29th June, 2026
Devil’s Advocates | Monday Sessions
Trevor Castledine, Chief Client & Advisory Officer, LGPS Central
Jill Davys, Head of LGPS, Gallagher
Mark Smith, Head of Pension Fund, Oxfordshire Pension Fund
11:00 – 11:30
Registration
11:30 – 11:40
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Chair
John Harrison
Adviser
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
11:40 – 12:00
Presentation: Macro-economic implications of global geo-political events
Economic, trade and financial interdependencies have deepened significantly in recent decades. But as geopolitical fractures appear with increasing regularity, those connections create fragilities that are manifesting themselves in frequent supply-side shocks. The consequences for investors are profound. The forward-looking risk and returns assumptions for individual asset classes may look quite different to their historical profiles, and the cross-asset correlations may differ substantially. Building a diversified portfolio in this new environment may require a different approach.
Presenter
James Ashley
Managing Director
Goldman Sachs
12:00 – 12:40
Panel: Global equities – medium term outlook
Global equities remain the largest asset class for LGPS funds and have delivered exceptional returns in recent years despite a global pandemic, conflict in Europe and the Middle East and sharp increases in interest rates and inflation. The key drivers have been the US market and the technology sector in particular. The panel will discuss recent trends and the implications of current valuations for LGPS investor strategies in global equities.
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Tony Coniaris
Partner, Chairman, Portfolio Manager and Co-Chief Investment Officer-International Equities
Harris Oakmark
Philip Hebson
Independent Adviser
William Pearce
Senior Director, Co-Head of Equity Portfolio Management, Investment Division
Russell Investments
Yiannis Vairamis
Senior Portfolio Manager (Equities)
London CIV
12:40 – 13:00
Presentation: The case for raising fixed income’s strategic allocation
In a more fragmented global backdrop, with rising geopolitical risks and growing questions around US exceptionalism, risk management and in particular the need for de-risking is becoming increasingly important. We argue that active management is critical to capturing opportunities, and that fixed income-supported by higher yields and improving diversification qualities – is re-emerging as an attractive de-risking asset class and portfolio diversifier.
Presenter
Benoit Anne
Senior Managing Director, Head of Market Insights
MFS Investment Management
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 14:40
Roundtable Discussion: LGPS investment changes
The LGPS has been transformed in the last 10 years, with a remarkable improvement in funding levels accompanied by (but not the result of) a radical restructuring of governance arrangements through the implementation of pooling. This round table discussion is an opportunity both to reflect on the pros and cons of the changes that have happened since 2016 and to imagine what further changes might be desirable (or otherwise) over the next 10 years.
Facilitator
Clair Alcock
Board Secretary
Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board
14:40 – 15:00
Presentation: Emerging markets – evaluating risks and opportunities
Emerging market equities are entering a more promising phase, underpinned by robust earnings, attractive valuations, and a gradually improving macro backdrop. With investor positioning still light and a softer US dollar providing additional support, the opportunity set is broadening. At the same time, risks remain – particularly around geopolitics and currency volatility – reinforcing the need for selectivity. Long-standing experience and active management is critical to navigate dispersion, manage risk, and unlock opportunities across this diverse and evolving universe.
Presenter
Wim-Hein Pals
Head of Emerging Markets Team
Robeco
15:00 – 15:40
Panel: Real estate investment – medium term outlook
Real estate has been an important asset class for LGPS funds for many years and may play a larger role in future given an increased focus of local investment. This panel will discuss recent trends across a broad range of real estate markets and sectors in debt and in equity. It will also consider the role of real estate in future LGPS strategies and the challenges facing pools in transitioning from indirect to direct holdings and in meeting Partner Fund local investment ambitions.
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Parik Chandra
Partner and Head of Private Credit
Downing
Christopher Osborne
Head of Real Estate
London CIV
Alison Puhar
Head of Real Estate
Fidelity International
15:40 – 16:00
Break
16:00 – 16:20
Interview: Clean energy for commercial property
Improving energy efficiency and the proportion derived from renewables is an increasingly important issue for many commercial property owners. Drawing on recent experience in the US, this session will consider the potential for borrowing secured on commercial property to fund the capital needed to enable the transition to clean energy.
