Analysis

State Street Associates, the academic research arm of the big custodian bank and fund manager, has published two studies on the behaviour of sovereign wealth funds with asset allocation and their thinking behind a shift towards private markets. The asset allocation study shows a big move towards alternatives and unlisted investments and increased exposure to…

Reflation has arrived along with broad economic recovery globally but consensus views on the outlook remain too cautious, according to BlackRock. Animal spirits are returning to the markets. The consensus numbers are further from BlackRock’s ‘Macro GPS’ forecasting model, which incorporates big data signals, than at any time since 2013, the BlackRock Investment Institute says…

The global high-yield bond market’s recent growth, particularly outside the US, is presenting active managers with a wider opportunity set for potential alpha and diversification, according to a research paper by specialists at Eaton Vance Investment Management. The paper, entitled ‘Capitalising on the Growth of the Global High-Yield Market’, says that non-US issuers of high-yield bonds…

PIMCO, the big US-based global bond manager, is de-risking its credit portfolios following a re-assessment of potential macro-economic trends ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump as president later this month. In a research note written by Mark Kiesel, PIMCO’s CIO for global credit, the manager says that the potential for both left tail (higher…

Fund managers and institutional investors which have been committed to impact investing in their portfolios lifted their exposures to the emerging asset class from US$25.4 billion to US$35.5 billion between 2013 and 2016. A report – ‘Impact Investing Trends: Evidence of a Growing Industry’ – published by the not-for-profit research and support group Global Impact…

By Greg Bright Exclusive stories about people losing their jobs dominated our readers’ selection of most-widely read news items during 2016. Unfortunately, job losses in the funds management industry are likely to remain a feature of the changing landscape in the coming year, and probably more.  This is our year in clicks. It’s a combination…

The funds management industry has known for a long time that human foibles – behavioural biases – can make or break an investment strategy. Now, however, State Street has put together a body of research which goes way beyond behavioral finance in the study of the human element to investments. After about 18 months of…

Frontier Advisors is putting its new information technology system to good use with a special reporting service for funds to comply with ASIC’s revised ‘RG 97’. In a new study Frontier has presented the challenges for big super funds, noting disparities between for-profit and not-for-profit fund reporting. One thing is certain: compliance costs are about…

It is no surprise to Anthony Serhan, who has been studying the differences between pre-tax and after-tax management and reporting in the industry dating back more than 15 years, that there is currently a surge in interest by investors across the board. Serhan, a managing director and head of research strategy for Morningstar in Asia…

By Greg Bright Believe it or not, there are a few free lunches in investment management – strategies which can deliver savings that are the equivalent of no-risk alpha. The biggest of these, the longest free lunch if you will, is after-tax management. Last week investors and managers spoke out on the issue. At roundtables…

After a five-year burst of portfolio realignment, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have slowed their pace of change, according to new research. But they continue to increase exposure to alternatives. An International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) survey released earlier this month found the “significant shift” towards alternative assets initiated by members over the previous…

(pictured: Kathryn Saklatvala) bfinance, the UK-based manager search and consulting business which set up shop in Australia this year, has proposed a redefinition of the alternative beta market, which it says has expanded by 30 per cent in just the past nine months. bfinance, which provides a different business model to that of the mainstream asset…