"A well diversified seminar with differing views. Well worth taking the time out to attend."
Kelman Chambers, GS Financial Services

Please click on the below links to download pdf programmes for each leg of the event. Each download will open in a new browser window.

Last updated: 17th February

• Tuesday, 23rd February - Edinburgh (91 Kb)
• Wednesday, 24th February - Harrogate (94 Kb)
• Thursday, 25th February - Manchester (95 Kb)
• Tuesday, 2nd March - Birmingham (90 Kb)
• Wednesday, 3rd March - Bristol (90 Kb)
• Thursday, 4th March - London (91 Kb)

The above programme files are in Adobe Acrobat format.
If you don't have this software, you can download Adobe Reader for free here.

Please note: Each leg of the roadshow differs slightly according to speakers available. Below is an example agenda for this event, based on the Edinburgh event on 23rd February.

08:30 Registration and coffee

09:00 Chair's welcome

09:10 Keynote: Time for something completely different

Nick Cann, Chief Executive, Institute of Financial Planning

The time is ticking for everybody and challenges and opportunities abound. There are however some really quick wins to be had in shaping a business that you can continue to be proud of, that will enable you and your teams to achieve the goals that you set yourself. Nick will set out his vision for the next three years and set out what success might look like if we fast forward to January 2013 and look back on the journey that everybody is currently undertaking.

09:40 Building a property portfolio after the downturn?

Michael Barrie, Director, Balanced Funds, Legal & General Property

Mike Barrie, L&G Property's award-winning Fund Manager, gives his outlook on the market and explores how traditional sector and region selection may need to give way to new investment criteria such as bond/equity characteristics, covenant risks, rental volatility, and liquidity to secure outperformance from property in the future.

Followed by Q&A at 10:00

10:10 Dispelling commonly held myths within the investment market

Alastair Mundy, Head of the UK Contrarian team and Portfolio Manager, UK Equities, Investec Asset Management

Alastair Mundy, fund manager for the Investec UK Special Situations Fund and the Investec Cautious Managed Fund will aim to dispel some of the commonly held myths within the investment market. He will highlight why going against conventional wisdom and investing away from the crowd can be incredibly rewarding over the long run. Finally, we hope you the delegate will leave the conference with a better understanding of Alastair's contrarian approach and how it has been instrumental in maintaining his top quartile performance on the £360m UK Special Situations Fund over 1, 3 and 5 years.*

*to the end of Oct 2009.

Followed by Q&A at 10:30

10:40 Coffee and networking break

11:00 Opportunities in credit

Mark Pearce, Fixed Income Investment Specialist, Threadneedle

In 2009 credit markets, in particular core areas such as corporate bonds, witnessed huge asset flows. Against this backdrop, are there still opportunities for investors available in credit?

In his session, Mark Pearce will review credit markets in general and discuss how investors can access these opportunities. He will consider all aspects of credit, from high yield and investment grade credit to higher alpha areas such as emerging market debt, and will present on how these strategies can be used effectively within a balanced portfolio investment strategy.

Followed by Q&A at 11:20

11:30 How stimulating?

Chris Burvill, Head of UK Equity Income, Gartmore Investment Management

Billions of pounds have been poured into supporting the economy. However, if the economy cannot flourish under the levels of external stimulus that we have seen, how can we be confident for 2010 when both interest rates and taxes look likely to rise?

What will change sentiment is never easy to predict: perhaps the impending General Election may focus attention on the full costs of the bail outs and stimulatory measures; or could it be a signal from the MPC that its quantitative easing is about to end.

In his presentation, Chris Burvill, Manager of the Gartmore Cautious Managed Fund, and one of the most experienced cautious managed fund managers in the business, explains how he is positioning and manoeuvring his portfolio against the current economic backdrop.

Followed by Q&A at 11:50

12:00 It's not the economy, stupid!

Graham Ashby, Head of UK Equities, LV= Asset Management

LV= Asset Management will contrast the structural decline of domestic investors' exposure to UK equities with the ongoing attraction for many overseas companies for having a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. We will then go on to explain how UK plc is increasingly geographically diversified and how valuations look, in many cases, much cheaper than more fashionable equity markets such as Asia. These trends have already altered the nature of UK equity investment, with the correlation between domestic GDP growth and market performance deteriorating markedly in recent years. What are the implications for investors?

Followed by Q&A at 12:20

12:30 Buffet lunch and networking

14:30 Delegates depart

Please note that this programme is subject to change.