We’re looking forward to our Securities Finance Roundtable in Zurich on 4 December 2019. We started this event in 2014 with ZKB, and have seen it evolve to this year’s partnership with ZKB, UBS and SIX. It’s a great opportunity for a different kind of conversation about the Swiss and European markets. Here’s the plan for this year.
ESG is an overwhelming trend in capital markets globally. In Switzerland, there are questions about what ESG assets should be in securities lending programs vs. what should be held aside. This is a different perspective than in our June 2019 report, “ESG Funds in Securities Lending: A Statistical and Program Analysis,” where we found that US ESG mutual funds could not only participate in securities lending but that they could also outperform their peers. In Zurich this year, we’ll look at what’s happening in ESG in Switzerland as it applies to financing market participation.
We’ll also focus on client and borrower trends including the fight for allocation and risk appetites. This is of course another global trend but with its own variations in the Swiss market. As borrowers continue to evaluate their balance sheet pressures and end-user demands, lenders must decide what risk they are willing to assume, collateral they are willing to accept, and how to interact with service providers. While some of this conversation is secret sauce between banks and their clients, we’ve found that this roundtable is an ideal venue to share views on overall trends and projections of future moves.
New for 2019, we’ll be running a Securities Lending Beginner’s Training for asset owners and asset managers. We’ve seen in prior years that buy-side firms have been reluctant to attend a roundtable discussion but that we receive regular inquiries during the year for market information. With presenters from ZKB and UBS, we plan to deliver an overview and update for professionals across trading, risk, compliance, legal and operations. We already have registrations from four large asset owners and managers in the Swiss market. This part of the afternoon is for buy-side firms only, then we’ll take a short break and hold our roundtable discussion for all market participants.
In prior years, this event has seen robust discussion on a variety of market topics, and occasionally a stroke of brilliance and unique interactions across banks, asset managers, vendors and regulators. We look forward to returning for a successful 6th year.
For more event information and to register, please visit the website at https://finadium.com/event/securities-finance-roundtable-zurich-2019/