L&G Talks Asset Management

So many of our conversations with investors about stewardship are about two key problems: how can we judge the impact of your actions and how can we compare your work with your competitors? When so many are claiming to have ESG in their DNA, the ambitious update to the Stewardship Code goes a long way to putting an end to greenwashing. With new expectations about how investment and stewardship are integrated across asset classes, tougher hurdles to become a signatory and publicly available reporting from 2021, investors can expect a lot more transparency and comparability in the future. This week, we’re exploring what it means for you in detail and why it will become a lot harder, and a lot more meaningful, for an asset manager to be a signatory of the new code.  ·         Jeannette Andrews, Senior Global ESG Manager, Investment Stewardship team ·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager, LGIM We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered. This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

It’s no secret that robo-advisers have opened up the industry. For years, wealth managers appeared as though they only catered for the those who, well, had a large amount of wealth to be managed. But is the story of the technological upstart disrupting an age-old industry too reductive? And can robo-advice really provide the necessary guidance customers are looking for when so many have such nuanced circumstances?We ask Chris Barrett, Investment Director at JM Finn, how his company has innovated their service offering and why there might actually be a place for both traditional advice and robo-advice in clients’ portfolios.·         Chris Barrett, Investment Director, JM Finn·         Matthew Kemp, Senior Investment Sales Manager, LGIM·         Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager, LGIMWe want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management 

What makes a ‘modern’ office space that genuinely suits occupiers’ needs? Is it a fully serviced environment, accompanied by all the technological bells and whistles available? Or perhaps it’s the more traditional but sparsely furnished option? Customer expectations today have highlighted the limitations of both services and traditional offices and the need for genuine intermediate solutions.Joining LGIM Talks this week are guests from the Real Assets to talk about the flexible office market, designed for fast-growing SMEs and larger corporates. As a sector ripe for disruption, we discuss how simplified leasing processes, high quality spaces and of course the security of a trusted landlord can help businesses and deliver long-term investment returns.·         Andrew Mercer, Office Sector Lead·         Bill Page, Head of Real Estates Market Research

The opportunities being created by the wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are immense. Spending on cognitive and AI systems is forecast to grow from $12 billion in 2017 to $78 billion in 2022, according to IDC, and McKinsey projects that AI technologies are likely to increase global economic output by $13 trillion, or 16%, by 2030.For cutting-edge insight into these trends, we were joined for this podcast by Professor Wyatt Newman, one of the world’s foremost authorities on robotics who has worked on developing autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots for disaster response.The challenge for investors is to translate these exciting developments into strategies aligned with the growth of the AI and robotics industries. To explore these topics, we also heard from experts at ROBO Global® about how to identify and invest in the companies pioneering these technologies.·         Professor Wyatt Newman, a leading researcher in the areas of mechatronics, robotics and computational intelligence·         Jeremie Capron, Director of Research at ROBO Global®·         Richard Lightbound, CEO - EMEA & Asia at ROBO Global®·         Robert St George, Content Manager at LGIMWe want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

2018 was a record year for pension scheme bulk annuity transactions, with nearly £25bn of deals, and this trend will have continued into 2019 too. According to a survey by AoN Hewitt, the time for schemes to reach their end‐game target is currently less than ten years.  Every pension scheme is different, so even if schemes are targeting the same solution, they will need their own bespoke action plan to fit their own circumstances and move them on their journey towards end‐game. While there may be some uncertainties, there are practical steps that schemes can take to navigate the twists and turns more smoothly.  In this episode, we talk to Pretty and Lisa about why end-game is so important for pension schemes at the moment, the state of the buyout market, and what schemes can to in order to prepare for a buyout. Featuring: Lisa Purdy, Head of Fiduciary Distribution Pretty Sagoo, Head of Pricing and Execution, PRT Alyssa Ford, Institutional Content Manager We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.   This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a nonprofessional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management

