Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Opening Welcome

Presenters:
Sara Hamilton, Founder and CEO, Family Office Exchange
Kristi Kuechler, President, FOX Private Investor Center™, Family Office Exchange

Risk Goes Incognito

Presenter:
James Grant, Founder and Editor, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

This session will address the risks and opportunities attending the decade-long manipulation of the most important prices in capitalism. Mr. Grant will share historical observations about the next big move in interest rates and the implications of this secular shift for investors.

The ETF Correlation Bubble: A Powder Keg?

Presenter:
Steven Bregman, President, Horizon Kinetics LLC

This session will discuss how traditional asset allocation has been impacted by the phenomenal growth of indexed products and share Mr. Bregman’s view that investors who believe they are appropriately diversified—by traditional standards—may be exposed to systemic and valuation risk.

Managing Risk Inherent in Direct Investments

Presenters:
M. Machua Millett, Esq., Managing Director, General Partner Liability Product Leader, Marsh USA, Inc.
Timothy Mungovan, Partner and Co-Chair, Litigation Department, Proskauer

When families and family offices become involved in direct investments, whether as lead or coinvestors, they take significant additional risks that need to be appropriately managed. Such risks include regulatory exposure and potential lawsuits from coinvestors, employees and other stakeholders in the investee companies, and sellers and potential buyers of investee companies. Effective strategies for managing and insuring against such risks will be discussed in detail.

Luncheon Panel: The Way Forward

Moderator:
Cathleen Rittereiser, Founder, Uncorrelated, LLC, Co-Author, Foundation and Endowment Investing and Top Hedge Fund Investors

CIO Panel:
Jason Klein, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Peter Pauley, Chief Investment Officer, Seven Valleys
Brandon Rath, Chief Investment Officer, Calamar Capital

Leading CIOs from family offices, endowments and foundations will discuss how they are dealing with disruption in the economic environment, the political climate, and the investment industry.

Panelists will delve into the macro outlook and asset allocation, debate active vs. passive and direct investing vs. funds, describe areas of opportunity, and determine the way forward.

Peer Dialogue Sessions

Members will select one peer exchange dialogue session from six topics of interest. All sessions will be facilitated by a member of the FOX team.

Please note, some discussion groups will be limited to specific network members or council members.

• FOX Direct Investing Network – Open to FOX Direct Investing Network members and investors, and family offices interested in direct investing.
• FOX Investment Network #1 – Tactical opportunities: where to invest in next six to eighteen months.
• FOX Investment Network #2 – Portfolio construction: asset allocation, segmented or goals-based portfolios, role of hedge funds, and active vs. passive for long-only equity.
• FOX Investment Network #3 – Family and Family Office topics of interest.
• FOX Strategic CIO Council (SCIOC) Meeting – Limited to members of the FOX Strategic CIO Council.
• FOX Advisors – Peer exchange for the advisors in attendance.

Breakout Sessions
Please select one of the following:

The Landscape of Infrastructure Investing: Islands of Opportunity in Oceans of Risk

Presenter:
Bruce Pflaum, Partner, EverStream Capital Management

This session will focus on public (liquid) and private (illiquid) approaches to infrastructure investing. It will highlight risk factors as well as investment considerations and review deployment opportunities including fund-of-funds, direct private equity infrastructure funds and syndicated coinvestments in the infrastructure sector.

Family Offices and Direct Investments: Due Diligence Best Practices and Costly Mistakes to Avoid

Presenters:
Bill Clogg, Senior Managing Director, Transaction Services, FTI Consulting
Simon Jewkes, Managing Director, Transaction Services, FTI Consulting

What do families tend to underestimate or overlook in the due diligence process? A single misstep in understanding the market of the target business, in evaluating the sustainability of product-line and customer-level profitability, or in assessing and motivating the management team, can wipe out a generation of wealth. The discussion will focus on the most common stages—commercial, operational, and financial—of performing due diligence, as well as how approaching due diligence from a cash flow perspective differs from an asset valuation approach.

Long Only Equity: Active, Passive and The Space Between

Presenter:
Kristi Kuechler, President, FOX Private Investor Center™, Family Office Exchange

Investors have been moving significant capital out of active long-only strategies due to the relatively small number of active managers that outperform the passive benchmark over time, especially relative to their fees. While indexed ETFs have been the primary beneficiary of this trend, many investors hesitate to accept the perceived inefficiencies of a cap-weighted strategy, and so have shown great interest in “smart beta” or factor-based strategies that combine active bets with a systematic investment approach. This session will discuss developments in active and passive investing, and further explore “the space between”.

Into Thin Air: Strategies for Surviving and Thriving Under Perilous Market Conditions

Presenter:
David Salem, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Windhorse Capital Management

It’s a big wide world, full of perils for investors and, for that very reason, replete with opportunities, especially for those who have carefully pondered whether and to what extent the past is a reliable prologue to the future. This session will outline a framework for assessing boundary conditions confronting long-term investors circa 2017, and suggest specific strategies and tactics for preserving and enhancing real wealth in coming years.

Closing Remarks

Presenter:
Alexandre Monnier, President, Family Office Exchange

Dutch Treat Dinners

FOX will arrange Dutch-treat dinners organized around topics of common interest for Forum attendees following the reception.

Topics will include:

• Rethinking Hedge Funds
• Rethinking Private Equity/Venture
• Rethinking Strategic Asset Allocation
• Rethinking Long Only Equity
• Direct Investing 

Additional information about these dinners will be available at the registration table at the event.