2018 EFGAM Knowledge Exchange

Our seventh annual EFGAM Knowledge Exchange saw presentations from a wide range of speakers, covering many investment topics, and a broad discussion of the issues that were raised.

Central bank policy remained a key theme. Among the key questions were: Will the Fed’s well-choreographed plan for running down its balance sheet and raising interest rates go as smoothly as markets seem to expect? When will the European Central Bank start to taper its asset purchases? And how will the Bank of Japan’s policy unfold, given the strong recovery which we are now seeing in that economy?

Although there is widespread commentary about the supposed overvalued nature of equity markets, this was not the universal view of our presenters. Even in the US market, one of our presenters thought this was fairly valued relative to bond yields. Opportunities in Japan, China, India and Europe were variously highlighted by our speakers.

Nathan Furr and Freek Vermeulen from our newly-formed Future Leaders panel provided stimulating presentations, concentrating on the nature of innovation and the requirements for successful leadership.

Without exception, the presentations and discussions proved highly valuable as our investment ideas for 2018 and beyond evolve.