Chief Investment Officer David Donabedian recaps the first half of 2015 and provides an outlook for economic activity and financial markets in the third quarter of the year.
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While once considered “mysterious,” characterized by investor misconceptions and thoroughly debated after the global financial crisis, hedge funds at their core remain a fairly simple structure with a flexible investment mandate. This white paper debunks myths about hedge funds and explains how they generate profits.
Hedge Funds in the Current Environment: Mercer believes that now is a good time to consider (or reconsider) hedge fund investing. This article explores the case for hedge funds with a focus on the current environment. Mercer also offers some thoughts on choosing the best hedge funds and how to build robust portfolios.
Mercer’s Research Perspectives covers a wide variety of investment topics. This edition includes a discussion on liquid alternative investments, actively managed global small-cap equities, features our new study on climate change, introduces the Chinese bond market and closes with an interview with Stefan Hepp who joined Mercer through the acquisition of SCM, a private markets research firm headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
In this paper, Cara Lafond explores family office characteristics and makes recommendations for asset allocation strategies that ensure growth of assets and preservation of capital and purchasing power, two goals that have been identified as important to most family offices. She emphasizes the importance of downtown risk mitigation and argues that seeking consistent returns and avoiding losses is more important than pursuing outsized gains.
The phrase “private equity liquidity” once felt like an oxymoron, but the picture is rapidly changing.Liquidity has traditionally meant something very different for private equity than it has for other types of investments. While investors in other vehicles could trade their positions quarterly, monthly, or daily, those in closed-end private equity funds typically agreed to have their capital locked up for a number of years before they saw a return. But as private equity investment vehicles and trading venues advance, that difference is now diminishing.
Every battle is won before it’s fought,Sun Tzu wrote in “The Art of War.” As the legendary Chinese military strategist observed more than 2,500 years ago, understanding the terrain in which a battle will be waged is critical for those who want to prevail
This specialist white paper provides detailed insight into the current credit markets, and an international view of mid-market Mergers and Acquisitions deal activity and developments on a per country basis from 2014 to Q1 2015.
Rapid expansion across the emerging markets is perhaps the most important development for the Private Equity industry. Interest in Africa has never been higher and it continues to see strong interest from investors. Fundraising trended higher in 2014, and the value of transactions nearly doubled during the year. Private Equity's impact in the region is only beginning to be felt. The next decade promises to be an exciting time for Private Equity in the region.