L&G Talks Asset Management

The recent soft patch in growth and dovish shift from the Federal Reserve has made it less likely that the US enters recession next year. While 2019 may not be the year that the US wholly reinvests in its crumbling infrastructure, it’s certainly at the top of both parties’ 2020 policy targets and neither side will want to be outdone. The market has become very pessimistic about infrastructure-related stocks' prospects but we see several potential catalysts that could trigger a rebound over the next two years. Joining Max on the podcast are Tim Drayson and Lars Kreckel to discuss the team’s contrarian ‘Rebuilding America’ theme and the outlook for US fiscal and monetary policy. Please note that figures are correct as of the time of recording in March 2019. Read Tim’s latest blog on the US economy here: https://macromatters.lgim.com/categories/economics/us-economy-extending-the-cycle/ Read Lars’s latest blog on US infrastructure stocks here: https://macromatters.lgim.com/categories/strategy/rebuilding-america-the-case-for-us-infrastructure-stocks/ •         Tim Drayson, Head of Economics •         Lars Kreckel, Global Equity Strategist •         Max Julius, Senior Investment Communications 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 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.

As record numbers look to integrate sustainable investment considerations into their portfolios, it comes as no surprise that the world of factor-based investing is not immune. According to a 2018 survey conducted by FTSE Russell, 55% of factor investors are looking to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) company analysis but as yet, there’s been no well-defined blueprint as to how this can be comprehensively achieved. Joining Eliza are Adam Willis and Dave Barron to discuss the ins and outs of factor index construction and how schemes are building their factor portfolios to not only potentially outperform traditional market-cap index trackers but also integrate ESG analysis simultaneously. David’s article “Responsible investing: factor friend or foe?” is available here:http://www.lgim.com/uk/en/insights/our-thinking/market-insights/responsible-investing-factor-friend-or-foe.html •    David Barron, Head of Equity Index•    Adam Willis, Head of Index and Multi-Asset Distribution•    Eliza Grimond, Investment Writer We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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 do you think of when you hear the word ‘millennial’? The archetype most prevalent in advertising and popular culture is one of an early-twenties, affluent (but not too affluent), city-dweller. But the 1.8 billion generation known as millennials are anywhere between the ages of 23 and 37 – by and large they have left undergraduate education, are well established in the workforce and their spending habits have moved from the novelty to the norm. CJ Fildes and Eliza Grimond join the podcast this week to talk about the latest research on how millennials are engaging with their finances, from real-time spending habit feedback to challenger banks and understanding the need to invest and save for longer. To read more about our research into customers’ attitudes towards environmental issues and what stops them from taking positive action. •    CJ Fildes, Senior Communications Manager, Personal Investing•    Eliza Grimond, Investment Writer We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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 the late 1990s, when the world of equities was one of pinstriped suits and hard sells, European credit presented exciting new opportunities with a brand new currency. Leaving Lehman Brothers just a few months prior to its downfall, Ben came to Legal & General Investment Management at the epicentre of the global financial crisis. Understanding the financial world as one of simply matching borrowers and lenders, his role as Head of Investment Strategy and Research involves sorting the signal from the market noise. Directing the company’s long-term research, Ben coordinates our work on the themes and major trends shaping markets and how those non-consensus views can be implemented. Today’s guest: Ben Bennett, Head of Investment Strategy and Research We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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.

How can pension trustees prepare for new requirements on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors? New guidelines from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) make it clear that it is not sufficient to focus on a narrow definition of the bottom line in order to meet schemes’ core objective: providing retirement benefits for members. Instead, trustees must also consider the financial materiality of ESG considerations. Joining Simon on the podcast this week is Head of Institutional Clients, Mark Johnson, to cover what trustees need to know about the new guidelines and what needs to be done. If you’d like to read more about our work in this area, our article Material change: a five-step ESG checklist for trustees is available on the LGIM website: http://www.lgim.com/uk/en/insights/our-thinking/ •    Mark Johnson, Head of Institutional Clients •    Simon Chinnery, Head of DC Client Solutions We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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.

