All Briefing articles – Page 20
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Features
Contagious junk?
Speculation that European downgrades could squeeze EM corporate bond issuers is overblown, finds Martin Steward
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Living longer, working longer?
Chris Madsen and Martijn Tans explain their concept of equilibrium retirement age as a tool to help individuals and employers manage longevity risk and plan for retirement
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The inflation trade-off
Hedging against unexpected inflation can be costly. But Karsten Jeske and Anjun Zhou argue that active management can shift the efficient frontier in investors’ favour While inflation and inflation volatility were relatively subdued until the late 1990s, inflation volatility has picked up again in the 2000s. Evidence shows us that more uncertainty about inflation lies ahead.
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Don’t be surprised by inflation
Nicholas Johnson, Berdibek Ahmedov and Ronit Walny argue that now is the time to build a real asset bucket in diversified portfolios
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Australia: gateway to Asia?
It is right on Asia’s doorstep, but James Dunn finds that outside the big resource names there is surprisingly little Asia exposure in Australia’s stock market
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Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Gail Moss finds out the kind of information pension fund trustees should seek from their asset managers since they cannot realistically be expected to understand the many complex products and strategies that are used to manage risk
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Pensions Accounting: Can they fix it?
Stephen Bouvier sets out the problems facing the IFRIC interpretation committee on the treatment of single-A corporate bonds in discounting pension liabilities
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Insurance inspiration
Building an internal model under Solvency II costs time and money. Cécile Sourbes asks what pension funds can learn as insurers edge towards implementing the new framework
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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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HBS: 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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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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Volatility 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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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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What makes a skilful portfolio manager?
Ignore the sales pitches, advises Rick Di Mascio. Successful managers simply get more decisions right than wrong, and make sure their hits make more money than their misses lose
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Portfolio impact
Gail Moss outlines the concept of impact investing and how it relates to mission-based investing, which is often used in the foundation sector
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Shock factor
Liam Kennedy spoke with Theo Kocken and Kerrin Rosenberg about pensions, behavioural finance and a new definition of fairness
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Bolt-on growth
As a fast-track route to growth with a focus on efficiency gains, buy-and-build seems perfectly-suited to our low-growth world, writes Jennifer Bollen
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On the road again
The convertible bond market finally woke up in September. But Martin Steward finds that there is a long way to go before portfolio managers are out of the woods
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Go with the flows
Dividends really do pay off in emerging markets. Martin Steward asks why, and what the theories tell us about how far investors should tilt towards higher yields.
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Squeezing out the last drops
Brendan Maton assesses the favourability of tax-transparent Dublin and Luxembourg pooled funds as a way to avoid being ensnared by US withholding tax