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articleFIS Digital 2020

Dangers in the next policy response

FIS 2020 Digital delegates heard how the monetary response has successfully managed many elements of the crisis so far. Getting the next phase of the policy response right, particularly navigating fiscal policy, will be more challenging.

Sarah RundellJuly 9, 2020

articleFIS Digital 2020

Transition portfolios of stocks and cash

Forget traditional portfolios of stocks and bonds, in portfolios of the future, low yielding bonds could be ditched for cash suggest FIS2020 Digital panellists.

Fiduciary Investors Series

Ben Meng on leverage, liquidity and inflation at CalPERS

In this Fiduciary Investors series podcast Amanda White talks to Ben Meng, chief investment officer of CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the United States. Meng, who oversees an investment office of nearly 400 employees and manages investment portfol

articleFIS Digital 2020

Pandemic highlights operational risks

A combination of factors caused by the pandemic has created unprecedented operational risk for institutional investors, including increasing cyber risk.

articleFIS Digital 2020

Prepare for new Asia-led regionalism

Globalisation will be replaced by a new regionalism with Asia at its heart. Coupled with automation and AI increasingly replacing traditional labour-intensive production, emerging economies with a youth bulge face challenging time ahead, according to Ian Goldin, professor of globalisation and development, Oxford University.

COVID-19 Research Hub

Sustainable and inclusive: recovery

As policymakers consider policy interventions to support the recovery, investors should be engaging policymakers by providing technical expertise and allocating capital to sustainable investments. A new report by PRI presents a series of recommendations for investor policy engagement and indicative proposals for action.

PRIJuly 7, 2020

ArticleGeopolitics

Kotkin’s mega trends: Deadends & despair

Political regimes around the world are stuck in a series of dead-ends and despair. Most importantly, the China-US relationship has hit a brick wall as their fundamentally different values and interests clash. Deterrents and robust policy is the only way forward, says Stephen Kotkin, professor in history and international affairs, Princeton University.

Sarah RundellJuly 6, 2020

ArticleInequality

Duflo says credit ratings punish poor

Nobel prize winner Esther Duflo suggests institutional investors can help alleviate poverty by fostering new supply chains and looking beyond a country's credit rating. She said there is an "unacceptable" level of poverty amongst Africa Americans and Latinos who are keeping the US economy going but dying for it.

Sarah RundellJuly 3, 2020

Top1000funds.com celebrates 1000 newsletters. This is what our readers had to say

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Hareb Masood Al-Darmaki

deputy chair of investment committee; advisor to the managing director, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

“Congratulations to Amanda and the team on this milestone. Your timely and relevant articles consistently offer thoughtful insights about the industry, and I look forward to seeing what the next era of investing will bring.”

Rebecca Fender

head of the Future of Finance Initiative, CFA Institute

“Accurate, authoritative, informative and readable. Top1000funds.com is everything a specialised industry publication should be. Congratulations on your 1000th issue.”

Fiona Reynolds

chief executive, PRI

“Top1000funds is the pre-eminent source for news and analysis on global issues of consequence to long-term investors. The focus is spot on. It is my go-to reference for what’s happening in our industry and what’s to come.”

Barbara Zvan

former chief risk and strategy officer, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan

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Mark Walker

CIO, Coal Pension Trustees (United Kingdom)

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Mansco Perry

executive director and chief investment officer, Minnesota State Board of Investment (United States)

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Kristian Fok

chief investment officer, Cbus (Australia)

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Frederic Samama

head of responsible investment, Amundi (France)

“Top1000funds.com consistently provides thorough, reliable and insightful information about how global assets owners are navigating an increasingly complex investment landscape.”

Janine Guillot

chief executive, SASB (United States)

“Top1000funds.com provides a great mix of stories that are of interest to asset owners and those who work with them, covering both investment topics and organisational ones. While aimed at “the world’s largest institutional investors,” the articles are relevant to all kinds of asset owners, as well as professionals at other investment organisations.”

Tom Brakke

TJB Research (United States)

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Jaap van Dam

principal director investment strategy, PGGM; and author of Achieving Investment Excellence (The Netherlands)

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Dong Hun Jang

CIO, POBA (Korea)

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Tim Hodgson

co-head, Thinking Ahead Group

INVESTOR PROFILE

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Investor Profile

Active ESG focus pays at Norway’s OPF

Active equity has been the main driver of performance at Norway’s biggest municipal pension fund, the $11 billion Oslo Pensjonsforsikring, which uses the same exclusion list as Norway’s giant $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund.

Sarah RundellMay 25, 2020

Investor Profile

UPS: Risk assets and virtual happy hours

Sarah RundellMay 18, 2020

articleGlobal risks

The importance of resilience

Amanda WhiteMay 13, 2020

Investor Profile

Harvard endowment goes net zero by 2050

Amanda WhiteMay 7, 2020

Manager Relationships

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Manager Relationships

Oregon PE revamp shakes off GFC legacy

Oregon Investment Council has committed to investing $3 billion a year in private equity, with the smooth pacing strategy part a response to the fund’s overweight position to poor performing vintages as a result of its allocations before and after the GFC. The investor is also focusing on manager relationships with a focus on accessing new relationships and upsizing the best existing ones; and a new strategy that sees no provider in charge of more than 5 per cent of the portfolio.

