All Guest Viewpoint articles – Page 4
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Clearing made easier and more resilient, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs
CCP clearing is highly concentrated in a few financial centres around the globe, with the City of London playing a very important role
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Opinion Pieces
Guest viewpoint: The importance of asking the right questions about derivatives and net zero
“What is the carbon footprint of my portfolio?” is thought as the most dangerous question in sustainable investing. But do investors stop and ask: “Why am I measuring the carbon footprint? And how am I planning to manage it?”
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Climate-related scenario analysis – part of the problem or part of the solution?
‘I’ve yet to see a board of trustees that has made significant changes to its asset allocation as a result of scenario analysis,’ says Julis Pursaill at Cushon
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: And if we trusted the market to improve ESG information?
What trust would one put in financial information that is solely reserved for investors and not published, that no independent analyst could challenge, given that the regulator would have no way of guaranteeing its veracity either?
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Escape from Flatland
A two-dimensional, return-and-volatility view of investments may not allow you to see important risks
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Opinion Pieces
Guest viewpoint: Why and how we need to change the conversation about pension reform
In their new book, Power and Prediction, on the disruptive economics of artificial intelligence (AI), authors Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb write about the ‘between times’ between an important new discovery and the time it takes for that discovery to go mainstream. In 1879, Thomas Edison demonstrated the potential of the electric light bulb to change the world, yet 20 years later only 3% of US households had electricity. It would take another 20 years for that number to reach 50% of the population. For electricity the ‘between times’ were 40 years. This prompted the authors to wonder how long the ‘between times’ will be for AI.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Beyond Article 9, is there a regulation to promote real sustainability?
Recent events have shown how anticipating forthcoming clarification on the application of a text that has been published since 2019 has created such confusion that many asset managers have had to reclassify a large number of their funds from Article 9 to Article 8.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Why LGBTIQ+ inclusion should matter to investors
We would like to thank Frank Wagemans of Achmea IM for his extensive input, which we highly appreciate
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Gilts crisis won’t undermine attractions of private markets for long-term investors
Many of the government’s ambitions to reboot growth in the UK economy require solutions which private assets are well equipped and prepared to provide in a timely manner
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Alternative risk premia strategies stand tall amid turmoil
While bond and equity markets have been pummeled in 2022, Alternative Risk Premia strategies have at last been able to demonstrate their diversification prowess. Will this year’s performance restore investor confidence in these strategies after the painful results of 2020?
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Net-zero-aligned investment in fossil fuels
Incentivising carbon capture would free institutional investors from having to make decisions about the climate
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Opinion Pieces
Guest viewpoint: The UK pensions sector should be more aggressive on consolidation
UK pension assets across both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) funds are too fragmented, and our schemes, even the biggest, are sub-scale. Consolidation is not the answer to everything, but it is a big part of the solution.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Asset allocation – factoring inflation
As inflation keeps beating records, real incomes remain under pressure and the standard approaches to diversification are challenged
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: COP27 needs to have the water crisis at its heart
Measuring and disclosing risks, opportunities and impacts of economic activities is critical to support the transition to a sustainable economy
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Dutch pension funds should consider the costs of convexity
Pension funds should consider adjusting their hedging policy as convexity doesn’t seem to payoff anymore
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: ESMA’s latest shot at ‘pre-hedging’ must now bring a clear set of rules
With a direct and significant impact on the prices that pension and other funds receive for the securities they buy and sell, pre-hedging is a key market cleanliness issue with broad implications for the investment industry, but also the end-investor and the public at large. It should not be overlooked this time around for it could become a LIBOR moment for market confidence.
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Opinion Pieces
Guest viewpoint: Diversification and dislocation in a place called dystopia
What happened to my free lunch? They told me that diversification was there for the taking, yet there has been no zig to my zag. They promised me downside protection, but all I see is red. They said liquidity was a benefit, but never mentioned the bid/ask spread. Welcome to dystopia in the era of dislocation.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Consolidation in UK pensions market – what are the options?
Will there be an increase in pension scheme consolidation in the UK market and will it lead to increased investment in alternative ESG assets? Consolidation could provide the collateral to invest in greater ESG assets.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Ageing demographics challenge Germany’s PAYG state pension system
Germany has a well-established occupational pension system, but participation among employees is only about 50% overall, and in the significant SME segment only 30%