The natural disaster in Japan, that has tragically killed more than 3,000 people, caused millions of dollars damage and thrown the Middle East off the front pages, could also mark a pivotal moment in investments, with markets back to being triggered by macro concerns. (more…)
Inflation is a big risk for most pension funds around the world. The question is: what do you do about it? The interesting point, though, is if inflation is a ‘fat tail’ risk, maybe it’s already been too widely signalled. (more…)
Cost is the flagrant motivation in the trend for US pension funds to move assets in-house, but as this article explores, budgets also need to extend to the demands of investment research, travel and staff incentive compensation. (more…)
This MSCI research examines the volatility cycle of value stocks, shedding light on the changes in relative contributions of value and non-value portfolios to total risk. (more…)
By studying value and momentum in Japan as a system, because they are strongly negatively correlated, this paper by AQR’s Cliff Asness argues that despite popular belief, momentum “works quite well” in Japan. (more…)
Increased awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns is influencing the investment decisions of institutional investors more and more. Leveraging preliminary findings of new research by State Street Global Advisors, we examine the momentum behind this trend and the opportunities emerging in a rapidly shifting landscape.