The world’s second largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, has experienced a material effect of the European sovereign debt challenges, a region where it holds more than half its equity holdings, and the BP oil spill. (more…)

Outspoken hedge fund manager, Cliff Asness, says breaking down the sources and challenges to manager performance will determine how investors should pay for alpha. (more…)

With continued, or even increased, nervousness surrounding the short-term future for most markets, the question of risk mitigation has once again come to the fore for institutional investors. But for defined benefit funds, in particular, this is an especially curly question. (more…)

Julia Leung

Investors may soon be able to invest in RMB-denominated ‘financial products’ on the Hong Kong stock exchange, which could also be a boon for the big global ETF providers. (more…)

Research by the Australian Financial Services Council and Ernst & Young, The $20 billion prize, provides a blueprint for implementing the Cooper Review-proposed SuperStream concept, and calculated an upfront investment of $1 billion could reduce costs by 8 basis points across the system in 10 years.

European investors – and probably many others – are “understandably skittish”, according to Mercer Investment Consulting, as the risk of a double-dip recession has increased modestly, the consulting firm says in its latest medium-term valuation review. (more…)