Programme

08:00

Registration and breakfast

08:30

Welcome Address and Chairperson’s Opening Remarks

08:40

Global economic outlook: what can we expect in international and domestic markets?

• Financial markets and EMEs: back to the upturn face of the global financial cycle?
• Asia’s financial resilience: global and domestic factors
• US: further growth slowdown due to the fading of fiscal stimulus and financial volatility
• Growth in 2019 and 2020: supported by the expansion of investments and exports

09:20

Financial markets in Asia - turning challenges into opportunities

• Challenges for the Asian economies: navigating China’s economic transition
• Crucial role of financial market development
• Implementing a robust and adaptive regulatory framework and effective international coordination
• Mitigating potential financial stability risks

US-China trade tensions: what does this mean for Asia?

• A troubled trade landscape: Asia’s response
• Expanding connectivity amidst rising trade tensions
• Risk of excessive tightening of international financial conditions
• How imposing tariffs on all Chinese imports could see a much more prominent slowdown in regional growth

10:30

Populism and modern monetary theory 

• What is populism and what lies behind the resurgence that has reshaped global politics over the past few years?
• Investing amid a populist backdrop: economic implications and financial market responses
• Modern monetary theory: the right question is whether it is important not whether it is modern or whether it makes sense

Morning networking Break

11:35

Rising rates, trade tensions, and the impact on fixed income

• Operating in an era of policy normalization and rate hikes
• Political tensions: threatening the stability of global bond markets
• How should sovereign and government funds manage fixed income portfolios given these evolving risks?
• China-US trade negotiations- an important juncture in trade and investment relations

12:45

Renminbi’s role in FX reserves holdings and latest development as a reserve currency

• Asset class diversification: a key theme for central bankers
• Increasing allocations to the renminbi-denominated bond markets
• Climbing the reserve currency league table with an aim to contend with the dollar for the top spot

13:20

Lunch 

Reserve management evolution
 

Outlook on risk management in a changing macro environment

Opportunities to expand investment horizons

• Shifting foreign currency reserve dynamics
• Aligning policy objectives, investments objectives and guidelines
• Achieving greater flexibility to meet policy objectives while seeking to enhance investment returns

Central bank risk management – evolving with the times

• Diversifying market and default risk in high grade bond portfolios
• Optimal active portfolio management and relative performance drivers
• Development of a financial risk management framework

The next wave of reserve management: 2020 and beyond

• Growing trends in reserve management practices
• How market dynamics have been driving changes in reserve portfolios
• Active management and the use of external managers
• Changes in the currency composition of reserve portfolios against a background of rising trade tensions

New challenges and emerging risks facing central banks

• The “new normal” in the macroeconomy and its implications for monetary policy
• Enhancing the risk management toolkit
• New challenges posed by financial innovation and the new technologies

Impact of the continuing of the QE measures and dovish stance of major central banks

• Emerging market central banks’ profit and loss account
• The pressure for yields has made yet more attractive the investment in emerging markets
• Potential reputational risks associated, in the context of increasing populism

A methodology to measure and monitor liquidity risk in reserves portfolios

• Monitoring liquidity risk: becoming a priority
• The methodology which allows central banks to measure liquidity
• Time required to liquidate and the cost of liquidation
• How the methodology can also be used to measure portfolio liquidity under stress scenarios

16:10

Afternoon networking break

The outlook for balance sheet evolution

• How the balance sheet has evolved both in size and composition post financial crisis
• Where can we expect to see financial vulnerabilities brewing in the world?
• Advancing towards quantitative tightening
• Handling challenges ahead: from shrinking demand for notes and coins to QE of monetary policy  

17:15

Currency composition of foreign currency reserves

• The Dollar: attributes and reasons for persistence as the dominant currency 
• The Renminbi: building the infrastructure to support its globalisation
• Gold: its resurgence... as a reserve "currency"
• Criteria for acceptance of a currency for reserves

17:55

Chair's closing address

18:00

Networking reception

18:30

National Asset-Liability Management Asia Dinner

Gala dinner with guest speaker

Venue:
The National Gallery
Aura Restaurant Level 5 (National Gallery Garden View) 
1 St. Andrews Road
05-03 and 06-02 National Gallery Singapore
Singapore 178957