The latest
Investor Profile

UPS pension fund’s opportunistic future

The United Parcel Service corporate pension fund is finalising an asset liability study this year which will result in a new strategic asset allocation. The $28 billion US fund, typically has a lower allocation to fixed income than its peers and has a reasonably aggressive portfolio for a corporate defined benefit fund. It is a […]
Amanda WhiteApril 9, 2014
Research

Risk parity and beyond

This paper analyses whether the use of uncorrelated underlying risk factors, as opposed to correlated asset returns, can lead to a more efficient framework for measuring and managing portfolio diversification. The paper, by academics at EDHEC Business School and SYMMYS, acknowledges that the ability to construct well-diversified portfolios is a challenge of critical importance in […]
Amanda WhiteApril 9, 2014
Uncategorised posts

What consolidation means for the AP funds

The five Swedish AP buffer funds will be reduced to three, a new responsible body will be set up to formulate long-term return targets and a reference portfolio, and limits on unlisted investments will be lifted under the new plan put forward by the Swedish Government. These are the findings of The Pension Group, which […]
Amanda WhiteApril 4, 2014
Uncategorised posts

Predicting equity returns with rising rates

The impact of higher rates on equity returns is a concern for investors and to some extent an unknown. But by applying the concept a threshold correlation, as done with bond portfolios with a duration targeting framework, it is possible to better understand the complex interactions between equity returns and interest rate movements. The latest […]
Amanda WhiteApril 4, 2014
Organisational Design

The power of innovation

From allocating assets in order to achieve a healthy funding status, to keeping up with technology that analyses portfolio risk, the challenges of asset owners are relentlessly evolving. For asset managers, like AQR, the key to their own evolution and success is how to be more relevant to clients. AQR keeps clients’ needs firmly within […]
Amanda WhiteApril 2, 2014
Research

Emerging equity markets in a globalising world

Even though there has been dramatic globalisation over the past 20 years it still makes sense to segregate global equities into “developed” and “emerging” market buckets, according to a paper by Columbia and Duke academics. The research, which has important policy implications for institutional and pension fund management, shows that while correlations between developed and […]
Amanda WhiteApril 2, 2014
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