CAIA Association Enlists Investment Industry Luminaries to Define and Explore “The Portfolio for the Future™”

March 24, 2022 at 09:00 AM EDT

As we enter a new era of investment management, fiduciaries will need to work smarter, more creatively to deliver investor outcomes; new report from CAIA provides the roadmap

The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association, the professional body for the global alternative investment industry, today unveiled its latest research and thought leadership initiative: Portfolio for the Future™.

“We are in the twilight of a four-decade economic super wave driven by unprecedented accommodative monetary policy by global central banks and are embarking on a new era that will have far-reaching implications for investors, fiduciaries, and other stakeholders working in or impacted by the asset management profession,” said John Bowman, Executive Vice President for the CAIA Association. “With all this in mind, the industry needs to be re-oriented back towards a north star of sophisticated portfolio construction, one that prioritizes client and beneficiary outcomes and works tirelessly to achieve them in a long term, sustainable way.”

As the CAIA team points out, global investable assets have now reached $153 trillion, with approximately $18 trillion of that made up of alternatives. But yields are flat to negative around the globe, inflation has roared back to life after a 40-year hibernation; and return expectations for a 60/40 portfolio are a meager 3-4% annually for the next decade. At the same time, the future needs of pensions, endowments, families, and individuals cannot be satisfied by a mere 3-4% per year, so what must the industry be prepared to do?

To answer that all-important question, CAIA has enlisted five of the most respected leaders in the asset management world to weigh in on the five distinct marks that will define the “Portfolio for the Future™ including:

Broadly Diversified: Commonfund CEO and CIO Mark Anson, CAIA, argues that after years of complacency by market participants and the proliferation of index-driven approaches, fiduciaries must take a close look at the risks of “beta creep” and become more creative in expanding their opportunity set.
Less Liquid: Andrea Auerbach, Cambridge Associates global head of private investments, makes the case as to why investment professionals must look to differentiated sources of return, particularly private capital, with the 60/40 portfolio looking unlikely to deliver anywhere near its historical returns.
Rooted in a Fiduciary Mindset: Roger Urwin, Global Head of Content at the Thinking Ahead Institute, lays out a clear path for how and why asset managers must develop a fiduciary mindset, driven by an existential understanding of purpose, alignment, and service to the client.
Actively Engaged: Former CalPERs’ Managing Director of Board Governance and Sustainability Anne Simpson explains how the age of the universal owner has arrived, with clients demanding both positive financial and social outcomes from their capital allocation and underlying holdings, meaning the Portfolio for the Future™ will be much more insistent and proactive in ensuring that it contributes to a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow.
Dependent on Operational Alpha: Ashby Monk, Executive Director of the Stanford Research Initiative on Long Term Investing, proclaims that the Portfolio for the Future™ will be driven by firms that innovate and exploit new organizational and operational models to save cost, reduce risk, and pioneer new investment ideas.

The five attributes above provide the industry with an actionable roadmap as the Portfolio for the Future™ rapidly becomes the portfolio of now.

“The opportunity for alpha is not gone, but the low hanging fruit has long been harvested, and the path towards higher absolute returns has gotten far more nuanced. To that end, we’re very excited to be sharing our findings around the Portfolio for the Future™, and call upon the industry to begin making real, lasting, substantive change in the ways in which it manages its own operations and engages with the end investor,” added William J. Kelly, President and CEO of CAIA Association. “The future is an exciting place, but it cannot be properly navigated using the approaches of the past.”

To access the complete Portfolio for the Future™, please visit: https://caia.org/portfolio-for-the-future

About the CAIA Association

The CAIA Association is a global professional body dedicated to creating greater alignment, transparency, and knowledge for all investors, with a specific emphasis on alternative investments. A Member-driven organization representing more than 12,000 professionals in more than 100 countries, CAIA Association advocates for the highest ethical standards. The organization provides unbiased insight on a broad range of investment strategies and industry issues, key among them being efforts to bring greater diversification to portfolio construction decisions to achieve better long-term investor outcomes. To learn more about the CAIA Association and how to become part of the organization’s mission, please visit https://caia.org/.