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Briefing: Timing is everything in distress
After an extended period in the wilderness, distressed debt funds – bereft of opportunities because of ultra-low interest rates and economic buoyancy – are back in the spotlight with large players coming to the market.
Briefing: The long march to deleveraging
Global debt reached a new record during the first quarter of this year, reaching 331% of GDP, or $258trn (€229trn), according to the Institute of International Finance, the global association of the finance industry.
SWFs: Never waste a good crisis
Despite pressure on revenues from oil and gas, Arab sovereign wealth funds are taking opportunistic bets in foreign markets in the face of global economic turmoil
Viewpoint: Adding to financial thinking
Peter Kraneveld applies statistical theory to COVID-19 and concludes that investors should start thinking about events that have no mean regression
Guest Viewpoint: The growing influence of index providers
Pension funds have shifted assets worth hundreds of billions from actively managed funds to passive funds in recent years. In doing so, they are part of an ongoing money mass-migration from high-fee active funds to low-fee index funds.
Long term matters: Tales of a chance ESG investor
I didn’t intend to get a permanent job in ‘responsible investment’: my pitch for a consulting contract got misfiled in a recruitment folder and the rest really is history. Having held two good jobs in the sector, at USS and Axa Investment Management, I appreciate the 12 years I’ve spent inside the investment world.
Viewpoint: COVID-19 and fund secondaries – how should pension schemes position themselves?
How should pension schemes best position themselves to take advantage of portfolio secondary sales opportunities? Are there lessons to be learnt from the GFC for pension schemes selling portfolio positions during COVID-19?
Viewpoint: Managing euro zone sovereign risk in the face of the pandemic
Considerations for pension plans and other institutional investors
A long sunset on a fragile model
The ECB’s move in September 2019 to lower rates and restart corporate bond purchases was a clear red warning signal to defined benefit pension funds and other liability-driven investors.
Making a difference
“This time is different”. Such claims were rightly skewered in a well-known book by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. But with the benefit of recent experience it should be clear that their argument did not go far enough.
The post-pandemic economy could be more of the same
There seems to be a consensus that COVID-19 will bring momentous change to the global economic order. Commentators point to several developments to support this idea.
Equities: Pandemic winners and losers
COVID-19 is proving a powerful catalyst for social and technological change
Credit: Investment grade credit markets in a pandemic
The COVID crisis has brought profound changes to the credit markets
Portfolio Strategy: Equities in the time of the pandemic
The speed and impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have thrown up challenges for investors that will not be clear for decades
Emerging market equities: India & China
India and China offer a template to understand future perspectives in light of COVID-19
Fixed Income - European investment grade: No sign of end for negative yields
Negative interest rates look set for a lengthy run in Europe, raising concerns about the long-term effects
