GSFM Investment Symposium | September 2026
GSFM’s Investment Symposium took place in Brisbane on
1 September 2026, Sydney on 2 September 2026 and
Melbourne on 3 September 2026
One big trade. Two superpowers. And one very big question: is your portfolio ready?
The GSFM Investment Symposium brought together global investors, a world-renowned scientist and some of Australia’s sharpest investment minds for a day that challenged conventional thinking.
AI was everywhere: driving markets, reshaping industries and redrawing the investment map. But the day wasn’t just about AI. It was about what comes next, and how investors can position for it.
The program was built around three sessions:
- One Trade that Matters – AI, geopolitics and fixed income
- Portfolio Insurance – Still Worth It? – Private markets, biotech and trend following
- Valuation Gaps – Time to Act? – Global small and mid caps, Asia and Australian equities
Nick Griffin, Founding Partner and CIO at Munro Partners, kicked things off with the one trade that matters. His verdict: AI is a boom, not a bubble, and the best is yet to come.
From there, the ideas came thick and fast. The US–China race for AI supremacy. Why bond investors are finally being paid to sleep well at night. What it really takes to build an evergreen fund that holds up. And why trend following could be the new portfolio protector. Moderna co-founder Dr Robert Langer joined us for a special interview on turning breakthrough science into real-world value.
The final session went hunting for overlooked opportunities: global small and mid caps at their deepest discount in 25 years, an Asian market that may be on the brink of change, and quality Australian companies left behind by the rush to passive.
Chris Lioutas of Genium Investment Partners and Jessica Clifford of LGT Wealth Management put our speakers to the test in two lively panel debates.
Stephen Miller closed the day with a clear challenge: the traditional 60/40 portfolio is no longer enough. It’s time to think more broadly about diversification.
Catch up on the presentations from the Symposium below.
One Trade that Matters
Nick Griffin
Founding Partner & CIO
Four years in, and the AI build-out is just getting started. Nick Griffin of Munro Partners makes the case for a boom, not a bubble: record demand for computing power, spending contracted years ahead, and returns starting to show. He also shares how Munro positions for the decade ahead.SD and an overvalued US equity market.
Kevin Hebner, Ph.D
Global Investment Strategist
Kevin Hebner is even more bullish than most on AI over the long term. That’s why he expects booms and busts along the way. He explains how the US–China race is fuelling AI, why a wave of IPOs will reshape the list of global tech leaders, and how to build a portfolio resilient enough to ride it out.
Alec Small
Portfolio Manager
Everyone wants your clients’ cash, and Alec Small says that’s good news for bond investors. As governments and the AI build-out compete for capital, yields are the highest they’ve been in years. He explains why today’s starting yields matter, why tight credit spreads are justified, and why the “sleep well” side of the portfolio is earning its keep.
Portfolio Insurance – Still Worth It?
Marc-André Lewis, Ph.D
President & CIO
With equity markets increasingly concentrated and shares and bonds moving together, private markets offer investors a valuable source of diversification. Evergreen funds make that access easier, but Marc-André Lewis warns that the complexity doesn’t disappear. He explains what makes an evergreen structure robust: broad exposure, open architecture and serious liquidity planning.
Dr Robert Langer, ScD
Executive Chairman, T.Rx Capital
MIT Langer Lab
From his MIT lab to companies used by billions of people, Dr Robert Langer has spent a career turning breakthrough science into real-world impact. He shares where medicine is heading next, why biotech value lies in potential rather than sales, and what investors should look for: great science, strong people, solid patents and realistic plans.
Tarek Abou Zeid
Head of Client Portfolio Management
The negative correlation between shares and bonds, the idea behind the 60/40 portfolio, has broken down. Tarek Abou Zeid explains why that should worry investors, and how trend following can fill the gap. By trading across many markets without trying to predict the next crisis, it aims to deliver the protection bonds once provided.
Valuation Gaps – Time to Act?
Tim Carleton
Chief Investment Officer
Passive investing is reshaping the Australian share market. Tim Carleton shows how index flows have pushed up the price of the ASX’s largest companies, despite years of weak earnings growth, while faster-growing mid caps trade at a rare discount. For active investors, he argues, that gap is a big opportunity.
Andrew Swan
Head of Asia (ex-Japan) Equities
AI spending has driven Asian markets, but Andrew Swan says the region may be close to a regime shift. Beyond the AI boom and global re-industrialisation, he highlights two opportunities few investors are watching: a peak in US rates and the dollar, and a possible turn in China’s economy from deflation to consumer-led growth.
Qiao Ma
Portfolio Manager
Qiao Ma of Munro Partners makes the case for global small and mid caps in three words: cheap, fast and diverse. Smaller companies trade at their biggest discount to large caps in over 25 years, yet many are growing faster, and far fewer analysts are watching. She brings it to life with two unglamorous but fast-growing stock stories.
Symposium Wrap
Stephen Miller
Investment Strategist
Closing the symposium, Stephen Miller draws together the day’s big themes. Structural megatrends like AI now matter more than macro forecasts, and the traditional 60/40 portfolio has had its day. He makes the case for a more nuanced approach to diversification, with room for infrastructure, commodities, trend following, private assets and overlooked corners of the share market.
Panels
Panel 1: One Trade that Matters
Moderated by Chris Lioutas, Co-CEO and CIO of Genium Investment Partners, this panel puts Nick Griffin, Kevin Hebner and Alec Small to the test. They discuss whether AI’s winners have moved from discovery to long-term compounding, whether AI will ultimately push prices up or down, and how a surge in hyperscaler borrowing is creating opportunities in bonds. They also cover which software companies might survive, where investors can diversify, from Europe to “experience” stocks like Formula One, and why China may be ahead in robotics.
Panel 3: Valuation Gaps – Time to Act?
Moderated by Jessica Clifford of LGT Wealth Management, this panel brings together Qiao Ma, Andrew Swan and Tim Carleton. They discuss where their strategies fit in a multi-asset portfolio and where they’re finding value away from the crowded trades. They cover the record discount on global small and mid caps, Asia’s heavy dependence on AI, and Australia’s reliance on the banks and BHP. They also look at why it’s so hard to find true “non-AI” exposure, where AI is already lifting productivity, and what could finally close today’s valuation gaps.