Michelle McCloskey

The Asset Management Outlook

Jason Kelly, David Druley, Nobel Gulati, David Hunt, Michelle McCloskey, Ron Mock

Leading institutional investors and asset managers, including representatives from PGM, Ontario Teachers, and Two Sigma, converge to declare traditional asset classifications obsolete as the industry pivots toward a scarcity-based model where only managers delivering true alpha command premium fees. The panel anticipates significant market consolidation over the next five years, driven by the dominance of technology in filtering noise, the rise of non-traditional talent in private markets, and capital flows shifting from liquid beta strategies to illiquid alternatives among a new generation of family offices. While geopolitical volatility is normalized, the primary long-term challenge remains the structural pressure to close the gap between projected global equity returns and historical pension targets, necessitating active management and strategic partnerships to achieve required risk-adjusted outcomes.