All Briefing articles – Page 5
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FeaturesBriefing - Energy: IEA sets net-zero target
The energy sector is the source of about three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions at present and yet until only recently, the influential International Energy Agency (IEA), an inter-governmental group, had not produced a fully-fledged aligned pathway with the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
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FeaturesBriefing: Bonds on the blockchain
Bitcoin’s wild ride has been hard to ignore this past year. However, it has mainly attracted its stalwart audience of retail investors, family offices and hedge funds. Institutional investors mostly sat on the sidelines, although interest has been piqued. Digital assets, most notably bonds and not cryptocurrencies, are likely to garner the inflows owing to the comfort of regulation and established market infrastructure.
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FeaturesBriefing: New benchmark to reduce cost of FX transactions
Among the areas of focus for a pension fund looking to cut costs are the fees charged by its asset managers, usually as an annual percentage of assets under management, plus costs for other services. As part of a cost-cutting exercise, however, foreign exchange (FX) is often neglected. But as funds increasingly invest outside their home country, FX transactions are acquiring more significance because of the need to hedge foreign currency fluctuations. And these deals can carry hidden costs.
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FeaturesBriefing: Central bank digital currencies take shape
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), also sometimes called govcoins, have suddenly become a subject of public discussion. Until recently the topic was mainly the preserve of a coterie of technical experts working for central banks and niche technology firms. But now there seems to be immense excitement about their potential to transform finance. There are even some who suggest the new technology could allow the renminbi to overtake the dollar as the world’s leading cross-border currency.
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Features
Briefing: Credit-risk niche gains interest
In a world of prolonged low interest rates, institutional investors are scouring different pockets of the investment landscape to generate additional returns. One area is capital regulatory transactions, which are far from new but are being put under the microscope for their potential as part of an alternative credit portfolio. However, these transactions can be more complex than other alternative credit asset classes and require specialist expertise, skills and understanding.
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FeaturesBriefing: China bonding with the world
It is tantalising to imagine the concept – that the standard global fixed-income portfolio, which has stood the test of time for so long, may be about to unravel. The standard bearers – US Treasuries, the UK Gilts, German Bunds and Japanese government bonds (JGBs) – may soon have to share the stage with a brash newcomer: Chinese government bonds (CGBs).
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FeaturesNet-zero opportunities: Global green momentum boosts prospect of a mining super cycle
The Covid-19 pandemic has given everyone pause for thought. It has also been a catalyst for action. For some, global warming seemed like a nebulous, distant concern. But the fragility of life on earth has been laid bare.
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FeaturesActive management: More than just a stopped clock
When most active managers underperform, how can investors identify the few who are likely to consistently outperform?
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FeaturesSelectivity is key in SPAC market
The vogue for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) has something in common with many other fashions, whether in investment or in the shops. Just when you think the trend cannot get even hotter, the temperature rises yet further.
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FeaturesInflation strategy: Conditions look ripe for a new commodities supercycle
The media briefly got excited when the followers of Reddit – a social news website often used by political activists – ineffectually attempted to ramp up silver prices in February. But news about commodity prices other than oil and gold rarely make headlines. For most institutional investors, commodities are a Cinderella asset class. A fleeting moment in fashion before the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) has been superseded by widespread indifference.
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FeaturesLong term assets: Proposed vehicle aims to help DC funds access private asset classes
The UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has set an ambitious timetable for the launch of a new UK-authorised fund vehicle, the Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF), by the end of 2021. The LTAF is envisaged to simultaneously help achieve several policy goals by directing pension savings into alternative investments.
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Features
Rising interest in EM debt
The weak dollar and low US interest rates are pushing governments and companies in emerging markets (EMs) to issue growing volumes of dollar-denominated debt.
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FeaturesHedge funds: Coping with low interest rates
Historical analysis suggests portfolios of certain quant hedge fund strategies may offset some of the risk of rising interest rates
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FeaturesChina: Caught in the crossfire
The investment world is at risk of being caught in the midst of a ‘geoeconomic’ conflict between the world’s main economic blocs
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FeaturesBriefing: Tide turning for ESG fixed-income
The supply of ESG-aligned bonds is increasingly underpinned by regulatory pressures and client demand for products targeting non-financial objectives. As the investable universe grows, so the number of funds and assets will increasingly find their way towards fixed-income ESG solutions. However, to strike the right balance between financial and non-financial returns investors should look for ESG-authentic leaders with good risk-return capabilities
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FeaturesBriefing: The sum of all fears
Three years on from the onset of MiFID II, market participants, governments and regulators are assessing its outcomes and considering adjustments.
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FeaturesBriefing: Active ways to prosper in EMs
On the battlefield on which active managers fought their passive enemies for investors’ custom, there was one patch of higher ground that seemed easier to defend – emerging market equities.
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FeaturesBriefing: Japan emerging from its invisible lockdown
Japan is all too often portrayed as being different from other countries. Not just distinctive in the obvious sense that every country has its own national peculiarities. Instead, somehow unique in a way that makes it stand out from every other country.
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FeaturesBriefing: Still a strong case for US stimulus
The next awaited US stimulus programme remains a mystery. Congress must agree on funding specifics, but the final composition of the Senate will be unknown until this month. Republicans and Democrats have been battling over spending priorities since COVID-19 struck last spring, with competing priorities.
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FeaturesBriefing: Feast or famine
With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic still out of sight, any forecast of the size of economic damage it will inflict has to be viewed with caution. Yet there seems to be a consensus that default rates on leveraged loans will stay elevated throughout 2021 and beyond.
