In Depth – Page 25
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FeaturesAhead of the Curve: Measuring the right thing
The old adage, ‘measure twice, cut once,’ only works if you measure the right thing. The prominence of GDP growth as the ultimate gauge of economic performance, for example, is increasingly a case of measuring the wrong thing. A single metric cannot hope to capture all the complex trends that develop below the surface of a modern knowledge and services-based economy.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator: January 2020
Bond sentiment remains stable, but still negative. US net bond sentiment is edging towards zero, which is surprising as the Fed is set on neutral.
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FeaturesEmerging market debt: Argentina makes investors cry
Who needs Pennywise the terrifying clown when one has Argentine bonds in their investment portfolios?
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FeaturesOngoing UCITS fees are falling
UCITS are an example of EU financial innovation and a global success story. With €10.1trn in total net assets, UCITS help global investors save for financial goals, including retirement, education, and housing.
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InterviewsStrategically speaking: Scientific Beta
I am probably a little bit uncompromising,’’ says Noël Amenc, the founding CEO of Scientific Beta, the provider of factor indices and strategies. To those who know him that is an understatement.
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FeaturesBriefing: Peer-to-peer securities lending
The words scale, operational efficiency and lower cost feature regularly in the State Street discussion of its new peer-to-peer securities lending product. Direct Access Lending enables direct, principal loans between its lending clients and its borrowing clients.
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FeaturesAhead of the Curve: Value investing in the next decade
Winds of change are blowing relentlessly across the globe and the investment world is no exception. Central to this evolution is the growth of intangible assets, ranging from brands and patents to franchise agreements and digital platforms.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator: December 2019
With the shift to a strong negative bond sentiment in the UK, markets have again split. For the UK and EU, the figures are more negative and trending down.
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FeaturesBriefing: There is still room for growth
Equity investors putting faith in growth stocks – stocks that are priced expensively relative to fundamentals because they are expected to grow fast – received a shock in early September when they sold off sharply.
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FeaturesBriefing: Alternatives to large-cap buyouts
Large buyout funds are a staple ingredient in many institutional pension funds’ private-equity portfolios. Focusing on more diversified private-market strategies could be a better way to achieve return objectives
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FeaturesAhead of the curve: The duration bubble
Has the world entered a new paradigm in which growth, inflation and value investing are dead? Various indicators might have us believe this is the case.
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FeaturesIPE Quest Expectations Indicator: November 2019
Bond sentiment has been trending upwards for a year, approaching a net value of zero everywhere, except in the EU. Analysts contend that central banks have secured a soft landing.
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InterviewsStrategically speaking: Generali Investments
A year into Generali’s ambitious growth plan, it looks set to meet its promises
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FeaturesBriefing: Draghi’s parting gift on ECB stance
If anyone in Europe was left in any doubt on 11 September about the dovishness of the European Central Bank (ECB) under Mario Draghi’s leadership, by close of business on the next day their doubts were surely dispelled. On that day the outgoing president of the ECB unleashed a bout of monetary easing, in an attempt to boost euro-zone inflation from 1% to its target of “below, but close to, 2% over the medium term”.
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FeaturesBriefing: US makes rapid turnaround
Father Christmas delivered a sack of coal to equity markets last Christmas Eve, with the S&P 500 index losing 1.8%, following a three-day slide. Forecasters had previously been expecting two or three rate hikes in December, as Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell steered that discussion. He had mistakenly assumed that the economy had not yet reached a normal, neutral level but it already had, forcing him to backtrack.
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FeaturesBriefing: Deep tensions threaten EU vision
This is not a commentary on the UK within or without Europe. Brexit has been a compelling distraction but it is one macroeconomic strand in a complex world. The overwhelming coverage has also moved attention away from key internal tensions within the European project.
