Agenda - Day 1

Gain insight into today’s sessions so you can get the most out of your conference experience and maximize your value.

In a world shaped by simultaneous global challenges, from climate volatility and geopolitical instability to shifting demographics and rapid technological disruption, foundations, endowments, and non-profits are uniquely positioned to respond with both purpose and capital. Navigate uncertainty, manage evolving risks, and seize opportunities to invest in a more resilient and equitable future. Take away specific solutions to:

• Understand how aligning investments with mission can act as both a financial strategy and a tool for systemic change.
• Balance fiduciary duty with forward-looking risk management to protect and grow capital while supporting long-term impact.
• Expand influence and innovation across borders through local philanthropic and investment actions.

Advance with clarity, conviction, and purpose by leveraging capital to preserve assets, drive meaningful progress, and shape a more resilient future.

In a time marked by geopolitical fragmentation, inflationary pressures, climate risk, and shifting monetary policy, institutional stewards of philanthropic capital must recalibrate their long-term investment strategies. Examine the macroeconomic forces reshaping financial markets and understand what they mean for foundations, endowments, and non-profits. Deepen your knowledge on:

• Global Macro Outlook 2026–2028:
  Understand the economic indicators that matter most for long-horizon investors from interest rates and energy markets to trade flows and geopolitical flashpoints.
• Mission-Aligned Investing in a Polycrisis Era:
  Explore how philanthropic institutions can balance values and performance amid environmental, political, and demographic upheavals.
• Currency, Capital, and Conflict:
  Examine what de-dollarization, regional instability, and policy divergence mean for cross-border giving and globally diversified portfolios.
• Strategic Patience and Adaptive Capital:
  Discover why long-term investors must lead, not follow, in a decade defined by structural change.

Optimize your strategy to navigate volatility, seize emerging opportunities, and build lasting impact in a transforming global economy.

Institutional investors are facing a complex and rapidly evolving investment environment driven by rising bond yields, shifting fiscal policies, and increased market concentration. The stakes are high. Create a practical roadmap to build resilient, mission-aligned portfolios amid uncertainty. Develop a blueprint to:

• Assess how macroeconomic trends may impact future returns across asset classes.
• Evaluate whether continued reliance on a narrow set of outperforming equities poses long-term risks.
• Identify how to preserve capital while staying agile in a shifting policy and geopolitical environment.

 Bolster resilience and long-term performance to mitigate emerging risks and enhance diversification.

In an investment landscape defined by rapid change and rising complexity, understanding today’s equity markets has never been more critical. Market leadership is narrowing, geopolitical tensions are influencing risk perceptions, and performance patterns across regions, sectors, and styles continue to evolve. Against this backdrop, both active managers and asset allocators are being challenged to adapt their approaches. This session will set the stage by outlining the forces reshaping global equities and exploring how investors can position their portfolios to navigate and potentially capitalize on this new environment. Join us to hear:

• An overview of the equity market environment, including recent equity performance across regions, sectors, and styles, along with an exploration of equity market concentration and dominant themes;
• A review of challenges being faced by active equity managers due to narrowing market leadership, and a glimpse at their performance; and
• A perspective on how to navigate the new equity landscape, which is characterized by elevated geopolitical risk combined with heightened market concentration, prompting investors to rethink how their equity allocations are structured and diversified.

Identifying where you want to make an impact and how to measure that impact is the cornerstone of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. This process, however, can be complex. Heighten your ability to accurately assess ESG opportunities by focusing on key metrics and disclosures. Master the success factors to:

• Refine the types of disclosures you request to gain a clearer understanding of risks and opportunities.
• Bolster your understanding of key ESG metrics, including net-zero targets, GHG emissions, and DEI goals, and what they reveal.
• Align these metrics with your mission, enabling you to “screen in” investments that proactively benefit society.

Achieve a comprehensive understanding of ESG investment opportunities to maximize positive societal impact while optimizing financial returns.

Unlocking long-term prosperity requires more than capital, it demands partnerships grounded in respect, reconciliation, and shared opportunity. Explore the critical role of foundations, endowments, and mission-aligned investors in supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs and community-led economic development. Take back to your office strategies to:

• Develop innovative funding models and investment readiness strategies.
• Shift from transactional support to transformative collaboration.
• Embed equity, reconciliation, and Indigenous leadership into impact portfolios.

Advance reconciliation and shared prosperity by embedding equity, respect, and Indigenous leadership across every investment portfolio.

For non-profits and foundations new to investing, taking the first steps toward building and managing an endowment can be daunting. Establish robust governance, develop an investment policy statement (IPS), choose the right investment partners, and build internal capacity to steward funds responsibly and allocate assets appropriately in volatile times. Adopt best practices to:

• Understand the roles and responsibilities of board members, finance committees, and staff in overseeing investments.
• Develop a clear, mission-aligned IPS that outlines objectives, risk tolerance, asset allocation, and spending policies.
• Evaluate, select, and manage relationships with investment advisors, managers, and consultants.

Improve your organization’s investment readiness to avoid setbacks and build a sustainable path toward long-term growth.

“Just because something is good, doesn’t mean it’s good enough.”  The future is not a better strategic asset allocation model.  It’s a different architecture altogether that requires a new mindset.

As asset owners, create better alignment between their objectives and their investment portfolio and in doing so achieve their goals with greater certainty.  This will be a wide-ranging discussion covering topics such as:

• Why stocks and bonds are not enough, the role of alternative investments in goal-based portfolio construction
• Why legacy risk models are becoming obsolete in a world of multi-asset multi-strategy portfolios and what to do about it
• A look at the dramatic shift in capital allocation that has been occurring over the past 20 years as investors seek to make their money work harder and smarter.

This session is designed to energize your foundation’s committee. Discover how every member, regardless of their experience, can drive collaboration, and unlock the group’s full potential. It will explore the power of emotional intelligence, with practical strategies to strengthen relationships, enhance decision-making, and where everyone benefits. Join us and transform your committee dynamics and make a lasting difference to your foundation.

As sustainability data broadens, regulations diverge, and market concentration increases, investors face a key question: how to incorporate financially material sustainability signals into equity portfolios without creating unwanted factor exposures. This session outlines a disciplined, systematic framework for building a resilient, sustainable equity core using proprietary, rules‑based insights that highlight transition opportunities while managing downside risk.

Key takeaways:

• Why conventional ratings often overlook financially material risks

• How to quantify opportunity and corporate resilience

• How to incorporate sustainability signals while controlling tracking error and factor exposure

• Practical lessons for long‑term allocators seeking greater equity resilience

Discover how partnering with an OCIO can help your organization enhance investment governance, strengthen performance, and stay mission-focused amid growing market complexity. Optimize your investment strategy while aligning with your mission and stakeholder priorities. Master the success factors to:

• Free up internal resources to better serve donors, beneficiaries, and long-term goals.
• Improve decision-making with expert guidance on complex strategies like impact investing and private markets.
• Navigate volatility with confidence to build greater resilience in uncertain economic environments.

Amplify the OCIO approach to align with your organization’s unique investment goals and mission.

Review the key solutions and takeaways from today’s sessions. Source a summary of action points to implement in your work. Discuss tomorrow’s highlights!