All Features articles – Page 16
-
FeaturesResearch: Engagement key to navigate the raft of social complications
Simon Klein and Amin Rajan find investors are opting for more social-related investing
-
FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: Market signals cloud the picture
From preliminary data, Europe’s second-quarter growth appears to have been surprisingly strong, seemingly led by services, such as strong retail sales. Supply-side problems are still constraining the goods sector generally, hitting the German economy especially, with industrial production falling more than one percentage point over the second quarter.
-
Features
Pensions Insider: Improve your effectiveness by joining the inner circle
In the third of a series of articles aimed at empowering trustees, our insider outlines the importance of patience and networks in complex, illiquid transactions
-
FeaturesLong term matters: Commenting from the cheap seats or on the playing field?
Scientifically literate investment executives who care about the future of human civilisation and the ecosystem will be painfully aware that Jean-Claude Juncker’s comment about the euro-zone also relates to the climate crisis.
-
FeaturesBriefing: The sustainability missing link
Love him or loathe him, no one can doubt that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a penchant for self-publicity and a talent for disruption in industries from automobiles to space. He has lately taken an interest in the metals and mining sector. In June, he tweeted that he would provide a “giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way”.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Why gold is different
Why does gold behave so differently from industrial metals and, indeed, most commodities in general? Despite the obvious contrasts – such as its shininess and its use in jewellery – it is not immediately clear why this should be the case.
-
FeaturesStrategically speaking: Goldman Sachs Asset Management
If you are a pension fund, insurer or sovereign wealth fund and you haven’t heard from Goldman Sachs already, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that they want to talk to you – about a variety of alternative investment opportunities they want to put your way as a potential debt or equity fund investor, co-investor or all three.
-
FeaturesAhead of the curve: Will rising rates see value stocks win?
There is growing global anticipation that central banks are likely to increase short-term rates. The spectre of inflationary pressure on longer-term rates looms large. What does this mean for value and growth stocks? Value might be expected to come up top and growth to lose out. But this is not the whole story. We examined stock returns during several historical periods of rate increases in the US and UK to see which factor would ultimately come out on top, and when.
-
FeaturesPerspective - After Merkel: in search of a new model for pensions
Germany’s new government will feel the pressure to transform the pension system. Some parties have embraced new funded concepts and have put forward credible ideas
-
FeaturesAfrica’s challenge for Europe
“Europe needs to create a new ‘spice route’ through Africa to the markets of Asia”. That was what Martin Schoeller, managing director of the Schoeller Group, a diversified services company with a focus on sustainability, told me in a discussion on the need for greater European investment in Africa.
-
-
-
FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - September 2021
The delta variant has caused a new COVID-19 wave in many places but it is different in character from previous ones. New hospital admissions are typically from among the unvaccinated. The average age of COVID patients has also come down significantly. In western Europe, the current wave seems largely under control, albeit at higher levels in the old EU member states.
-
Features
Research: Stewardship is key to the ‘S’ pillar
Simon Klein and Amin Rajan show the reliance of social-related passive funds on equities
-
FeaturesPerspective: Swensen’s legacy grows
The late David Swensen achieved a remarkable performance edge for the Yale Endowment, can it be replicated by pension funds
-
FeaturesFixed Income, Rates, Currencies: Trickier than usual
Amongst the myriad of investment conundrums facing investors, one of the more pressing today is whether – or not – the US economy will overheat. Though the Federal Reserve has done a good job assuring the markets that while (US) inflation data may indeed print higher than “target”, Chair Jerome Powell will be “looking through” any rises. They have argued that these should be temporary and a dovish outlook will remain.
-
FeaturesESG & private markets: Crying out for standards
Growing awareness of ESG is fuelling pressure for definitive metrics to assess company performance
-
FeaturesPrivate credit: Floating to safety
Despite inflationary headwinds, the outlook for private credit remains strong
-
FeaturesPrivate credit fundraising: A record year for private-debt funds
Record amounts of capital were raised by private-debt funds in 2020 but the outlook may be less strong in the short term
-
FeaturesLong 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.
