politics

FIS Stanford 2023

Politics rivals profits for portfolio influence, says Bridgewater co-CIO

Bridgewater co-CIO Greg Jensen said government policy has steadily increased in influence over the economy and portfolio construction over the past 20 years and now outstrips the importance of private sector incentives. He says the pace of deglobalisation is a key trend for institutional investors to keep abreast of.

Aleks VickovichSeptember 27, 2023

Sustainability

Politicisation of ESG a ‘constructive dialogue’: Mercer’s Rich Nuzum

The discourse around ESG investing may be “messy” but Mercer’s global chief investment strategist, Rich Nuzum, says media and political scrutiny can help sharpen the focus of pensions and sovereigns on their objectives and duties.

Aleks VickovichAugust 17, 2023

Governance

The politicisation of investments at US public funds

Attempts by multiple Republican states to restrict where US pension funds can invest are symptomatic of bad governance. Top1000funds.com takes a deep dive into the quagmire of US state pension funds to assess the impact on CIOs, highlighting the need prevent the politicisation of investments.

Amanda White with Sarah RundellJune 20, 2023

Research

State pension funds tilt towards politically-connected stocks

It is well documented that local bias exists in US state pension fund holdings, but now an article in the Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming) finds evidence not only of local bias, but bias towards politically-connected stocks. Not only that, but the article finds that political bias is detrimental to fund performance. “Political bias is […]

Amanda WhiteSeptember 18, 2015

Uncategorised posts

Kurtzer on Holy Land of opportunity

The Middle East is in a state of dynamic flux, with positive change manifesting itself in the countries going through an economic and financial revolution as much as a political one. Institutional investors from all parts of the world have a role to play in that revolution, according to former US ambassador to Egypt and […]

Amanda WhiteMay 31, 2013

Uncategorised posts

Complexity: thinking ahead

Complexity is, well complex. And as trite as that sounds, it’s something investors, even professional investors, don’t understand well enough, according to Tim Hodgson, head of the Thinking Ahead Group at Towers Watson. The Thinking Ahead Group (TAG), as has been reported here before, gets paid to think – a gig conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com is envious of. […]

Amanda WhiteSeptember 26, 2012