This year’s Investment Management Forum will be a unique opportunity to discuss the state of the European investment management industry, changing customer expectations, retail participation in capital markets, the growth of sustainable finance and how to successfully navigate a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook and turbulent markets. Four CEOs will share their own experience and views on these events, and more.

Find out what prominent EU policymakers and industry leaders have to say about the next Commission’s priorities for financial services and asset management. Are we making effective progress towards a Capital Markets Union? Is the EU on track with its ambitious sustainable and digital finance agendas? What should the next targets be and what role can asset managers play?

Leading asset managers will discuss the coming changes to the US settlement cycle and what this means beyond the US market.  What does a move to T+1 mean for players along the settlement chain?  What is the rationale for shortening the settlement cycle, and how prepared is Europe for trading in a US T+1 environment?  These are just some of the topics to be covered in this session, along with the burning question: should the EU also be considering a move to T1?

In the aftermath of Covid-19, financial stability remains a heavily debated topic in European and global policymaking circles. The recent FSB and IOSCO consultations on liquidity management in open-ended funds seek to update their previous recommendations in light of the “lessons learnt” from March 2020 and more recent market corrections. There is no better moment to speak to the Secretary General of the FSB on the motivations behind the FSB’s most recent work and where its ultimate policy objectives may lie.

Sustainable finance regulations are only a few years old and have been a significant learning exercise so far. It has become increasingly clear that improvements can still be made, with the disclosure framework for ESG investing currently under review. In this session, industry experts, leading policymakers and sustainability stakeholders will discuss the challenges and successes to date, as well as what the future should look like.

Many years of discussion have culminated in the European Commission releasing their long-awaited Retail Investment Strategy. The goal is to increase European retail participation in capital markets, which would benefit the EU’s population of savers as well as further the Capital Markets Union project. This session gathers together influential policymakers, asset managers and industry experts to debate the pros and cons of the various proposals. What is “value for money” through an EU citizen’s lens? What does it mean to ban execution-only commissions? Is the package in line with the EU’s digital and sustainable finance vision?