All articles by Emma Cusworth
-
Special Report
Building the car while driving it
There are many ways to measure and assess impact. Emma Cusworth reviews the importance of credible data in impact investment strategies
-
Special Report
Private Equity: A two-speed market
Moves to standardise private equity reporting raise challenges for limited partners, Emma Cusworth finds
-
Special Report
Asset Allocation: Matters of perspective
There is still a role for risk parity strategies, finds Emma Cusworth, provided pension funds take a long-term view
-
Special Report
Private Debt Funds: The price of competition
Institutional investors’ hunt for yield has led to return compression in the private debt market. Emma Cusworth assesses the dynamics
-
Special Report
Bondholder engagement: No pain, no gain
Investor protection is loosening significantly in high-yield markets
-
Special ReportSmart beta hedge fund replication: Aping alpha
The first wave of hedge fund replication petered out nearly 10 years ago, but new approaches are reviving interest and allocations
-
Special Report
Special Report – Outlook 2015: A year of eerie calm
While geopolitical activity has picked up markedly, financial market volatility has remained well below long-term averages. Emma Cusworth asks, are investors ignoring a build up of risk, or has the nature of the geopolitical game changed?
-
Asset Class Reports
Dangerous liquidity
Following another summer of high-yield bond market volatility, Emma Cusworth asks whether ETFs are to blame for credit markets getting riskier
-
Special Report
Special Report - Securities Services: In transition
The transition management industry has had its knuckles rapped by regulators over recent months. But as Emma Cusworth reports, clients have an obligation to understand the service thoroughly, too
-
Features
Vital statistics
Headline numbers may obscure the fact that smarter business models are reversing outflows in the fund of hedge funds industry. Emma Cusworth looks at the trends behind the figures
-
Special Report
Liability-Driven Investment: Caught short
Pension funds recognise that they are exposed to movements in long-term interest rates when they enter into swap contracts – that is the point of the hedge. But Emma Cusworth draws attention to the importance of volatility in the short-dated floating leg too
-
Special Report
Liability-Driven Investment: The de-risking bear fight
As pension schemes line up to de-risk, Emma Cusworth finds the supply-and-demand dynamic on the UK yield curve is causing aggressive competitive behaviour, distorting bond market valuations
-
Special Report
Credit: Doing what it says on the tin?
A multi-asset approach to credit makes a lot of sense. But, as Emma Cusworth finds, it is easier said than done and the choices are complex and diverse
-
Special Report
Smart beta: The battle for the middle
Smart beta has succeeded because it can help solve not one but two important problems, writes Emma Cusworth. But investors need to be clear about which problem they are solving
-
Special Report
Equity Sectors: Sitting ducks
Debt-ridden governments see them as cash cows and Fukushima has destroyed the nuclear consensus. Emma Cusworth wonders, are utilities still defensive, or are they now sitting ducks?
-
Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Dose of fee realism
Hedge fund fees do seem to be coming down in aggregate, but Emma Cusworth finds that if you want good performance you might simply have to suck up those charges
-
Special Report
Currency: A game of relativity
The Swiss National Bank’s most recent intervention brought blessed relief to Switzerland’s pension funds. Emma Cusworth assesses the trade-off between capitulation to haven hunters and rising inflation
-
Asset Class Reports
Sovereign Bonds: Dodging bullets
The US downgrade did not rock the foundations of the US Treasury market, and might even have sent a healthy signal to Washington’s elite, writes Emma Cusworth
-
Special Report
Securities Services: What’s lacking with infrastructure
Infrastructure can generate high administration costs because of non-standard valuation, benchmarking and performance measurement, finds Emma Cusworth
-
Special ReportPortfolio Construction: Preparing for all probabilities
Emma Cusworth discusses strategic asset allocation weights adjusted for the economic cycle
