Opinion
Assessing smart beta strategies
Analysing smart beta performance and risks is not monkey business. For a better understanding of smart beta strategies it is crucial to analyse their construction.
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Opinion
Climate agreement marks turning point
Days of intense negotiations at the long-awaited COP21 meeting in Paris have seen a definitive agreement emerge on climate change.
Opinion
Beyond backtests: considering the robustness of smart beta
Systematic equity investment strategies – so-called smart beta strategies – are usually marketed on the basis of outperformance. However, it is important to recognise that performance analysis is typically conducted on backtests that apply the smart beta methodology to historical stock returns. Concerning actual investment decisions, a relevant question, therefore, is how robust the outperformance […]
Opinion
Fiduciary duty: great power, great responsibility
As the landscape for investment changes rapidly, so too does the notion of fiduciary duty. Fiona Reynolds, managing director of PRI, argues that using the status quo as a reason not to adapt to changing perceptions and new demands from investors is no longer possible or acceptable. The PRI will publish a fiduciary duty roadmap […]
Opinion
2015 could be watershed year for ESG issues
2015 is poised to be the turning point as a number of key issues relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues take centre stage says Fiona Reynolds, managing director of the Principles for Responsible Investment. First and foremost is climate change. With the Paris talks scheduled for December 2015, it’s an issue that […]
Opinion
How to hedge long-term inflation-linked liabilities without inflation-linked instruments
Given the capacity constraints on local inflation-linked bond markets, what are other options for hedging long-term inflation-linked liabilities? This is a question Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has been deliberating on as it supports an academic chair at EDHEC-Risk Institute with a focus on analysing the design of novel forms of liability-hedging portfolios that do not […]