All Investment Briefing articles – Page 6
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FeaturesBriefing: Europe turns Japanese
Despite the more immediate concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic, the spectre of ‘Japanisation ’ casts a dark shadow over euro-zone investment markets. It is possible that the current crisis will supercharge the pre-existing trend for Europe to follow Japan’s economic and financial experiences.
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FeaturesBriefing: A safe haven
Treasuries, the yen, and gold all traditionally serve to harbour investors in times of stress. A closer look at the current demand for Treasuries, however, paints a complex world view with implications for financial markets. Yields suggest it might remain ugly for another decade.
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FeaturesEmerging market outlook
Emerging markets have a knack for being in the headlines for the wrong reasons. They also stand out as sources of growth for investors who face low interest rates and muted economic performance in the developed world
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FeaturesDollar/sterling: The road ahead for cable
The twisting path of the dollar/sterling relationship over 2020 will provide ongoing theatre, punctuated by moments of intensity
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FeaturesWhere insurers are placing their money
Insurers’ investment decisions can influence economic growth and developments in capital markets
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FeaturesThe proof of the Brexit pudding is in the eating
Brexit “got done”, to paraphrase the British prime minister, at the end of January. But the exact form it will take is still to be determined
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FeaturesAre cryptocurrencies an asset class for institutional investors?
Cryptocurrencies are sweeping the world in terms of news headlines but how should institutional investors react?
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FeaturesBriefing: Central bank about-turn bolsters gold
Gold is unlike any other commodity. It has few industrial applications of any note. It is widely used in jewellery partly because of its aesthetic appeal but also in many cases as a form of investment. Central banks distance themselves from acknowledging the precious metal as a kind of universal currency yet still keep thousands of tonnes of it locked away in their vaults.
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FeaturesChina: On a long climb up the ESG ladder
China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, compels imprisoned Muslims in Xinjiang to toil in factories, and has Communist Party committees embedded in companies, exercising a shadowy influence over management. It is, in other words, not exactly a poster child for good ESG performance.
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FeaturesAsset management faces systemic risk questions
When will the next financial crisis hit? Over 80% of respondents among a sample of 500 institutional investors surveyed by Natixis Investment Managers expect a crisis to take place within the next five years.
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FeaturesWhen safe haven assets aren’t safe
In the current environment, investors look set to lose money on European government bonds – a quintessential safe-haven asset
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FeaturesOngoing UCITS fees are falling
UCITS are an example of EU financial innovation and a global success story. With €10.1trn in total net assets, UCITS help global investors save for financial goals, including retirement, education, and housing.
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FeaturesBriefing: Peer-to-peer securities lending
The words scale, operational efficiency and lower cost feature regularly in the State Street discussion of its new peer-to-peer securities lending product. Direct Access Lending enables direct, principal loans between its lending clients and its borrowing clients.
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FeaturesEmerging market debt: Argentina makes investors cry
Who needs Pennywise the terrifying clown when one has Argentine bonds in their investment portfolios?
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FeaturesBriefing: There is still room for growth
Equity investors putting faith in growth stocks – stocks that are priced expensively relative to fundamentals because they are expected to grow fast – received a shock in early September when they sold off sharply.
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FeaturesBriefing: Alternatives to large-cap buyouts
Large buyout funds are a staple ingredient in many institutional pension funds’ private-equity portfolios. Focusing on more diversified private-market strategies could be a better way to achieve return objectives
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FeaturesBriefing: Draghi’s parting gift on ECB stance
If anyone in Europe was left in any doubt on 11 September about the dovishness of the European Central Bank (ECB) under Mario Draghi’s leadership, by close of business on the next day their doubts were surely dispelled. On that day the outgoing president of the ECB unleashed a bout of monetary easing, in an attempt to boost euro-zone inflation from 1% to its target of “below, but close to, 2% over the medium term”.
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FeaturesBriefing: US makes rapid turnaround
Father Christmas delivered a sack of coal to equity markets last Christmas Eve, with the S&P 500 index losing 1.8%, following a three-day slide. Forecasters had previously been expecting two or three rate hikes in December, as Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell steered that discussion. He had mistakenly assumed that the economy had not yet reached a normal, neutral level but it already had, forcing him to backtrack.
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FeaturesBriefing: Deep tensions threaten EU vision
This is not a commentary on the UK within or without Europe. Brexit has been a compelling distraction but it is one macroeconomic strand in a complex world. The overwhelming coverage has also moved attention away from key internal tensions within the European project.
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FeaturesBriefing: Coping with lower for much longer
German institutional investors have shifted their asset allocation due to low bond yields
