All articles by Martin Steward – Page 3
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Interviews
Strategically speaking - Majedie Asset Management: Global, naturally
Before this year, Majedie Asset Management had rolled out just five products since it was established in 2002 – one of which was a concentrated version of another. By those standards, 2014 has seen riotous activity, with the summer launches of a US equities fund and two global funds adding to the existing line-up of UK equity and global long/short funds.
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Special Report
Special Report – Emerging markets: Buying opportunity, or structural setback?
Over the past six years, few investment themes have invited such gyrations in sentiment, or generated so much contention, as the emerging markets. After an initial sell-off during the worst of the 2007-08 financial crisis, they clearly outperformed through 2009-11.
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Asset Class Reports
Investing In Global Equities: Global rotation
Martin Steward finds pure value and pure growth strategies starting to take the lead as the quality theme begins to run out of steam
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News
IPE Views: 'De-carbonising’ portfolios doesn’t mitigate risk – it adds it
IPE’s Martin Steward wonders whether a habit of thought is developing that fails to recognise ‘de-carbonising’ as a risk and starts to regard it as a certainty
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Asset Class ReportsHigh-yield Bonds & Loans: Revolution from above and below
Few markets outside the emerging world have changed to the extent that European high-yield has over recent years. Joseph Mariathasan and Martin Steward find transformation coming from the massive to the micro, from above and below
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Asset Class Reports
High-yield Bonds & Loans: Low yields, high alpha
With spreads so tight, high-yield has become even more of a bottom-up stockpickers’ market than usual. Martin Steward looks for themes in the top-performing portfolios
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Special Report
Real Assets: Material changes
Is there is a tension at the heart of this month’s special report? On the one hand, we write about markets undergoing significant change. On the other, we deal with issues arising from the pursuit of dependable, boring, long-term cash flows from real assets.
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Special Report
Real Assets: Let's roll
Backwardation is back in commodity futures curves. Martin Steward asks, can investors at last expect to be paid for taking risk in the asset class, or is it a flash in the pan?
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Asset Class Reports
High-yield Bonds & Loans: Covenants and calls
Joseph Mariathasan and Martin Steward ask whether investors’ traditional protections are getting squeezed out in the convergence of high yield bond and loan markets
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Features
Divergence trades, depression trades
“It’s one of our big themes,” said Kathleen Hughes, head of European institutional sales at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, talking about central bank policy divergence over meet-the-press drinks in early September, four hours after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi had taken the deposit rate further into negative territory and announced plans to purchase covered bonds and asset-backed securities. The euro had a terrible day; Goldman Sachs had a pretty good one.
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News
Reformed Irish SWF could still be used to pre-fund pension liabilities
John Corrigan, head of the NTMA, will ‘not discount’ possibility of ISIF paying state’s pension bill
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News
Shock exit of PIMCO founder Bill Gross sets markets achatter [updated]
Fixed income legend looks forward to returning ‘full focus’ to fixed income markets, giving up ‘complexities that go with managing large, complicated organisation’
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News
Ireland's new SWF will take 'years' to deploy capital fully, says NTMA head
Recruitment to begin for Ireland Strategic Investment Fund committee
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News
European Commission's Lueder sets out strategy for asset management
Head of asset management unit signals step away from regulatory zeal, new horizons in China
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Features
I’ll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak
The court scene from The Merchant of Venice dramatises the balance between justice and equity. Argentina’s conflict with its ‘holdout’ creditors, which led to default on its New York-law bonds, suggests that it ought to be required reading for sovereign debt investors.
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Asset Class Reports
Emerging Market Debt: Carry through the crises
Navigating the switch from fundamentals-driven volatility to carry-driven calm in 2013-14 has been a challenge for emerging market debt managers, Martin Steward writes. The eruption of political crises simply adds to the complexity
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Special Report
Special Report - Securities Services: Margin of error
It’s tough making an honest euro in custody banking. Users of these services might be forgiven for thinking that wherever banks can bury sharp practices in obscure parts of their businesses, they will – and the findings of the UK finance regulator’s recent investigation into transition management won’t put their minds at rest.
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News
DeAWM shows institutional 'commitment' with two appointments
Asset manager creates new head of insurance and pensions solutions role
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News
US consultant Meketa Investment Group opens London office
European research hub set to begin offering consulting services from 2015
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Interviews
Success assured
When Russell Büsst was coaxed from Amundi in 2011 to head Conning’s expansion into Europe, he had three objectives: break even and hit $10bn (€7.38bn) under management within three years; use the firm’s insurance-industry relationships as a platform to build the pan-European business; and balance property-and-casualty (P&C) with life-and-pensions (L&P) assets.
