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M&G Treasury and Investment Office (T&IO) Monthly Investment Event

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Make sure you join us for these exciting new sessions. You’ll get lots of new insight that you can share with your clients so they can better understand where their money is invested and how it contributes to the performance of their investment. Or if you’re new you’ll get a closer look at how T&IO allocate money differently, by working with the different teams across M&G.

Register for our series of exciting new monthly events where T&IO give the details behind the performance headlines. Details you’ve probably never heard before!

Catch up on all of the latest events, podcasts and insights from the M&G Treasury and Investment Office (T&IO), the team that’s behind powering our investment engine.

The team behind Prudential’s multi asset portfolios

The M&G Treasury and Investment Office (T&IO) is our team of in-house investment strategists and 'manager of managers' for Prudential in the UK. T&IO has great strength in depth with a team that includes investment professionals with expertise in capital market research, investment strategy design, liability management, derivatives and portfolio management. They are the team behind the UK’s largest With-Profits Fund - and many other Prudential funds.

£150bn*

AUM

35*

different asset types managed

£5bn*

Agreement to invest into the Catalyst mandate aimed at delivering positive societal impact

£14bn+*

managed within the property portfolio

* Source Treasury and Investment Office (T&IO) 30th June 2023

T&IO are able to leverage the wider group resources, which includes M&G Investments, M&G Real Estate and M&G Alternatives. They also work extensively with external investment teams across the globe.

It is T&IO who are responsible for the strategic allocation of all our funds, in addition to full fund manager selection and oversight.

They are also responsible for ensuring the risk characteristics of each portfolio meet given objectives over time. Stock selection is then carried out by fund managers chosen for their expertise in specific asset classes.

How T&IO is structured

Head of M&G Treasury and Investment Office

Ciaran Mulligan
Simon Iversen

T&IO is led by Ciaran Mulligan and Simon Iversen and is structured into defined investment teams with key positions held by:

Parit Jakhria

Director of Long-term Investment Strategy Team

A team of 13 investment strategists work to align long-term investment strategy with client's aims and objectives.

Charles Griffith

Head of Multi Asset Portfolio Management Team

A team of 9 portfolio managers and analysts are responsible for strategic and tactical asset allocation ** implementation alongside daily portfolio monitoring.

Ben Hamilton

Head of Investment Manager Oversight

A team of 10 investment consultants provide insights into internal and external governance, and due diligence processes.

Jinwee Tan

Head of ESG and Regulatory Team

A team of 9 ESG managers and analysts focus on integrating ESG considerations and priorities into T&IO activities.

**The M&G Macro Investment Business are responsible for Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) in PruFunds.

Each team is supported by various other teams within T&IO including: Client Portfolio Management, Annuities, Derivatives, Risk and compliance and legal.

We believe that Pru, and in turn T&IO, have several key differentiators as a team: 

Scale and Resource

T&IO manages around £150bn as at 30 June 2023 and creates SAA for over £100bn in multi-asset insurance portfolios primarily for UK retail investors. T&IO is a well-resourced team with expertise across SAA, TAA, manager selection and portfolio management.

Differentiated

The core focus of T&IO is asset allocation. All stock selection decisions are outsourced to high class internal and external managers.

 

Global reach

T&IO has access to the expertise of other M&G plc investment companies, such as M&G Investments, M&G Alternatives and M&G Real Estate, and a global network of contacts at high quality external investment companies.

Operational infrastructure

Investment teams are supported by experienced information, compliance and risk monitoring teams.

Longevity of process

The Strategic asset allocation process developed by T&IO has been in place for nearly 20 years.

Demonstrable success

The PruFund range (over 19 years) provides clear evidence of an approach that produces returns that meet investor expectations over long periods.

Robust fund research and oversight

Fund ranges leverage off the resource and expertise of the T&IO Investment Manager Oversight team. M&G plc's scale provides access to all aspects of a fund manager's business. With more information, the team are better able to evaluate if what fund managers say is really what they do.

