Latest analysis – Page 27
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FeaturesClimate change and AI set to transform investing
As the new decade begins, it is becoming clear that climate change and artificial intelligence will reshape the future of investing
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AnalysisPost Brexit questions
We will continue our coverage of issues that matter for European pension funds and institutional investors.
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AnalysisBritain’s brave new world
It will be vital for the UK to get its broad policy settings right as it embarks on the structural change of Brexit
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AnalysisInvestors react to EU Green Deal
PensionsEurope and EFAMA have reacted positively to a European Commission climate change-driven growth strategy
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InterviewsInterview: Miranda Carr, Haitong International
It is all too easy to forget that the markets are in a peculiar state. For example, nominal yields on US 10-year Treasuries have trended downwards since 1981. Real interest rates – that is, adjusted for inflation – have also trended downwards from about the same time. Estimates vary but there are also many trillions of euros worth of negative yielding debt.
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FeaturesPerspective: Carlo Cottarelli
Carlo Cottarelli, the Italian economist and former IMF director, says fixing the European economy will mean taking difficult decisions
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FeaturesAccounting Matters: Inflation measurement dilemma
If there is one issue that has seized the attention of defined benefit (DB) sponsors this reporting season, it is whether inflation should be measured using the consumer prices index (CPI) or the retail prices index (RPI). And Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) partner Alex Waite is clear why: “There is a formula [for RPI] and the formula is wrong. It is like having an error in a spreadsheet,” he says.
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Opinion PiecesLetter From US: Concerns over common ownership unabated
No matter who wins the presidential election this November the issue of concentration of US corporate ownership by the Big Three money managers – BlackRock, Vanguard and SSGA – will not go away
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AnalysisResearch: Back to basics will drive asset allocation
In the final article on a new report, Pascal Blanqué and Amin Rajan conclude that liquidity management has become vital as quantitative easing reaches a point of diminishing returns
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Opinion PiecesThe fiscal shift is no solution
There is a growing consensus that there needs to be a shift from extraordinary monetary policy to fiscal activism. Although quantitative easing (QE) will continue, there is a widespread recognition that its effects are diminishing.
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Opinion PiecesFactor strategies should be based on scientific consensus
Investors should take note of the debate taking place within the factor investing industry. On one side, are those who support a purist approach to the definition of factors, arguing that factor strategies should be built using factor proxies that undergo rigorous scientific tests. Scientific Beta, the organisation linked to EDHEC Business School, is a vocal supporter of this approach.
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Opinion PiecesThe easy option
The Dutch social affairs’ minister Wouter Koolmees has spared millions of Dutch pensioners last month from having their pension payments cut in 2020, after the government granted pension funds a year’s grace period to restore coverage ratios.
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FeaturesCorporate reporting: Where were the parents?
Financial reports are normally dull affairs. Apart from the endless reams of paper detailing figures that few people understand, most of us just want to know a few key facts: whether the bottom line profit number is higher or lower than last year; whether the overall balance sheet can be summed up with a correspondingly big number – big is always better; and, critically, whether there will be a dividend.
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Book ReviewBook review: Only the Best Will Do
Peter Seilern, the founder of Seilern Investment Management, has a reputation for investing in ‘quality growth companies.’ In reading his credo ‘Only the Best Will Do,’ you realise this career-long passion reaches almost religious dedication. Never mention ‘value investing’ in his presence.
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FeaturesPerspective: Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
As he ends a six-year stint at the helm of Ontario Teachers’ and prepares for retirement, Ron Mock reflects on the alignment of interests between the organisation and its stakeholders
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FeaturesResearch: Pension investors seem to be losing faith in quantitative easing
In the first of two articles on a new survey of pension plans, Pascal Blanqué and Amin Rajan find that unconventional monetary policy has taken a toll on pension funds
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Opinion PiecesLetter from the US: US pension funds braced for lower for longer
The last edition of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) points to the risks that lower-for-longer yields pose, especially for pension funds.
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Opinion PiecesBond bubble threatens emerging markets
Although the prospect of a trade war is the tail risk that has most worried fund managers since mid-2018, other potential perils look more threatening
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Opinion PiecesSystemic risk debate intensifies
The financial system is facing its greatest challenge since the 2018 financial crisis
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Opinion PiecesWhat's in a pensions minister?
Last month, Jerry Moriarty, the chief executive of the Irish Association of Pension Funds, called on the country’s government to appoint a pensions minister
