Deeper Thought

 As we settle into 2023, we believe long-term responsible investors focused on risk management and opportunity capture, must consider material changes impacting four areas: 

 Amid current financial market volatility, investors are revisiting asset allocations in their portfolios, hoping to identify attractive market segments with upside potential. Morgan Stanley Investment Management (“MSIM”) views private equity in Asia as a potential bright spot for investors that offers the opportunity for outperformance, particularly at the current juncture. While Asian private equity can…

Transparency should be the bedrock of sustainable finance.

Despite the -16.3 per cent year-to-date (YTD) performance, we are impressed with the resilience of emerging market (EM) equities. In any year with the S&P down 19.9 per cent, the US Dollar (USD) up 7.2 per cent, Russian assets marked to zero, and China locking down its two largest cities, one would rightly cover their…

Income arrives in many shapes and sizes   The first half of 2022 has been challenging for investors across all asset classes, and the uncertainties plaguing markets remain—particularly with regard to inflation, interest rates and the possibility of recession.  Stephen Dover, Chief Market Strategist, Franklin Templeton Investment Institute says: “As we look toward the second…

An allocation to municipal bonds by non-US investors may provide a high quality and differentiated fixed income exposure to a portfolio. With an increase in issuance and market size, investors outside the United States are expanding their search for yield to a hitherto unexpected place: US municipal bonds. US municipal bonds offer generally higher nominal…

I am not an expert on climate change. Therefore, I will leave it to those experts and environmental, social and governance (ESG) specialists to talk in detail about the impacts of climate change on our food system and which government policies are required to address or decrease impacts. I am looking at the future of…

Late-Cycle Investing Philosophy Comes Early 2021 marked the most rapid economic recovery witnessed in the U.S. over the past four decades. As a result, inflation has reached its highest point since the 1970s and markets are polarized between the need to raise rates to curb price growth versus continuing to stimulate the economy to achieve…

Calvert Research and Management, a global leader in responsible investing and part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has released new research which aims to explore recent trends in ethnic diversity at corporate boards as well as its relationship to equity performance.

Carbon Emissions and Carbon Credits Even though 2050 is a long way off, action must be taken now in order to achieve some of the Paris Agreement goals. Reducing carbon emissions is a critical aspect of this process. In response, many governments and corporate entities have already begun to develop decarbonization strategies in an effort…