After two years of virtual gatherings, I’m thrilled to announce that the flagship Qontigo Investment Intelligence Summit will return in person this May.
This year’s Summit, which we have called ‘Together in ’22,’ will take place in London on May 5 and in New York on May 19. The two events will offer insights on some of the most important topics from industry thought leaders as well as Qontigo experts.
Last September we celebrated the second anniversary of Qontigo, launched in 2019 to bring together the analytics and indexing capabilities of Axioma, DAX and STOXX. These annual summits are an opportunity to present and discuss the latest developments in both fields, and to hear from practitioners, academics and industry partners on trends across the financial-services and technology spaces. The conference has become a key date for asset managers, asset owners, hedge-fund managers, ETF issuers and structured products participants, and for the team at Qontigo. We are particularly excited to be back together in person this year to connect ‘with you.’
Sustainability and climate risk
This year we will be covering a truly rich and wide menu of topics — from ESG to factor and thematic strategies. Key among them will be the subject of responsible investing, as few issues continue to dominate investors’ agendas as strongly these days.
Two panels will examine climate stress-testing. In one of them, we’ll hear from Sarah Hopkins and David Nelson from Willis Towers Watson (WTW) on the firm’s unique Climate Transition Value at Risk (CTVaR) methodology, which helps investors run a forward-looking, bottom-up evaluation of asset repricing risks in a decarbonization pathway. CTVaR lies at the center of the STOXX Willis Towers Watson Climate Transition Indices (CTIs), which are specifically designed to help investors manage climate-transition risks.
Next up, Bert Kramer of Ortec Finance will walk us through ways to model the impact of climate change on a portfolio. Founded by leading experts in the fields of econometrics and technology, Ortec Finance’s ESG and Climate solutions combine research-backed knowledge, advanced financial models and innovative technology.
ESG data and responsible investing
We’ll also hear from a panel of leading sustainability data providers on the challenges and opportunities of building sustainable portfolios. Panelists from Clarity AI, ISS ESG, RepRisk, SDI AOP and Sustainalytics will share current challenges and best practices for integrating ESG data into the portfolio construction process.
The London Summit will also feature Ronald van Dijk, Managing Director and Deputy Chief Investment Officer at APG of the Netherlands, to discuss the role and benefits of custom ESG indices. APG last year partnered with Qontigo to launch the iSTOXX APG World Responsible Investment (RI) Indices, a suite that incrementally layers in ESG, carbon and Sustainable Development Investments (SDI) ambitions.
In New York, Professor Roberto Rigobon from the MIT Sloan School of Management, one of the researchers leading MIT’s Aggregate Confusion Project, will deliver a keynote address on ‘The ESG Zoo and What to Do.’
Our own Melissa Brown and Rob Stubbs will dissect the expanding world of Sustainability ETFs to explore whether fund naming conventions actually mean anything for investors.
Finally, Andrew Ang, Head of Factors, Sustainable and Solutions for BlackRock Systematic, will close the day by sharing his unparalleled expertise in quantitative investing and dive deep into the topic of Sustainable Alpha.
Thematic and factor investing
The London summit will host a dedicated panel on thematic investing. We will give the floor to Rob Powell, Head of Thematic & Sector Product Strategy at BlackRock, and Qontigo’s Christoph Schon to hear how a changing world and market background in 2022 will affect an investment segment that’s boomed in recent years.
Nick Baltas, R&D, Portfolio Construction and Cross-Asset One-Delta Strategies at Goldman Sachs, will also take the London stage to share his thoughts on a topic that is top-of-mind with investors this year: inflation. In particular, Nick will discuss how systematic investing can provide solutions in the current inflationary regime.
In other presentations, Qontigo’s Applied Research team will lead the audience through interesting conversations around factor investing and a proprietary model to gauge investor sentiment.
Technology in focus
We are also pleased to have two very knowledgeable speakers that will bring into focus the technology side of our business. Andy Brown, CEO of Sand Hill East and CTO of Fintech Innovation Lab, will join us with a presentation promisingly entitled ‘Change.’ Andy and the team at Sand Hill East work with startup technology companies to help them develop their businesses — from idea to go to market.
Neal Pawar, COO at Qontigo, will also cover the future of FinTech by unpacking how ‘buy vs. build’ has evolved over time, the factors influencing this evolution, and how firms can best prepare for the changes ahead.
Reserve your seat
These are just some of the highlights we have prepared for the two days, and there will be more, including wellness breaks and a cocktail hour that will be a great opportunity to meet up with colleagues and make new acquaintances.
You can register for the event, and view the full agenda, here.
We hope that you will join us!
* Molly McGregor is Chief Marketing Officer for Qontigo.
