00:26:20

MIKE PYLE

As an investor, as somebody who thinks hard about markets and asset allocation, there's nothing more satisfying than being in direct conversation with our clients who are thinking about the same problems, thinking about how they're going to solve them.

00:00:26:20 - 00:00:42:18

AMANDA LYNAM

There was a noticeable tone of optimism and proactivity amongst the clients that we met with. There was an acknowledgment that the opportunity set is very dynamic. But rather than kind of retreating, clients were trying to be proactive and think about how to reposition their portfolios in this environment.

00:00:42:19 - 00:00:52:16

BRENT PATRY

While there's a note of caution out there, there's certainly a lot of hope and optimism. And I think some agreement that there's resiliency in the economy and resiliency in the capital markets.

00:00:52:17 - 00:00:59:28

DIANA SCHWARTZ

They are thinking about how to navigate the markets in today's environment, volatility, how do they introduce more private markets into their portfolio.

00:00:59:29 - 00:01:07:25

JEFF SHEN

Alternative data, machine learning, artificial intelligence are really, thriving, yeah, in this type of environment.

00:01:07:26 - 00:01:10:22

MATT HARRIS

We’re in what I would refer to as a golden age for infrastructure, right? I mean, the next 25 to 50 years are going to drive a significant investment cycle in infrastructure.

00:01:20:13 - 00:01:57:22

RICK RIEDER

Now we start every investment theory around what is the risk-free rate, and then you build off of that. What I think is interesting about what we're talking about today, is we're talking about, you know, now more so than ever in markets, is actually the risk free rate is it actually risk free? And there’s actually stability in a whole series of other assets public, private. How do you build in a different set of portfolio tools? It used to be fixed income was interest rates. Now it's income, is it public, is it private? What part of the yield curve, is it convex is it not convex.

So the whole myriad. And I think you learn from a lot of different people in terms of, you know, where do you go with that? Where do you think the best value is. So it's exciting to hear about what people think about it.

00:01:57:23 - 00:02:13:19

AMANDA LYNAM

There are lots of pockets of opportunity. Some of those pockets, I'm surprised at how much Europe has come up in the conversation so far. There's been a lot of discussion about banks and private credit working together as part of this financing continuum. Lots of comments about dispersion.

00:02:13:20 - 00:02:54:06

MIKE PYLE

What I think we've clearly seen over the past couple of months, is an unwind in, some sentiment, sentiment that maybe was a little extended, coming into the start of this year around, the US being the only show and the only story in town. And so, what have I been, you know, suggesting to clients? I've been saying, listen, I think it's hard to take big directional views on some of these questions, questions that are going to play out not just over quarters, but years or decades, you know, but how in the markets that we face right now, can we still generate alpha, can we still generate diversification? And there I think, you know, the answer is there are ways of doing that. And our investors are delivering.

00:02:54:07 - 00:03:22:03

AMANDA LYNAM

So I attended a credit panel earlier this morning, and I would say the overwhelming theme was a focus on kind of back to basics credit work. So focusing on underwriting, on structure, on quality of businesses and really kind of zooming in and finding opportunities amid the volatility. A lot of focus on geographical diversification. But I would say in general, the framework was kind of just how do we make sure that the back-to-basics credit work can see these companies through to the other side, and also find opportunities for investors?

00:03:22:04 - 00:03:33:00

RICK RIEDER

It's a little bit of a kid in a candy store in that if you're intellectually inspired by what's happening in markets, industry, philanthropy, healthcare. This is where you can get a bunch of it.

00:03:33:01 - 00:03:45:14

MIKE PYLE

Our investors are stronger because of our dialogues with our clients, and we recognize how lucky we are to be able to convene such an extraordinary group as this, and to participate in conversation. So, thank you all.