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A growing number of experts concur that inflation is on the horizon. This outlook gives strong support to investment themes related to real asset classes. Few observers disagree, for example, that the U.S. dollar will come under growing pressure due to an increasingly high debt load and projections of long-term structural deficits, conditions that inevitably lead to higher commodities prices. Immediately, the half trillion dollar stimulus program by China, which is highly concentrated in support of major infrastructure projects, has also already begun to create fundamental demand that is showing up in higher prices for a number of core commodities. Further, the economic downturn is contributing to views that prices will be influenced by probable future shortages in key commodities due to insufficient investments in infrastructure to develop and exploit resources. China’s aggressive infrastructure development program will also mean that other nations will need to respond in order to compete. And it has long been recognized that in the industrialized world, particularly the U.S., the need for new infrastructure, as well as essential repairs on existing roads, bridges, tunnels, electrical grids, sewage treatment plants and other vital networks, is reaching a point beyond which it can no longer be ignored. With these trends in mind, real assets can play a vital role in responding to their effects.

Institutional Investor’s Global Real Assets Investment Forum will examine the validity of these themes to help investors determine whether they should be considering an allocation to these real asset classes. Over two days, the Forum will look at these investment opportunities as part of an overall portfolio strategy and will attempt to discover the type of exposure necessary to provide the benefits of both diversification and inflation protection. Through a series of panel sessions and presentations it will also seek to determine the best way to invest in these various sectors and measure the key potential risks investors must weigh in trying to assess the level of exposure they may want to have to real asset classes based on their unique circumstances and resources.