Roger Urwin: From Strategic Asset Allocation to a Total Portfolio Mindset Description

Roger Urwin, Global Head of Investment Content at Willis Towers Watson, reflects on how leading asset owners are rethinking strategic asset allocation amid faster regime change, rising systemic risk, and growing complexity. In a conversation hosted by Mona Naqvi, Managing Director of Research, Advocacy, and Standards at CFA Institute, he draws on decades of experience advising global funds to explain why a total portfolio mindset is gaining traction—and how it reframes goals, governance, and investment decision-making. The discussion explores what it means to invest through a truly holistic lens, why mindset and organizational design matter as much as models, and how the investment profession may need to evolve for a more uncertain world. Listen to the episode to hear Roger Urwin's perspective on the shift from strategic asset allocation to a total portfolio approach.

 

Chapter Markers 

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:12 Roger Irwin's Career and Industry Background
04:02 Why Total Portfolio Approach Matters Now
04:58 Origins of Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA)
09:32 Benchmarks, Universality, and Communication Challenges
12:01 How TPA Addresses Complexity
14:47 Accessibility vs Flexibility: SAA vs TPA
16:13 Governance Trade-offs and Organizational Design
17:53 Systems Thinking and Market Disruption
19:16 Ecosystem Thinking, Reflexivity, and Risk Models
21:21 Recalibrating Investment Frameworks
22:56 Is TPA More Resilient Than SAA?
24:27 People, Incentives, and Cultural Barriers
28:49 AI, Human Intelligence, and the Future Analyst
30:46 Human + Artificial Intelligence in Investing
34:48 Managing Systemic Risk and Long-Term Horizons
40:57 Value Creation in a World of Real-Time Information
43:55 Stewardship, System-Level Investing, and Externalities
45:00 Can SAA and TPA Coexist?
47:29 Industry Momentum and What Comes Next
49:36 Closing Thoughts and Series Preview