All Features articles – Page 3
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - January 2025: hard to pick short-term winners
IPE’s latest manager expectations survey finds high net sentiment across most main asset classes as allocators weigh the Trump trade
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - December 2024
Bond expectations falling, equity mostly flat
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FeaturesThe effect of behavioural biases on active investment portfolios
It has been become apparent in recent years that behavioural finance has important things to say about how investors make decisions.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: All eyes on Trump’s return
With the Republican Party now in control of both Senate and House, the leeway that President-elect Donald Trump will have to enact his pre-election policies could be considerable.
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FeaturesInsurance-linked securities bank a stellar year for returns
Insurance-linked securities (ILS) may be complicated, but they are gaining an institutional following especially among pension and sovereign wealth funds, multi-asset investment firms and endowments.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - November 2024
Donald Trump has profited from climate change, which he believes unimportant, as this year’s hurricane season has so far seen more storms over a wider area.
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FeaturesSoft landing likely again for US economy
It has been more than a year since the attacks by Hamas in Israel and tensions in the Middle East remain high, with a rising impact on financial market sentiment.
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FeaturesMarket looks to Xi Jinping for a plan to boost China’s economy
When the Chinese government announced a package of measures designed to revitalise the domestic economy in late September, the country’s stock markets responded positively, and many breathed a sigh of relief.
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FeaturesA new perspective on credit for climate transition
Sustainable finance has turned out to be a much dirtier and grittier battlefield than early adopters and advocates projected it to be.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - October 2024
In generic US polls, Democrats beat Republicans, with a small but increasing margin, signalling an opportunity for reforms if Kamala Harris wins and a continuation of a divided and blocked Congress if Donald Trump wins.
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FeaturesFixed income, rates, currencies: All eyes are on US elections
With so many important elections taking place this year, politics were likely to have an outsized influence on financial markets.
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FeaturesCan central banks retain their independence?
Over the last few decades, following central bank behaviour has been a rewarding investment strategy. That is why there is now a community of people employed to analyse every word central bank officials utter.
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FeaturesUS high yield bonds punch out of a corner
US high yield has come a long way from its murky beginnings with the very high yielding bonds of so called ‘fallen angels’, and Drexel Burnham Lambert’s Michael Milken offering bonds newly issued by corporates with sub-investment grade ratings for the first time in the 1980s, properly introducing the world to high yield bond investing.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - September 2024
Kamala Harris’ candidacy has turned the political mood in the US. The two candidates are very close together in the polls but while Trump’s score is stable – except for a worsening favourability – Harris’ statistics all show a positive trend.
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FeaturesChange is required as populations age
During a recent weekend in the artsy California mountain town of Idyllwild, my wife and I enjoyed a performance of a local band. Seated near us was a gentleman wearing a T-shirt proclaiming, We the People ARE PISSED OFF. The message on this shirt caught my attention.
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FeaturesSecondary markets and innovation boost private equity liquidity
Liquidity has reduced significantly in global private capital markets. Whilst private equity-backed IPOs are up this year, overall exit value is down by 66% and there is currently a large backlog of unsold assets, of which 40% are four years or older. The cumulative sum of unsold assets sits at $3.2trn (€2.9trn), according to Bain. Recent data from Preqin shows that capital called has exceeded capital distributed by $1.57trn since 2018, highlighting the lack of free capital in private markets.
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FeaturesNAV finance takes hold as a niche form of private credit
Private equity investments are by their nature illiquid, which is why PE general partners (GPs) raising a new fund only call on the committed capital when it needs to be deployed in a new investment – and that may be up to a few years after the fund closes.
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FeaturesFears grow of US slowdown
US president Joe Biden’s decision to step aside was much murmured about following his disastrous performance in a debate with Donald Trump, but it was still a surprise when he announced his decision. However, market reactions were relatively muted, despite shaking pollsters’ predictions on who might now win the election.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - August 2024
Joe Biden’s weakness was a lucky stroke for Donald Trump, who has shown similar symptoms for years. It remains to be seen what effect Kamala Harris has on the polls. Trump and his chosen VP are both proponents of weakening the USD.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator - July 2024
Both US presidential candidates are slowly losing popularity, while staying very close in the polls. Trump seems to have more trouble than Biden getting through to the undecided. Trump’s legal troubles may yet hinder his candidacy, in particular among independents.
