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Investival 2024


Investival is more than just an investment conference. It’s a place to learn from experts, lose yourself in great music, and relax with like-minded folks in an atmosphere like no other. Come along and take a seat – we know you won’t regret it.
 

The investment event of the year is back…

The countdown has begun to the biggest investment conference on the UK calendar. Now in its eleventh year, AJ Bell Investival will return to London’s Shaw Theatre on Thursday 14 November 2024 for another unmissable day of insight and entertainment. Tickets are already selling fast, with almost 50% of the available seats allocated at the time of writing…

A new theme

We want Investival 2024 to both inspire and uplift you. To make sure it does, we're working on another fun theme, and will also be invited the amazing Lucie Evans to sing for us again at the opening of the show.

Another top line-up

Please be patient with us as we finalise our agenda. All our sponsorship slots are now taken, and we'll share the star-studded lineup with you soon. As well as solo speakers, you can look forward to four fireside chats – no death by PowerPoint on our watch! More details on those – and our very special guest speaker – to follow...

Secure your seat now

Hit the ‘register' button below and enter your details to secure a place at Investival 2024. You’ll then receive a confirmation email from our team, along with further updates and a full speaker lineup as soon as it’s announced.

About the day

The Shaw Theatre - Hotel Pullman
100-110 Euston Road
London
NW1 2AJ
United Kingdom

Welcome to Investival
Speaker Name
Michael Summersgill
Speaker Job Title
CEO
Speaker Firm
AJ Bell
Session Overview

Michael will provide you with a warm welcome and update you on the latest at AJ Bell Investcentre before our guest speakers take to the stage.   

About Michael

Speaker Bio

Michael joined AJ Bell in 2007. He was appointed CFO in 2011 and began to take on responsibility for the group's operations from 2014. In his time as CFO Michael led a number of key change initiatives, developing AJ Bell into one of the UK's leading investment platform businesses. Michael took over the role of CEO from Andy Bell on 1 October 2022. 

The outlook for 2024
Speaker Name
Russ Mould
Speaker Job Title
Investment Director
Speaker Firm
AJ Bell
Session Overview

In his talk, our Investment Director, Russ Mould, will look at the potential outlook for economies, markets and portfolios in the year ahead and beyond. 
 

About Russ

Speaker Bio

Russ Mould’s long experience of the capital markets began in 1991 when he became a Fund Manager at a leading provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management services. In 1993 he joined a prestigious investment bank, working as an Equity Analyst covering the technology sector for 12 years. Russ eventually joined Shares magazine in November 2005 as Technology Correspondent and became Editor of the magazine in July 2008. Following the acquisition of Shares' parent company, MSM Media, by AJ Bell Group, he was appointed as AJ Bell’s Investment Director in summer 2013.

How investors can benefit from energy transition
Speaker Name
William Riley
Speaker Job Title
Portfolio Manager
Speaker Firm
Guinness GIobal Investors
Session Overview

Hydrocarbons are currently 83% of the global energy mix, but, over the next thirty years, the world will transition to a sustainable energy system, driven by economics and energy security as much as by climate change. We will explore the energy transition, and how investors can benefit.

About William

Speaker Bio

Will joined Guinness Global Investors in May 2007 and has been a member of the energy investment team since that date. Prior to this he spent six years with Pricewaterhouse Coopers in London, working as an equity valuation specialist within their corporate finance division. He has a Master’s degree in Geography from Cambridge University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Fireside chat – UK Smaller Companies
Speaker Name
Paul Marriage
Speaker Job Title
Co-Founder and Fund Manager
Speaker Firm
Tellworth Investments
Session Overview

In this fireside chat, host Ryan Hughes, Investments Director of AJ Bell Investments, will chat to Co-Founder and Fund Manager Paul Marriage about all things UK Smaller Companies.  

Addressing valuations, opportunities in long-term small-cap growth, the forecast for the UK’s macroeconomic challenges and government intervention, Ryan and Paul will also discuss what could drive a market recovery, and ask if 2024 could be the year the UK’s smaller companies finally start recovering in earnest.

