12th Annual Northern California Institutional Forum

Macroeconomic Trends Shaping Impact Investing: The global economic landscape is undergoing shifts, presenting both formidable challenges and new opportunities for driving meaningful social outcomes. Join our fireside chat, where we’ll discuss how evolving interest rates, inflation, and global political dynamics are redefining impact investing.

Sustainability-Considerations for a Successful Institutional Investment Strategy: Numerous institutional investors think asset managers should be more proactive in developing new ESG products. ESG has moved from being a niche consideration to a central component of strategic institutional investment.

US Small Caps: Seizing Tailwinds Amid Shifting Fundamentals: Following an extended period of depressed earnings growth and underperformance, US small-cap stocks are positioned to recover.

The Case for Asset-backed Specialty Finance: Asset-backed specialty finance offers a unique opportunity for investors to diversify their portfolios. Unlike traditional cash-flow lending, which relies heavily on a borrower’s ability to generate income, asset-backed finance is secured by tangible assets where in the event of a default, investors have a claim on the underlying assets and the accompanying cash flow.

Asset Allocation in 2025 and Beyond: Inflation and interest rates, technology, and market movements are all significant factors that will shape the year ahead. In this opening session, thought leaders and chief investment officers will set the stage by sharing their views on risks and opportunities that lie ahead, geopolitics and the impact on portfolios, and how to cut through the noise to navigate challenging markets.

Emerging Markets Debt in a Time of Profound Global Change: In a time of profound global change, how has the sentiment towards emerging markets been impacted? Which factors should long-term investors consider when debating how and whether to allocate to the asset class?

Recession, Rates, and the Role of Gold in Portfolios: The gold price has seen a period of recalibration and consolidation, while still outperforming global equities, bonds, and other alternatives.

Fixed Income: Trends Shaping Today’s Landscape: Federal Reserve rate cuts are undetermined, but what will result from the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and the U.S. Government’s borrowing needs?

The Equity Calculation: Evaluating its Effect on Portfolios: The equities market faces substantial influence from earnings expectations and policy considerations, sector bets, slowing economies and interest rates. Will the rally continue?

Institutional Views on Private Credit’s Growing Portfolio Utility & Importance: Great Recession-era bank regulations helped fuel the rise of private credit, as investors looked for more attractive returns. The rise is not without its challenges, and private-credit investors are preparing to face higher borrowing costs and a slower economy weighing on the margins of portfolio companies.

Effectively Investing Through Private Markets; Diversification & Returns: As investors search for additional sources of revenue and methods for portfolio diversification in the volatile and changing environment, private markets stand out as an area of opportunities. The panel brings together leading alternatives investors, allocators, and index specialists to share the role private equity, private debt, venture capital and more play in their portfolios and how transparency and benchmarking are evolving alongside them.

Unveiling the Dynamics of Passive vs. Active Management: Join the discussion on the world of investment management and explore the distinct strategies of passive and active approaches.

Differentiated High Yield: Amid resilient but slowing economic growth, high yield bonds offer favorable risk/reward for investors seeking attractive yields with less volatility than asset classes with similar long-term return profiles.

Real Estate & Real Assets: Seeking the Best Prospects: Inflation and interest rate shifts have led investors to look at real assets to help cushion their portfolios in times of volatility.

Leadership Roundtable: Decision-Making in Disruptive Times: Amid operational, cultural, and technological changes, businesses must make strategic decisions on how to run and steer their firms in the face of these challenges.