AAAIM ELEVATE 2026

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• Headline performance does not always translate into investor wealth. This panel brings together industry experts across investing, legal, accounting, structuring, and wealth management to examine what ultimately drives after-tax outcomes for investors. The discussion will explore how taxes, investment structures, portfolio turnover, asset location, and planning decisions affect the amount ultimately retained by investors and their families. Speakers will share perspectives on evaluating opportunities based on their total after-tax economic impact.

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• Building on Panel 1’s after-tax framework, this discussion will examine how leading financial advisors and investment committee members apply those principles to portfolio construction for ultra-high-net-worth clients. Unlike many institutions, UHNW families must weigh taxes alongside return, risk, liquidity, and diversification. Panelists will explore how taxes shape asset allocation, manager selection, portfolio turnover, asset location, public versus private markets, and alternatives, while examining where traditional institutional frameworks succeed or fall short in maximizing long-term after-tax wealth.

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• Interactive discussions led by industry leaders exploring the people, decisions and pathways that shape success in the wealth management ecosystem.

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• CalPERS is reshaping how it thinks about portfolio construction, moving from asset-class silos toward a total portfolio approach. What changes when the portfolio and not individual asset classes, becomes the focus of investment decisions? Hear directly from the CalPERS leader overseeing this effort and the consultants who helped develop the case for the approach. An inside look at how total portfolio thinking can influence risk, capital allocation, governance, and manager relationships.

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• The panel will explore winning models of value creation and sustainable alpha generation in the lower middle market. Panelists will share perspectives on how AI and technical agility, sector specialization, operational discipline, and data-driven growth are reshaping investment strategies and creating durable value in an evolving market environment.

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• Special Guest Conversation with Kristi Yamaguchi , Two-Time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist

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• With three speakers with different expertise and backgrounds, this conversational fireside chat will explore how investors are navigating the AI-driven transformation of software—from legacy assets with strong cash flow to next-generation, AI-native companies—alongside opportunities in private credit and broader market repricing

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• Why aren’t top-performing AAPI managers raising more capital? How can we better support diverse LPs on their path to CIO? Join us for an interactive session where executive coach Sandy Li shares insights from conversations with 100+ LPs and invaluable lessons from AAPI GPs who have successfully raised capital. In today’s challenging environment, what are leading LPs and GPs doing differently? And what can we do—individually and as a community—to accelerate AAPI advancement and access to capital?

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• This panel brings together perspectives from public pension, endowment & foundation, and healthcare investors—each with distinct missions, governance structures, resources, and investment capabilities. The discussion will explore: What creates institutional investment advantage—and how to build on it How mission, liabilities, liquidity, and governance shape portfolio decisions The balance between internal capabilities and external partnerships How investors are integrating public and private markets, co-investments, and derivatives Where they see the most compelling opportunities and how they are positioning to capture them What excites them most about their roles and the impact they can make

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• This session will explore the evolving private credit landscape and the market opportunities emerging amid rapid technological, structural, and economic change. Panelists will discuss the impact of AI on software and other labor-intensive industries, the growing influence of retail capital and BDC liquidity considerations, and the implications of Payment-in-Kind interest for borrowers and investors. The conversation will also examine portfolio diversification, European direct lending, manager scale, shifting spreads, and areas of opportunity and risk across today’s middle market.

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• This panel brings together preeminent leaders at the top of their respective corners of the investment industry to unpack how they source opportunity, manage risk, and allocate capital across cycles and asset classes. Drawing on deep expertise in portfolio construction, manager selection, and global markets, the panelists will share the analytical frameworks and hard-won judgment behind their investment decisions, along with the career paths that put them in a position to make them.

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• This session will explore where the most compelling opportunities in infrastructure and real estate may emerge over the next five years. Panelists will examine themes ranging from global infrastructure growth and aviation to affordable housing and opportunistic real estate, while considering how shifting economic conditions could shape LP portfolios.

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• The panel will focus on managing portfolios amidst high inflation and slow growth, and how to address the pressures that specifically endowments and foundations are facing today. Panelists will discuss institutional pressures on spending rates, market adaptation, and risk management.

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• This session brings together leading allocators to explore the state of emerging managers in today’s liquidity-constrained environment and what it takes to successfully get on an investor’s radar. Panelists will share practical perspectives on diligence and compliance considerations, evolving strategic partnership models—including fund-to-funds, seeding, and direct investments—and actionable advice for emerging managers navigating the market today.

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• This session explores how AI is moving from assistant to worker—and what that means for software, talent and capital. Founders and investors will examine how work is changing, what creates a durable moat in an AI-first world, and how investors should think about valuations, underwriting and exits. The discussion will also tackle the big question: what will still matter when AI becomes ubiquitous?

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• This panel will examine the tension between short-term market volatility and long-term institutional resilience, moving beyond general market noise to explore the investment controversies shaping public markets across different time horizons. Topics will include geopolitical fragmentation and U.S.-China tensions; diversification and the debate between U.S. exceptionalism and international exposure; the evolving role of active and passive management; systematic versus fundamental investing; and the impact of AI and technology on market concentration, value migration, labor markets, and consumption.

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• This session will explore the evolving opportunity in Asset-Based Finance (ABF), examining how it compares with direct lending across return potential, diversification, and risk. Panelists will share allocator perspectives on leverage, collateral and liquidation, transparency, sourcing, and market competition, while considering how emerging technologies such as AI are shaping the investment process.

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• This panel explores the evolving role of emerging managers in institutional portfolios, including where allocators may be overlooking opportunities and where the next generation of alpha could emerge. Panelists will discuss manager selection, the challenges of scaling investment firms, GP staking and the changing demands of institutional investors. The conversation will also look ahead to what may shape private markets and independent investment firms over the next five years.