Marquette Speaking at 2025 Midwest Institutional Forum 4/9–10

February 14, 2025

On April 9–10, Greg Leonberger, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA, Jessica Noviskis, CFA, Frank Valle, CFA, CAIA, James Torgerson, and Evan Frazier, CFA, CAIA will be speaking at the 11th Annual Midwest Institutional Forum hosted by Markets Group in Chicago.

On Wednesday, Jessica will be joining the opening panel discussion, “Navigating Markets in 2025: Investment Strategies and Macroeconomic Outlook,” described as follows: The financial landscapes continue to evolve in an era marked by unprecedented global events. Investors are faced with the imperative challenge to construct resilient portfolios in the face of economic shifts and market volatility. This panel will shed light on the current macroeconomic landscape, providing insights into global economic trends and their potential impact on various asset classes. From equities and fixed income to alternative investments, our experts will share their perspectives on where opportunities lie and the potential pitfalls to avoid in the pursuit of optimal asset allocation.

Greg will be joining a panel later in the morning entitled “Portfolio Construction – Finding the Best Opportunities in 2025,” described as follows: Many are calling this a new investment era with opportunities for investors that have never been seen before. Market movements, fiscal challenges, the denominator effect, and revised globalization have all created unique opportunities for investors who go well beyond the traditional 60/40 portfolio construct. Join our panel of experts as they aim to answer several key questions, including:

• What will a “diversified” portfolio look like in 2025? And what will it look like over the next 5-10 years?
• How are investors approaching portfolio construction and allocation decisions in the current landscape?
• Where do they see opportunities across asset classes and sectors, and how is this impacting their decision-making with new and existing managers?

That afternoon, Frank will be conducting an interview, “Opportunities in Public Credit: A Systematic Approach to High Yield,” described as follows: Systematic fixed income strategies have entered the mainstream, having seen their assets more than double over the last year. They are poised to grow further as innovative trading techniques and abundance of structured data provide opportunities to lower transaction costs and generate diversified alpha streams in less liquid asset classes such as high yield. As fixed income is entering a potential golden age given historically high yields, we will discuss how a systematic approach to credit and innovation in credit portfolio trading can help with generating trading efficiencies and targeting differentiated alpha drivers in high yield.

James will also be conducting an interview: “Insurance-Linked Securities – Continued Growth of a Fundamentally Uncorrelated Asset Class.” This fireside chat will focus on the increased interest in insurance-linked securities as a key allocation for diversified portfolios. Specific discussion topics will include an overview of the role of insurance-linked investments in an institutional portfolio, how allocators have been evaluating opportunities of late and the latest developments & growth of the asset class. For allocators newer to the asset class, the session should provide key highlights to use in internal investment strategy meetings and/or consultant-client reviews as well as provide the latest talking points important to reintroducing an opportunity in the space or to evaluating an existing investment.

On Thursday, Evan will be moderating a panel entitled, “Effectively Investing Through Private Markets; Diversification & Returns.” As investors search for additional sources of revenue and methods for portfolio diversification in the volatile and changing environment, private markets stand out as an area of opportunities. The panel brings together leading alternatives investors and allocators to share the role private equity, private debt, venture capital and more play in their portfolios and what they look for in managers to meet their objectives in these asset classes. Panelists will address risks and opportunities across capital structures, expected returns and the operational requirements for managing the unique complexities in private markets.

The Midwest Institutional Forum brings together institutional investors, consultants, and industry experts from across the Midwest. For more information, please visit the event website.