The right partners can help with the 'delusion of liquidity'

Partnering with the best people and getting a good chief investment officer were offered as being some of the main tips when handling illiquid assets by a panel of speakers at the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit (CAIS), which is taking place in the Cayman Islands this week.

The panel of experts included Philip Watson, global head of investment lab and managing director of Citi; Gerald Alain P. Chen-Young, former VP and CIO at UNCF; Carol Womack, principal and private equity at Diversified Trust; and Bruce Zimmerman, trustee of CommonFund. It was chaired by Prof. Amin Rajan, CEO of CREATE-Research.

The panel, entitled 'Zero gravity: dealing with the delusion of liquidity' examined a multitude of topics including understanding the true impact of accommodative monetary policies, and re-assessing liquid assets while asking whether there will be enough liquidity when the 35-year old bull market in bonds come to an end.

The panellists said that with alternative investments predicted to grow, more investors will need to find ways of analysing liquidity or a lack of it. One of the main conclusions was simply to recruit and partner with the best people and to understand that there are very different levels of liquidity and to be mindful of the supply and demand dynamics for different asset classes.

Now in its fourth year, CAIS is a not-for-profit event hosted by Dart which uses its experts and expertise to benefit philanthropic efforts both in Cayman and internationally. Its keynote speakers this year included Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Governor of California, Captains Mark & Scott Kelly, former NASA astronauts & retired US Navy Captains; and retired DEA agents Stephen Murphy & Javier Pena, responsible for apprehending the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.