Texas ERS' CIO David Veal says the fund is re-allocating around a quarter of its public equity portfolio to external managers, away from the internal team. ERS plans to upsize with existing fundamental mandates but also allocate to new incremental relationships with diversifying strategies.
A large number of long-only multi-factor strategies have performed disappointingly over the past three years. Some have called into question the usefulness of solutions based on factor diversification but recent research by EDHEC suggests this doesn’t hold up against an even remotely serious investigation.
The €9.5 billion DanishPædagogernes Pension, PBU, is in the process of consolidating the number of managers in its listed equity portfolio. The decision at the fund - which has around 10 large, focused equity mandates - is linked to an ambition to reduce the number of companies in the portfolio in the belief that fewer companies in the 42 per cent actively-managed equity allocation allows greater ESG oversight.
US companies have some defensible profitability advantages but elevated margin levels may be poised for a reversal of fortune. The tide appears to be turning on some of the secular trends that have supported high US profit margins.
The size factor has recently come under attack from smart beta providers because its performance has lagged behind other factors. A common recommendation is to remove size from the factor menu, to give more weight to factors with better performance. But due to its low correlation with other factors, size offers substantial diversification benefits.
A new fund in Germany combining liquidity, dynamic equity exposure and strong ESG focus is against the mould of the country’s more conservative, insurance-led investment style, and Heribert Karch, managing director of MetallRente which offers the fund, is determined to bring a return-seeking investment culture to Germany.
The returns of long-term investors are driven by economic growth so it is difficult to ignore China as a big part of the future investment opportunities, a panel of experts told delegates at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium.
Top1000funds.com is the market leading news and analysis site for the world’s largest institutional investors. It focuses on leading the global investment industry to continuous improvement through case studies of best practice in governance and decision making, portfolio construction and efficient portfolio management, fees and costs, and sustainable investing.
The publication pushes the industry to question whether status quo processes and behaviours to tackle risks and opportunities will be sufficient in the future, and actively campaigns for diversity, sustainability, transparency, innovation and better alignment of fees in the investment industry.
Top1000funds.com is read by investment professionals in more than 40 countries.
Asset Classes