Analysis

Global pension funds posted an atypical aggregate net below-benchmark annual investment performance during 2023, with the shortfall largely attributable to increased use of private markets assets.

When you’re handing out billion-dollar mandates, managers will “part the sea for you”. But there’s more than just returns to be weighed when answering the question of what makes a good external manager relationship.

Member switching and top-down regulation mean Australia’s super funds will face more bumps on the road to the “Canadian model” of heavy private markets allocations than the Maple Eight pensions they’re so keen on aping.

The Magnificent Seven are likely riding into bubble territory but investors might yet avoid a bloody showdown, according to a new analysis by Dutch quantitative manager, Robeco.

Investors obsessing over short-term data points are bound to miss the real changes in the companies they’re buying, according to PineBridge, which is peering beyond the macro for “great, durable investment themes”.

China’s reduced dominance in the emerging markets has changed the composition of the index, providing greater choice and diversity for investors as supply chains relocate and Asia becomes the world’s AI factory.

Being a truly long-term investor means you can usually rise above market noise. But even investors with a 100-year time horizon need to think about the meta-trends emerging today to prepare their portfolios for tomorrow, according to Oppenheimer Generations.

The investment vehicles of wealthy families are internalising asset management and professionalising their investment teams at a rapid rate, according to Citi Private.

During the Great Moderation, the mantra was “be long and don’t touch”. But with a wave of transformation sweeping through markets, BlackRock thinks it’s time for investors to switch things up.

Global pension funds returned to growth mode in 2023 following sharp losses the previous year but participants will need to update investment models amid more complex systemic challenges, a new survey of the sector has found.

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund “stands out among global peers”, according to WTW, but should consider its approach to systemic risk and greater insourcing of its private markets investments, as well as establishing an overseas presence to improve access to deals and talent.

Family offices are set to manage more than $5.4 trillion come 2030 – but how (and where) they manage it will change, with more and more “becoming institutionalised”, adopting independent governance structures and heading overseas.