Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 330
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FeaturesHBS: room for improvement
The concept of a holistic balance sheet is intellectually tempting but could be improved and it is still unclear whether it will be workable in practice, argue Jurre de Haan, Karin Janssen and Eduard Ponds
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Features
In your own back yard
Gail Moss looks at how a number of regional pension funds are investing in their own localities
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Features
Worriless provision
Samuel Lisse tells Nina Röhrbein about Vita Sammelstiftung’s semi-autonomous model
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Features
Shaking up high yield
Considering the trend to combine loans and high-yield bonds in the same products, Martin Steward finds the sub-investment grade landscape changing and new opportunities becoming apparent – especially in senior secured
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Features
An equity substitute
David Newman argues that equities have a similar credit profile to high-yield bonds but offer less protection, worse returns and higher volatility. Add in low correlation, and there is a strong case for replacing some equity exposure with high yield
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FeaturesVolatility regimes and risk drivers
Using factor model to break down two similar-looking periods of declining implied volatility in Europe and the US, Rachael Smith uncovers surprising differences in the actual sources of risk
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Special Report
ESG: Sunny side up
Investors in solar power are responding to changes in the markets and finding new ways of gaining exposure, says Nina Röhrbein
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Special Report
Outlook 2013: Euro Scenarios: Breaking up is hard to do
Quite apart from the investment risks associated with the euro-zone break-up scenario, it introduces complex legal and operational challenges. Charlotte Moore looks at the situation for both investment and non-financial firms
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Changing models
The fund of funds model is having to adapt fast to survive. Joseph Mariathasan finds that the new models also require a different approach to thinking about the hedge fund opportunity set
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Asset Class Reports
Hedge Funds: Taking the ‘fund’ out of hedge funds
Martin Steward spoke to PGGM’s Jan Soerensen about how its managed account platform allows it to take control of its hedge funds – and their costs
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Features
German re-engineering
Iain Morse reviews Germany’s custody market as it experiences externally-driven transformation
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Interviews
Boutique ambition
Natixis Asset Management (NAM) might be less well known than other firms in the Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) empire, such as Boston’s Loomis Sayles or Chicago’s Harris Associates. But the Paris firm is by far the largest asset manager in its parent’s multi-affiliate structure in asset terms, in part thanks to its historic ties with France’s Caisse d’Epargne and Banque Populaire network, and its strong local roots.
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Features
Diary of an Investor: A tale of two cities
Last week we visited the offices of two asset managers for finals for a European equities mandate. The experiences were instructive.
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Special Report
Outlook 2013: Euro Scenarios: The euro-zone’s no-man’s land
Germany’s bonds are safe-haven, ‘risk-off’ assets. Spain’s are ‘risk-on’ assets. But Maha Khan Phillips asks how investors should think about allocations to markets like France and Belgium
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from Brussels: Deaf ears for EC claims
Summer 2013 might be some way off but it is when the European Commission intends to publish its proposals for IORP II. And signs from the Commission are that the usual procrastination is no longer intended.
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Opinion Pieces
Letter from the US: Pension uncertainties
Social Security reform was notably absent from the 2012 US presidential campaign.
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Features
New twist in Dutch pension reform
On 24 September, the long, drawn-out process of Dutch pension reform took a new turn when state secretary for social affairs and labour Paul de Krom unveiled the so-called ‘September package’, a comprehensive set of new rules for pension funds. The package seeks to flesh out labour minister Henk Kamp’s ...
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Opinion Pieces
Joseph Mariathasan: The UK should set up a sovereign wealth fund
Britain faces the prospect of an ageing population with a consequent rise in its dependency ratio, and an economy in decline relative to the rest of the world.
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Country Report
Nordic Region: Not too much, not too little
Consensus could wreck the chances of effective reform to Sweden’s buffer funds, writes Pirkko Juntunen