This is an open forum where you will have the opportunity to ask any questions to our speaker.  

About Paul

Speaker Bio

Paul launched Tellworth Investments in October 2017. He joined Cazenove Capital in 2005 and became Head of UK Dynamic at Schroders in 2013 after the acquisition of Cazenove. Prior to this, Paul was Head of UK Small Cap investments at Insight Investments and an analyst at GH Asset Management. He has over 20 years of investment experience. Paul graduated from University College, Oxford University with a degree in Modern History.

European Equity panel session – Hosted by Laura Suter
Speaker Name
David Walton & Tom O'Hara
Speaker Job Title
Fund Manager & Portfolio Manager
Speaker Firm
Marlborough Fund Managers & Janus Henderson Investors
Session Overview

In this panel session, hosted by Head of Personal Finance, Laura Suter, we'll address all things European Equity. 

It's debate time, so lets' see what our experts have to say about, performance, the pros and conns of investing and most importantly, their views and outlook predictions for this asset class.   

About David & Tom

Speaker Bio

David Walton, Fund Manager - Marlborough Fund Managers

David graduated with a first class degree in economics from Cambridge University before joining M&G, where he was a European equities fund manager with responsibility for small/mid-caps. In 2000 David joined Baillie Gifford, where he took on responsibility for the European small cap portfolios including the Baillie Gifford European Smaller Companies Fund and delivered strong outperformance. David has managed the European Special Situations Fund since October 2013. The fund was named best European small and mid-cap equity fund over five years in the Refinitiv Lipper UK Fund Awards 2023.

Tom O’Hara, Portfolio Manager - Janus Henderson Investors 
Tom O’Hara is a Portfolio Manager on the European Equities Team at Janus Henderson Investors, a position he has held since 2020. Before joining the firm as a research analyst in 2018, Tom was an equity research analyst specialising in metals and mining with Exane BNP Paribas from 2016. He held similar mining and steel sector positions with Redburn (Europe) Limited from 2013 and with Citigroup Global Markets from 2010. Before Citigroup, Tom was a metals analyst with Metal Bulletin Research from 2008. He began his career in 2006 in the treasury of Northern Rock plc.

Tom received his BA degree (Hons) in economics from Newcastle University. He has 17 years of financial industry experience.

Gearing up for a recessionary world
Speaker Name
Ariel Bezalel
Speaker Job Title
Investment Manager
Speaker Firm
Jupiter Asset Management
Session Overview

What’s in store for fixed income as we stare at a potential recession? Will central banks dilute their hawkish posture as disinflationary impulses emerge around the world? Can policy makers avert a hard landing, which could have a telling effect on growth and jobs? Ariel Bezalel, Investment Manager at Jupiter Strategic Bond, will address how various macro issues, including the evolving geopolitical scenario and oil prices, are affecting the asset class.

About Ariel

Speaker Bio

Ariel Bezalel started his career at Jupiter and has been a member of the fixed income team since 1998 and a fund manager since 2000. He is currently an Investment Manager in the Fixed Income team and manages the Jupiter Strategic Bond Fund (Unit Trust) and the Jupiter Dynamic Bond fund (SICAV).
Ariel has a degree in economics from Middlesex University.
 

Global themes for 2024 and beyond
Speaker Name
Steve Wreford
Speaker Job Title
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager
Speaker Firm
Lazard Asset Management
Session Overview

Change is everywhere. And it’s rapid. Long-term investors are having to understand and navigate multiple structural forces and shifts rippling through the global economy, whether its energy independence, deglobalisation and onshoring, decarbonization, or AI and the data revolution. Investment solutions that led during the zero-interest rate policy of the last decade are unlikely to be the best solution for the next. 