Whether we believe it or not, trust in the system is broken. Recent audit scandals have prompted reform and yet further reform is expected.  Having a robust audit committee is a pivotal aspect of improving the effectiveness and accuracy of auditing, and restoring trust. The audit committee has responsibility for the assurance framework for both financial and non-financial published numbers. As ESG data becomes more and more important for investors, this is a critical role.  In this episode, we talk to Sacha about why having a strong and empowered audit committee is so important for a company’s investors and some of the best practices he and his team have seen throughout the years. Featuring: ·           Sacha Sadan, Director of Corporate Governance·           Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered. This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

Meeting fund managers to talk about new products or their performance takes up so much of fund researchers’ time. With so many managers to meet, researchers like James have developed a number of strategies to make help them and others in the industry get the most from these meetings as possible. In this episode, we talk to James Calder and LGIM’s own Matthew Kemp about the City Asset Management approach and what they look for in a fund manager.  Featuring: ·           James Calder, Research Director, City Asset Management·           Matthew Kemp, Senior Investment Sales Manager, LGIM·           Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager, LGIM  We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.  This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management. 

It’s not often that you have to read full state constitutions as part of your role. But Brexit and the European political upheaval of recent years have transformed Hetal’s day-to-day work as an economist. LGIM’s foremost speaker on Brexit and European politics and economics, she has appeared on the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC and more to filter the investment signals from the political noise.   In this episode, Hetal talks about the reasons she loves economics (‘it’s maths, with more real-world results’), a path from investment banking to asset management, as well as her passion for cooking and her work as a qualified photographer.   Featuring:   ·           Hetal Mehta, Senior European Economist ·           Mark Chappel, Senior Content Manager     We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.     This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

This is an extraordinary moment for investors. Many asset classes have notched up double-digit returns over 2019, with equities hovering close to record highs even as trillions of dollars of bonds offer negative yields. But even though markets appear to underappreciate certain key risks, there are still reasons for investors to be cheerful.     In our final episode of the year, we talk to Sonja, CIO, and Emiel, Head of Asset Allocation, about why global growth may ultimately disappoint investors even as recession fears abate, the many ways in which the US election could disrupt markets appear under-priced, and why a style rotation from growth to value could have a significant impact in 2020.      Read the full investment outlook for the year ahead here: https://www.lgim.com/uk/en/insights/our-thinking/market-insights/cio-outlook-year-of-change.html?cid=lgimtalks      Featuring:   ·           Sonja Laud, Chief Investment Officer ·           Emiel van den Heiligenberg, Head of Asset Allocation ·           Max Julius, Head of Content     We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.     This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.

In this special episode, Michelle Scrimgeour reflects on her career through asset management and her first five months as CEO of Legal & General Investment Management. From her time at Blackrock, M&G, Columbia Threadneedle and now LGIM, it’s clear that the City has not just become more international but also more inclusive “Culture is critical”, she says. “Joining LGIM was a different role again and I wanted to join somewhere with a strong culture and that I could quickly feel a part of in a natural way.”     Talking with Sarah Aitken, Head of Distribution, they discuss key megatrends that face asset managers from ESG, “no longer a nice-to-have”, to the shifting technological and regulatory landscapes. As she looks ahead, creating a resilient business comes down its purpose, “we’ve got to stay true to our core. The purpose of an organisation becomes hypercritical when the world is changing around you.”      Featuring:     ·         Michelle Scrimgeour, Chief Executive Officer, LGIM ·         Sarah Aitken, Head of Distribution, LGIM     We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the guests or types of content you’d like to see covered.     This podcast is intended for investment professionals, and shouldn’t be shared with a non-professional audience. This podcast should not be taken as an invitation to deal in Legal & General investments. Any views expressed during this recording belong to the individuals and are based on market conditions at the time of recording, and do not reflect the views of Legal & General Investment Management. Legal & General Investment Management is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Legal & General Investment Management, One Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AA. Register in England no. 2091894. All rights reserved. No part of this audio may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Legal & General Investment Management.