Diversification is an easy concept to adopt but a hard concept to maintain, particularly when there are extreme periods of concentrated market leadership. While US large caps have outperformed non-US equities over the past decade, the outlook and rewards are different when taking the long-term goals approach with non-US equities.
Investment Management
Resource Search
The notable increase in consumer prices has sparked concerns around the effect of inflation on investor’s portfolios, wealth plans, and ability to fund goals. For investors, the best offense remains a good defense, and it is not too late to revisit your portfolio with an eye toward protection against the impact of inflation. We answer nine questions on fortifying your portfolio and wealth plan in the face of uncertainty.
People care about ESG, want ESG outcomes and will make major decisions on where to invest, where to work, and what to buy based on those outcomes. So, when companies make claims about their ESG performance, it should be easy for stakeholders to verify those claims. But the reality is that ESG reporting is often opaque, subjective, and even outright fraudulent. This report provides an in-depth look at the issues and offers guidance on avoiding fraud and how to develop a sound ESG reporting process.
Index investing has been a boon to investors seeking accessible, diversified portfolios. However, many index-based portfolios have become notably more concentrated in recent years, in terms of both individual stock positions and sector representation. Given this reality, it’s understandable why many investors are looking at other options to build more diversified portfolios.
U.S. inflation is at its highest in four decades due to COVID-19-induced spending on goods, supply-chain issues, fiscal stimulus from the government, and very accommodative monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. But unlike last time when inflation was high, some key drivers of the current inflation are expected to fade. However, several forces are likely to be more enduring, including the high wage growth.
Most of us are familiar with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the headline measure of inflation. However, at the January 2012 Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed declared it would use the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index (PCE). Since the indexes are calculated differently in weight, scope, and formula, it will yield different measures of inflation. The difference will impact how investors plan to fight the rising inflation that is spurring fears of currency devaluation.
Monitoring concentration in investment managers is an important component of portfolio risk management. While portfolio-level analysis on liquidity, beta, and volatility are frequently monitored, a minority of investment teams use active risk to size managers. By considering the return profile of a manager along with its size in the portfolio, active risk provides additional insight to risk management decisions, helps build better portfolios, and contributes to better governance.
Is the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) market dimming? Not likely. Even as the SPAC market takes a breather from its hypersonic acceleration in early 2021, new funders are stepping into the picture. In this webcast, the presenters examined the SPAC environment, evolving deal structures, participants, and risks, as well as important federal regulation changes.
The Biden administration has unveiled a new $2 trillion infrastructure and economic recovery plan, the American Jobs Plan, which is designed to simultaneously revitalize the country’s infrastructure and combat climate change. The Plan will also give municipal investors an opportunity to focus on environmental or “green” project opportunities that range from investing in mass transportation to cleaner energy and water to climate-adaptive infrastructure.
Research has convincingly shown that having diversity of opinions and backgrounds is positively correlated with better decision-making and long-term results. In this two-part series, a deep dive looks at what it means to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into your investment program. First, we lay out why DEI initiatives are rapidly becoming a feature of investment programs and how they lead to better performance.