Co-hosted by CFA Institute, the conference delved into a diverse array of topics, including navigating economic anomalies, managing geopolitical uncertainties, exploring quantitative strategies, understanding emerging market dynamics, managing multi-generational portfolios, analysing India’s private market landscape, and evaluating boutique approaches to alpha generation.
In his opening remarks, Rajesh Sehgal, CFA (Chairperson, CFA Society India and Managing Partner, Equanimity Investments), reflected on the Society’s 20-year journey, highlighting its growth to 2,600 members, the successful execution of 65 events in FY 2025, and the invaluable contributions of its volunteers.
Chris Wiese, CFA (Managing Director, Education, CFA Institute), commended CFA Society India for fostering a vibrant and inclusive community of finance professionals over its two-decade journey. He emphasised education as a cornerstone of professional and personal growth and highlighted the role of CFA Program in levelling the playing field in a rapidly evolving financial landscape shaped by technology, sustainability, and the growing emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
Shamit Chokshi, CFA (Director, CFA Society India and Global Asset Management expert), remarked, “Our forums are a platform for continued learning for professional money managers, attracting industry professionals to debate, network and exchange ideas for a thriving asset and wealth management ecosystem and nurturing talent for the investment business.” As Chair of the Professional Learning Committee, he moderated the opening session, ‘Charting a Course: Navigating Resilience and Opportunities amidst Economic Anomalies,’ featuring Alessia Berardi (Head of Emerging Macro Strategy, Amundi Investment Institute). Alessia shared her macroeconomic outlook, sparking discussions on global economic bright spots, asset allocation strategies, and potential risks in 2025. In addition to this, the discussion also touched up other topics including, the growth premium for emerging markets, Europe’s heterogenous recovery, US growth exceptionalism, sovereign debt sustainability, and the likely impact of Trump 2.0 policies on Emerging Markets and global growth.
The second session had Rahul Chadha (Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Shikhara Investment Management, New York) presenting his views on ‘Investing in a World of Heightened Geopolitics Uncertainty and Tech Disruption’. Rahul spoke about the need for strategic adaptation for nations in an uncertain world. He discussed the shifting of global power dynamics as we move toward a multi-polar world and how areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing will likely dominate the world economy. He compared the AI-led productivity boom to that of the 1980s, drawing several similarities. Additionally, he highlighted the role of AI-led disruption in accelerating change and how Asia stands at the epicentre of innovation.
Olivia Engel, CFA (Senior MD, Head of Investment Strategy and Operations, State Street Global Advisors) led the next session on ‘Rethinking Quant: Intuitive Signals and Unexpected Opportunities’ setting the tone for the discussion by describing quantitative investing as a blend of active management and subjectivity. She outlined how short-term strategies aim at exploit micro-temporary anomalies, while longer-holding period strategies focus more on the fundamental aberrations. She elaborated on specific signals emphasising the importance of developing sector-specific signals and using proxy signals for evaluating companies instead of using simple metrics. Throughout the session, Olivia addressed multiple myths about quant investing. She also discussed how avoiding tail-risk events can lead to superior returns over time.
Lakshminarayana R. Kollengode (Chief Endowment Officer, Azim Premji Foundation) led the next session on ‘An Endowment’s Perspective: Managing a Multi-Generational Portfolio’ wherein, he gave an overview of Azim Premji Foundation’s overall investment allocation. He explained the nature of multi-generational portfolios as being those that have extremely long-term horizons, working with a perpetual outlook, and typically working on a 100-year plan. He discussed the importance of endowment liquidity and the quantum of investment returns in supporting various planned as well as non-planned initiatives of the foundation. He shared how the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 brought out the importance of knowing the requirements of beneficiaries well when managing the investment portfolio of the endowment. He also touched upon the criticality of liability modelling and tweaking the portfolio to account for inflation.
The next session on ‘Private Market Investing in India’ by Srini Sriniwasan (Managing Director, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Ltd.) saw him discussing nuances of the private market, the most prominent being the levy to invest in markets when there are no market opportunities available. He highlighted the importance of the ability to say no to deals whenever warranted and the patience required to build relationships with large investors. He touched upon the tips for evaluating private market managers and for new managers setting out to raise capital. The Q&A session also featured an outlook on the real estate and IPO markets in India.
The last session was titled ‘The Boutique Manager’s Advantage in Generating Alpha’ was a panel discussion featuring Vaibhav Sanghavi (Chief Executive Officer, ASK Hedge Solutions), Sandeep Daga (MD & CIO, Nine Rivers Capital), Manish Bhandari (Founder, CEO and Portfolio Manager, Vallum Capital Advisors) and Rajesh Kothari (Founder and CIO, AlfAccurate Advisors). The panellists shared key insights about their respective investment approaches that have enabled them to generate alpha in a sustained manner over long periods of their investment journey. The engaging discussions involved perspectives on what defines a boutique style of investment management and the role of skill, strategy, size, flexibility, and leverage in consistent alpha generation.
