Programme

Programme

Day 1: November 14

New Demands, Risks and Responsibilities

08:15

Registration and breakfast

09:00

Chairperson's opening remarks:

Oduetse Andrew Motshidisi, Former Deputy Governor, Bank of Botswana 

09:10

The reserve management landscape in 2020: geopolitics, climate change and technological innovation

  • Key macro-economic and geopolitical dynamics shaping global financial markets
  • Implications of disruptive technological innovation for reserve management
  • Overview of emerging risks, and main features of frameworks for their successful containment

09:50

What are the key developments in reserve currencies and reserve assets? A view from the front office

  • How are reserve currencies evolving?
  • What is the relevance of gold as an asset class for central bank portfolios?
  • As interest rates increase, will central banks maintain their diversified portfolios?
  • Where does the renminbi fit into constellation of reserve currencies and the international financial architecture more broadly?

10:30

Networking break

11:00

Green finance: what role can central banks play? And what role should reserve managers play?

  • Climate change: a powerful new force for central banks and climate-related risks
  • ESG’s and green financing’s place in investment portfolios 
  • How to incorporate an ESG policy into an investment portfolio
  • The current difficulties associated with ESG and how it demands a multifaceted approach

11:40

Expert working groups:

The morning’s session will conclude with a series of breakout conversations focusing the most pressing questions facing those responsible for official sector assets and liabilities. Each group will be led by an expert facilitator who will summarise findings to the plenary.

  • Green finance
  • Gold
  • Renminbi internationalisation
  • Diversification: credit, equities and alternatives
  • The euro as a reserve currency
  • CBDCs
  • How Fintech revolutionised reserve management: a memo from 2030

12:40

Lunch

Fintech: An Emerging Disruptor in Reserve Management

14:00

Opportunities and risks in fintech: a reserve manager’s guide

  • Technological foundations and building blocks of FinTech in reserve management
  • Impact of digitalisation on treasury and risk functions
  • Applications of Machine Learning and Big Data analytics in investment and portfolio management
  • Tips for effective resourcing, integration and institutional organisation of FinTech solutions 

14:40

Key features of a modern risk manager’s matrix: two views from central banks

15:20

Networking break

15:50

Digital money: impact on central banks, opportunities for reserve managers?

  • Evolution of crypto assets and central bank digital currencies
  • Examples of central banks projects and initiatives
  • Impact on reserve management and implications for treasury operations
  • Tips for dealing with key risks and challenges

16:30

Is diversification (still) a form of risk management? 

  • New directions: the evolution of portfolio diversification strategies
  • Overview of key changes due to the composition of currencies and asset classes
  • Looking beyond traditional high-level asset class splits to provide real diversification and manage risk
  • A modern approach to diversification: future trends on the horizon

17:10

Chairperson's closing remarks and close of conference

18:15

External gala dinner

Day 2: November 15

Emerging Opportunities for Portfolio Enhancement

08:30

Registration and breakfast

09:00

Chairperson's opening remarks

Oduetse Andrew Motshidisi, Former Deputy Governor, Bank of Botswana

09:10

The evolution of reserve adequacy: trends, dynamics and metrics

09:50

Renminbi: making sense of the world’s newest reserve currency

  • Motivations for the inclusion of renminbi in the foreign exchange reserve portfolio
  • Strategies for investments into renminbi
  • Implications for the composition of the reserve portfolio
  • Overview of key challenges and lessons learned
  • Outlook and expectations for the future

10:30

Networking break

11:00

The re-emergence of gold: a risk-based analysis

  • Gold’s intrinsic role and value as a reserve currency
  • Continued robust central bank demand for gold in the short and medium term
  • The gold-buying spree continues as economic growth slows and trade and geopolitical tensions rise
  • Where will gold fit into a new currency arrangement? 

11:40

Emerging markets: where are reserve managers investing (and why)?

  • Emerging markets: how they’ve increased their resilience in recent years
  • How to manage risk when investing in a diversified portfolio
  • Challenges for emerging-market central banks

12:20

Bracing for changes and challenges ahead - the outlook for 2020

  • What will drive official sector asset-liability management? 
  • How have markets coped with major events over the past year, and what does that mean for the year ahead?
  • A year of political uncertainty and the challenges associated 
  • How to minimise these bouts of political uncertainly and market volatility in the run up to major elections
  • How will new technologies shape the future of central banking?

13:00

Chairperson's closing remarks

13:10

Conference concludes with lunch