Lazard Global Thematic Focus – which targets the winners from structural change – is a potential answer to this headache for asset allocators. In a wide-ranging presentation, Steve Wreford, portfolio manager, will give an overview of the major themes he expects to dominate the coming years – including technology, sustainability, geopolitics and inflation – and explain why investors need to rethink their approach to long-term investment to take account of the profound impacts these forces will have upon the world economy. 
 

About Steve

Speaker Bio

Steve Wreford is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Global Thematic Equity team. Steve is a member of Lazard’s Executive Leadership Team and the Fundamental Equity Investment Management Group. He began working in the investment field in 1995. Prior to joining Lazard in 2010, Steve was a Partner and Portfolio Manager with Hampstead Capital. Previously he was a Portfolio Manager with Scudder/Deutsche Asset Management, Equity Research Analyst with CCF Charterhouse, and Chartered Accountant with KPMG. He has a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from Aston University. Steve is a member of New York Society of Security Analysts.

Where’s the value in US equities
Speaker Name
Rosanna Burcheri
Speaker Job Title
Portfolio Manager
Speaker Firm
Fidelity International
Session Overview

In this session, Rosanna Burcheri will take a deep dive into the investment philosophy and process that underpins the Fidelity American Special Situations Fund. Within this, they will examine the outlook for value investing in the current environment and highlight how a strong focus on quality companies trading at attractive valuations, supported by long term tailwinds, can produce attractive long-term returns for investors.
 

About Rosanna

Speaker Bio

Rosanna Burcheri joined Fidelity International in September 2021 as lead portfolio manager of Fidelity Funds America Fund and Fidelity American Special Situations Fund.  She is a seasoned investor with 25 years’ experience. Rosanna graduated in economics from Bocconi University in 1996, and started her career as junior fund manager at Paribas Asset Management, before joining M&G as a fund manager and director responsible for pan-European equity portfolios. In 2004, Rosanna was appointed Senior European Portfolio Manager at Shell Pension Management Service with assets of £710m. She later became partner and pan-European fund manager for FrontPoint Management, before joining Artemis in 2011. Rosanna managed the Artemis Global Select Fund, MidWynd International Investment Trust as well as other segregated mandates, before joining Fidelity to manage US Value funds in 2021. Rosanna has a wealth of US market experience having managed global funds for over a decade. The US market makes up c. 60% of the global universe.
 

What the Paris Alignment really means?
Speaker Name
John William Olsen
Speaker Job Title
Fund Manager
Speaker Firm
M&G Investments
Session Overview

What the Paris Alignment really means?

In this session John will take a deep dive into what the Paris Alignment means and tries to decipher if this approach is the new core global equity solution for investors that want global equity returns as well as investing sustainably? 
 

About John

Speaker Bio

John William Olsen, a Danish national, has been the manager of the Positive Impact strategy since launch in November 2018. Two years later, John William became deputy manager of the Climate Solutions strategy upon launch. He is also deputy manager of the Better Health and Diversity and Inclusion strategies. John William joined M&G in April 2014, was appointed manager of the Global Sustain Paris Aligned (formerly Global Select) and Pan European Sustain Paris Aligned (formerly Pan European Select) strategies in July 2014 and, two years later, deputy manager of the Pan European Select Smaller Companies strategy. Prior to joining M&G, he worked for Danske Capital, where from 2002 he had managed non-domestic equity portfolios, including the Global Stock Picking, Global Select and European Select strategies. He joined Danske Capital in 1998 as a fund manager on the domestic Danish equities team, and in 2000 also became a global sector analyst focusing on technology and telecommunications stocks. John William gained a BA in business economics and then an MSc in finance and accounting from Copenhagen Business School.

Fireside chat – Liontrust Economic Advantage UK
Speaker Name
Anthony Cross
Speaker Job Title
Fund Manager
Speaker Firm
Liontrust Asset Management
Session Overview

In this fireside chat host Ryan Hughes, Investments Director of AJ Bell Investments, will chat to Fund Manager Anthony Cross about the economic advantages the UK holds, despite negative investor sentiment.   Addressing the quality of listed companies, top universities for innovation, a pool of talented labour, a functioning democracy and strong rule of law – this session will whistle stop through the reasons why UK equities still has opportunity for growth.  Company acquisitions and buy outs will be touched upon and a look at the intangible assets a company could endeavour to own to stand out from the rest in a world which continues to be transformed by globalisation and technological developments.

