Breakfast

Opening remarks and interactive activity

Economic outlook: Rollover inflation

In the last two years, interest rates fell after roughly 500 basis points of rate hikes, while the economy has consistently managed to churn out moderate growth. With the U.S. election and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, the Middle East and potentially beyond, Canada is looking flat while the U.S. economy has remained surprisingly strong. This session will explore how the U.S. Federal Reserve will respond and whether or not the Bank of Canada will follow its lead.

Speaker:

Douglas Porter, chief economist and managing director, BMO Financial Group

Session details to come

This session has been made possible by Desjardins Global Asset Management.

Networking break

Session details to come

Speakers:

Catherine Jackman, managing director, SLC Management

Kevin Quinlan, senior director of climate and client strategy, SLC Management

Reframing sustainable investing

Activism has created a drain on universities and foundations. The expectations for investing sustainably are effectively framed by those who aren’t fiduciaries. This session will reframe the messaging on sustainable investing by considering trade-offs and how challenges represent potential opportunities as allocators strive to meet decarbonization goals.

Speaker:

Arijit Banik, treasurer, York University

Panel: How current market challenges are impacting E&F investment decision making 

A panel of thought leaders in the endowment and foundation space will discuss hot topics including adjusting to an inflationary environment, staying the course during short-term market instability, finding areas of opportunity and much more

Panellists:

Martin Bélanger, director, investments, University of Western Ontario

More panellists to be announced.

Closing lunch