  Investors have embraced the world of index-tracking products on the back of comparatively low headline costs and the broad market exposures on offer. But the rise of alternatively constructed indexes, thematic ETFs and the client demand for more inclusion of responsible investment principles into their index funds has prompted a dramatic change in the investment landscape. Simon joins us this week to shine a light on the often weird and wonderful world of ETFs and other index funds and where investors are looking to incorporate these portfolio building blocks. Simon Hynes, Head of Retail Distribution, EMEA We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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 fair to say that growing up in South Africa helped shape Anton Eser into the Chief Investment Officer he is today. Having lived “in one of the emerging markets” through a tumultuous period in that country’s history, he learned that the perspectives on notions of risk and change are very different when compared to other parts of the world. A chance meeting between him, his younger sister and Nelson Mandela had a profound impact as he would come to develop a deep fascination in economics, world politics and behavioural biases – the latter holding clear parallels with managing both his team and funds in his subsequent career. His journey to the role of CIO came by way of fixed income, believing that understanding the credit cycle and liquidity are some of the most important things required to inform a comprehensive macro view. In his view, the key trends for the future of investment management are the continuing transformation brought about by technology, the move from performance benchmarks to client outcomes and the increased client demands for sustainability objectives. Today’s guest: Anton Eser, Chief Investment Officer We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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.

Property: The wellbeing investment opportunity We’ve all been in meeting rooms where the air has become so stuffy that there’s very little chance of good ideas emerging. Similarly, sitting nearer to a window has been shown to improve employees’ health, energy and performance. We might not often connect real asset investment to health and wellbeing but major trends are bringing it into the mainstream. A societal shift in exercise habits has led to the UK becoming the most overweight of Western European nations and yet has one of the fastest growing gym markets. By tapping into this change in consumer behaviour through our real estate investments, we can put greater emphasis on wellbeing through our retail and leisure holdings. In this episode, we connect the opportunities for increased focus on health and wellbeing in both our professional and personal lives and how both can be beneficial for long-term investors. Matt Soffair, Research Manager, Real AssetsBill Page, Business Space Research Manager, Real Assets Read Matt’s recent blog on the UK’s growing gym market: https://futureworldblog.lgim.com/categories/themes/working-out-the-uks-obesity-crisis-20/?cid=lgimtalks  We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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.

 The green elephant in the room: there’s a lot of conversation in the market about investing responsibly – including integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors – but there’s also a lot of confusion. For many investors it’s often seen in quite binary terms, everything or nothing! Part of the fact is that it’s not easy to pin down a specific definition. From ethical to impact to ESG considerations, Meryam discusses the broad spectrum of responsible investing and how we might be able to understand the many different shades of green. Meryam Omi, Head of Sustainability and Responsible Investment StrategySimon Chinnery, Head of DC Client Solutions Read Meryam’s most recent article on why now is the time to talk climate solutions here: https://futureworldblog.lgim.com/categories/themes/now-is-the-time-to-talk-climate-solutions/?cid=lgimtalks  We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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.

Behind every role, there’s a story. We’re exploring the lives and careers of people across LGIM to understand more about what brought them to asset management, the changes they expect to see in the investment industry and – if they had to pick anything else – what their dream job would be. If you’ve listened to any of our Defined Contribution focused episodes, you will have heard Simon’s voice. Through his self-professed middle-man role, he always seems to know just the right question to ask to get to the middle of a particularly thorny DC topic, making him a perfect subject for this series. What I had no idea about was that outside of his role, Simon writes poetry and paints – although he sees his father as having been the proper ‘grown-up artist’! Despite having trained as a ballerina, his entrance to finance was via the stock exchange as a Blue Button. The real appeal, however, was the relationships and understanding the individual needs of clients. The future for the world of DC, in his view, is a partnership approach and the development of more intelligent communications. After all, there’s little point inundating members at the very beginning of their pension journey with retirement options! Today’s guest: Simon Chinnery, Head DC Client Solutions We want to hear from you! Email us at mark.chappel@lgim.com with your thoughts on the podcast and any suggestions of the 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.