Interviewer
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Interviewee
Alexandra Cooley
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Nuveen Green Capital
16:20 – 16:40
Presentation: Urban family housing – evaluating risks and opportunities
The UK’s mid-market rental sector represents one of the most compelling and underserved opportunities in institutional real estate. Middle-income families are caught between ineligibility for affordable housing and the unaffordability of homeownership, leaving them dependent on a fragmented private rented sector ill-equipped for long-term family living. Urban Family Housing (UFH) is designed to address this gap: developing aspirational, design-led, low-energy homes for market rent in high-demand locations outside major urban cores. This presentation evaluates the key risks and opportunities associated with the strategy, examining market fundamentals, structural design, return potential and the mitigants in place to protect investor capital.
Presenter
Imogen Ebbs
Head of UK Real Estate Equity
Aviva Investors
16:40 – 17:20
Panel: Sterling 20 – producing a pipeline of viable opportunities
Sterling 20 is an investor-led partnership between 20 of the UK’s largest non-LGPS pension funds and insurers committed to promoting regional economic growth through more affordable housing, improved broadband connections in rural areas and scale-up finance for fast growing business sectors, such as AI and fintech. The panel will discuss the potential opportunities this presents to LGPS investors.
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Andrien Meyers
CCO
London CIV
Harry Raikes
Head of UK Venture Investments
Schroders
Chris Rule
CEO
LPPI
17:20 – 17:30
Devil’s Advocates Summaries
17:30 – 17:35
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Chair
John Harrison
Adviser
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
17:35
Private Key Collection
19:00
Drinks & Dinner in the Walled Garden
30th June, 2026
Devil’s Advocates | Tuesday Morning Sessions
Jeff Houston, Independent Adviser
Joana Marfoh, AD Treasury and Pensions, London Borough of Islington
Fiona Miller, Deputy CEO, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
08:30 – 09:00
Registration, coffee and early networking
09:00 – 09:05
Chair’s Opening Remarks
Chair
John Harrison
Adviser
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
09:05 – 09:45
Panel: Fixed income – key investment trends for LGPS investors
Yields on fixed income assets are much higher today than for most of the last 20 years. Are bonds now attractive and should they play a larger role in LGPS strategic asset allocation?
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Anthony Fletcher
Independent Adviser
Richard Ryan
Senior Fund Manager
M&G Investments
Alex Younger
Head of Funding & Investment
Norfolk Pension Fund
09:45 – 10:05
Presentation: Global economic and political outlook
As geopolitical developments increasingly shape economic outcomes, Amanda Stitt will examine the political and macroeconomic forces driving markets today. Through a scenario-based discussion, she will explore how potential geopolitical outcomes – including developments in the Middle East – could influence inflation, interest rates, currencies and growth, highlighting the range of implications for investors in an environment where politics may be the key determinant of the global economic outlook.
Presenter
Amanda Stitt
Portfolio Specialist
T. Rowe Price
10:05 – 10:25
Presentation: Accelerated approach to decarbonisation investing
Paris-Aligned Benchmarks were created with the vital goal of accelerating progress to net zero. While the intent is clear, implementation has highlighted challenges in both decarbonisation tilts and portfolio construction. This session will explore how PABs can evolve to better support real-economy decarbonisation while also enabling robust, well-diversified investment frameworks that avoid unintended sector bets.
Presenter
Alexey Medvedev
Portfolio Manager, Systematic Equities
Lombard Odier Investment Managers
10:25 – 11:05
Roundtable Discussion: What do we do with our surpluses?
Most LGPS funds are now in healthy surplus, at least on the basis of calculations commonly used in the sector. This round table discussion will debate whether our surpluses are real and sustainable and what actions we should consider as a result.
Facilitator
Sam Gervaise-Jones
Managing Director, Client Consulting
bfinance
11:05 – 11:30
Break
11:30 – 11:50
Interview: Increasing the strength of UK equities
There has been a lot of debate recently about how UK capital markets can support UK economic growth. While much of the focus has been on private assets, maintaining a healthy small and mid-cap listed equity market will have an important role to play in providing private equity exits and access to growth capital. This session will explore how this objective can be achieved and the investment opportunities currently available.
Interviewer
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Interviewee
Ken Wotton
Managing Director, Public Equity
Gresham House
11:50 – 12:10
Presentation: Infrastructure debt: stable cashflow in noisy markets
Private infrastructure assets are the backbone of the modern world, operating with high barriers to entry and steady cash flows. For investment portfolios, this means attractive yields, long dated duration, and structural protection. Principal’s process-understanding cash flows, protecting the downside, and evaluating risk-reward-is explained through live case studies and an in-depth state of the market discussion.
