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An interview with Andreas Summersea, CIO, Bliwa Livförsäkring
What impact does investing in alternative assets have on a firm?
Ahead of the 6th Edition Nordic Asset Allocation: Investing in Alternative Asset Classes Conference, we spoke with Andreas Summersea, CIO, Bliwa Livförsäkring, about the impact that investing assets have on a firm.
What impact does investing in alternative assets have on a firm?
As the name indicates, alternative investments imply new alternative drivers of return and risk, which means an increased level of diversification in an asset portfolio. Whether the total impact is positive or negative depends, as usual, on whether you get paid enough as an investor, for the risk and the effect on the total risk adjusted return of your portfolio. It also depends on the type of alternative risk and how well it fits the knowledge, resources, risk profile and risk appetite of your organisation.
What alternatives are best suited for the low rate environment and what strategies are you looking to pursue if the rates change?
Real Assets such as Real Estate, Forest and Infrastructure are well suited for a continued low rate environment. I believe the risk in interest rates are on the upside, caused by a combination of higher inflation and higher real rates. Under these circumstances, I would keep our current position in Real Assets and hedge funds, and pursue to increase allocation to private debt with moderate credit risk and short duration. These alternative assets would probably perform well relative to other assets, even if returns are not great.
What would you say makes a successful opportunistic investment in the current economic environment?
As mentioned earlier, real assets, hedge funds, and private debt with low/moderate credit risk and short duration, are alternative assets that are well suited for the current economic environment where the trend of falling interest rates and double-digit equity return is about to end. Within hedge funds, I believe trend following CTA is in for a period of good return during the coming years, after having faced difficulties with shifting trends and low volatility for many years.
Do you think the international market for infrastructure will undergo any significant changes in the future?
Most certainly, however it is difficult to assess exactly how. One obvious trend though are automation, electrification and digitalization of transportation and communication. Together with transition towards renewable and low-carbon energy production this will change the foundation for infrastructure. This creates both opportunities but also risks, and technological risks is one of the main risks. I anticipate and hope that that public/private cooperation will develop and improve the efficiency of the infrastructure market to meet the great need for infrastructure investment and the enormous capital willing to invest in the asset class.
What would you like to achieve by attending the 6th Edition of Nordic Asset Allocation: Investing in Alternative Asset Classes conference?
I am keen on obtaining new knowledge and insights on alternative assets and challenges as well as strategies of the future when it comes to asset allocation. Hopefully, I will also like to know about how these strategies could be implemented in practice. I also look forward to learning from other’s experiences.
About the speaker:
Andreas joined Bliwa Livförsäkring in 2014. Bliwa Livförsäkring is a Swedish mutual insurance company offering group insurance products to Swedish companies, organisations (unions) and their employees and members. Bliwa Livförsäkring has a premium income of 60 million euro and 220 million euro in AUM invested in a diversified asset portfolio including alternative investments.
Andreas has previously worked as Portfolio strategist and Risk Manager at Länsförsäkringar AB Asset Management, and before joining Bliwa Livförsäkring he was Senior Manager Consultant within Asset Management and Risk Management at The Financial Compliance Group (FCG).
About the Conference:
This marcus evans event will take a comprehensive overview of the alternative assets dominating the market. It will explore their true risk profile, future trends and the use of alternatives, such as infrastructure, real estate and private equity as a tool to diversify your portfolio. The event will also explore risks associated with alternatives, with particular focus on liquidity. The 6th Edition Nordic Asset Allocation: Investing in Alternative Asset Classes Conference will take place from the 7th until the 9th of March 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden.
For more information please visit the event website or contact Yiota Andreou at [email protected]]]>
