Christophe L’Ahelec, Managing Director of Public Markets at University Pension Plan Ontario, joins Alan Dunne in this episode to discuss their approach to managing the C$11bn defined benefit pension plan. We discuss the high level Strategic Asset Allocation of the plan and also how the changed macro environment in recent years has motivated a shift in the asset allocation towards more absolute return strategies. Such strategies play a dual role of diversification and return enhancement for UPP and we discuss how Christophe thinks about an appropriate strategy allocation within absolute return. We also delve into the challenges of manager selection and evaluation, why it is important to remember that you are buying an “investment process” not historical returns when allocating to managers and discuss when is it appropriate to remove a manager and when not.

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Episode TimeStamps:

02:50 - Introduction to Christophe L'Ahelec

07:06 - A new initiative

10:01 - What kind of strategy drives their asset allocation?

12:40 - What goes into which bucket?

14:45 - What makes absolute return exposure more attractive at the moment?

16:31 - Constructing an absolute return portfolio

18:38 - How they approach trend following

21:58 - Why do they use leverage?

23:32 - What do they expect from their portfolio?

25:12 - Managing liabilities

27:58 - Public equities - where do they stand?

30:59 - Investing in niche strategies

34:11 - How they evaluate managers

36:21 - Open to early stage manager risk?

41:42 - What makes a manager stand out?

44:56 - When should you remove a manager?

46:47 - What is their governance process?

50:36 - How they make decisions as a team

52:20 - Advice for new investors

55:34 - Thanks for listening

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ALO22: Finding an Absolute Return Solution for a C$11BN Pension Plan ft. Christophe L'Ahelec