Presenter
Mansi Patel
Senior Managing Director – Infrastructure Debt
Principal Asset Management
12:10 – 12:50
Panel: The private markets asset allocation conundrum
LGPS private market allocations have been on an upward trend for many years. Given improved funding levels and increasing requirements for income, will LGPS funds continue to allocate more to private markets?
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Karim Leguel
Private Markets Investment Specialist
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Jason O’Brien
Head of Asset-Based Origination, EMEA
PIMCO
Sangeeta Surana
Investments Manager
Kent County Council
Sam Yeandle
Director
Gallagher
12:50 – 13:00
Devil’s Advocates Summaries
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
Devil’s Advocates | Tuesday Afternoon Sessions
Aoifinn Devitt, Independent Adviser
Dafydd Edwards, Board Member, Wales Pension Partnership
Priya Nair, Treasury and Pension Fund Manager, London Borough of Camden
14:00 – 14:40
Panel: Net zero – progress to date and challenges ahead
Achieving net zero carbon emissions globally has been a long term ambition of Governments around the world for at least 10 years. How far have we come along the journey and is there still sufficient political will to continue progress towards the 2050 target?
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Ben Yeoh
Senior Portfolio Manager, Global Healthcare, RBC Global Equity
RBC BlueBay Asset Management
Jennifer Devine
Head of Pensions
Wiltshire Pension Fund
Becky LeAnstey
Investment Manager
Environment Agency Pension Fund
14:40 – 15:00
Interview: Digital connectivity – implications for investors
Digital connectivity is a key requirement for a successful modern economy, but one that has required significant capital investment in fibre networks and will increasingly require capital for new data centres. The returns from past infrastructure investment in fibre networks have been disappointing. This session will explore the reasons for this and highlight the lessons investors need to learn for future investment in this area.
Interviewer
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Interviewee
Daniel Anderson
Director – Fiera Infrastructure
Fiera Capital
15:00 – 15:20
Interview: Artificial intelligence – evaluating risks and opportunities
It is already clear that AI will have a profound impact of global economies, but what are the investment risks and opportunities it presents?
Interviewer
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Interviewee
Helen Jewell
International CIO, Fundamental Equities
BlackRock
15:20 – 15:45
Break
15:45 – 16:05
Presentation: Private markets – evaluating risks and opportunities
This session will explore how geopolitical shifts, macro uncertainty, and technological disruption – notably artificial intelligence – are reshaping private markets. It highlights key investment themes including defence, deglobalization, and software investing, alongside evolving fundraising dynamics, liquidity challenges, and emerging deal trends. The session will provide a data-driven perspective on where opportunities and risks are developing, and how investors can consider how their portfolios are positioned in an increasingly volatile and complex environment.
Presenter
David Atterbury
Manging Director, Head of EMEA
HarbourVest
16:05 – 16:25
Interview: Pan-European logistics landscape
Recent trends in e-commerce, near shoring and defence spending have been supportive of demand for logistics capacity across Europe. This session will consider the potential investment opportunities this presents.
Interviewer
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Interviewee
Evert Castelein
Fund Director – European Logistics
Savills Investment Management
16:25 – 17:05
Panel: Strategic asset allocation – the next 10 years
LGPS funds have seen significant improvements in funding levels over the last 10 years despite a range of major events, including Brexit, the pandemic, conflict in Europe and the Middle East, increased global interest rates and the return of inflation. At the same time there has been a huge change in LGPS investment governance with the creation of eight and now six asset pools. This panel will consider the strategic asset allocation challenges that LGPS funds might face in the next 10 years?
Moderator
John Harrison
Forum Chair
Panellists
Aoifinn Devitt
Independent Adviser
Peter Gent
Head of Advisory
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
Paul Guilliotti
Director of Financial Services
Wandsworth Pension Fund
Max Townshend
Head of Investment Strategy
LPPI
17:05 – 17:15
Devil’s Advocates Summaries
17:15 – 17:20
Chair’s Closing Remarks
Chair
John Harrison
Adviser
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership
17:20 – 19:00
Drinks Reception
19:00
Dinner with After Dinner Speaker
Chris Cox
World-class mind reader
The only mind-reader in history to have starred on Broadway, London’s West End and Sydney Opera House. He stars in the world’s biggest magic show The Illusionists (Broadway, West End, 2x US Tour, Reno Residency, South Africa, Mexico & Australia tours including Sydney Opera House).
