Re-intermediating investment management

In this paper, Ashby Monk and Rajiv Sharma from the Global Projects Center at Stanford University, examine the balance of power among the various parties in the private assets investment food chain. They argue that fund managers have too much power, as do the consultants that act as gatekeepers to those managers. While the authors … Read more

The beauty and the beast of value and momentum investing

Are all value stocks and all momentum stocks equally attractive? In our research, we found that different types of value and momentum stocks exhibit very different performance characteristics. A value approach which incorporates some momentum and risk considerations tends to outperform a generic approach, but a value approach which intentionally goes against these factors significantly … Read more

Managing culture with risk management techniques

The interaction between governance, culture and performance is increasingly a topic around asset owner board tables. But little has been written about the relationship between culture and the financial crisis, and how to change culture in financial services organisations. Andrew Lo, professor of finance at MIT, has come up with a proposal to change culture … Read more

Why integrated reporting makes sense: Robert Eccles

Robert Eccles has been trying to change the nature of corporate reporting for more than 20 years. He has been an advocate for supplementing financials with information on non-financial factors that are leading indicators of financial results – such as product development, customer satisfaction and the development of intangible assets. The premise is those companies … Read more

Opportunities in Europe

Investors and academics agree that political developments in Greece are important because they may shape how financial markets will respond to future political situations in the Eurozone. But according to Olivier Rousseau, the executive director of the FFR, the French pension reserve fund, there is more hype outside of the Eurozone on the implications of … Read more