Editor of the Financial Analysts Journal and chair of Ennis Knupp & Associates, Richard Ennis, believes contemporary asset allocation schemes are becoming unwieldy for many decision makers because of the proliferation and splintering of investment categories, and advocates an approach that relies more on empirical evidence than on assumptions or intuition.
As concerns in private credit mount, Colorado PERA CIO and COO Amy McGarrity says the pension fund isn’t seeing any strains in its growing allocation to the asset class, arguing that long-term investors are shielded from the risks because they can lock up their capital to weather market cycles.
Cash is king right now, according to CIO of the Pennsylvania School Employees’ Retirement System, Jim Grossman, and he’s got plenty of it. The fund has a very diversified asset allocation, with about half the portfolio invested in liquid assets and Grossman and his team are working hard to make sure that the strategic allocations are maintained.
Ensuring a portfolio has enough liquidity to rebalance back to the long-term strategic asset allocation is the most critical preparation investors can do ahead of any crisis, according to Mark Wiseman, who said this current environment could be the "opportunity of a generation".
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.
Even for long term investors who pride themselves on the big picture and horizons stretching far into the future, the unprecedented change of recent weeks is hair-raising. Enough liquidity on hand to take advantage of buying opportunities once they arise and comfortably pay benefits is crucial. We look at the strategies of investors around the world in response to the market conditions.
A total portfolio approach overcomes the governance, benchmark and inertia drags inherent in strategic asset allocation, and can add returns of 50-100 basis points above SAA, according to global head of investment content at Willis Towers Watson, Roger Urwin.
In the past 20 years the number of SWFs has grown from 20 to more than 100 with their assets estimated to grow by $500 billion a year. So where do they invest and what impact are they having on the market? Sarah Rundell investigates.
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