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The dangers of MMT: A counter argument
Look no further than the economic travails of Italy and Japan to see the perils of Modern Monetary Theory, MMT, said Sonal Desai, CIO, fixed income at Franklin Templeton. Speaking at the Fiduciary Investors’ Symposium at Harvard University, she countered the arguments of Stephanie Kelton, a leading MMT scholar at Stony Brook University and senior economic advisor to presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders who espoused the virtues of MMT in a previous session MMT: A solution to broken policy?
The trust effect
Successful investment management comes from a culture that supports and nurtures talent. This requires functional governance built on trust between the board and the investment team.
Strategic tilting adds value at NZ Super
Strategic tilting has added 1.1 per cent, or NZ$3 billion, to the New Zealand Super Fund’s reference portfolio over the past 10 years, David Iverson, head of asset allocation at the NZ$41 billion fund says. This is way above the expected return from the program which was set at around 40 basis points.
PGGM revamps fixed income; focuses on liquidity
PGGM’s Wilfried Bolt explains how the end of quantitative easing (QE) has changed the asset manager’s hedging strategy and prompted a keen focus on liquidity. He also explains the rationale behind managing more of the corporate bond allocation in house.
Pensions must brace for Brexit impact
The chances of Britain leaving the EU without a withdrawal deal seem greater than ever. Retirement systems need to prepare for changing valuations and disruptions to how they do business.
Factors are useless without the research
Product providers cite all manner of factors behind the performance of their products but unless those factors adhere to what academics have replicated and standardised, it’s folly for investors to expect persistent returns from them.
Beware the illiquidity delirium when buying-up credit
Bond markets might be offering comparable returns to equities and a higher place in the capital structure, but they should be approached cautiously as they lack what institutions around the world are trying to maintain – liquidity.
How a sovereign fund decided to take the road less travelled
New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund made a big brave decision in the eye of the storm early last year and introduced a new dynamic asset allocation strategy. The strategy, driven by in-house analysis, involved several large bets on global markets. As Greg Bright reports, the decision seems to have paid off.
Pension issues with Chinese characteristics
This policy memorandum from the Paulson Institute describes the current state of the Chinese pension system and offers some suggestions to address a range of issues. The author, veteran academic and policy wonk Robert Pozen, discusses the key challenges facing the Chinese pension system, examines the causes of each of these challenges and puts forward



FIS Harvard 2019