Conference programme

Tom Hardin previously spent much of his career as a hedge fund equity analyst. In 2008, as part of a cooperation agreement with the United States Department of Justice, Mr Hardin assisted the US government in understanding how insider trading occurred in the investment management industry. Known as ‘Tipper X’, he became one of the most prolific informants in securities fraud history, helping to build over a quarter of the individual criminal cases in ‘Operation Perfect Hedge’, a Wall Street house cleaning campaign that morphed into the largest insider trading investigation of a generation.

Since resolving his case in 2015, Mr Hardin was invited by the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) in New York City to speak to their rookie agent class in 2016, and he is now an international corporate trainer and keynote speaker on conduct risk, compliance and behavioural ethics from his former frontline perspective. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, with a Finance concentration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

In frank detail, Mr Hardin will share his story of crossing from unethical to illegal activity as a young professional, and the psychological traps that can pull individuals into a spiral of rationalisation as that line is crossed. He will share stories about his double life as an undercover FBI informant. Mr Hardin will provide takeaways from his past three years of serving as a compliance trainer for over 150 global investment funds, and offer key indicators that identify conduct risk in an organisation.

• What key reputational risks do authorised firms face?
• What are the root causes of the issues?
• To what extent can these risks be mitigated via systems and controls?
• What can, and should, be done in a crisis scenario?

• Liability provisions under AIFMD and Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS): has much changed? 
• Liability risks arising for depositaries under ESG requirements 
• Addressing liability risk in the crypto custody space 

• Has AIFMD been successful? If so, why is it being reviewed?
• Will the review impact the ability of non-European Union investment managers to manage EU funds?
• What impact will the review have on the marketing and distribution of non-UCITS funds in the EU, given the significant marketing reforms implemented in 2021?
• How could UCITS funds be affected by the review?
• Are there additional implications for certain types of funds or fund strategies?
• Does the review envisage greater powers for the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and what will that mean for local regulators?
• Status of the review and timeframe for its completion and implementation

This panel will discuss current terms for private debt and other closed-ended funds including fee levels and structures. Participants will examine the viewpoints of general partners, sponsors and limited partner investors with respect to economic terms, governance and other hot topics.

• Initiatives in the US, Asia-Pacific, and Europe
• Investor expectations: a common view or regional differences?
• Investor disclosures and the greenwashing risks
• ESG data – the key and challenge for sustainable finance
• How to use ESG to drive innovation
• Social and governance components – how the Ukraine war affects ESG investments

This panel will discuss current terms for private equity and other closed ended funds, including fee levels and structures.  Participants will examine the viewpoints of general partners, sponsors and limited partner investors, with respect to economic terms, governance and other hot topics. 

• How likely is the United Kingdom’s Woodford saga to recur and occur elsewhere?
• What liquidty challenges, and other inter-related resilience challenges, have arisen post the Russian/Ukraine conflict and other recent issues?
• Have we now got the right liquidity toolkit?
• Have we the right fund structures? 
• Is there suitable access to product for retail investors?

Regulators are increasingly endorsing innovative initiatives in the fi nancial industry. Will innovation improve the effi ciency of the asset management industry and will it be a driver for growth? Or could innovation be seen as a risk and disruptive challenge for asset managers? What are tokenised funds and how can they benefi t asset managers? These and other questions are discussed with the CEOs of three global asset managers.

• The current North-American regulatory landscape for investments in crypto assets through funds
• The Canadian story of 3iQ
• The lifecycle to retail in the United States
• The Gordian Knot of futures versus spot-based ETFs
• The Biden Administration’s Executive Order and the shape of things to come
• Custody, accounting, operational and other technical issues

• Structuring alternative digital forms of investment
• Trading alternative forms of investments (traditional trading platforms versus new forms of trading) • An investors perspective: eligibility and suitability
• Regulatory acceptance and diverging view among regulators in various jurisdiction
• ESG and alternative forms of investments (energy, governance, etc.)
• Key risks (cyber criminality)