As pension funds look at new ways to assess their asset allocation, including the adoption of a risk-premia approach, Simon Mumme delves into the latest thinking on whether markets reward investors for the big swings and roundabouts.
Why your portfolio should be 50% emerging markets
Most fiduciary investors underweight emerging markets. This is because when they talk about an “investable” universe, they really mean whatever’s “easy to invest in”, argues Jerome Booth, head of research at Ashmore Investment Management. The recipient of China’s first post-Communist asset sale to a foreign investor, Booth recommends investors take the radical step of investing 50 per cent of their total portfolios into emerging markets, via both listed and unlisted markets.
Back room analysts come to the fore post-crisis
The global financial crisis has underscored the importance of being able to analyse the risk and return characteristics of all investments, but in particular alternatives and unlisted assets. Greg Bright spoke with Christopher Ward, vice president of Boston-based State Street Investment Analytics, about recent trends.
Currency upheaval a permanent shift
The world’s currency markets are going through their biggest upheaval for almost 40 years since the fixed-rate exchanges started to end for Western countries. Currency expert, Ronald Leisching, of US-based Mountain Pacific Group, has studied the likely scenarios for pension funds and how they can cope in the new environment.
Korea fixes on a riskier strategy
The $260 billion National Pension Scheme of Korea plans to double both its international fixed-income and international equities exposures in the next four years. According to Ha-Young Kim, head of institutional networks and communications at the NPS, it is part of a survival plan for the fund for 49 million Koreans. Amanda White reports.
Mercer boosts capabilities for Asian push
Mercer Investment Consulting has boosted its pan-Asian capabilities by shifting its regional head from Sydney to Singapore and with a plan to expand its Mercer Sentinel implementation unit.
