Out and about
Reflections from key asset management, energy and communications events, exploring policy signals, AI’s real-world impact, capital markets resilience and the themes shaping 2026.
Liminal across the events circuit
It’s been a busy couple of months on the events circuit, with the team out and about across a range of industry gatherings.
We began at the Investment Funds Symposium, kindly organised by Simmons &T Simmons. With discussions held under Chatham House Rules we’ll keep our observations broad.
The overarching mood was one of cautious optimism, with encouraging signals from policymakers keen to support the asset management industry, recognising its role as a key enabler of national growth and the savings-to-investment agenda.
Other topics covered include AI, private credit, active ETFs, defence, and geopolitical uncertainty. Tokenisation, stablecoins and CBDCs also had a notable presence, feeling considerably more mainstream than even a year ago.
The team also attended the inaugural opening event for International Energy Week, hosted by LSEG in partnership with the Energy Institute, and marked by a Market Close ceremony at the London Stock Exchange.
The event brought together leaders from across the energy and financial communities to explore how capital markets, resilient frameworks, and effective risk management will shape the next phase of the global energy transition.
February also included Funds Congress, a flagship event in the asset management diary. The mood felt pragmatic rather than performative; less about bold predictions, more about execution and resilience. Highlights included candid CEO perspectives on navigating a tougher operating environment, honest conversations about where AI is and isn’t delivering value today, and a brilliant final panel from The News Agents’ Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall, who brought sharp political analysis and some welcome humour to the day.
The evolving relationship between AI, PR and the media was the topic of PR Moment’s Intersection of PR and GEO conference. This really was a must-attend overview of the role PR-driven media coverage can play in informing the increasingly influential results generated by AI search engines. Hence, GEO: Generative Engine Opimitation, being the evolution of SEO.
Our main takeaway was that this is going to be huge, and the longer-term promise of the sector is largely real; though right now there is a meaningful gap between the hype and the reality, but it’s worth investing the time (and some budget) on understanding it better, today.
Looking ahead, March and April is unsurprisingly looking packed, but we’ve already picked out some events we think will be worth attend. A staple in our calendar has always been FP Live, which this year takes place on 23 March, a dedicated conference for financial marketing professionals.
We also plan to attend the PA360 Conference on April 23rd, a great event for advisers and industry leaders to engage with the themes shaping the sector. Later that week, we’ll be at the Pioneer Awards on the 24th, celebrating innovation in financial services across digital assets and AI, held at the rather impressive setting of Shakespeare’s Globe.
The month rounds off with the Irish Funds Symposium on April 30th, covering the latest trends, opportunities and challenges shaping the industry.
We look forward to sharing our reflections from all of the above in the next edition.
- 2026, In conversation, January, Newsletters
- 2026, January, Liminal view, Newsletters