26 January 2023

With investor sentiment now appearing to shift in favour of active equity management, as indicated in bfinance’s recent Asset Owner Survey, we ask portfolio design specialist Ruben Mutsaers: what objectives should investors put in place for equity portfolios?

Read more: What Excess Return Should We Expect from an Active Equity Portfolio?

18 January 2023

Investors are considering whether to slow down their deployment to illiquid strategies or maintain their previous pace after a year of disappointing performance in bond and equity markets, compounded by recent bouts of extreme turbulence and fears over liquidity. Private credit portfolios present a particularly pressing question, given their need for regular maintenance and today’s higher fixed income yields. Trevor Castledine tackles a timely debate.

• Private Markets
• Private Debt

Read more: Should Investors Press Pause on Private Credit Commitments?

11 January 2023

During 2021-22, the results produced by active equity managers have been heavily influenced by the extent to which their portfolios have been ‘geared in’ to recent inflationary dynamics. Yet those connections are not straightforward: each period of inflation is different, and the world today is very different from the world of the 1970s-80s. With this subject remaining front and centre of equity investors’ minds in 2023—accompanied, problematically, by the spectre of recession—the time seems right to re-examine ‘winners and losers’ in inflationary conditions.

• Equity
• Monitoring

Read more: Equities and Inflation: Old Problems, New Lessons

01 December 2022

‘Divergent’ or ‘convex’ hedge fund strategy indices posted average returns of nearly 10% through the first three quarters of 2022. Even small allocations to these strategies have provided investors with material improvements to their overall risk-adjusted returns and drawdown profiles – plus capital that can be re-deployed into traditional markets at attractive entry points. Is it time for investors to re-evaluate their hedge fund portfolios, or indeed make the move to create one?

• Diversifying Strategies
• Hedge Funds
• Portfolio Design

Read more: Clarifying the Case for ‘Convex’ or ‘Divergent’ Hedge Fund Strategies