Alternatives Reconsidered

Miami, Florida - February 10-12, 2010

Some critics say that an aggressive push toward alternative investments was a prime cause of the current crisis. Others say that alternatives have always been and remain the best hedges against market risk. Who is right? What lessons have we learned about alternative investments? Looking into the future, what are the best alternative investment strategies?

What is the smartest mix among alternative investments — absolute return, private equity, hedge funds, real estate, commodities?

Discussion topics:

• Has the private equity model changed?
• In the hedge fund shakeout, who are the winners? How do investors get access to the top quartile performers?
• In real estate, who is poised to make money from the rebound? What are the winning strategies for investing in real estate?
• How can institutional investors capitalize on the boom in clean tech and the green agenda? How is clean tech the answer to the infrastructure challenge?
• Are commodities too volatile for pension funds? Or are profits in commodities too good to pass up? Can an optimal commodities strategy be devised?
• Regulation is changing, but how? What do investors need to know about the coming regulatory regime? Who can guide investors through the regulatory minefield?
• What is the right allocation for international? Are the best opportunities in Asia, and if so, where in Asia? Are the right moves to be made in Europe, and if so, where in Europe?
• How should we look at sovereign wealth funds? What is the real story of Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf, and the Middle East?
• Where are the big opportunities for distressed securities, restructurings and legacy (or toxic) assets? Are institutional investors taking full advantage of the opportunities produced by the financial crisis?
• Were endowment portfolios too burdened with risk and illiquidity? What have endowments learned from the crisis?