Workshop
Biodiversity in investment portfolios

In this workshop, BlackRock and Philips Pension Fund share practical considerations and experiences on integrating nature and biodiversity into investment portfolios. Focusing on how biodiversity offers both investment risks and opportunities, how to map exposures within the portfolio, and how scenario analysis can be used to quantify risks and impacts. Also: how can nature be integrated into the investment portfolio within current allocations as well as new asset classes? 

Speakers: Cherry Muijsson, Fiduciary Advisor(CIO) and Natural Capital Investment Expert, BlackRock and Arian Borgers, Investment Manager, Philips Pension Fund

11:45-12:45
Lunch and registration
 
12:45-12:50
Opening
Maarten van Wijk, Editor Online Pensioen Pro

12:50-13:20
Keynote presentation
Measuring is not necessarily knowing
Pension funds measure the sustainability preferences of their participants. Similar to risk preference research, there are different methods and measurement errors lurk. In risk research, participants often turn out to be more risk-averse than you might expect given their age. Are participants' sustainability preferences appropriate then? And are the measured risk and sustainability preferences compatible in the new DC system?

Speaker: Rob Bauer, Hoogleraar institutionele beleggers Universiteit Maastricht School of Business and Economics

13:20-13:40
Presentation
Investing and communicating under the Future Pensions Act
What we can learn from 10 years of PPI pitfalls and successes

Speaker: Herialt Mens, Head of Investments, Aegon Cappital

14:10-14:30
Presentation

Credits: from SRI to transition investing
The traditional philosophy around SRI stands or falls on the expectation that it encourages companies to become greener. But what if the approach does not lead to the desired and expected reduction in carbon emissions? Greater real-world impact can be achieved by investing in companies with significant transition potential. Jorg Soens explains how this can be done within the regulatory framework and how, in addition to the sustainability benefits, it can also be financially attractive.

Speaker: Jorg Soens, Senior ESG solutions specialist at Insight Investment, an investment firm of BNY Investments.

Stream A
Future Pensions Act

Stream B
Sustainability

14:45 - 15:15
Breakout session
Less explicit, more implicit: dynamic investment policy in the new regime

14:45 - 15:15
Breakout session
Implementing investing with impact

The new pension system leads to investment adjustments. Besides strategic norm changes, the Wtp also affects investment policy dynamics. At four levels: interest rate tiers, funding level-dependent investment policy, tactical asset allocation and active management.

Speaker: Jitzes Noorman, Delegated CIO & Investment Strategist, Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Some asset classes lend themselves better to impact investing than others. What is the ‘ideal’ asset class for impact investing? And how to implement impact investing in the SAA and portfolio construction? 

Speakers: Reinout van Tuyll van Serooskerken, Senior Investment Strategist and Mark Leeijen, Senior Fiduciairy Advisor / Account CIO, Achmea Investment Management 

15:15 - 15:45
Breakout session
The case for a strategic allocation to gold

15:15 - 15:45
Breakout session
Investing sustainably as a Catholic pension fund

Faced with inflation risks and an uncertain economic backdrop, diversification and risk mitigation remain top of mind for pension funds. Could now be the time to reconsider traditional investment thinking? In this session, we will explore the role gold can play in diversifying the portfolio, how to implement an allocation to gold, and its benefits under the new pension contract.

Speakers: Jeremy De Pessemier, Global asset allocation strategist, World Gold Council and Martijn Penders, Investment Manager, DPS

Pensioenfonds Nederlandse Bisdommen pursues a sustainable investment policy based on international standards as well as ecclesiastical principles. In the coming period, the fund will give substance to the latest Papal regulations from 2022, Mensuram Bonam. How does this Catholic pension fund give substance to the SRI policy?

Speaker: Hans Brand, chairman of Pensioenfonds Nederlandse Bisdommen

15:45-16:05
Break

16:05-16:25
Presentation
The (non)sense of sustainable investing

Based on recent financial results, it would have been better not to invest sustainably; investments in fossil fuels and weapons yielded higher returns. But what really is a good return? The World Economic Forum points out that sustainability covers the biggest investment risks, such as declining biodiversity and rising sea levels. These risks are not reduced by simply following a benchmark. So what can you do as an investor?

Speaker: Dennis van der Putten, Chief Sustainability Officer, Cardano

16:25-16:45
Interview
Interview with MP Thierry Aartsen (VVD) by Maarten van Wijk. Among other things, Aartsen will explain his adopted parliamentary motion, which states that it is not the primary task of funds to make ‘activist or idealistic’ investments.

16:45–17:30
Panel 
Sustainable dilemmas
Pension fund trustees discuss investment dilemmas raised at the conference. How do you measure participants' sustainable preferences, and what do you do with them? How to deal with political pressure on investment policy? How sustainable can private equity investing be? What do funds do with their country policies in a world with increasing geopolitical tensions? Should funds invest in gold again?

Panel discussion with Jeroen van der Put (Pensioenfonds PostNL), Paul Citroen (Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering), Anne Kock (Pensioenfonds PGB) and Lars van Dort (MN) 

Moderator Maarten van Wijk, Editor Online, Pensioen Pro.

17:30
Closing and networking drinks