All Briefing articles – Page 4
-
FeaturesBriefing: Now is not the time to give up on emerging markets
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” This classic Al Pacino line has applied to many emerging market investors in recent years. Like Michael Corleone, drawn by the potential offered by bold business opportunities, they have accepted to take higher levels of risks in a quest to obtain better results. However, similarly to the family at the heart of The Godfather saga, the outcome of such bets has often caused a lot of pain.
-
Features
Briefing – ESG data: material innovations
As environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations have risen in importance among investors in recent years, so the subject of data quality has become an essential issue.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Unfinished business on IORP II
Almost three years on from the effective date for the implementation of IORP II, the directive is still being worked on, amended and adapted by Europe’s regulators. What will 2022 bring for the regulation of the EU’s pension funds?
-
FeaturesBriefing - Private equity: the case for transparency
A recent paper published by US-based academic Ashby Monk and others arguably says it all in its title – *An Economic Case for Transparency in Private Equity*.
-
FeaturesBriefing: EU strengthens rules on green disclosure
Investment firms need to familiarise themselves with a range of new environmental issues to prepare for a European Union law aimed at consistent environmental disclosures that also support investment decisions on environmental sustainability.
-
FeaturesBriefing - CLOs: a post-pandemic resurgence
Exactly a decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the collateralised loan obligation (CLO) market was breaking records. In 2018, nearly $130bn (€113.6bn) worth of CLO paper was issued in the US and €45bn in Europe, a sign that the crisis of confidence caused by the Great Financial Crisis was over.
-
FeaturesBriefing: PE fees under scrutiny
The balance of power between private equity firms and investors typically swings with the fundraising cycles.
-
FeaturesBriefing: UK fiduciary management
In 2019, the UK government introduced reforms to the investment consultancy and fiduciary management sector. That followed a review by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that identified competition problems.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Dutch fiduciary management
A new pensions agreement between the Dutch cabinet and social partners last year requires nearly all Dutch pension funds to switch to a new defined contribution (DC) contract. It includes a lifecycle system and personal pension pots. The idea is to combine collective and individual components in one pension agreement.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Insurance-linked securities
Hurricane Ida in late August and early September caused great damage to the southern coast of the US. Fortunately, for people in this area, insurance policies often cover destructions to their properties. Since covering such damage can lead to severe losses for insurance companies, they are keen to reinsure themselves.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Private market fees
In today’s low-interest-rate and low-return environment, investing in private markets has become a requirement for virtually every institutional investor. Private markets are where investors can obtain the extra returns they need and can no longer earn from listed assets, thanks to the liquidity premium and higher risk/return profile of non-listed assets.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Germany’s Spezialfonds are weathering the crisis well
Institutional investors in Germany continue to invest in funds despite the challenging conditions. In the middle of 2021, the volume of Spezialfonds – Germany’s vehicle for professional investors – on the Universal-Investment platform stood at almost €474bn. This represents an increase of 36% over the past 12 months. According to most observers, it has been one of the most exceptional periods in a long time.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Is equity duration risk about to step into the limelight?
In his memoirs, Sir Laurence Olivier tells how, in 1967, he was suddenly taken ill during a National Theatre production of August Strindberg’s Dance of Death. His understudy stepped into the role for just four nights, but in that short time, “.…walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth”. A star was born. Fifty-five years later, Sir Anthony Hopkins, with a career just as stellar as his one-time mentor, was the oldest-ever recipient of an Oscar for best actor.
-
FeaturesBriefing: The sustainability missing link
Love him or loathe him, no one can doubt that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a penchant for self-publicity and a talent for disruption in industries from automobiles to space. He has lately taken an interest in the metals and mining sector. In June, he tweeted that he would provide a “giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way”.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Why gold is different
Why does gold behave so differently from industrial metals and, indeed, most commodities in general? Despite the obvious contrasts – such as its shininess and its use in jewellery – it is not immediately clear why this should be the case.
-
FeaturesBriefing - Growth private equity: From margin to multiple
Private equity may have a reputation for buying cheap, levering up and selling high. But with a record $30bn (€25bn) sitting in European growth vehicles, true business growth is expected to play a greater role in coming years.
-
FeaturesBriefing - Energy: IEA sets net-zero target
The energy sector is the source of about three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions at present and yet until only recently, the influential International Energy Agency (IEA), an inter-governmental group, had not produced a fully-fledged aligned pathway with the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Bonds on the blockchain
Bitcoin’s wild ride has been hard to ignore this past year. However, it has mainly attracted its stalwart audience of retail investors, family offices and hedge funds. Institutional investors mostly sat on the sidelines, although interest has been piqued. Digital assets, most notably bonds and not cryptocurrencies, are likely to garner the inflows owing to the comfort of regulation and established market infrastructure.
-
FeaturesBriefing: New benchmark to reduce cost of FX transactions
Among the areas of focus for a pension fund looking to cut costs are the fees charged by its asset managers, usually as an annual percentage of assets under management, plus costs for other services. As part of a cost-cutting exercise, however, foreign exchange (FX) is often neglected. But as funds increasingly invest outside their home country, FX transactions are acquiring more significance because of the need to hedge foreign currency fluctuations. And these deals can carry hidden costs.
-
FeaturesBriefing: Central bank digital currencies take shape
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), also sometimes called govcoins, have suddenly become a subject of public discussion. Until recently the topic was mainly the preserve of a coterie of technical experts working for central banks and niche technology firms. But now there seems to be immense excitement about their potential to transform finance. There are even some who suggest the new technology could allow the renminbi to overtake the dollar as the world’s leading cross-border currency.
