Australia’s financial sector would be strengthened if the proposed merger between its national stock exchange and the Singapore Exchange gained political approval, the Australian Centre for Financial Studies (ACFS) has argued. (more…)

With the return to favour of top-down equities management and renewed focus by pension funds on their asset allocation and beta exposures, there has consequently been a resurgence in thematic investment styles and products. (more…)

It’s not very salubrious but it’s secure. The four-star Jingxi Hotel in Beijing (pictured), which is owned by the People’s Liberation Army, hosted the annual plenum of the Communist Party’s Central Committee to draft the country’s next five-year plan. (more…)

One of the ironies about the way big pension funds are rethinking their asset allocation strategies is that regional specialisation appears to be becoming less popular, even for the world’s fastest-growing region. (more…)

CalPERS’s investment committee is expected to make a decision on its alternative asset classification at a November asset liability management workshop. (more…)

Remy Briand

As MSCI moves to expand its sustainability research capability to emerging markets, its global head of index and ESG research, Remy Briand, has urged investors to dramatically improve their reporting standards to make good on their ESG cause. (more…)