Will Kinlaw, managing director of portfolio and risk management group at State Street Global Markets in Cambridge, tells Amanda White why new ‘turbulence’ indexes, measuring volatility and unusualness of returns, can guide investors in adjusting risk exposures and so improve returns.
Ducks get in a row for UK’s NEST
If there was an opportunity for a clean slate, what investments and service providers would provide the optimal structure for your members? The UK’s National Employment Savings Trust is preparing to receive its first contributions next year. Amanda White spoke with chair Lawrence Churchill about that privilege and challenge. 
Sovereigns reign best on 3-legged stool
The optimal asset allocation for Sovereign Wealth Funds is a state-dependent allocation to three building blocks: a performance-seeking portfolio, an endowment-hedging portfolio, and a liability-hedging portfolio, according to research conducted by the EDHEC-Risk Institute.
Florida basks in sunny performance
The $109 billion Florida Retirement System Pension Plan remains in its rosy position as one of the US’ best performing funds, exercising its scale to effect with a total expense ratio of 32 basis points for the financial year 2009-10.
QE2 not just another QE1
Following the Fed’s announcement of QE2 and the recent auction of 5-year TIPS that resulted in the first-ever negative yield issuance (-0.55%), AQR has updated its recent research series on inflation. This paper addresses the events which resulted in the first-ever negative yield TIPS issuance, discusses the future impact of government actions, and comments on the implication for institutional investors.
Skulls, financial turbulence and risk management
Based on a methodology introduced in 1927 to analyse human skulls and later applied to turbulence in financial markets, this study by Mark Kritzman and Yuanzhen Li, published in the Financial Analysts Journal, shows how to use a statistically derived measure of financial turbulence to measure and manage risk and to improve investment performance.