This is an open forum where you will have the opportunity to ask any questions to our speaker

About Anthony

Speaker Bio

Anthony Cross joined Liontrust in 1997 and launched the Liontrust UK Smaller Companies Fund in 1998. He has also managed the Special Situations and UK Micro Cap funds since launch.  Before moving to Liontrust, Anthony joined Schroder Investment Management as a graduate trainee, later becoming an equity analyst before joining the Smaller Companies team in 1994. Anthony Cross graduated in 1990 from Exeter University with a degree in Politics.

Money's Too Tight To Mention
Speaker Name
Duncan MacInnes
Speaker Job Title
Investment Director
Speaker Firm
Ruffer LLP
Session Overview

In 2023, liquidity is being drained from the financial system and yet nobody seems to have told markets. Sentiment and market narratives are akin to an echo-bubble of 2021. The failure of diversification in 2022 has been forgotten and the markets are pricing a soft landing.

After a rebound, asset allocators can convince themselves last year was an aberration for the 60/40 portfolio. In a world of higher inflation volatility more active asset allocation and creative portfolio construction will be required. We will explore some of the concepts of portfolio construction that can help portfolios be resilient to the (inevitable?) recession.

The risk free rate at 5% is a profound change. Investors are now on a journey to reverse the excess of risk taking forced by zero interest rates. At Ruffer our worry is a global, synchronised de-risking of portfolios. This isn’t about the investment merits of individual asset classes; this is a change in the landscape in which people seek to achieve their investment objectives.  
 

About Duncan

Speaker Bio

Duncan joined Ruffer in 2012. He graduated from the University of Glasgow School of Law in 2007 and spent four years working at Barclays in Glasgow, London and Singapore. He is a CFA charterholder and co-manager of two of Ruffer's flagship funds.

Back to the Future
Speaker Name
Kevin Doran
Speaker Job Title
Managing Director
Speaker Firm
AJ Bell Investments
Session Overview

For most of human history, the global population was a tiny fraction of what it is today.  In 1800, there were 1 billion people on the planet.  Today there are 8 billion.  Kevin travels back in time from the year 2100 to look at how population growth and technological change has shaped the world and what it means for future investment returns.

About Kevin

Speaker Bio

Kevin began his career in the financial services industry as an Investment Analyst, eventually progressing to become Chief Investment Officer at a major private bank. He then took on the position of Group Head of Research & Strategy for a Luxembourg-based private banking group, before moving into a number of consultant roles for various investment management and banking businesses. In October 2017 he joined AJ Bell Investments as Managing Director and CIO.

Guest speaker
Speaker Name
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Speaker Job Title
Explorer
Speaker Firm
motivational speaker
Session Overview

Ranulph will deliver a keynote talk and participate in a Q&A with our host Danni Hewson.  All of your questions are welcome. 

About Ranulph

Speaker Bio

Ranulph Fiennes is a British adventurer and novelist that is best known today for his various exploits around the world. He is especially hailed for being the first man to cross the Antarctica from one side to the other [via the pole] on foot. He holds several Guinness World Records and as an author, he released over a dozen fiction and non-fiction books, most notably biography of famous explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

In following years, Fiennes led an expedition that discovered the lost city of Ubar in Oman. Fiennes also tried two times to cross Antarctica and one time Arctic on foot without any aid. He failed on all three attempts and managed to be evacuated to safety. On May 2009, Fiennes successfully climbed on the summit of Mount Everest becoming the oldest British person to achieve that goal.

In 1993, Ranulph Fiennes was awarded with Order of the British Empire for his endeavors and contributions with charities.

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