Latest from IPE Magazine – Page 255
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Special Report
Special Report – Outlook 2015: A year of eerie calm
While geopolitical activity has picked up markedly, financial market volatility has remained well below long-term averages. Emma Cusworth asks, are investors ignoring a build up of risk, or has the nature of the geopolitical game changed?
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Special Report
Special Report, Fees & Costs: Winds of change
Brendan Maton reports on the anxious vigilance around costs in pension fund management, but finds progress to be frustrated and incomplete.
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Special Report
Special Report, Fees & Costs: If the price is right
Surveys suggest that investors feel more could be done to make private equity fund terms fairer. But Jennifer Bollen finds that pension funds also recognise that simply squeezing costs may not be the wisest approach.
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Special Report
Special Report, Fees & Costs: Selling fees short
Hedge fund fees have fallen and managers have come around to the idea of negotiating on them, writes Joseph Mariathasan. But structures still need to be more sophisticated.
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Special Report
Special Report, Fees & Costs: Coming together to cut costs
Caroline Liinanki finds Danish pension providers merging and teaming up to cut investment costs as they reach the limits of what they can achieve themselves.
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Features
Briefing, Investment: Gulf in expectations
Oil revenues act as a source of diversification in Persian Gulf markets, but there is more to them than the black stuff, writes David Turner. The forthcoming opening of the Saudi market to foreign investors promises a new opportunity for institutional investors to participate.
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Features
Commentary, Investment: Cash-flow liquidity
Joe McDonnell describes how carefully modelling cash flows can open opportunities for investing in a wider range of semi-liquid and illiquid assets
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Features
ESG: A sustainable capital markets union
The European Commission has proposed to launch a capital markets union by 2019. But what could it entail and will it be a boon for those pursuing sustainable returns? Jonathan Williams reports.
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Interviews
Strategically speaking: Assicurazioni Generali
It has been just over two years since Generali CEO Mario Greco took the reins of a company whose governance was in disarray, and whose performance was reflected in a loss of almost 75% of its stock-market value. His appointment immediately stemmed those losses, and the market has since been proved right.
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Interviews
Strategically speaking: Grandmaster Capital Management
“Under no circumstances should you play fast if you have a winning position,” advised Hungarian chess Grandmaster Pal Benko. “Use all your time and make good moves.”
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Asset Class Reports
Investing In Hedge Funds: About turn for top-down
Macro, the darling of the hedge fund world through the drama of 2008-09, has struggled in the subsequent low-volatility, low-rates environment. Joseph Mariathasan asks whether recent outperformance signals a more conducive backdrop for this family of strategies
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Asset Class Reports
Investing in Hedge Funds: Is the trend your friend?
Alex Greyserman looks at how trend-following at different speeds has fared in equity markets during the post-crisis bull market and over the longer term, and finds compelling diversification benefits
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Asset Class Reports
Investing in Hedge Funds: Uncut hedges
US pension giant CalPERS may have stopped investing in hedge funds, but despite heightened short-term scrutiny, Christopher O’Dea finds that most plans are retaining their allocations, and expecting them to deliver greater value through bespoke strategies
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Features
Asset Allocation Fixed Income, Rates, Currencies: The big picture
When the Fed embarked upon its first round of quantitative easing five years ago, there were fears of an inflation time bomb. The Fed has already purchased its last lot of Treasuries under QE3, but is still executing regular MBS purchases, as forward inflation expectations in the US and Europe are as low as they have been for years.
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Features
Ahead of the Curve: Europe is the new China
George Saravelos sees ‘euroglut’ – and consequently one of the biggest capital outflows in history as excess savings flee aggressive ECB easing, sending the euro plunging against the dollar.
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Features
From Our Perspective: Ready for action
Industry figures like Roger Urwin of Towers Watson have long advocated that pension funds should use their fee budget effectively according to their size and scale, perhaps foregoing costly alternative strategies in favour of recruiting in-house staff.
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Opinion Pieces
Research: Ageing demographics are an asset allocation game changer
Two of the four worst bear markets of the last century rocked the world of investing over just seven years in the last decade. They sidelined conventional wisdom on risk premia and diversification.
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Features
Special Report – Outlook 2015: Fear gauges refuse to budge
One of the defining characteristics of 2014 has been the return of geopolitical risk. For months there has been a constant stream of de-stabilising news from around the globe – from Russia’s annexation of Crimea to the advancement of Islamic State, pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong and the spread of Ebola in West Africa and beyond.
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Features
Special Report – Outlook 2015: War on Europe’s frontier
The economic and financial impact of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Ukraine’s ongoing civil strife are mostly limited to the prime actors, writes Daniel Ben-Ami. But the Baltics are also exposed, and risks would be posed to the rest of Europe by an escalation of sanctions or a disruption of ...
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Special Report
Special Report – Outlook 2015: Giving up freedom for security
Among the many casualties of the financial crisis, perhaps the least heralded but potentially of greatest long-term impact is the modern orthodoxy of central bank independence. Charlotte Moore describes how a new orthodoxy has been written