Segal Marco’s Annual Client Research & Educational Summit: How’d It Go?

Key Takeaways from the Sessions

The theme of our Summit suggests that investors should reflect upon opportunities and strategies for their plans today in order to achieve their investment goals over the long term. Some of those considerations are:

• Preparing for the long term, despite today’s low-volatility market where risks are being largely shrugged off by investors
• Implementing opportunistic and hard asset investments and strategies to deliver returns amid expensive valuations for stocks and bonds
• Utilizing best governance practices, including asset allocation reviews, risk assessment, investment policy rebalancing and key performance measures, to position funds for achievement of risk-adjusted outperformance

What Topics Did Segal Marco Cover for Investors?

The sessions covered a wide variety of topics encompassing views on economic developments and asset classes, as well as insights on governance and managing a plan.

The Summit began with a welcome and firm update from CEO John DeMairo, followed by an Investment Outlook update by Chief Investment Officer Tim Barron and Vice Presidents Catherine Hickey and Kathleen Pabla. Senior Vice Presidents John Ross and Dan Westerheide, along with Director Pat O’Neill, discussed strategies for clients to use to meet their liquidity and liability goals.

Senior Vice President Alan Kosan and Vice President Geoff Strotman, along with a panel of their team members representing public and private asset classes, introduced the audience to hot topics Segal Marco is covering in investment manager research. The day was rounded out by an educational session on environmental, social and governance investing (ESG) by Vice President Maureen O’Brien and Senior Vice President Julian Regan.

Day 2 began with opportunistic investing. Senior Vice Presidents Ryan Hanna and Peter Gerlings, along with Director Francois Otieno, provided ideas on how clients can execute these strategies in their portfolios.

Later, clients chose among several breakout sessions. Senior Vice President Marc Procek and Vice President Linda McDonald led a discussion about inflation and hard assets, while in the next room, Senior Vice President Dave Pappalardo and Vice President Peter Sullivan hosted a session featuring clients on the changing of the guard of registered investment advisors (RIAs) amidst the generational shift in high net worth investors.

Senior Vice President Mike Wright, Director Ben Hall and Consultant David Greengard delved into the topic of selecting managers in defined contribution. Meanwhile, Senior Vice Presidents Seth Almaliah and Nick Trella hosted a client panel on strategies in good plan governance.

Client and Segal Marco Staff Interaction

Segal Marco staff members had the pleasure of speaking to clients one-on-one in roundtable sessions offered on both Friday and Saturday mornings, as well as during afternoon and evening events. Our goal at each Summit is to provide a robust mix of education, access to our investment experts, and special events and activities.

Our goal and hope of the Summit is that clients take away investment insights from Segal Marco’s staff, as well as gain a greater sense of the breadth of our firm’s services. We hope to see you next year!