The alpha from active funds management was a massive -1.2 per cent before fees for US funds in 2008, a figure eight times below the average of 15 bps over 18 years, according to research by CEM Benchmarking.
Institutional investors should be looking to garner alpha from income-generating investments, rather than growth, as the “new normal” dictates that return expectations will be equal to about nominal GDP, according to managing director, Pimco, Paul McCulley.
The inherent breadth and ambiguity of environmental, social and governance issues has resulted in the integration of ESG considerations into portfolio design remaining largely a philosophical push, without clarity on the direct and indirect impacts on shareholder value. In this working paper, AQR Capital Management’s Jeff Dunn, outlines a simple framework for considering the impact of ESG issues with respect to their role in investment decisions, with the aim of providing a clearer path for further investigation of the impact of ESG policies on shareholder value and how they can be appropriately included in the investment decisions of both investors and fiduciaries.
For the first time since 2006, Watson Wyatt has written a report that revisits the macro-economic factors that may affect global returns over the next decade. It highlights the increasing influence of public policy and emerging wealth on the investment agenda, and draws some tentative conclusions regarding the implications for investment portfolios.
PGGM Investments, whose main client is the €75 billion ($107 billion) Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW) in the Netherlands, is well on its way to achieving its goal of becoming a commercial manager of pension fund assets, with more funds due to come on board soon. Else Bos, chief executive officer investments, spoke to Kristen Paech about PGGM’s commercial ambitions and the virtues of passive management.
Pension funds no longer view the emerging markets as a tactical play, instead considering the region a strategic allocation within their portfolios. Murray Davey, managing director and chief investment officer – global emerging markets at UK-based Rexiter tells Kristen Paech why.