DETAILED OUTLINE
8.30am
REGISTRATION OPEN
Harbourside Room, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
9.00am
WELCOME
Tim Townsend
Partner & Private Wealth Adviser, Townsend Cobain Partners
9.15am
A NEW REGIME? — THE FORCES SHAPING AUSTRALIAN EQUITIES
Where the country is heading, and where that leaves Australian equities
The 2026 Federal Budget did more than set fiscal settings; it made a political program explicit. Reforms to capital gains tax, negative gearing, and discretionary trusts were not isolated budget measures – they were the clearest signal yet of who this government is governing for, and how far it is prepared to go.
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As the Government consolidates its voter base and its policy direction sharpens, individuals, advisers and companies are only beginning to digest the longer-term implications – for tax, for capital flows, and for the assets Australians choose to hold.
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For equity markets, this lands on top of forces already reshaping the investable landscape: the growing gravitational pull of superannuation, stagnant productivity, and rising index concentration. Together they raise live, practical questions – where is value actually being created in this market, what does active management need to do differently, and can a home-market bias still earn its place in a well-constructed portfolio?
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In this opening session, our speakers will unpack the rapidly evolving political and market environment – moving from the political signal to its portfolio consequences: what active management needs to do differently, and the investment implications advisers now need to weigh for portfolio construction.
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Key Issues:
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The policy signal, decoded: The policy signal, decoded. What the 2026 Budget's reforms to capital gains tax, negative gearing and discretionary trusts reveal about the Government's longer-term direction — and which constituencies the policy program is built to serve.
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Where the capital flows next: Where the capital flows next. How shifting tax settings and the relentless growth of superannuation are reshaping demand for Australian equities — from the weight of mandatory inflows propping up large-cap valuations to the question of whether domestic capital keeps chasing a narrowing set of names.
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The home-bias question: Whether a structural tilt toward Australian equities can still be justified against rising index concentration, stagnant productivity, and the handful of large-cap names driving returns.
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The active mandate, redefined: What active management has to do differently to earn its fee in a more concentrated, policy-sensitive market — and where genuine value is still being created.
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THOUGHT LEADER:
Kos Samaras -
Director Strategy and Analytics, Redbridge Group
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IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion
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If this Budget marks a durable shift in policy direction rather than a one-off, how should that change how you allocate to Australian equities over the next three to five years?
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What's the strongest case for Australian equities today — and which structural shifts actually play in the asset class's favour?
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Where in the current Australian market do you see value being created that the index is not capturing — and what's stopping advisers from acting on it?
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10.15am
MORNING TEA
10.35am
THE CONCENTRATION QUESTION — WHERE SHOULD INVESTORS BE LOOKING NEXT?
Building resilient portfolios when the benchmark has never been more concentrated
For some time, the path of least resistance has been to stay close to the growing concentration in our benchmarks, and it has been rewarded. The uncomfortable question is what happens next: in a high-valuation environment, late in a narrow and leader-led run, is the prudent move to keep crowding into what has worked, or to think harder about where return is being under-appreciated elsewhere?
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In this session, our speakers will discuss where they are currently finding opportunity and the portfolio construction implications of the current market environment — how we should be thinking about building resilient portfolios that still capture the opportunities evident in the world's largest companies, while also improving diversification and identifying value in other areas of the market.
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Key Issues:
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Concentration & Resilience: When so much sits in so few names, what genuine diversification looks like today — and where the hidden fragilities are in a portfolio built around the leaders.
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The Next Stage of the Cycle: After a long, narrow, leader-led run, what tends to broaden returns — and what would signal the baton beginning to pass.
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Valuation Discipline When Everything Looks Expensive: Where value and quality still exist with headline multiples stretched, and how to avoid overpaying for the obvious.
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Catalysts & Mispricing: How anchoring, recency bias and narrative capture leave opportunities under-appreciated — and what actually closes the gap between value and price.
THOUGHT LEADERS:
Marc Jocum
Senior Product and Investment Strategist, Global X ETFs
Ross Cameron
Portfolio Manager - Emerging Markets, Northcape Capital
(Represented by Warakirri Asset Management)
IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion
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What evidence of the cycle broadening (or the leaders faltering) would you need before making a more significant shift away from the benchmark — and what's held you back from acting so far?
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How do you distinguish genuine conviction from overconfidence or style drift in a manager — and do you judge a concentrated, high-conviction book differently from a diversified one?
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Taking a critical look at your portfolios today, how much of your active risk budget is genuinely diversifying versus leaning on the same handful of leaders?
11.40am
RETHINKING ACTIVE — IS THE WAY WE ALLOCATE STILL FIT FOR PURPOSE?
How structural change is challenging the frameworks we rely on
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Active management is facing increasing pressure. The continued rise of passive investing, fee compression, and the growing influence of systematic and momentum-driven strategies have reshaped how markets behave. Capital has become more concentrated in a narrow group of large companies, while dispersion beneath the surface has evolved in less predictable ways.
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The deeper question is whether these are passing conditions or a genuine regime change — and if it's the latter, whether the frameworks advisers have long relied on still hold. In this session, our speakers step back from the day-to-day to ask whether the familiar axes we allocate along — active versus passive, value versus growth — still describe markets that no longer behave the way those frameworks assume, and how the way we build and evaluate portfolios should change as a result.
