7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Registration

8 - 8:15 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Michael C. Koetters
Managing Director
Strategic Asset Alliance
Cincinnati, Ohio

8:15 – 9:15 a.m.

The Changing Financial Landscape and Your Portfolio
From recession to reform and governmental manipulation of markets, to say we live in a changing financial landscape is probably an understatement. However, we must work with the financial and economic environments we have now and are moving toward. In this insightful opening session, Alton Cogert, president and CEO, Strategic Asset Alliance (SAA), will discuss how you can successfully manage an investment portfolio and overall investment process in this environment. He will also share important information on what his firm believes is hurting and helping the investment results of insurers.

During this interactive session attendees will discuss their learning goals for the workshop and identify strategies for achieving these goals.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain a better understanding of some of the challenges and opportunities impacting the investment results of insurers.
• Learn about the various factors impacting the investment market.
• Identify ways to successfully manage an investment portfolio and the investment process in the current market environment.

Alton R. Cogert
President & CEO
Strategic Asset Alliance
Bellingham, Wash.

9:15 – 9:35 a.m.

Networking Break

9:35 - 10:50 a.m.

Investment Roundtable: Your Most Important Issues – Part I As financial markets struggle to discount future events, how might this impact interest rates, spreads, equities, and the ongoing risks. This session will be an open discussion of these specific issues and other key investment issues facing insurance companies. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about different investment ideas and trends from their peers, and gain a better understanding of what are the most important investment issues facing insurers today, and how are they being addressed. Attendees will gain important insight on how and why the investment process varies at different insurance companies.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about the most important investment issues facing your peers.
• Identify personal learning objectives for the workshop.

Moderators:
Michael C. Koetters
Managing Director
Strategic Asset Alliance
Cincinnati, Ohio

Alton R. Cogert
President & CEO
Strategic Asset Alliance
Bellingham, Wash.

10:50 – 11:10 a.m.

Networking Break

11:10 – 12:10 p.m.

Performance Measurement – Digging Deeper
Investment performance is typically reviewed against a related benchmark, often including the impact of risk considering risk adjusted returns – even after manager fees and/or taxes. But truly understanding the drivers behind performance is much more complex and interesting than that. One of the pioneers in performance measurement, David Spaulding, CIPM, and president of the Spaulding Group, will provide insight on how to dig deeper into performance management.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the drivers behind performance measurement.
• Identify key elements of performance management.

David Spaulding, CIPM
President
The Spaulding Group
Somerset, N.J.

12:10 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Networking Luncheon

1:30 – 3:15 p.m.

Market Perspectives and Strategies – Municipals, Corporates and Equities
During this session, a panel of experts from highly regarded investment management firms will discuss important asset classes, municipal bonds, corporate strategies, and equity strategies.

Upset by predictions of ballooning defaults and the Build America Bonds program being curtailed, municipal bonds have ridden a rather rocky road. Municipals will be discussed by Lyle Fitterer, who is “the top manager of U.S. municipal bond funds in the past decade,” according to Bloomberg.

Corporate strategies are becoming more challenging, as rates have moved lower with spreads. Corporates will be discussed by Nate Levy, fixed income portfolio manager for Wellington Management Company.

Finally, choosing the correct, diversified mix of equity strategies is being challenged by periodic crises that reduce the benefits of diversification. Chris Marx, senior portfolio manager for AllianceBernstein, will tackle this difficult topic.

Moderator: Michael C. Koetters
Managing Director
Strategic Asset Alliance
Cincinnati, Ohio

Lyle Fitterer
Managing Director - Head of Tax-exempt Investments
Wells Capital Management
Menomonee Falls, Wis.

Nathaniel S. Levy
Fixed Income Portfolio Manager
Wellington Management Company
Boston, Mass.

Christopher W. Marx
Senior Portfolio Manager
AllianceBernstein
New York, N.Y.

3:15 – 3:30 p.m.

Networking Break

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Risk Management and Your Investment Portfolio
There are many sides of risk management to consider when reviewing a investment portfolio. There are also many ways of performing risk management analyses. Using only quantitative techniques can be filled with landmines, but there is no denying their usefulness in some important situations.

This session will provide insight on when to apply rigorous analytic techniques and when more fundamental analyses are worthwhile. Attendees will learn how to apply some of the state-of-the-art qualitative and quantitative techniques to their portfolio. Gary J. Madich, global chief investment officer, JP Morgan Asset Management, has extensive experience weighing the proper use of risk management across varying portfolios and will share his expertise during this informative session.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn when to apply rigorous analytic techniques vs. fundamental analyses.
• Understand how to apply qualitative analysis techniques to a portfolio.
• Understand how to apply quantitative analysis techniques to a portfolio.

Gary J. Madich
Global Chief Investment Officer
JP Morgan Asset Management
Columbus, Ohio

Robert Manning
Vice President
JP Morgan Asset Management
Columbus, Ohio

4:30 - 5:00 p.m.

Investment Roundtable: Your Most Important Issues – Part II
This session will focus on ideas that you can use to improve your company’s investment process. In this open discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to share lessons learned throughout the day and ideas for implementation back in the office.

Moderator: Alton R. Cogert
President & CEO
Strategic Asset Alliance
Bellingham, Wash.

5:00 p.m.

Workshop Adjourns

6 p.m.

Networking Reception
Join us for an interactive and fun networking reception. We invite attendees of both the Investment Workshop and Financial Focus Seminar to attend.