All Features articles – Page 6
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Features
Austria’s politicians are too timid to make decisions, says VBV’s Schiendl
Austrian institutional investors believe that both national and European Union politics are impeding the evolution of the occupational pensions market.
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Features
Ahead of the curve: Is growth back or is it a trap?
It is likely you have heard about ‘value traps’. They are low-multiple companies that are priced at an ever expanding discount to the market and structurally underperform as fundamentals weaken due to new competition and, in extreme scenarios, may even face obsolescence.
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Features
Accounting: Corporate reporting at a crossroads
When the definitive history of modern corporate reporting is written, historians will no doubt step back in awe. They will marvel at the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) decision to issue its management commentary proposals only to inherit the integrated reporting framework and then waste substantial energy grappling with the complexities of aligning or even merging the two.
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Features
Qontigo Riskwatch – July 2023
*Data as of 31 May 2023. Forecast risk estimate for each index measured by the respective US, World and Emerging Markets Qontigo model variants
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Features
IPE Quest Expectations Indicator: July 2023
The war in Ukraine is starting to look like a stalemate. This would be in Russia’s favour. Delivery to Ukraine of more of the tanks promised or fighters to contest Russian air control might lead to a breakthrough, but is unlikely to happen in the summer. In the US, Trump looks like a leading but weak candidate for the Republicans, even against a Democrat as unpopular as Biden. Legal pushbacks against the fight to prevent permanent climate change, notably in Texas, have the potential to cause a trade war with the EU. They illustrate how European and North American values are slowly drifting apart.
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Features
IPE Quest Expectations Indicator: August 2023
Politics is on hold until September. Normally, markets do not care and analysts reduce their activity. A political crisis in the Netherlands shows the danger. There are warnings from all sides that climate measures are ever more urgently needed. Markets need a clearer view of which products govern- ments will support with market-shaping measures and when, especially in the face of a faltering pace towards climate goals. Early signs of problems include a lack of capital for innovative start-ups and the increasingly loud voices of climate change deniers.
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Features
FX in waiting mode after lively 2022
After a long period of muted volatility, currency markets sprang back into action in 2022 as geopolitical risk and diverging monetary policy came to the fore. This year it is quieter, but markets remain rattled over the unpredictable interest rate scenarios. As a result, many market participants are waiting for a sharper picture to emerge.
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Features
Fixed income, rates & currency: Strong labour markets surprise
Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data, which measures the state of the US economy, has been mostly strong, although manufacturing indices have been considerably weaker than services, perhaps reflecting their greater sensitivity to higher interest rates.
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Features
ESG comes to money market funds
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has permeated every corner of the asset management universe, and money market funds (MMFs) are no exception. European funds are under much greater scrutiny than their US and UK peers thanks to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which came into effect two years ago. The result is that many MMFs are busy changing their classification to meet the higher standards.
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Career development: Reaching to the next generation in pensions
Pensions can be seen as a dry industry, but an array of initiatives is seeking to support younger professionals
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Features
Private equity firms vie for scarce institutional capital
Private equity needs to prove its ability to adapt to a vastly changed investment landscape to remain an attractive asset class for limited partners (LPs) such as pension funds and insurance groups.
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Features
Research: ESG investing: not just a bull market luxury
The bear market of 2022 brought a halt to outperformance by ESG portfolios, leading Sebastian Schiele and Amin Rajan to consider whether this is a blip or turnaround
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Features
BlackRock executive pegs inequality with new opportunity index
“Inequality is both a risk and an opportunity that should be measured,” says Gavin Lewis in a conversation about his book ‘The Opportunity Index: A solution-based framework to dismantle the racial wealth gap’. Growing up in a single parent household without a father in Tottenham, a predominantly black area of London with high poverty levels, Lewis is well qualified to have a view on inequality. But as a managing director at BlackRock, is he also an example of the exception that proves the rule?
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Features
Ahead of the curve: The rise of multi-manager models for alternative investing
Fifteen years after the ‘global financial crisis’, multi-manager strategies for alternative investing have not only shaken off their tarnished reputation but have evolved
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Features
Accounting: the road to global applicability for sustainability standards
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has long been a vanguard of sustainability-related financial disclosure standards. But the global applicability of the standards has remained a focal point for discussion. In response, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has launched a project called International Applicability of the SASB Standards to take on the challenge.
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Features
Qontigo Riskwatch – June 2023
*Data as of 28 April 2023. Forecast risk estimate for each index measured by the respective US, World and Emerging Markets Qontigo model variants
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Features
IPE Quest Expectations Indicator: June 2023
Continued loud bickering between the Wagner Group and the Russian army is protecting Putin from both, worsening the outlook for peace, while there are multiple signs that military supplies are approaching exhaustion. The coalition supporting Ukraine is stronger than ever, showing increasing willingness to provide military aircraft. Yet the offensive expected in February has not started. In the US, Florida governor Ron DeSantis is damaging his position with an unproductive row with Disney, while Trump has moved closer to a prison term. Gas consumption in the EU is falling faster than expected, due to efficiencies like heat pumps, changeover to electricity and solar panels. Macron scored nicely by sponsoring the participation of Zelensky at the Hiroshima G7; Sunak failed to centre political attention on China.
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Features
Japan: New hand on the tiller
Kazuo Ueda, is the first new governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 10 years. One of outgoing governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s last moves was to widen the yield curve control (YCC) band on 10-year bonds from +/-25bps to +/-50bps. The reaction from the bond market over the following few days was to trade to the new upper limit.