Inflation hedging is back on top of the agenda for investors as conflict in the Middle East drives up energy prices globally, but the FIS Singapore heard that many portfolios are not well-prepared for the broad ways through which inflation can creep through. The new era of significant trade and capital flow shifts driven by modern mercantilism is also throwing out TAA opportunities.
David Villa, CIO of the $110 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board is worried about the outlook for returns. As a result he’s significantly underweight sovereign bonds in favour of cash. But he’s also positioning the organisation to do better analytics for more complicated portfolios, another result of a low return environment. The fund is working on at least five data and technology projects and has hired a chief technology and operations officer.
Australia’s largest industry super fund has looked to India to boost returns, as it ramps up its allocation in offshore private markets to further diversify its portfolio.
CalPERS traded $55 billion in fixed income securites last financial year as it implemented its new internal structure apportioning fixed income assets across three groups: treasuries, spread and high yield. The asset class returned 9.6 per cent for the year.
A growing number of influential asset owners have expressed interest in a new sustainable development investment (SDI) Asset Owner Investor Platform launched by Dutch funds APG and PGGM. The AI-driven technology sifts through reams of structured and unstructured data to gauge the extent to which companies’ products and activities meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Sovereign wealth funds can play an important role in investing sustainably in the Arctic region, and warding off the impact of a looming natural disaster, according to the IMF's Udaibir Das.
ESG is a core expectation of LPs in assessing private equity managers, and some asset owners including AP2 are willing to forego opportunities if a manager is not transparent on ESG, a panel at PRI in Person discussed.
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FIS Asia 2026