If the nutritional content of conference snacks says anything about the physical and mental demands of the event, then this one is going to be the Kailua-Kona Iron Man Triathlon.  Instead of serving only glorified Twinkies and hotel coffee, organizers here plied us full of Power Bars and tasty little treats called “Balanced Gold high protein bars.”

Sessions began today at 7:30am and by the 10:00am coffee break, the audience had heard from no less than 3 panels and 2 individual speakers.  And this is the first of three full days of lectures and panels by academics and other freakishly intelligent practitioners.

The “Factor” Factor

If there is a theme emerging already, it’s “alternative beta”.  Investors seem to be questioning whether they are paying for alpha and receiving some kind of beta while for their part, managers seem to be wondering if alpha is becoming harder to produce in the first place.

This fundamental question weaved its way in and out of different sessions taking on various forms.  For example, panelists in a session on strategic asset allocation debated which was more important when they allocated capital: “the strategy” or “the manager”.

An ensuing debate about whether hedge funds qualified as a true “asset class” pitted those who said that hedge funds were just an equity strategy against those who argued that the fundamental factors driving hedge funds returns qualified them as a distinct asset class.

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