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Key Issues:
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Structural, Not Cyclical?: Have passive flows, fee compression and systematic strategies permanently changed how markets price — or is this just another phase that reverts?
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Frameworks Past Their Use-By Date: Is the value-versus-growth lens still meaningful? Has active-versus-passive become a false binary? And if these frameworks are fraying, what should replace them?
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What Still Generates Alpha — and How Managers Adapt: Where genuine, repeatable edge comes from in this environment, and how much latitude advisers should give managers to evolve their process.
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Evaluating & Allocating to Active: How to tell managers genuinely adapting from those simply riding favourable conditions — and what that means for how you allocate.
THOUGHT LEADERS:
Tom King
Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Nanuk Asset Management
Chad Padowitz
Co-Chief Investment Officer, Talaria Capital
Andrew Yap
Head of Portfolio Solutions, Zenith Investment Partners
IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion
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What factors are challenging your current thinking on active management?
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Where do you believe the case for active is strongest today, and where is it weakest?
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How can we better distinguish between managers genuinely adapting to today's environment and those benefiting from favourable conditions?
12.40pm
LUNCH
1.40pm
PRIVATE CREDIT — THE ALLOCATION QUESTIONS THAT MATTER NOW
Where to play, how value is created and what it means for portfolios
Private credit has grown rapidly as banks retrenched and investors sought income. As the asset class matures, however, competition is increasing and the opportunity set is fragmenting.
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From sponsor-backed direct lending to asset-backed finance and special situations, across domestic and global markets, each segment offers distinct risk-return dynamics. Higher rates and tighter liquidity are also testing underwriting discipline and increasing dispersion.
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In this environment, the question is not only how much to allocate, but where to play and how returns are generated. What differentiates genuine alpha from commoditised yield? How do managers build sourcing advantages and protect capital? And how should advisers structure private credit exposure within diversified portfolios?
Key Issues:
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Segments & Strategy: How different forms of private credit vary in risk and return.
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Alpha vs Beta: What truly drives excess returns in private credit.
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Competitive Advantage: How managers source, underwrite and structure deals to protect downside.
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Portfolio Role: How to size and position private credit as dispersion increases.
THOUGHT LEADERS:
Frank Danieli
Head of Global Credit Solutions, MA Financial Group
Raghav Khanna
Managing Director & Co-Portfolio Manager, Oaktree Capital Management
(Represented by Brookfield)
IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion
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Where do you see the most attractive segments within private credit today?
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How do you distinguish genuine alpha from commoditised yield?
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How are you determining appropriate exposure and risk budgets for private credit in
portfolios?
2.50pm
3.55pm
FROM INSIGHT TO IMPLEMENTATION — REFINING PORTFOLIOS IN PRACTICE
Testing asset allocation convictions in a changing market environment
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As markets evolve and opportunity sets expand, even well-constructed portfolios warrant re-examination.
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This session invites delegates to step into an investment committee mindset and workshop their current view of the world. How have recent shifts in market structure, liquidity, growth dynamics and private markets influenced positioning? Where does conviction sit today — and where has it shifted?
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The focus is on refining core allocation views, ensuring portfolios reflect deliberate positioning rather than inherited assumptions.
Workshop Focus:
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Core Assumption - What structural view anchors your current allocation?
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Conviction vs Exposure - Does portfolio exposure align with your highest conviction ideas?
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Capital Decision - If you redeployed 5% today, where would it move, and why?
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THOUGHT LEADER:
Damien Hennessy
Investment Director | Portfolio Strategy & Asset Allocation, Zenith Investment Partners​
Tim Farrelly
Co-CIO, Delta Portfolios
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AFTERNOON TEA
AI, HYPE vs REALITY — WHAT SHOULD ADVICE BUSINESSES BE DOING RIGHT NOW?
From experimentation to implementation in advice businesses
Advice businesses are entering a new phase of technological change – where the question is no longer whether AI will reshape the industry, but how quickly and how effectively firms can integrate these tools into their day-to-day operations.
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While the potential is clear, so too is the uncertainty. Many firms are experimenting, but few have translated this into meaningful gains in productivity, client engagement, or investment outcomes.
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This session moves beyond the hype, focusing on where AI is already delivering value, where the real risks lie, and the practical steps advisers should be taking now to embed these tools into their businesses in a disciplined and effective way, drawing on early lessons from firms already implementing AI in practice.
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Key Issues:
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AI in Practice: Where it is already improving efficiency, research, and client outcomes.
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From FOMO to Focus: Avoiding rushed adoption and identifying the highest-value use cases.
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Team Enablement: How to guide, train, and govern teams using AI tools effectively.
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Client Proposition: How technology reshapes advice delivery and client expectations.
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THOUGHT LEADER:
Jason Entwistle
Director Strategic Development, HUB24 ​
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IDEA EXCHANGE - Table Discussion
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Where are you currently seeing the most practical benefits from AI in your business?
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What are the biggest risks or barriers to adopting AI more broadly across your team?
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What would a “best-in-class” advice business look like in 3–5 years if AI is implemented well?
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