An investment process shaped by six key activities

Download the investment process

Within our portfolios the aim is to add value through; 

The selection of the optimal SAA for funds has a critical impact on investment outcomes. This area:

  • Is core to the investment approach
  • Does the in-house modelling and capital market assumptions through our bespoke proprietary model GeneSIS - developed and maintained in house, giving us the flexibility to tailor it to wider business needs
  • Is forward looking – diversification is key:
  • Structural tilts towards Asia and meaningful allocations to real assets when appropriate
  • Has around £150bn AUM*

Allows the team to adjust portfolio positions to reflect more current market movements and take advantage of opportunities that are often created when they believe markets have been overly optimistic or pessimistic. This area has:

  • A framework in place across all multi asset portfolios
  • Consistency of approach but portfolio managers can vary positions
  • Portfolio managers responsible within collectives**
  • Look to add between 30-50 bps of performance each year
  • PruFunds have separate TAA mandate, run by the M&G Macro Investment Business:
  • The T&IO portfolio management team work very closely with the M&G team to share views

The Multi-Asset Portfolio Management (MAPM) team have a crucial role in ensuring that:

  • Strategic asset allocation reviews are implemented efficiently and cost effectively
  • Often entails investing/reallocating hundreds of millions of pounds/dollars/euros in different asset classes
  • Portfolios are monitored on a daily basis – a key function at any time but particularly during periods of market volatility and uncertainty
  • All ongoing portfolio changes are implemented efficiently
  • Avoid unnecessary costs
  • Tactical asset allocation decisions within some portfolios

The T&IO Manager Oversight team provide a:

  • Robust selection/oversight process
  • Both internal and external fund managers
  • PruFund mandate design that can enhance returns
  • Vehicles created for PruFunds also used in other Pru multi-asset ranges
  • Key source of market views from underlying managers
  • Valuable source of intel and investment ideas
  • Ability to seed new investment strategies

  • Three lines of defence model
  • Embedded at all stages of the investment process
  • All portfolios formally stress tested quarterly
  • Credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, investment risk, regulatory risk and performance risk.

  • Considered across all investment decisions
  • Asset allocation, mandate design, manager selection and oversight
  • Underlying managers look to drive investment into companies with sustainable business models
  • Exclusion of companies where appropriate

* T&IO Assets under management as at 30 June 2023.

** M&G Investment Management Ltd are the investment managers for the WS Prudential Risk Managed Active and Risk Managed Passive Funds. They make the relevant adjustments to the portfolios based on T&IO recommendations.

T&IO's Investment Philosophy

The investment philosophy is the cornerstone of all T&IO multi-asset portfolios although underlying portfolios and exposures will vary by fund structure, regulatory regime and region.

T&IO are fundamentally ‘buy and hold’ investors,

  • New investments and asset classes will likely feature in portfolios for many years once added, albeit the amount of exposure may vary over time.

Portfolios are generally differentiated from peers, have demonstrably evolved over time and will continue to do so as new markets and opportunities develop

  • A key differentiator of PruFund portfolios are the allocations to real assets like global property and infrastructure
  • Exposure to Asia and Emerging Markets has grown across all asset classes

T&IO will always take a forward-looking view of what assets represent the best value 

  • Very small strategic allocations to developed market government’s bonds due to negative real yields
  • Equity portfolios have more of a bias towards Asia than the US which is unusual. Favourable demographics also influences are positioning in Asia

All portfolios are constructed using Capital Market Assumptions

  • An optimisation process that seeks to ensure that each portfolio has an appropriate risk/return profile.
     

This has been a core to PruFund success across many asset classes. T&IO have a well-resourced Investment Manager Oversight Team to select and monitor underlying managers.

  • The shape of portfolios and different asset class exposures would be difficult to replicate with passive vehicles.

ESG – is the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance factors (ESG) into investment decisions whenever possible

  • Can help better manage risks and generate sustainable, long-term returns for customers.

Latest insights

This content has been prepared by M&G Treasury and Investment Office (T&IO) and is prepared for information purposes only and does not contain or constitute investment advice. Information provided herein has been obtained from sources that T&IO believes to be reliable and accurate at the time of issue but no representation or warranty is made as to its fairness, accuracy, or completeness. The views expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Neither T&IO, nor any of its associates, nor any director, or employee accepts any liability for any loss arising directly or indirectly from any use of this document. The value of investments and any income from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. Investors may get back less than the original amount invested and past performance information is not a guide to future performance.‘M&G Treasury & Investment Office (T&IO)’ includes the team formerly known as Prudential Portfolio Management Group (PPMG). Prudential Portfolio Management Group Limited, is registered in England and Wales, registered number 2448335.