Columns
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Learning from the Nordics for impact investing
A meaningful allocation is important
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Time to start rebalancing portfolios
A whiff of ‘stagflation’ – meaning an economic slowdown accompanied by higher inflation – could soon be wafting into financial market
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Opinion Pieces
Governance must be the embedded solution
Europe now has approaching two decades of experience with the investment outsourcing that is loosely called fiduciary management, or sometimes outsourced CIO (OCIO), to use the US terminology.
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Opinion Pieces
ESG: progress but still much road to travel
Good things are happening in the land of ESG. Aspects of the European Commission’s sustainable finance action plan regulation have certainly been frustrating, but the sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR), for example, does look like it could end up having a beneficial effect, even though there are still problems associated with it and the effect is perhaps not the one that was envisaged for the SFDR.
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Opinion Pieces
Notes from Switzerland: Work in progress
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce: now another referendum result in Switzerland is poised to obstruct changes designed for a long-term impact.
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Opinion Pieces
Social risks impact on employer covenant
The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recent consultation – Consideration of social risks and opportunities by occupational pension schemes – seeks to assess how trustees understand ‘social’ factors and how they aim to integrate financially material social factors into investment and stewardship activities.
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Features
Guest Viewpoint - Cyril Demaria: Three lessons on private market investing
Writing our book Asset Allocation and Private Markets has led its authors to revisit an old adage, venture on an unusual path, and confront an academic theory.
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Features
Long term matters: It’s corporate tax, stupid
Bill Clinton used the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid” to help him win the 1992 US presidential election. The same now applies to corporate tax in 2021.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Bursting the bubble
Do widespread narratives about speculative bubbles stand up to the evidence?
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Why companies and investors must leave ESG ratings behind
ESG ratings are an oversimplication, says Alexandra Mihailescu Cichon of ESG data science firm RepRisk
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Features
Long term matters: Grandpa, what did you do in the COVID wars?
Pharmaceutical companies in the West and their host governments are very confident today, and some even speak of “post crisis investing”. Certainly, pharma’s scientific credentials have been demonstrated and the public in the UK and the US in particular are seeing the potential end to lockdowns.
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Features
Guest Viewpoint: Principles for setting CEO pay
As we emerge from the AGM season, executive pay has, once again, been a lightning rod. Often pay is presented in simple headline numbers and narratives, but, in fact, pay is among the most complicated issues that percolate to board level. In my experience of sitting on boards for more than a decade, there are several principles that should guide the best global companies in setting executive pay.
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Opinion Pieces
The rising tide of corporate governance
In the last year, there has been a broad shift in corporate governance focus towards social issues, including human capital management – the ‘S’ of ESG.
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Opinion Pieces
The recovery does not eliminate systemic risk
The world’s economy is already recovering from the damage inflicted by the lockdown measures imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 in 2020.
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Opinion Pieces
Establishing a sustainable path
Investors increasingly want to take a more environmentally, socially and governance-conscious approach to investing. Despite the growing choice of ESG strategies, the wide range of products and a lack of uniformity can make it difficult to compare the options.
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Opinion Pieces
Notes from the Nordics: GPFG brought into politics
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) is a phenomenon – the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund owned by a population of just 5.3m, accounting for a sixth of all SWF assets and the owner of 1.5% of all listed equities.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: To kick or not kick the proverbial can down the road
With world leaders committing to reduced carbon emissions targets and with COP26 in November this year, achieving net zero is coming into sharper attention more than ever.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Why ‘portfolio temperatures’ will be the investment measure of the future
Climate change has become one of the most pertinent issues facing society today.
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Opinion Pieces
Abundant opportunity… and risk
In case you needed reminding, both China’s equity and fixed-income markets are the world’s second-largest after the US.
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Opinion Pieces
Emerging markets require a rethink
A rethink of the term ‘emerging markets’ is long overdue. It has always been a catch-all category but the gap between the description and reality is becoming over-stretched.
