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Savvy Investor Awards 2020: The Best White Papers

By: Matthew Kimbrough, Head of Research |
07 Dec 2020

Man Group wins Best Investment Paper 2020

The Savvy Investor Awards 2020 celebrate the best investment and pensions papers from the last twelve months.

The Award for Best Investment Paper 2020 is given to Man Group for their "Inflation Regime Roadmap".

This 30-page report from Man Group examines the historical drivers of inflation and explores the likely path of inflation in the years ahead. The authors present a thesis that the coming decade will see a major transition towards a new, inflationary regime, with major implications for asset allocators.

Best Investment Paper 2020

Overall Winner:
Inflation Regime Roadmap (Man Group)

We are living through an era where the word ‘unprecedented’ has become commonplace. Many key economic indicators are at extreme levels – not just in terms of growth, but also deflation, rates, debt, and globalisation. For those making asset allocation decisions, one of the most pressing questions is the future path of inflation – a subject that is tackled head-on in this 30-page report from Man Group. After taking the reader on a brief history of inflation, the paper presents the argument that the current extremes will lead to major policy transitions in the years ahead, culminating in a new inflationary regime with dramatic implications for asset classes and investment strategies.

The authors caution that progress towards the new regime will be messy, not necessarily easy to discern, and contingent on policy responses. Therefore, they present a policy checklist and a roadmap to help investors monitor whether the premise of a new regime is playing out in the way they suggest. Finally, they suggest the investment strategies that will succeed if their macro forecasts are correct. This is a well-constructed paper, which tackles one of the most important questions facing long-term investors at the present time.

Highly Commended:
Universal Ownership in the Anthropocene by Dr Ellen Quigley, University of Cambridge
Responsible Investment Bill by ShareAction
Assessing System-Level Investments by Steve Lydenberg and Bill Burckart

Best Factor Investing Paper 2020

Winner:
Fasten Your Value Belt: Growth could take you for a wild ride! (QMA)

Highly Commended:
Inverting Factor Strategies: No more ‘monkey business’ by FTSE Russell
Global Factor Investing Study by Invesco
The Math of Value and Growth by Morgan Stanley Investment Management
A Risk-Based Approach to Harnessing Alternative Sources of Income by Nuveen
Redefining 'Value' for a Modern Economy by Wellington Management
Value in Recessions and Recoveries by Research Affiliates

Best Fixed Income Paper 2020

Winner:
ESG Taxonomy for Securitized Products (FTSE Russell)

Highly Commended:
Bonds Have Style: A new model for capturing bond risk premia by Qontigo
Informed Trading in Government Bond Markets by Bank of England
Fixed Income Quarterly Report, Q4 by Federated Hermes
Fallen Angels in Focus by MetLife Investment Management
Q4 Fixed Income Outlook by PGIM Fixed Income

Best Investment Industry Paper 2020

Winner:
North American Asset Management in an Era of Unrelenting Change (McKinsey & Company)

Highly Commended:
Earning Investors' Trust: Shaping client relationships by CFA Institute
An Index Isn’t a Fiduciary: Concerns about the push for passive by Wellington Management
Global Sovereign Asset Management Study 2020 by Invesco
Global Private Equity Report 2020 by Bain & Company
Global Wealth Management Report 2020 by Oliver Wyman / Morgan Stanley
How Technology Will Redefine Relationships With Asset Management Clients by Deloitte

Best Megatrends Paper 2020

Winner:
The Big Book of Trends and Thematic Investing (Robeco)

Highly Commended:
Business Models for a Post-Pandemic World by NN Investment Partners
After the Great Lockdown: Investment implications of new realities by PGIM
Megatrends 2020 and Beyond by EY
The Next Normal: The recovery will be digital by McKinsey & Company
The Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2020 by World Economic Forum
Some Suspicions About the Coming Years by Baillie Gifford

Best Pensions Paper 2020 (North America)

Winner:
Rethinking the Role of Fixed Income in Retirement Savings (MFS Investment Management)

Highly Commended:
The Forgotten Participant: Examining participant investment decision-making by Invesco
The World's Largest 300 Pension Funds by Thinking Ahead Institute
How do Private Equity Fees Vary Across U.S. Public Pensions? by Harvard Business School
U.S. DB Pension Capital Market Assumptions Survey by Horizon Actuarial Services
The New Social Contract: Achieving retirement equality for women by Aegon

Best Pensions Paper 2020 (UK and Europe)

Winner:
Investing Pension Contributions in Private Markets (CFA Institute)

Highly Commended:
Global Pension Assets Study 2020 by Thinking Ahead Institute
International Pension Plan Survey by Willis Towers Watson
The Purple Book: UK DB Pensions Universe Risk Profile by Pension Protection Fund
The DC Future Book by Pensions Policy Institute
Pensions De-risking Report: Buy-ins, buy-outs and longevity swaps by Lane Clark & Peacock

Best Quant Paper 2020

Winner:
Artificial Intelligence in Asset Management (CFA Institute Research Foundation)

Highly Commended:
Quantifying Macroeconomic Risk by Qontigo
Building Resilient Portfolios for Uncertain Times by WisdomTree Investments
The Data Science Revolution by Neuberger Berman
How to Reduce the Sources of Forecasting Error by Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Tail Risk Hedging: Contrasting put and trend strategies by AQR Capital Management
Learning From a Decade of Managed Volatility by PIMCO

Best Real Assets and Alternatives Paper 2020

Winner:
Pension Plan Optimization Using Public and Private Real Assets (Nuveen)

Highly Commended:
Private Markets 2020 by BlackRock
Building a Better Portfolio: Balancing performance and liquidity by PGIM Institutional Advisory & Solutions
REITs: The missing ingredient for a holistic real estate allocation by Janus Henderson
European Private Debt: Shifting dynamics by M&G Investments
Does the Illiquidity of Private Markets Affect Asset Allocation? by State Street
The Relevance of Gold as a Strategic Asset by World Gold Council
Real Estate Outlook: Global overview by UBS Asset Management

Best Emerging Markets Paper 2020

Winner:
Navigating the Pandemic: A multispeed recovery in Asia (IMF)

Highly Commended:
The Shifting Dynamics in Emerging Markets Local Currency Investing by PGIM Fixed Income
Emerging Market Fixed Income: Characteristics of the asset class by FTSE Russell
China’s Biopharma Industry Moves Closer to Inflection Point by Capital Group
ESG Investing in Asia: An invisible evolution by Manulife Investment Management
2020 China Rankings: The top foreign fund management firms by Z-Ben Advisors
China Fixed Income: Investing in a new world by UBS Asset Management

DOWNLOAD THE AWARDS MAGAZINE

View all Award category winners and read the latest news from Savvy Investor directly from CEO Andrew Perrins in the 2020 Awards Magazine. Download now!

ABOUT THE SAVVY INVESTOR AWARDS

The Savvy Investor Awards celebrate the best content from across the global institutional investment industry. We present awards across 14 different categories including the best overall paper.

Every year our Content Team handpicks and uploads over 10,000 articles and papers to the Savvy Investor platform. This library, alongside engagement data from 50,000+ members, means our judges are well-placed to identify and assess the award-worthy papers of 2020. The Awards are judged on many elements including the depth, quality, readability, and of course, appeal and relevance to our institutional investor audience. In a world saturated with content, and where it’s difficult to cut through the noise, it is a great pleasure to highlight quality, cutting edge, and deeply engaging thought leadership for the investment community.

As the leading content hub for institutional investors, the Savvy Investor Awards were designed to help to affirm or establish authors and firms as true thought leaders within the industry.

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