Funds managers, pension trustee boards and fund members should adjust to a low-returns environment and think carefully about investment risk in such uncertain times, warned Tim Gardener, global head of consultant relations at AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) and a veteran of the UK asset consulting industry.
Lone wolves may secure the best returns
Some animals instinctively gather as a herd, apparently pension funds are such animals. A new asset allocation study by academics at Maastricht and Yale, presented at the ICPM discussion forum last week, reveals the mob behaviour by funds when it comes to asset allocation, leaving way for security selection to be the differentiator in returns.
The new era of infrastructure investing
This collaborative research looks at the constraints preventing institutional investors from taking their theoretical place of prominence in the market for private infrastructure. It offers insight into how institutional investors can establish internal programs, and details about the challenges of direct investment programs. But, it also concludes that funds managers will still have a crucial role to play in the market’s development.
Systemic Risk: Strategic Challenges for Policymakers and Practitioners
Systemic risk has emerged as a critical challenge for central bankers, regulators, asset owners and managers. While the infuence of the phenomenon is well-understood, systemic risk is often virtually invisible until it erupts into widespread market dislocation. New regulatory standards, oversight bodies and quantitative research approaches seek to moderate its infuence and stabilise global markets. … Read more
Strategic asset allocation for long-term investors
This Netspar research by Hoevenaars, Molenaar, Schotman and Steenkamp studies the effect of parameter uncertainty on the long-run risk of three alternative asset classes: equity, nominal bonds and short-term T-bills.
Defining the game is two sides of same coin
A constant whispering in the hallway of pension plans is how to prepare for the inevitable move from a defined benefit to defined-contribution structure. But fiduciaries shouldn’t be scared, the game’s the same, at least psychologically.