Sarah RundellMarch 2, 2020

Manager Relationships

India’s NIIF gathers steam

India’s new sovereign development fund has raised a further £1.3 billion, on top of the government's $3 billion, to finance domestic infrastructure and growth. Key to its success is the unique investor-owned structure, similar to Australia's IFM Investors, and generous co-investment terms.

Sarah RundellFebruary 11, 2020

Manager Relationships

Insurance giants push for more impact

The experience of the collaboration between six large US insurers to successfully invest in affordable multi-family rental housing is a lesson for any institutional investor looking to impact investing.

Sarah RundellJanuary 12, 2020

Manager Relationships

KLP shows the active side of passive

Norway’s fund for local government employees and healthcare workers, KLP, abides by strict internal ESG principles. Sarah Rundell looks at how this translates to investments in emerging markets, its view of indexes and a concentration of manager relationships.

Sarah RundellNovember 27, 2019

Sustainability

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articleSustainability

Robeco hails the power of stewardship

Global asset manager Robeco has found proactive stewardship triggers important changes in corporate behaviour. Chief executive Gilbert van Hassel urges FIS 2020 Digital delegates to do the same.

Sarah RundellJuly 2, 2020

articleSustainability

Purpose set to drive investment

Investors should use stewardship to encourage purposeful companies that provide long-term value by meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders and helping improve society. But what is a purposeful company?

Sarah RundellJuly 1, 2020

articleSustainability

FIS 2020: A sustainable recovery?

In our second feature looking ahead to FIS 2020, we highlight how the conference will focus on growing calls for a sustainable recovery and purposeful companies. Nobel prize winner Esther Duflo will talk on solutions to inequality, magnified during the pandemic.

Sarah RundellJune 11, 2020

Sustainability

Finance industry behind no tobacco

The World Health Organisation's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge the missing piece in the fight against tobacco. Credit Agricole and Amundi Asset Management have become the latest signatories to the pledge, in what is a timely decision ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Sunday.

Amanda WhiteMay 28, 2020

Equities

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Equities

Markets remain fragile

A risk management strategy that measures resilience and fragility of markets, protected portfolios from the wild February downswing in equity markets, and predicts more fragility to come.

Amanda WhiteMay 5, 2020

Equities

The importance of governance in a crisis

From December to mid-March of this year New Zealand Super lost 20 per cent of its assets. It’s the second time in less than 18 months the fund has experienced a significant drop in assets but in an example of how good governance and process can allow for counter cyclical behaviour the fund is now buying equities.

Amanda WhiteApril 29, 2020

Equities

A new route to minimising volatility

Defensive equity investment strategies are nothing new, but a key issue with many is that defensive does not necessarily mean low volatility. Scientific Beta looks at a strategy to target both goals, using robust low volatility controls to create a new defensive index for the volatility-averse investor.

Daniel Aguet, Noël Amenc and Felix GoltzApril 3, 2020

Equities

France’s FRR prepares to ramp up equity

The French SWF, FRR, is preparing to invest more in equities and illiquid assets as important reforms extend its time horizon. With the coronavirus crisis delaying the asset allocation decisions the fund is operating in an "intermediate context", slowly shifting out of bonds and into equities.

Sarah RundellApril 2, 2020

FIDUCIARY INVESTORS SYMPOSIUM HARVARD

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FIS Harvard 2019

Modern slavery needs investor action

Asset owners and managers can help solve modern slavery and invest to stem the suffering of the 40.3 million workers in the world trapped in some form of labour abuse.

Sarah RundellDecember 11, 2019

FIS Harvard 2019

Impact investment continues to evolve

Impact investment and its combination of financial returns and social or environmental purpose is beginning to move from fringe to the financial mainstream in part because the long-held concept that investment should only maximise shareholder value is beginning to fade.

Sarah RundellDecember 5, 2019

FIS Harvard 2019

SDG 16: How to invest in peace

Investment in the 17 SDGs is growing, but SDG 16, and its call to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, gets the least investor attention. Yet the idea that investors can mobilise their capital to nurture peace is wholly possible.

Sarah RundellNovember 27, 2019

FIS Harvard 2019

Biomedicine’s long and risky road

Startlingly few institutional investors have allocations to life sciences. An informal poll of 85 asset owners from 20 countries responsible for a combined $9 trillion assets under management gathered at the Fiduciary Investors’ Symposium at Harvard University, found only a tiny handful active in the sector. Yet allocating to biotech makes an important contribution to society - investing in the sector can help change lives.

Sarah RundellNovember 20, 2019

FIS Harvard 2019

CalPERS hunts for third pillar PE teams

CalPERS is conducting searches for outside partners to run its new Pillar III private equity program focused on venture capital investment in life sciences, technology and healthcare.

Sarah RundellNovember 19, 2019